Best Tent Camping near Bear Valley Springs, CA

Our family stayed here for 2 nights. We enjoyed our time but the kids were disappointed they couldn't touch the water at the lake. I brought a small plastic pool for them to get wet in at our site because it was hot. They do not take reservations and they do fill up quickly so claim your spot early if you plan on going. Fishing is nice if you have a boat of some kind. The boat has to have a trolling motor only though. Not a whole lot of shade in the RV sites there is more shade in tent areas. Bathrooms near RV sites were clean and nice. Down by the tent sites not so much there were ants everywhere. We will probably stay here again as it is only 30 minutes from our house but we will bring our generator and stay near tent sites with shade.

Our campsite & the bathrooms were clean & well maintained. However the location of tent camping v RV camping is awful. We are tent campers and had a nice spot with a beautiful lake view BUT the RV site was directly in front of the lake between our tent & the lake! So when a monstrous RV drove in all we could see was the side of the thing & we had to go around it to enjoy the view.

Super dusty, muddy and dirty if you’re off the main camp site away from the RV circle. What balances being away from the main campsite though- is the literal waterfront campsites. Weather is all over and there are tons of bugs because you’re on the waters edge- but the symphony of frogs singing you to sleep at night is great! Was there with my two dogs tent camping. Def not worth the cost if it’s a frequent visit place. Water spouts and flushing toilets/showers are only in the main campsite- not in the PKW where we were.

This is a nice campground. Very close to the city but still with visiting. I’m a van camper so I rented an RV site because I wanted shade trees. The tent camping sites in the first section have very little shade. Maybe one or two sites have shade. You definitely have to bring a canopy. I camped there in Nov2020 it was a nice getaway. The view of the lake is beautiful. I enjoyed seeing all the ducks on the lake. Each campsite has a table and fire ring. The bathrooms have flush toilets and the campground is kept clean and trash cans are emptied daily. It has a fish cleaning area with running water too. Must put away all your food because the raccoons will get into it. Overall it’s a nice local place to camp if you live in Santa Clarita, Ca.

Tried this campground out for a single day/night of camping for my family of 4.

Location - 5 out of 5 Great location in terms of close to home (40 minutes from Bakersfield). 1.5 miles from Pyramid Lake for a day trip.

Campground - 3 out of 5. $20 per night, by all means, this is only regards to the tent camping not the people or bathrooms etc. We camped in Loop 4 camp 72. While I was towards the end of the campground, very little shade was available. Prepare to bring multiple ezups for shade. Tent was easily put up as ground is soft. This camp was overrun by fire ants, so had to carefully move around their nest. There was a small section in between some trees that allowed us to get some shade, maybe even a small tent fits there. Bathrooms are flush toilets and very clean. No showers available to my knowledge. Camping came with a cement picnic table and a fire pit.

The 2 points off was just because of the shade situation. I did go through the campground all together to see which sites were more shaded and out of all of the sites perhaps 4 had some trees with good shade.

If you are looking for a weekend getaway from the city, good place to come. Just come prepared with multiple shade apparatus.

**My pictures were taken after 6pm when the sun is behind the mountains.

General: Smallish (approx. 50-site) campground that does not take reservations. No hookups, one walk-in tent site, and the others are either back-in or pull-through. Some are “double” sites that would be ideal for sharing. 

Site Quality: Varies. All sites (except four, three of which are designated handicap sites) are a mixture of sand/gravel. Not all are completely level, and some accommodate larger vehicles than others. 

Bathhouse: Pit toilets only. Some are open air and some are enclosed; the one closest to our site was clean. 

Activities: hiking, photography. Good night sky area. The nature trail is accessible directly from the campground and the Hagen Canyon trail is ¾ mile from the campground. Red Cliffs is another short trail across the highway; these are the most popular (and short) hikes in the park but there are others. The views are jaw-dropping and well worth exploring. 

Note that although there is a dump station, there is a $20 charge to use it. 

We arrived around 1 pm on a Sunday in late March and had our pick of sites, however, the campground filled in to about ¾ full by the end of the day.

Kern River is a great place in the hot California Desert. This place has everything to make you feel at home. Several large sites for tents or RV's , bathrooms with full showers, a pool, splashpad and water play area. They have these weird Banana bikes which were fun. I was in complete heaven when I saw the coffee bar! There is a big pavilion with cooking areas for everyone!

This is close to several nearby attractions. They offer great wifi services. Great places if you have little ones. so much to do and all of the staff was wonderful.

They have Cabins too! I didnt stay in them but they are pretty cute.

We were robbed from this location while out hiking and rafting for the day. Lost thousands of dollars in gear, clothes and personal items. Literally everything was gone, they plucked up the whole tent and took it all, nothing left but some tent stakes once we returned. The location is convenient to town and it is nice next to the river BUT BEWARE and don’t leave ANYTHING. We have a feeling it’s people who know the area and do quick grab and goes, not other campers.

There's no facilities here. Heck, there's barely a sign. But it's a great spot to get away from the city for a day or two and hang out with family and friends.

Pros:

Location is great, only a 70-90 minute drive from LA

When it's not windy, it's dead-quiet and fantastic

Joshua trees everywhere

Just enough cell service to feel safe, but not enough bandwidth for your kids to stream YouTube all day

Cons:

- It's hard to find. There is no signs until you randomly pick a dirt road and go a few hundred yards, then you see a Joshua Tree Ranch sign laying on the ground.

- Once you find it, you don't know where you're going. There are no markings on any of the sites, and no markings of where the Ranch ends. Was I camping in the ranch? probably. Who knows? Just drive around until you see a makeshift fire pit someone else left behind.

- Check the weather! We did not and went on a day where the Santa Ana winds were blowing. The day was OK, but the overnight was brutal in a tent. So much noise from the tent and our screen tent outside flapping in 30+mph winds (not the fault of the property, but be aware!)

There are no amenities however it’s a fairly popular spot to camp. There are tents setup at the top of the hill. A 10 minute walk to the natural hot springs along the river.

Great place for RVs and tents. Great fishing spots all over the campground. And access to floating in your tubes and hanging out at beaches in the campground