Best Tent Camping near Azusa, CA

The Angeles National Forest surrounding Azusa, California offers numerous primitive tent camping options, many accessible only by hiking trails. Tent campers can choose from established walk-in sites like Spruce Grove Trail Camp, Hoegees Trail Camp, and Valley Forge Trail Camp, all located within a short drive from Azusa. Little Jimmy Trail Campground, situated along the Pacific Crest Trail, provides tent-only sites with picnic tables and fire rings at higher elevations.

Most tent campgrounds in the area require hikers to pack in all supplies, as amenities are minimal. Sites typically feature dirt or forest duff surfaces with basic fire rings and picnic tables, though fire restrictions are common during dry seasons. Bear activity necessitates proper food storage, with some sites providing bear boxes. Vault toilets are available at several locations including Glenn Trail Camp and Valley Forge, but running water is scarce. Campers should bring water treatment supplies to utilize nearby creeks. Adventure Passes are required for parking at most trailheads leading to these primitive tent setups.

The secluded nature of these hike-in tent sites offers a genuine wilderness experience despite proximity to urban areas. Glenn Trail Camp provides an excellent introduction to bikepacking or backpacking, with a 6.5-mile relatively flat access trail following a river. Higher elevation sites like Little Jimmy offer cooler temperatures and scenic views, making them popular summer destinations. According to one visitor, "Little Jimmy is a backcountry hike-in only campground nestled just 2 miles off the Angeles Crest Highway with around 7 first-come, first-served sites with fire rings and vintage backcountry ovens." Many tent campers use these sites as starting points for longer backpacking trips, with easy access to extensive trail networks including segments of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Best Tent Sites Near Azusa, California (55)

    1. Spruce Grove Trail Campground - TEMPORARILY CLOSED DUE TO FIRE

    5 Reviews
    Mount Wilson, CA
    9 miles
    Website
    +1 (818) 482-8937

    "This is a backpackers campground. First come first serve, picnic tables and fire rings included. I think there is only about 8-10 sites. Nice creek flows though the campground."

    "This is a hike in campground that has stoves and a creek running through. The sites are nicely spaced and there is plenty of shade. Perfect little backpacking trip."

    2. Hoegees Trail Camp Campground

    5 Reviews
    Mount Wilson, CA
    8 miles
    +1 (818) 899-1900

    "You can only access this campground by backpacking in. There's about 12 campsites with picnic benches and fire rings. There's a creek that runs through. it's beautiful and feels completely isolated."

    "Hoegee’s is 2 miles hike from Chantry Flats by way of the Lower Winter Creek Trail. The site is named for Hoegee’s resort which stood just upstream."

    3. Glenn Trail Camp Campground

    4 Reviews
    Duarte, CA
    7 miles
    Website
    +1 (818) 899-1900

    $5 / night

    "Access to this campground is so easy, whether it's by car or by bike."

    "This hike-in/bike-in campground is located 6 1/2 miles behind a locked gate. The small campground is equipped with stream for water (must be treated), and vault potties."

    4. Mount Lowe Trail Campground

    8 Reviews
    Mount Wilson, CA
    13 miles
    +1 (818) 899-1900

    "No water, fountain is capped now"

    "There's no water right now but that could change after first rain or snow.

    Stayed here last week & it's still great."

    5. Valley Forge Trail Camp hike in. no drive

    6 Reviews
    Mount Wilson, CA
    12 miles
    Website

    $5 / night

    "Took some friends for their first ever backpacking trip, great intro to the “experience.” Trail camp is in the canyon so it’s an easy 3.5 mile hike in, but a tough hike out of the canyon."

    "Picnic tables and fire rings made food preparing especially easy. It has so much charm!"

    6. Millard Trail Campground

    9 Reviews
    Altadena, CA
    14 miles
    Website

    "Cool drive to get to the campground. You drive up and down these hilly roads up the mountain to get there. Once there, there's a parking lot that fits about 20 cars."

    "When you can’t do a 2h hike before setting camp, but you also don’t want to camp close to your car, Millard campground is perfect. The parking lot is just behind the corner out of view."

    7. Manker Campground

    13 Reviews
    Mount Baldy, CA
    18 miles
    Website
    +1 (626) 335-1251

    $12 / night

    "Although the restroom are very dirty but overall it was a great stay!"

    "Tucked away at the top of a precarious winding mountain road. It is very basic, simple and beautiful."

    8. Little Jimmy Trail Campground

    7 Reviews
    Valyermo, CA
    15 miles
    Website
    +1 (626) 335-1251

    "This campsite is located in California and is one of my favorites."

