Looking for an adventure where you can explore Amboy and then fall asleep in your tent? Finding a place to camp in California with your tent has never been easier. Each spot offers quick access to one or more of Amboy, California's most popular destinations.
Vacant land available for exploring and short term tent camping. Conveniently located near shopping, eateries and amazing areas to explore for days. Located near the North entrance of Joshua Tree National Park.
$25 - $80 / night
Simply Camping is a dry camp...The only "frill" is a clean, well-equipped portable toilet with tiny sink. My five campsites are well separated for privacy, located approx., 700 ft. to the Copper Mesa Mountains! A great spot for hiking about and or off roading. Simply Camping is great for "sky"gazing, relaxing, enjoy quiet peacefulness of the beautiful desert with the amazing sunrise and sunsets, and the stars at night are incredible! Located in Joshua Tree, approx., 30 minutes to Joshua Tree National Monument and we are approx. 12 miles to Hwy. 62 aka: Twentynine Palms HIghway for shopping, eating, and sightseeing. You will not regret your stay at Simply Camping!
$33 - $39 / night
Psitioned on the side of a hill so you can overlook the dry lake bed. Nearest nieghbor is 1/2 mile away. Far enough from town to be private and very peaceful yet only 7 miles from downtown Joshua Tree and JTNP.
$70 / night
Vacation in the Mojave Desert Wonder Valley California!
We are located in the middle of the desert on 5 acres and surrounded by hundreds of miles of desert fun. We are 15 miles east of Joshua Tree National Park! We offer rv waste disposal and a restroom with a shower. Our well water is not drinkable so make sure to bring lots of drinking water. Must bring your own tent. See you soon!
$20 / night
Sitting on one corner of this magnificent campsite is the emblem of the modern supply chain, the shipping container. This is a used 20 footer with plenty of vertical room for an NBA player.
Yet, this is but the least significant part of the campsite which is in the Wonder Valley region of 29 Palms. "Out there," as the locals may say. As a recent local myself, I refer to this place as My Own Private Anza-Borrego. The darkness there, aka lack of light pollution, can be intimidating while also being the best place to disconnect from dirty, noisy city life.
No matter your degree of prepper, The Emblem will be a campsite worth remembering and returning to.
Whether you choose to sleep inside the container, with the doors wide open, or tent camp right next to it, you'll have hundreds of acres around you to yourself. The silence is pleasantly maddening. You'll get decent download speeds on your phone but don't expect to be able to work remotely out here. Be there to recharge your human batteries, expand your soul, or test your prepper readiness or new camping gear.
Visit The Monument which is just 15 minutes away on the Utah Trail. Visit the small downtown of 29 Palms, just 8 miles away. And the (in)famous bar & grill, The Palms, just about 7 miles down Amboy heading east. They're only open these days on Fridays and the weekend.
Guide
Pros: very quiet campground, with sites that are some distance apart. Absolutely breathtaking scenery - this campground is in the valley between hills and the undeveloped land around the campsites is covered in an amazing variety of cacti. The cost is also reasonable at $12/night. The tent sites are nicely designed with a large tent pad, a picnic table, and fire ring. The visitors' center is very close up the road, and they have flush toilets and water, as well as a very small gift shop, but not really anything else.
Cons: The only way to get to the campground is driving for about a 1-2 hours on unpaved roads, which are rough in some spots. Once you get there, there are only pit toilets and no sinks or showers. There is usually potable water in the campground, but that was also unavailable during my visit because of drought conditions (however that info was easily found on the website and I was prepared for that). But by far the worst thing about this campground was the wind. It was breezy all day, which was fine, but at about 9 or 10 pm at night the winds picked up to about 30-40 mph sustained through the whole night, with gusts of ~50 mph. It definitely caught myself off guard, and by the looks of the remaining tents the next morning it caught a lot of other campers off guard also.
If the conditions are like that most of the time (possible since it's in a valley?), I wouldn't tent camp there again because it wasn't relaxing at all. But if that was a fluke or I had an RV, I would consider another stay there. There were a lot of ORVs in the area, and I think anyone who enjoys doing that would love this campground.
Traveler
Good home base for Joshua Tree is NP campgrounds are full. Pretty barebones. A few weirdos, but enough space to steer clear of them. The wind can be brutal if you’re tent camping. Have large stakes.
Traveler
Awesome tent sites in Joshua Tree, tucked between some Jumbo Rocks. The sites are pretty spacious and private and have primo scenery and star gazing opportunities.
Traveler
Nice place to visit in early January. With sunshine and daytime temperatures of 60s and 70s. Most sites are suitable for tent camping or small campers.
