Best Tent Camping near Bear Valley, CA

Tent campsites near Bear Valley, California range from established campgrounds to dispersed backcountry sites across the Stanislaus National Forest. Bear Valley Dispersed Camping offers primitive tent sites with minimal amenities, while North Grove Campground at Calaveras Big Trees State Park provides more developed facilities for tent campers seeking established sites with amenities like picnic tables and fire rings.

Most tent camping areas require campers to pack in their own water, as drinking water is limited at primitive sites. Bear Valley's dispersed camping areas feature fire rings but lack formal facilities, making them suitable for self-sufficient tent campers. Vault toilets are available at some locations like Utica Campgrounds and Stanislaus River Campground, but many backcountry tent sites have no sanitation facilities. A camper noted that "Bear Valley is my favorite place to go camping, the most you get close to the top of the mountain, the most curvy the road is, so be prepared." Bear boxes are provided at some locations to protect food from wildlife, particularly important during summer months when bear activity increases.

The tent camping experience varies significantly with elevation and season. Higher elevation sites may remain snow-covered until late spring, limiting access for early-season tent campers. Areas farther from Highway 4 offer deeper seclusion and less road noise, making them preferred destinations for tent campers seeking solitude. As described in feedback on The Dyrt, "We stayed at the group site at the event center. The sites were mostly all at a slant so it was a bit uncomfortable in terms of the sleep situation." Tent campers frequently use these areas as bases for day hikes, with several trailheads accessible from camping areas. Tree cover provides welcome shade during summer months, though campers should be aware of potential hazards from dead-standing trees when selecting tent sites in dispersed camping areas.

2025 Detourist Giveaway

Presented byToyota Trucks

Review Campgrounds. Win Prizes.

Enter to Win

Best Tent Sites Near Bear Valley, California (74)

    1. Bear Valley Dispersed Camping

    7 Reviews
    Sierraville, CA
    1 mile
    Website
    +1 (530) 994-3401

    "Bear valley is my favorite place to go camping, the most you get close to the top of the mountain, the most curvy the road is, so be prepare."

    "Wooded campground, cool weather, good phone reception, many spots taken with no activity probably by locals. Lake, hiking, close shopping."

    2. North Grove Campground — Calaveras Big Trees State Park

    22 Reviews
    Arnold, CA
    20 miles
    Website
    +1 (209) 795-2334

    $25 - $70 / night

    "The campground we chose was kind of close to the road which would have been the only real negative."

    "Beautiful site, hiking trails close by, well maintained grounds. Bear came through our camp one night hit the Bear box and walked off. Rangers were friendly and very informative about the area."

    3. Utica Campgrounds

    4 Reviews
    Bear Valley, CA
    4 miles
    Website
    +1 (209) 532-3671

    $16 / night

    "Or just use nature :)

    Please please don’t trash this place! People just don’t understand LNT rules."

    "Because there’s no host or ranger, there are also no reservations. It’s all first come first serve! I arrived on a Thursday to find 2 open spots."

    4. Stanislaus River Campground

    3 Reviews
    Bear Valley, CA
    3 miles
    Website
    +1 (209) 532-3671

    $12 / night

    "About half of the sites were closed due to dangerous trees so there weren't as many people around."

    "Very nice campground with clean vault toilets. Along the north fork Stanislaus River. Great for trout fishing. Hike downstream for some great views of the river. Gets very dark at night."

    5. Pacific Valley Campground

    3 Reviews
    Bear Valley, CA
    8 miles
    Website
    +1 (209) 795-1381

    $10 / night

    "The camp sites aren't too close together, they have picnic tables, fire rings and grills, and there's a toilet. I saw that there was a trail head at the back of the campground."

    "Sites are located along the meadow and around a loop in the back portion of the campground where there’s a trail head into the wilderness."

    6. Middle Creek & Expansion Campground - TEMP CLOSED FOR 2023 SEASON

    2 Reviews
    Markleeville, CA
    12 miles
    Website

    "We stayed here just after the campground opened for the season, the upper campgrounds were still closed but lower blue lakes was open. We had the entire campground to ourselves."

    "Large grass area that looked like it could be for camping, it was on top of the lake overlooking it. It was absolutely beautiful. Didnt see any campers but it didn’t say don’t camp here."