    "Hike in , via the PCT, an easy couple miles , to little jimmy campground. or hike up Little Jimmy road, which is a wider dirt road ( no vehicles)

    Lots of sites ( I’ve never seen more than a couple occupied"

    9. West Fork Trail Campground - Temporarily Closed

    4 Reviews
    Mount Wilson, CA
    13 miles
    Website
    +1 (818) 899-1900

    "Perfect stopping point for backpacking. Went here in May and we were the only 2 here. Plenty of water flowing and tree cover from the sun."

    "No water facet but there is a toilet. I have woke in the morning to deer on several occasions. I will come back here."

    10. China Camp State Park Campground

    10 Reviews
    Chino Hills, CA
    19 miles
    Website
    +1 (415) 456-0766

    $35 - $175 / night

    "The campground was not busy and this allowed me to pick a spot hidden away from others. There are restrooms and a place to get water, but when I was there the showers were closed.  "

    "This walk-in campground is part of China Camp State Park. Only 33 tent-only sites! Wheeled totes can be borrowed to haul your gear up some little hills to your campsite under oak and bay trees."

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Tent Camping Reviews near Azusa, CA

1011 Reviews of 55 Azusa Campgrounds


  • Tony  C.
    Sep. 20, 2020

    Little Jimmy Trail Campground

    Local gem of a campsite

    This campsite is located in California and is one of my favorites. Located above Crystal Lake you’ll find Little Jimmy, it’s a backcountry hike-in only campground nestled just 2 miles off the Angeles Crest Highway. It has around 7 first-come, first-served sites with fire rings, vault toilets (which are currently not in service), and vintage backcountry ovens. After parking at Islip Saddle, cross the highway and begin hiking for 2 miles up the switchbacks until you reach Little Jimmy Campground on your right. Popular with Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, this scenic spot offers a chance to get away from established campgrounds and live amongst the Coulter Pines and Big Doug Firs. Campers turned hikers have easy access to hop on the legendary Pacific Crest Trail which runs through the camp. There is no fee to camp here other than an Adventure pass for your parking. In the summertime, bears can be common visitors so make sure and secure your food in provided bear boxes or bring your own bear canisters. As always, make sure you follow the "Leave No Trace" principles and pack everything in and out!

  • Les R.The Dyrt PRO User
    Aug. 6, 2018

    Buckhorn Campground

    Most beautiful campground in the Angeles National Forest!

    We've wanted to camp here for so long, but we've never been able to get a spot. We finally did this weekend, and it fully lived up to our expectations. Because this campground is set within a ravine that has a stream during the rainier months, so the landscape feels very different than the other nearby campgrounds - very green with tall trees. The campsites have plenty of space between neighbors, so we felt we had privacy and weren't disturbed by any noise from other sites. Each site has a picnic table, firepit, and bear box for food storage. There is a water spigot at the campground, but the ranger advised that it's not potable.

    There's day parking at the end of the campground for the trailhead to Cooper Canyon Falls. In the summer the "waterfall" is barely a trickle, but the hike still has a nice stream and is worth doing.

  • j
    Mar. 25, 2021

    Millard Trail Campground

    Great campground for hiking/biking

    Cool drive to get to the campground. You drive up and down these hilly roads up the mountain to get there. Once there, there's a parking lot that fits about 20 cars. There's about 100 yd hike to the campsites. There's a road that leads to the campsite but it's been blocked off. Only the campsite managers use that road so it's not accessible by RV, just tents. A campsite manager stays in a little trailer overnight so if there's any problems there's somebody there you can go to and ask for help. There's about six campsites and their first come first serve, no reservations. I went during the week and was the only one camping. This place is heavily used for day camping and hiking. There's not a lot of privacy because there's always lots of people passing by who are hiking and biking. You can stay overnight which I did and everything was fine but there's not a lot of privacy. The next day as I was leaving there was another guy sitting up his tent. I bet on the weekends they can fill up pretty fast. It's in Bear country so they provide food storage for each campsite also trash containers too. Each side has a picnic bench and a fire pit. The fire ban has been lifted so you can have a fire. Each fire pit had wood left at it so you didn't have to go searching for campfirewood. Bathrooms included male and female toilets but no showers or water. There's a creek that runs through the campground which makes it very pretty. I saw two to three cabins along the outskirts of the campground that I assume were for rentals. There was one family at one of the cabins the night I stayed. About a 20 minute hike and you can end up at a waterfall which is very pretty. But there are several trails to take for hiking and biking and I saw lots of people doing that. Overall a good campsite four stars. Would have been five stars if they had showers and running water. I didn't see any bears although there was an animal outside my tent at one point in the night I could hear him nosing around. So it's important to keep all of your food and anything with any kind of smell in the bear boxes

  • K
    Aug. 2, 2018

    Glenn Trail Camp Campground

    Perfect for Bikepacking Novices

    Access to this campground is so easy, whether it's by car or by bike. I have bikepacked here a couple times now; once biking up Highway 39 from Azusa (after taking the Metro Gold Line to Azusa), and once driving up the 39 with bikes and bags in the trunk.

