Best Campgrounds near Bear Valley Springs, CA

We were originally going to do an overnight stay at a gas station or Walmart but had a hard time finding one in this area. Luckily we found this spot which was just a few minutes of the highway. We arrived at night so were pleasantly surprised when the sun came up in the morning and we realized how beautiful it was!

You do need to purchase a $5 Adventure Pass in order to stay here and someone will come around to check in the morning. The fine if you don't have a pass is over $500 so highly recommend you get the pass before arriving for the evening.

This was our second stay. Our first being back in 2007 - 2008. We stayed in the exact spot both times on the end of the back row with a great view of the airport.  It all has been covered here except for the great lunch the airport restaurant serves and the ability to book a glider flight.  If you have time and they have a pilot and time it is a fantastic flight. It is surreal to get pulled into the air, release the tow, and only hear the wind as you fly over the mountains searching and finding updrafts. Unfortunately, he two days we were there (Oct '24) they had NASA and the Air Force flying and were all booked up.

Been here several times to boondock with our SxS. It's good off summer due to heat, plenty places to camp, but absolutely filthy because no one in SoCal knows how to clean up after them selves. Trash, ammo, and broken glass absolutely everywhere.

Ranger woke me up early asking for a permit. He was not agro, as I didn't look like I bum I think that helped. He explained a shell station off the 176 nearby sells $5 day passes and $30 annual.

This is a county park on a lake. The campsites are unique in that they are all pull through, but really pull along. There’s lots of space and you are not on top of each other. That said, the campground is full of pocket gophers and ground squirrels so lots of uneven ground. The bathrooms are really old. Like they have metal toilets. I travel a lot and wouldn’t choose to shower here. It’s great in November and December. I’m sure it’s hot in the summer and not a ton of shade. It’s very affordable and did the job. If the bathrooms were not so old it would have been a 4 star.

The views from this campground are absolute stellar. The sites and pit toilets are clean and plenty of spaces were available. It was all first come, first served and self-pay when we arrived. Drive the loop and find your spot, then return the payment in the envelope provided to the pay station. I’m sure it’s a busy place on the weekends. It’s in an OHV area, so off road vehicle noise is to be expected, but it was minimal. The road in is smooth, sites are easy to access (with a few pull-through sites) and there are a few paved ADA specific sites as well. The sites up by the cliffs are offer the best views but many may be difficult to get level in if you have a motorhome or travel trailer.

There was no food locker or bathroom close to where I parked but there are lots of spots, and a great view, it's also very close to grocery stores. Heavy wind and some critters interested in the tent. Very immersive area. I ended up just putting all my food in a cooler in my trunk and it worked.

Wouldn't go down the last steep section, it was wet sand, I decided not to risk it, as it was night too, and parked sideways at the spot overlooking the valley, it was a great view but I couldn't really see where the river was.

☆ No target shooting allowed ☆ Arrived on a drizzly day & tried going further down the road to other more secluded camping spots. However the dirt road was slick & minivan, loaded down, was slipping & sliding. Backtracked to a nice spot, camaflouged by a small hill, it'll protect my gear tent. This is open castle range.

Nice rv park but pretty ridiculous that all the toilets and showers in the rv park are locked from 10pm-7:30 am. When you’re paying a minimum of $59 a night I’d expect I would At least be able to Use the restroom in the middle of the night wouldn’t recommend for that reason

Clean Spots, recommend! lot of space and different places.

Campground is full hookups. Lake was nice and not many boats. Ground was rough due to holes made by squirrel population. Some minor litter.

I drove past a couple of camp grounds directly at the lake and was very disappointed what I found. Yes, you can camp right at the lake but only if you appreciate the charme of a Walmart parking lot. There is basically next to no trees or any nature for that matter.

So I looked a little further and was very happy to have found this site. Beautifully located right at a river, surrounded by trees, big boulders and the stunning mountain scenerey.

However, be aware that this is not serviced at all. There is no electricity, water, dump stations or anything else than the actual spot. And BEWARE: there is quite a steep and narrow entry road into the site. I drove in with a 30 feet class A camper and I am little worried if I will get out tomorrow. Also I smacked some leaves off of a tree on my way in with my 13“ clearance.

The post fire which burned the area of 10,000 acres on June 15, 2024 has caused this area to be closed until further notice. We went to camp but were turned away. Be aware. Otherwise would have been a great place to stay as I have been there before

Well run site, with easy late check in process. Friendly on site camp hosts who sell ice and firewood. Quite a lot of rules, and it had kind of a kids camp feel to it. Showers are hot, but you need quarters for them. I only gave three stars as it just not my kind of campground. If you're a family with kids I think it'd be great.

All the spots at the front were taken here so we had to drive almost all the way to end. Don’t go down the final steep hill, you might not make it up. It’s very tight there and you have to do a 20 point turn to turn back.

We walked down the hill and our friend saw some random guy come out the trees and follow us as we were walking back up. He might be living there because there was so much trash

2 stars because the area itself is nice, there’s the river nearby and internet was good

We stayed in Loop A on a Thursday night in July. For us, it was a convenient overnight stop. It was a lot less crazy/ crowded than we expected for an LA County campground in the middle of summer! This site is on the lagoon, not the main lake, but had nice views and a good breeze in the heat. Very minimal space, not much shade. But the real issue was that the bathroom stalls in our loop (A) had no doors. I also doubt they are cleaned daily, though it wasn't terrible. Being close to the city, there were a ton of people meandering around, but they all seemed to be doing their own thing (e.g fishing or just walking), few suspicious characters. Lots of families and kids made it feel fairly safe for an urban campground. Not our favorite, but we would stop over here again in a pinch.