Would be a 5 star if it had water, a dump station or electric.
GuideSuper campspots among the boulders. Great hiking out of the campground. Some of the tent sites are "really" walk in sites so it makes it a bit more challenging if sleeping in van. Bring everything you need ie. Water!
GuideVery primitive camping, but location, views, hikes, and adventures nearby make it all worth it! We had site #6 and tent camped. It was back a little away from the road and people which was nice. Be sure to bring in your own water. We filled up our jug and got provisions in 29 Palms before heading into the park.
Traveler
This listing was showing as free but when we showed up that was not the case. For simple tent camping, this cost $15/person and charge $5/per kid and pet. Must be gone by 11am. Overpriced for what we needed. Very loud and rude campers next to us until early morning hours evens though it’s against the park’s policies. Disappointed. Front lady checking in was very pleasant. No discounts for Veterans, only active duty.
Travelervery nice campground. Always clean. Small store onsite. Small lake. Some sites are full hook-ups and many tent sites. Quiet and peaceful. I’ve stayed many times - September, October & May. The Joshua Tree Music Festival takes over the campground for a week in October and a week in May. Wonderful time to stay and hear such a huge variety of music and art!
GuideDepending on where you camp the roads go from semi rough to very rough. Tough if it rains. Lots of established camps at the beginning with a wide spread of space. Great for RV or none tent campers all around. I'm tent camping so drove to the outskirts and decided that the softer sand at the beginning was more suitable than the cracked surface of the once was lake. Lots of space between camps but not many high trees so isolated but in sight. That and the rougher roads plus high traffic led to the 3 rating. Free is free and no one within 100 ft so 3 is what it is for me. Not bad. Not good.
TravelerCampsite was perfect, the site is for 4 people but easily could have fit 8-10! 3/4 folks in our group tent camped while I slept in my car along the road right next to the campsite. The site itself only had enough room for 2 cars so be sure to budget for that. We had two pit toilet stalls right next to our site, there were some bees around the front entrance but the bathrooms themselves were fine. We stayed at campsite 83, pictures below, on 12/5. It was COLD out as well, I am from colorado but the cold hit different out here! Bring plenty of wood and warm clothes :)
Traveler
Pure Review:
Stayed here on the 29th of May 2021. Was a little warm during the day but hella cool at night. The campground is kinda remote, way better than "Hole in The Wall." You can get there in a 2wd car during dry conditions. Nice sites with a table and fire pit. Room for trailer or tent camping. Might have to arrive early to get a good site.
************************FACTS*********************************************
Price: $12 (first come basis)
Water: NO
Amenities: Picnic tables and fire ring/grill
Access: A freaking Prius made it
Cell service: Verizon 2-3 bars @ top of hill next to site 24
Pit toilet: Clean
Privacy: Yes/NO depends on your site.
Pure Tip:
Drive the loop before you pick a site. Better ones are at the back. Enjoy!!
Traveler
20 bucks a night isnt too bad! The park staff is all friendly and helpful. Restrooms (very clean!) and pottable water are not very far from any of the 99 campsites in Black Rock. Fire rings with grates and picnic benches are provided in every camp, but no firewood is available. You're not allowed to use ANY surrounding vegetation for campfires (even kindling) so be prepared to cart in your own wood and kindling. Pets are allowed but they aren't allowed on trails and also not allowed to be left unattended-- so maybe leave Fido home this go round. Tent camping is HOT so be prepared for a 5am scorching hot wakeup.
Overall a very nice campground, and due to bathrooms and pottable water sources its a good campsite for the beginner or casual campers.
TravelerWe stayed 3 days at this funky little RV campground. It’s full of art installations and has its own small lake that you can fish in. (Catch & Release) There’s a ton of birds and wildlife to observe and a really well stocked general store on the property. Bathrooms were clean and staff was friendly and helpful. There is a small playground onsite for littler kids and tons of space to tent camp. We stayed in 201 which was a HUGE flat spot that could’ve held a much larger rig than ours. All in all it was great, I’d definitely recommend it and plan to return. About 10 minutes to the Joshua Tree National Park entrance and 15+ minutes to good climbs. Easy access and close to town if you forgot something but you won’t hear any traffic.
LegendThis is always our first stop when we go to Joshua Tree. It has all services as well as a little Visitor Center. There is water here so we use it to stage going into the main park for the first come fist served sites the next day and to make sure we have enough water for those campgrounds which have no water.
I am a tent camper. Beware, the wind can roar through here so stake out your tent. For tent sites there are some sites that are open without shade or cover. So choose your site well. ALso try to get there at least once when the Joshua Trees are in bloom.