    The trailhead to the campground is impossible to miss, as it is marked by a large parking lot and a sign marked "Cogswell Dam". This campground is so perfect for bikepacking novices or those looking to do a gear check because it's an honest 6.5 miles of a relatively flat paved road. If you're trying to bike_fish_ (it's a thing), this road is lined with fishing platforms for all sorts of trout, as the road follows a river the entire way.

    The campsite itself is relatively large, with two vault toilets and two bear-safe trash cans. There are at least 5 campsites with picnic tables The river lining the road to the campsite is very accessible, and is perfect as a water source, or washing camp dishes.

    While bugs are an inevitable aspect of being outdoors, the biting gnats and/or mosquitos are very formidable in the summer. We had some "natural" bug spray that had little to no effect, so you might want to bring your bug repellant A-game if bugs bother you.

    Overall this campground is near and dear to my heart as it was my first bikepacking experience. If you're looking to introduce a bunch of friends to bikepacking, or backpacking, bikefishing, fishpacking (?), then this is the place to do it.

  • Michael A.
    Jul. 6, 2020

    San Bernardino National Forest Crab Flats Campground

    5 Miles Dirt Road Off Highway YES

    Slow going on the dirt road but boy is it worth it. There are a couple of water spigots. Pack your trash out when you leave. Do not need 4WD to get there but it’s sure fun on all the truck trails if you do! Lots of trees and shade, 26 sites that are usually pretty full on the weekends. Vault toilets. Fire rings, bear boxes and picnic tables provide the basics. The drive out to the lake is also worth it if kids want to play in the water. Kayak and small boat rentals, fishing with stocked waters. All in all a great way to spend a weekend in the mountains.

  • K
    Jan. 5, 2022

    Oakwilde Trail Campground

    Half Sunk, Overgrown

    The camp site looks like it was buried in mud from a flood a few years ago. There’s been no maintenance to this camp. The cook stoves are covered, half of the one picnic table was underground. But still, it’s a beautiful and remote spot. The river was running when I was there in January and it was just gorgeous. Looks like there’s really only one usable flat spot to set up a tent. But you can’t have a fire or anything. I didn’t camp just hiked in and checked it out. Dunno if I would try camping here.

  • Tony  C.
    Jun. 24, 2019

    Henninger Flat - PERMANENTLY CLOSED

    Great local campsite

    I recently moved to WA from Los Angeles so this review is legit 😁 This was and still continues to be one of my favorite campsite close to Los Angeles, I have plenty of fond memories with close friends at this site. It’s completely exposed all the way to the top, a well worth 3 mile uphill hike to three different camp sites. My favorite is the middle site where you get a clear view of the city, beautiful views at night. They say there’s no water but there is, there’s a spout located by the restroom close to the museum, you’ll have to treat it before using (but don’t take my word for it, they tend to shut it off so take plenty of water for your time there and check it out if you need more) If you continue past the middle campsite to the upper site, you’ll have plenty of space for tents and hammocks just no view due to the trees on the edge. If you continue on that trail for another 3 miles i believe, you’ll get to idlehour campground. It’s a small site right next to a creek, you can continue on to Mt Lowe campground and inspiration point. Back to Henninger, plenty of trees for hammocks and sometimes they have firewood collected. At the museum you can buy soda cans so take some change. Hauling a 24 pack of cold Modelos in my pack was not fun at all, but boy did they taste good at the top hahaha. Bugs can get annoying so carry some bug spray, hang your food and PACK IT OUT!!! Leave no trace behind.

  • Shari  G.The Dyrt PRO User
    Oct. 20, 2023

    Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park

    A World Away from the City Surrounding It

    Tucked on the outskirts of Mission Viejo is an oasis of green grass and groves of the twisting and searching limbs of Coastal Live Oak trees.  If you stuck me in the middle of this park, I’d never know that I was miles away from the sprawl of suburbia of a major metropolitan area…shhh don’t tell anyone.

