Best Tent Camping near Benton, CA

I really enjoyed tent camping here. I’m not a fan of the trailer camping because it’s all cement and everyone is close together, but it’s doable if need be. When tent camping, you’re under beautiful trees which I love!

The tent camping sites were pretty small. Beautiful, but our site was pretty far away from the bathroom, water, and creek.

4x4 or high clearance coming in. Long dirt road with dips and rocks. Water only flowing in winter months. Lots of tent camping spots along with 8 back in spots. Really amazing views 360 degrees. No service with Verizon.

Tent camping and some RV sites available. Went at the very end of the season so cold at night but beautiful during the day! Various homes nearby. Lake was beautiful and the leaves were changing in time for winter. Very clean. Flushable toilets and running water. Walking distance from town.

Visited in Fall, beautiful time, All the trees were changing, it was beautiful.  The campground was nice, the spaces were separated, we tent camped.  Store a few minute walk down the road, along with place to rent boats for the lake.  Very calm and peaceful area.  Because of the beauty and seclusion, wonderful time. one of the best campgrounds/locations I've ever been to.

East Fork Campground is a large campground in the Rock Creek area down below the road. It looked like the best sites were in the trees along the creek.

Our site, #27, was in some low aspen trees and was not set up well for tent camping. The site with the tent pad, picnic table and bear locker required stepping down on some rocks from the parking area. The tent pad was small and sloped, our four person tent was wedged into the area. The people in the site behind ours has set up there tent right next our only place to fit a tent.

The bathrooms were near by and very clean.

This campground is so remote that you can only access it on a single lane road that winds precariously along cliffs and through the Sierra Nevada mountains. It boarders Florence Lake, which has a small store and fishing. The dock at the lake has a ferry that you can pay for and they will take you across the lake to drop you off at the other side. This is great if you are heading out on a backpack trip and want an easy ride. The campground had tent sites with fire pits and picnic tables. Vault toilets were available.

This campground seems more fitted to those using campers more so than those tent camping.

I saw very few tent campers and the RV's and tow behind campers were the majority here.

I managed to grab a decent site, I think it was 36.  Tucked in a wooded area not far from the restrooms.  Which are flush toilets and running water.  Clean and well maintained.

Site was a bit muddy and wasn't that easy to find a level spot for a tent.  A bit of garbage was left on site and trash in the bear box.  All sites have a picnic table, fire ring and bear box.

Noise level was higher than I prefer but then again if I'm not just hearing nature, it's too loud for me.

Pretty lakes, waterfalls and a nice area to venture around.

Traffic in Mammoth can get pretty busy.

I am a tent camper and I was there in Oct/Nov when I came through to look at the fall colors.  This was a good staging site to go up and down the June Lake Loop for the colors.  I am a tent camper and at this time of the year it is COLD.  Most of the folks were in RVs.  I was right across from the lake and this is a pretty site.

Good place to fish and kayak and there is a rental of all things water down the road.

You need to pick your site here as a tent camper.  Many of the sites are really for RVs but there are good sheltered tent sites as well. The southern lopop has the best tent ites. A majority of the sites are in the open meant for RVs.  Sites have your table and fire ring and restrooms are close by.

Access to a boart launch as well.

This campground is just outside the main part of Mammoth Lakes, CA. You have to go on a paved then gravel road to get there. It is secluded, and you would never know that you are 5 mins. away from a Vons or all the hubbub of the town. There is a cute Creek, Sherwin Creek, that runs past the whole camp. You can here is all night, which my husband and I liked. The sites are clean and spacious. There are walk-in tent sites and RV sites. There are bear boxes at every site, and must be used!

We had a big thunderstorm come through, and it wasn’t that bad because the campground is protected by hills along side it.

We absolutely loved it at Sherwin Creek, and are looking to go back next summer!

PROS: Beautiful!, Easy access to purchasable firewood, Bear Boxes at every site, well kept bathrooms with flush toilets and sinks, wind guards at some sites, near a lake, amazing starry night sky, general store nearby, Shell & Mobile Gas nearby, showers & laundry nearby

CONS/WARNINGS: Very cold & windy (it snowed in June and the wind knocked over our very secure tent), Campsites fairly close together, 2-6hours from Yosemite depending on time of year and where you are hiking so if this is the closest campsite you can get to Yosemite (which was our situation) prepare to spend at least 4 hours a day driving

Note: we encountered noise issues due to inconsiderate campers 2/4 nights we were there (some weren’t even nearby) so be prepared to complain if this bothers you because there are Quiet Hours from 10PM-6AM

Our group stayed in a tent campsite for one night in August 2016. We stayed in the bear loop site 8. We had a great view of the lake and mountains right from our site but we were quite far from the bathrooms (10 min walk). We actually noticed other campers in our loop driving to the bathrooms. Bathrooms were clean and stocked with toilet paper, no soap (like most campground bathrooms we visited).

We drove down to the beach which was the best part of this campground. Beautiful, clear water and you could walk out quite far because it wasn't very deep. Some of the beach is pretty rocky so sandals or beach shoes might be helpful.

There were lots of deer! Which was fun to see.

Our only issue is that the people staying in the sites on either side of us were a little.... rough. Lots of drinking and some obvious drug use, some loud fighting and noise in the evening, but overall friendly with us and they were relatively quiet overnight.

We stayed here one night and even though the campground was mostly full they were so kind to help us find an open tent site! I loved the location in proximity to June Lake, it's easily walkable to the lake, has great views and nice open sites. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because there is little coverage in most sites, so in the summer you're really exposed to lots of sun and wind, but it's nice that the sites are spread out and close to bathrooms. Honestly, we drove around the June Lake, Gull Lake and Reversed Peak campgrounds and while the first two were right on water, the sites were not very nice and were right on top of each other. I liked that Oh Ridge was a lot more spacious, was still walkable to the lake and was central to the June Lake village. Make sure you rent a boat or kayak from June Lake Marina, they are so friendly and it's a great way to chill on the lake. Super clean and good cell phone service on AT&T and around the lake.