There is a nice hiking trail at the rear of the campground and a mountain/hill to climb. Nice views from the top.
Also a nice place to watch the sunset or even the sunrise. Star gazing is a plus as well.
ScoutI’m fairly new to tent camping, city boy type. I had a pleasant experience over Memorial Day weekend. The dirt bikes and sand rails didn’t make much noise late in the night. But you choose where you camp. There’s so much distance I think you could walk around nude and nobody would notice 🤷🏻♂️
The only con and reason I took away a star is because there was no signage with directions from the main roads, at least none that I saw. And no signage where the lake bed begins because as I approached from cascade road there were a bunch of private property signs so I trusted that the few other tents I saw meant I was good.
Neutral: it was a bit windy that the darn Bug OFF candle would never stay lit which was a pain because there was ample bugs flying around. The wind comes to an almost standstill at night. It was cool seeing the bats out at dusk.
Other than that, it’s exactly as expected and it’s free!
Traveler
Originally we were planning on camping in Joshua Tree National park, but they were all booked, so I stumbled across this. Price was great, and we still had essentially a camping in the desert away from people experience. The site, Desert Days, had a very cozy festival on your own feel to it. We were able to leave our tent site setup while we left for hours on end to explore, without having it disturbed at all. Very little, almost none, light pollution to obstruct your night viewing. The site had tables and a nice fire pit next to it. The only negative part was someone in a truck kept flying up and down the road at 50mph every hour or so, sometimes sounding like a helicopter, but that’s the only negative thing I can say. I would absolutely return and do it again.
Legend
We have camped at Joshua Tree National Park on multiple occasions. This is a very special place never gets old. We lived in San Diego at the time and this made for a nice weekend trip to Palm Springs and then Joshua. You will need to plan ahead and make reservations or come in the off season to get a camping spot. The park is so close to major populations in Southern California it is always crowded. The tent camping sites are close together but adequate. You can get nestled up against the rocks which will help manage the desert sun and winter winds. The trees and rock formations are incredible. They have some historical elements but the towering rocks and desert vistas are the highlight here. Wow, what a place. The camps have pit toilets and you can fill up your water containers. The biggest challenge here is managing the large crowds and the weather. It can be very cold in the winter nights and baking hot in the summer. Late Spring or Fall are the best times to visit. You can get supplies at on the road near the park. This is a bucket list park and a must see.
LegendThis campground is a little outside the main Joshua Tree area. It used to be the only campground you could reserve ahead. So we usually spend the first night here and then head into the main park in the morning. It has full facilites and water on sight. It has a small visitor center/ranger station as well.
You drive through a residential area and then you are at the campground. You are on a knoll or incline so you are looking down over the valley. There is horse site as well but I do not know the details of that.
We are tent campers. There are good tent sites as well RV sites. A great place to watch the star, the sunset and the sunrise. Trail right fromt= the campground up to a hill/mountain behind the campground.
Be prepared. We have been snowed on here and wind whipped. Always go in February.
Sites have tables, fire rings and water. Modern bathrooms.
You are surrounded by Joshua Trees and if you catch them in the right time they are blooming.
Ranger
$15 a night, which is a better deal than most NPs will offer and right in the middle of the park! This spot was awesome, lots of wildlife to see (lizards, jackrabbits, etc). There’s plenty of spots that offer great shade, because of the rocks. The rocks are great to boulder, scramble, or climb on. Bring your climbing gear if you’re interested! A baby jackrabbit came right up to me at one point, which was adorable but not great. I guess people feed the critters all the time, so be wary. Don’t feed the animals!! The bathrooms are clean & have trash cans and even lights. There are plenty around, and dumpsters too. They don’t smell either. Picnic tables at every site and fire pit with a grate. Really just a wonderful time here. Mostly for tent camping, but we saw some RVs here and there. Ps. Don’t burn the vegetation lying around, a park ranger told us it’s horrible for burning and creates lots of smoke, and check under your cars for turtles!!! It says that everywhere but incase you miss it
GuideThe winning factors for this campground are:
$15 per person/nightly
Really nice staff 👍🏼
A beautiful entry at night, one permanent residence opposite the office has a lovely succulent/cactus garden and the whole garden is pleasingly lit with tiny colored lights.
There is a tiny "lake" with reeds and visiting birds who congregate around the water. Fishing offered, but no swimming.
I spent a very serene time with just myself and my cat. There are so many tent spaces available, it's quite easy to make a camp and stay isolated from other campers. For winter, the location is pleasantly warm during daytime and any site will be nice. But be aware that in summer the sites ideally situated with trees are much more limited.