    7. Bear River Group Campground

    2 Reviews
    Bear Valley, CA
    10 miles
    Website
    +1 (209) 295-4360

    $115 - $145 / night

    "Camping on the bear river out of Weimar California. camping is very close to the river. reservations are require, fee is $10 per site. Activities include swimming, rafting, fishing and gold panning."

    8. Wet Meadows Reservoir

    1 Review
    Markleeville, CA
    13 miles

    "And we were pleasantly surprised to find a nice spot overlooking the lake."

    9. Eagle Meadow Horse Camp

    2 Reviews
    Stanislaus National Forest, CA
    17 miles
    Website

    "There were a couple of other spots taken, but it was off the beaten path and very quiet. I was able to watch the sunset from some rocks across the road."

Show More
Showing results 1-10 of 74 campgrounds

2025 Detourist Giveaway

Presented byToyota Trucks

Review Campgrounds. Win Prizes.

Enter to Win


Tent Camping Reviews near Bear Valley, CA

1140 Reviews of 74 Bear Valley Campgrounds


  • Dani P.
    Jul. 12, 2019

    Meeks Bay

    Beautiful and big family oriented campground

    Just a small walk away from Lake Tahoe shore. Big beautiful trees cover the entire campground. A couple bathrooms that surprisingly do not smell bad and have a running faucet. Bears are a real issue, so they have big bear boxes at each site - make sure to use them. Sites close together and not much privacy. Camp Host on site. Very limited parking at the sites, but free parking if you park outside of the campground along the main road and walk in. Do not leave food in your car, especially on the outside. And dont forget to Leave No Trace!

  • Anna C.
    Sep. 28, 2017

    Hetch Hetchy Backpacker's Campground — Yosemite National Park

    Hetch Hetchy Walk-in Established Sites

    We stayed the night at one of the Hetch Hetchy reservable sites (first come, first served) before our trek through the backcountry of Yosemite. The sites were just a quick walk in from the parking lot and featured picnic tables, bear boxes, bathrooms and established fire rings. A permit is required to stay in the area as well as a $6 per person fee and you're able to check-in with your reservation right at the Hetch Hetchy entrance. The sites are well maintained and do feature scenic vistas, though it appears that the best views offered by Hetch Hetchy are found farther in the backcountry and we wish we had the time to really explore the area. The campground served as an easy spot to hike in, set up and prepare for a long trek ahead, although, if you're not pressed for time or resting up for a big hike, I'd recommend continuing on past the established sites into the more scenic backcountry. One major advantage of Hetch Hetchy is that you'll avoid the major crowds in Yosemite Valley which can't be beat in my book.

  • Quinn M.
    Sep. 23, 2019

    North Grove Campground — Calaveras Big Trees State Park

    Close to Perfect

    My brother and I hit the north grove campground for the first time this past weekend. My expectations weren’t high but this place was great.

    The campground we chose was kind of close to the road which would have been the only real negative. The campground map makes it seem like the road was further away from the sites but I woke up a couple of times from road noise.

    Our campsite had a fire ring, bbq, picnic table and bear box and still had a large flat spot for my huge tent as well as parking for my car.

    The weather was great, no bugs to be found and plenty to do. I already want to go back next year but choose a site further from the road.

  • Summer A.
    Jul. 25, 2018

    Big Meadows Campground

    Sequoia National Forest Lovely Spacious Camp Sites

    It sounds like there are multiple Big Meadow camp grounds in California. This review is for Big Meadow Campground, Sequoia NF - FS, CA. The photos are of site 009B. My visit was wonderful. The camp sites are large. We set up two 8 person tents and one 2 person tent and there was plenty of room for more. The firepits are very well made. They block the wind while allowing good airflow. There is a very large picnick table at each site, a bear box, and plenty of shade. There is a vault toilet that is cleaned daily. The sites boarder a stream. The water level is about 3 inches in July with temperatures in the 80's. This is a dog friendly site. There is no potable water at this site.

  • S
    Aug. 19, 2018

    Sand Flat Campground

    No Reservations Required

    Located off highway 50 near Kyburz, CA, this campsite is a first come, first serve campsite. No reservations. Listen to the sounds of the river while sleeping. You can also play & fish in the river during the day. The river is stocked with fish. RV & tent sites which are spacious & most have nice shade coverage. No hookups, vault toilets. Dog friendly on leashes. Camp host has been there for 5 years & is super friendly. we had no problems but we followed the rules. Only 4 stars because you do hear the highway traffic. one of my fav places. $23 per day per site, $8 for extra parking. Lots of extra spaces.

