Best Campgrounds near Bear Valley Springs, CA

This is a recreational area you can stay at for up to 14 days. It is also an off-roading area for sport bikes and the like so there are trails all through out for it. But all the campsites are pretty spaced out so you’ll have your privacy.

Plenty of spots right off the road. I drove in after dark and needed a place to sleep before I hit Death Valley. The wind was absolutely howling, but not too bad.

Nice views backing up to scenic rock cliffs. Clean pit toilets. Most sights have a little slope... used a few leveling blocks. Quiet... First come... first served... Compacted dirt gravel road in good condition $25 standard... $23 seniors.

This is BLM land camping in an OHV area that we used for an overnight. For this purpose it was great. A paved road leads to endless dispersed camping options in a beautifully rugged canyon. There were a few OHVs but we arrived late on a weekday and OHV traffic stopped altogether in the evening. Wind was a problem and made sleeping hard. We camped in a 24’ travel trailer with a high clearance truck. While not necessary, the larger truck was nice to have on the dirt portions. There are sites that would be accessible by car as well just be more discerning. Verizon was at 1 bar the whole time.

@ MM 48. There are about 3 dirt road pull offs in this area. The 2 on the south side are attainable with careful driving and 2 wheel drive. One site is visible by the road, the other crests a small hill and has limited visibility from the road. This one, which is on the 48mm is amazing. There are a couple sites on this road. The one on the bend on the other side needs a higher wheel clearance and carful consideration. It leads up the drive to a larger level secluded spot.

The security guard said it’s under new ownership & you have to check in to camp during business hours, which apparently is before 3 pm. We were not able to stay here.

Please please respect the camp if you stay here, leave it better than you found it. (The litter gets bad in the summer.) It's absolutely gorgeous here. There's great access to the national forest and the little town of Kernville is so cute and friendly.

Boulder studded alpine environment with decomposed granite sands. Walk the roads first to avoid deeply rutted or too steep areas for your vehicle. I stopped my motorcycle to camp before the bad ruts and I’m glad I did. Avoid putting your tent on anthills.

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