They have many types of site sections—loads of tent spots, a very tree'd and full hookup area for RVs, and there is also a "dry" RV section with no hookups.
The main bathroom and shower houses are kept very spic and span and there are also a couple outdoor dishwashing stations available. All the plumbed amenities are available for all campers at the park.
One wish that I would really appreciate would be the availability of a 110v outlet bank out in the tent camping area, or wherever putting one in would be feasible. I travel with a mobile freezer and a deep cycle marine battery. Not fully solarized yet, but I do have an inverter, and I really love when I can camp in places that offer electric only sites at a substantial discount off of full hookup sites.
I would happily pay an extra $5per night just to hook up my super efficient mobile fridge/freezer. Er, that is, my cat's mini freezer...it's for her special order frozen🥩 meat 🐈. I just use the little fridge section for the occasional tub of hummus, chunk of cheese, etc.
Overall, this is a very pleasant oasis, slightly off the beaten, no big highway noise. And Joshua Tree, Ca. is just a few minutes downhill where all the small town eateries can be found.
There's also a decent Dollar General store nearby that has the best prices for buying ice.
Slater Bros market in nearby Yucca Valley has hardwood firewood boxes and reasonable prices on all the extras–Firestarter blocks, compressed wood logs, and long nose lighter wands. Gas stations also sell wood, but it's not hardwood, nor fully cured. So that stuff burns up really quick and can be very smoky.
As for this sweet little campground, it's a nice place to get away to, and to have a sense of spaciousness. You might here the eerie, lonesome yips and cries of some coyotes in the distance, to boot.
And I sure can't beat the price for tent camping.
RangerI have camped here two times. Once on Thanksgiving weekend and once on New Years weekend. I really like this campground. The large rock formations in the park help to isolate the campsites from each other even though they are pretty close to one another. I would consider most sites to be "tent sites", but I have seen some 25'+ RV's in the campground. There are a couple of nice trails that start at the campsite which allows you to explore the area without having to drive anywhere. The Skull Rock trail starts near the middle of the campground and is a really nice hike, especially at night. You can also walk out into the desert for a nice view of the sunrise. There are several bathrooms placed throughout the campground and they are as clean and pleasant as you can expect a pit toilet to be. It is worth noting that because this is one of the more popular camps in the park, it fills up quickly and doesn't take reservations. Happy camping!
GuideLet me start by saying what a special place this is. Joshua tree as a whole is a such a magnificent place, but the jumbo rocks campground is otherworldly. I have camped in a lot of different deserts across the country none compare to the amount of fun that can be had on Joshua tree all the climbing and exploring that can be done is outstanding. Although we went in February the weather was great during the day a little chilly and windy at night but with the right preparation all went well. We spent three nights tent camping with sleeping bags and it was low 50s high 40s and we were okay with layers. The days were 60s/70s and sunny. The campsite has about a 45 min drive to town through the north part of the park. Overall this place is amazing highly recommend and for new campers its in the middle of the park but theres lots of people around so you don’t feel totally alone. If u wanna walk away from camp and get away from people and noise theres plenty of opportunity to. If you do stay try and get a camp site next to one of the giant boulders makes for great nighttime ambiance with stars and a fire.
TravelerWithin 15 min. or so of JTNP, farther depending on where in the park you're going/coming from. I camped here Thanksgiving week. There are established sites all over the place, all along plenty of side roads. Saw mostly RVs, with very few tent campers, like myself. No vegetation above maybe 1m, so you're well within sight of everyone and vice versa. Not much of a problem when it gets dark at 5pm, but there's campsites along Sunflower Rd., I believe, with portable toilets if you're tent camping and can't find a concealed spot to pee, though I didn't have trouble. Main roads are pretty busy; people get in at all hours, but I noticed most people were driving farther into the lakebed. Don't expect to feel very isolated or solitary out here; expect to wake up to more people around you than you thought. Roads go from bumpy to pretty rough--be careful if the first time you're driving here is in the dark (I was in a Jetta, granted). I showed up after sunset every day and easily found a spot on the outskirts. It was noticeably cooler here than in the park--each morning I woke up, my car was saying it was at least 10 degrees cooler, 20 one morning. I ended up getting out of there first thing and cooking breakfast in the park to be a little warmer. Easy to find, and it works if you're just looking for a place to rest for the night.
Legend
This is a great value campsite for a National Park. The sites are not very private, but there is a community of campers and climbers and travelers that are, in our experience, fairly camp respectful.
We stayed in site 12 which is on the backside of the camp (away from the road) looking out at the desert. This particular site is on a slight incline for car camping but has a flat pad for tents. Site 9 would have been our first choice as it is flat and a bit more private (I stress "a bit more").