  • Lee D.The Dyrt PRO User
    Dec. 15, 2023

    General Creek Campground — Sugar Pine Point State Park

    Available off-season camping near Lake Tahoe

    After October 2, it is first come, first available and only sites 26-72 were open so my review is limited to a small portion of the campground. When I researched ahead of time, it was the ONLY open campground I could find in the Lake Tahoe area. At least the per night rate was decreased to $25 ($23 for seniors). I don’t know about the rest of the loops but most of the sites in the open loop appeared to be “doubles” or even “triples”; the camper pads were paved but appeared to be side-by-side parking spaces. Fortunately, there were not many campers so this was not a problem, however, if the park were more crowded, this layout would only make sense if the camper pads were used to park vehicles and people tent camped. All sites appeared to be level. No hookups. Each site had a large picnic table, fire ring, and bear box. 

    We had been warned multiple times that we were camping in an active bear area and although we did not encounter any, one of the other campers told us they had seen a mama and bear cub, along with a coyote. 

    The showers and dump station were closed for the season. There was no host on-site. The restrooms were very basic: toilet and sink but no soap, paper towels, or air dryers. 

    My rating might have been higher if we could have seen other parts of the campground, but our experience was limited to one night and we did not visit the day-use area.

  • Elliott B.
    Sep. 28, 2018

    Fallen Leaf Campground - South Lake Tahoe

    Nice location, but has a few major issues

    We got a last minute cancelled site at the Fallen Leaf Campground, and thought we’d truly lucked out. We stayed at site 87 which is nestled among towering native pine trees on the South end of the campground and one of the few sites which doesn’t have neighbors on all sides. The sites have the standard standing BBQ's and fire rings at all sites (but we couldn’t utilize them because of the fire ban), old picnic tables and various amounts of space for RV’s/cars and the tried and true bear box. In this campground you NEED to utilize the bear boxes. They have signs everywhere about the mass amount of bear activity and how there is a mother and her 2 cubs which have been terrorizing the campground for some time this season (2018). Again, you need to keep everything (food, toiletries, etc.) in the bear box at all times. The sites are reservable, and on top of the $35 (nonelectric) per site there is a $7 fee for a second vehicle, Yurts go for $86 which do have power and a nonrefundable $10 service fee…. While the campground allows dogs, they aren’t allowed in the Yurts.

    There’s lots of bear proof dumpsters around the campground, lots of potable water in strategic spots and a number of decent restrooms, and it was nice that at some of them they provided hot (pay) showers (at $1 per 3 minutes) and while the ADA has some control the standard one has no control over the heat or pressure its simply on or off. Also, the restrooms have no soap, paper towels, or hand dryers, etc. Which was a little disappointing for the cost.

    My biggest disappointment in the setup of the campground has to do with the bears and cleaning your dishes. There is no dish-washing area in the entire ~200 site, ~14 bathroom campground. They specifically ask that you don’t wash your dishes in the sinks or at the water spigots as they don’t want any food particles going down the drains. So, when I asked about disposing of the dish water they said to just toss it at the base of a tree, as it’s dry and the trees would appreciate it. This doesn’t help keep the bears away… While we scrapped and collected every bit of food waste we could and tossed it into the dumpsters, ff you’re just tossing food scrap-soaked water at the base of the trees the bears are going to come for the smell… I’ve stayed at other sites in bear country which have setups for disposing of the waste water and food scraps to detract bears and Fallen Leaf definitely is lacking and this is possibly part of the reason they’re having such an issue with bears.

    While, our site (87) would probably normally be a great location with the Fallen Leaf Lake being the only thing behind you and no neighbors on at least 2 of your sides, we happened to somehow book the same weekend that a corporate event was taking over the vast majority of the campground with almost 200 people….

    While, not entirely the campgrounds fault it was a little disruptive to have this mass number of people come directly next to us in site 88 for their meals as they’d decided to make that site the meal prep site for breakfast (they started prep at 5:30 am) and dinner (we actually had to ask the drunk group to stop screaming at midnight) these were both well outside the “quiet hours” and definitely surpassed the “6 people per site” rule.