    There are 3 campgrounds within this regional park -- one soley dedicated to RV's that require electrical hook-ups (Ortega Flats), a group campground (San Juan Meadow), and another which is a mix of tents and off-grid RVs (Live Oak).  This review is specifically for the off-grid Live Oak Campground which s aptly named because you’ll find yourself enjoying the ample shade of these amazing arbors, but plenty of sun to run our solar powered system.  

    The campsites can be reserved but there is plenty of room for first-come first-served travelers as well.  The sites offer enough space to tuck away a tent in the corner, or set up the longer trailer, as well as the typical picnic table and fire ring.  Plenty of port o potties are scattered throughout the campground and served the large groups gathered here on Easter weekend.  We indulged in making a fabulous brunch of Wood Fired Waffles to celebrate the holiday!  As of April 2023, they were still experiencing a well water issue, so no water was available from the faucet, but the river running through the park was useful for obtaining water to wash dishes.

    Hiking, biking and horseback riding trails meander throughout the park. The campground borders on a small creek for fishing, but is off-limits to wading and swimming because of the instability of the opposite bank. Keep an eye on the kids!  Be sure to check out the volunteer-run Nature Center on the property which is full of great information about flora, fauna, and native history.

    The closest store for firewood, and groceries is just a few miles back toward town.  And, the closest beach is just about 30 minutes away, so a great option for a day trip.

  • S
    Aug. 21, 2021

    Dogwood

    Beautifully wooded sites

    This park has something for everyone. I used a site that provided electric. There are tent and dry sites throughout. While the sites are everywhere, they are spaced in a way that feels private. There are bear boxes, picnic tables and fire rings at each site. The bathrooms were clean, with flushing toilets. Places to get water are all over. There are so many hiking opportunities for every level.


Guide to Azusa

Nestled in the San Gabriel Mountains, Azusa, California, offers a variety of tent camping options that cater to outdoor enthusiasts looking for adventure and tranquility.

Tent campers like these nearby activities

  • Explore the scenic trails at Manker Campground, where you can enjoy hiking and breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains.
  • Experience the beauty of nature while mountain biking at China Camp State Park Campground, which features trails suitable for all skill levels.
  • Discover the stunning waterfalls and lush landscapes on a hike from Millard Trail Campground, perfect for both day hikes and overnight stays.

Tent campers appreciate these amenities

  • Enjoy the convenience of drinking water and picnic tables at Little Jimmy Trail Campground, making it an ideal spot for family outings.
  • Benefit from the well-maintained facilities at Bear Canyon Campground, which includes fire pits and a picturesque creek for a refreshing dip.
  • Take advantage of the free camping experience at Gould Mesa Trail Campground, where you can find solitude and a serene environment.

Enjoy these unique features

  • Experience the charm of a backcountry setting at Hoegees Trail Camp Campground, complete with a flowing creek and a rich history of the area.
  • Relish the peaceful atmosphere at Idlehour Trail Campground, where you can unwind by the creek and enjoy the sounds of nature.
  • Camp under the stars at Spruce Grove Trail Campground, which is temporarily closed but known for its beautiful sites and proximity to hiking trails.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is camping allowed along the Azusa River?

Oakwilde Trail Campground is situated near the river, offering primitive camping with minimal facilities. While the site has experienced some flood damage in recent years, it remains a beautiful riverside location. Another option is Millard Trail Campground, which features shaded sites with benches and bear boxes. Remember that camping is only permitted in designated campgrounds in the Angeles National Forest, not randomly along the river. Always check current forest regulations and fire restrictions before planning your trip.

Where can I find tent camping sites in Azusa Canyon?

Azusa Canyon offers several excellent tent camping options. Glenn Trail Camp Campground is easily accessible via Highway 39 from Azusa and is popular with hikers and bikepackers. For those seeking a more traditional campground experience, Angeles National Forest Big Rock Campground is located in the canyon with sites near a seasonal creek. Additional options include Millard Trail Campground, which requires a short hike to reach the campsites, and Little Jimmy Trail Campground, located just off Angeles Crest Highway above Crystal Lake.

What are the best times of year for tent camping in Azusa?

Spring and fall offer the most pleasant camping weather in Azusa. Spring (March-May) brings moderate temperatures, flowing creeks after winter rains, and wildflowers. Fall (September-November) features warm days, cool nights, and fewer crowds. Summer can be extremely hot with temperatures frequently exceeding 90°F, especially at lower elevations. Little Jimmy Trail Campground at higher elevation provides a cooler summer option. Winter camping is possible but prepare for cold nights and possible snow at higher elevations. Hoegees Trail Camp Campground offers good protection in more challenging weather.