Easy hikes out of the campground and big sky country.
RangerWe stayed at campsite 50 in October with two young kids (2 and 4). Tent camping.
Pros: the views, the beautiful rocks, clean sites, friendly ranger, rocks that could give you some relief from sun if you’re lucky enough. Great area for bouldering from entry level up. Site 50 had low rocks that were doable for my 2 and 4 yo. The rest were way too advanced.
Cons: no park entrance from here. You have to drive 20/30 minutes out to the main road and back in to get to the main area of the park. The campsite next to us had some nasty anthills. Some of the campsites are set up a bit odd depending on your equipment, could or could not be a big deal. For example we were sharing a parking space with campsite 51 and their site was walking in behind ours. So if they had had an RV I think it would have been impossible. Site 50 was right across from the vault toilet which was great for proximity (and toilet was clean as far as these go) but every once in a while we’d get a whiff of out house which is not pleasant. Wasn’t too frequent so not a big deal but if you want to avoid stay further away from toilets.
Get water at the entrance gate to the cove. That’s the only water hook up near by. Picnic tables and fire ring in each site. Vault toilets. No showers. No Joshua trees here but tons of Mojave yuccas and other desert plants. Beautiful views and sleeping under dessert sky and stars.
LegendThis is the best site location for non-group tent camping for an early morning or late evening summit of Ryan Mountain.
Unfortunately, I didn't do enough research when planning my trip to Ryan apart from getting excited about the proximity to the popular Joshua Tree Ryan Mountain hike. I was focused on getting up the hill as early as possible before the sun got too hot. Because the sites are first come, I didn't think I wouldn't have a problem because things aren't too full in the summer. Unfortunately, to my surprise, this campground is closed in the summer.
As an alternative next stop, tried Sheep Pass (which has a trail that connects to the Ryan Mtn trailhead) and quickly learned that this is a group only campground which requires reservation (and is also closed in the summer). Finally wound up at White Tank which is a bit further away, but still a great site and close enough to get to Ryan Mountain early in the day. It turned out to be a good summer alternative.
If you happen to be lucky enough to get a site at Ryan in the season when it is open, it's a "primitive campground", $15 per site, no water (you'll need a lot to drink if you're hiking Ryan Mtn in the sun as well as some to wash off the dust when you get to the bottom) and each site has a table and fire pit (which seems to be the standard across JT). I didn't get to check out the bathrooms, they were also closed.
GuideWords truly can not do this place justice. Joshua Tree National Park is such a beautifully preserved mosaic of nature and human history. We only had two short days here but we can not wait to return and explore more. The ecosystems of the wetter Mojave Desert and the low desert of the Colorado yield differing plants, water canyons, twisted rock formations, and towering monolithic rock formations that are both beautiful and fun to climb. This is a boulderer, hiker and climbers dream. The Joshua trees in and of themselves are both dreamy and mystical. Although there are other camps in the park which seemed to be more remote, we liked the idea of securing a reservation instead of worrying about a first come first serve situation. Because of this, we found this to be an ideal camping spot for location, and proximity as well as eliminating the worry of not getting a site.
For us, the unseasonably warm weather for October affected the hikes we chose to do as we were not acclimated to the extreme and dangerous heat. Despite this, there are plenty of shorter hikes as well as an amazing 18 mile Geology self driving tour ( note you need four wheel drive) exposing you to diverse and gorgeous desert landscapes and even a hike up an extinct volcano.
We found Jumbo Rocks campground to be well kept, and clean. There are 124 tent sites and some RV sites. There are no hook ups or drinking water in the campground so all provisions must be brought in prior to entering the park. There is a small town called Twentynine Palms which is about 10 to 12 miles away where you can get water, firewood and your basic amenities. The campsites were rather close together but because of the beautiful rock formations it seemed like you were more isolated than what you were. As long as the neighboring tenters remembered that others were close by and kept voices down it was peaceful. The most amazing part of this park were the stars at night. They were unbelievably brilliant!
As an additional side note, any type of hanging lights, hammocks, clothes lines, bunting, etc. is forbidden in the park. Hefty fines are awarded to those who violate the rules and attach to vegetation, Joshua Trees, or the Junipers. Lastly, there is little to no shade here and the temps can get extreme. I’d suggest bringing an additional canopy tent for shade as until the sun sets the tent is a sauna sand does not provide relief from the heat.
Tent camping near Amboy, California, offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the stunning desert landscape while enjoying a variety of outdoor activities. With several well-reviewed spots nearby, campers can find the perfect setting for their next adventure.
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