    Otherwise this campground is in a great location to see the area as it’s only approximately one-quarter mile north of Fallen Leaf Lake. The trail from the campground was only 3 sites over from us. The Taylor Creek Visitor Center is directly across Highway 89 and is a great location to talk to the Rangers about other potential hikes in the area. They also have interpretive programs, guided walks on the Rainbow Trail and to the Stream Profile Chamber (which was closed because someone decided to break it. Although it should be repaired now… end of September 2018). Also, nearby Baldwin Beaches or Pope Beach, which cost $10, or you can go to the Tallac Historic Site with tours and events at its historic buildings and grounds and the free (dog friendly) Kiva beach which is exactly the same as the other pay access beaches….

    There’s also a really nice paved bike trail that runs 3 miles along Highway 89 and can be used to access all of the above. You have access to excellent day hiking and backpacking in Desolation Wilderness via the Glen Alpine or Mt. Tallac trailheads which are also nearby.

  • Scot J.
    Aug. 19, 2019

    Desert Creek Campground

    Awesome little getaway

    8.5 miles of the main road, crossing the creek 5 times, we found the perfect little spot. Restroom was quite a distance from our campsite, so we opted for our own portable toilet. No showers available but boil some creek water and washcloth wipe yourself down, you're good to go. Also recommend getting a fire permit from the Bridgeport Ranger Station. No trash receptacles or bins.......so pack out your trash.

  • Elliott B.
    Sep. 27, 2018

    Eagle Point Campground — Emerald Bay State Park

    Campground with a beautiful layout

    I walked through the seasonally closed Eagle Point Campground while exploring the Emerald Bay section of Lake Tahoe. This campground is a newly renovated area of the peninsula on the South/West side of the Emerald Bay State Park separated into Upper and Lower sections.

    Since the campground was closed we had to park on Highway 89 and walk through the campground to get to the Rubicon Trailhead which is located at the divider between the 2 camping sections.

    As we hiked through I was really blown away with the layout of the campground. I loved that these sites were almost a multi-leveled. Meaning that your tent site might be 10 feet lower than your picnic table, bear box, etc. or it could have a raised fire pit on a small bluff above the tent pad, table. Each site was unique, and this added to the separation between sites, so you’re not on the same level and directly next to your neighbors, adding to the feeling of being in the wilderness. (At least to me)

    Also, it should be pointed out that there were signs everywhere about using your bear boxes and that they’d fine you if you leave anything in your car. I know some people seem to have an issue with this for some reason…but I don’t want a bear roaming through any campground I’m staying at.

    There weren’t any sites that I saw which could hold an RV or 5th wheel, unless you have something under 18 feet… So maybe tents only, and there are no hookups. While I know I got a sterile experience since no one was actually camping, the campground was very clean and well maintained and the restrooms looked really nice. They had running water, flush toilets and pay showers ($1 per 3 minutes). The little amphitheater at the trailhead was cool and seemed ideally setup for presentations with incredible views of Lake Tahoe.

    While pets are allowed in the campground, they’re not allowed on the Emerald Bay SP trails or beaches. Sites are $35 and all are reservable 6 month out, so


Guide to Bear Valley

Nestled in the stunning Sierra Nevada, Bear Valley, California, offers a fantastic escape for tent campers looking to immerse themselves in nature. With a variety of campgrounds featuring unique amenities and activities, there's something for everyone.

Tent campers should check out North Grove Campground

  • The North Grove Campground — Calaveras Big Trees State Park features well-kept facilities, including coin-operated showers and picnic tables, making it a comfortable choice for families.
  • Located near beautiful walking trails and giant sequoias, this campground provides a magical experience surrounded by nature.
  • While it offers water access at each site, be prepared for some road noise from nearby Hwy 4.

Local activities to enjoy while camping

Tips for tent camping near Bear Valley

  • Arrive early at Luther Pass to secure a good spot, as it can get crowded, especially on weekends.
  • Be mindful of the weather and pack accordingly, as some campgrounds, like Kirkwood Campground, may have limited amenities and require preparation for a more rustic experience.
  • For a more secluded experience, consider Top of Arnold - FR 5N56 Dispersed, where you can enjoy the peace and quiet of nature, but be prepared for rough access roads.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Bear Valley, CA?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Bear Valley, CA is Bear Valley Dispersed Camping with a 3.9-star rating from 7 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Bear Valley, CA?

TheDyrt.com has all 74 tent camping locations near Bear Valley, CA, with real photos and reviews from campers.