Best Tent Camping near Calico, CA

The campsite at Calico Ghost Town is nice with hook ups for RV and spaces for tent camping. Our boys scout troop spent a weekend October. The boys and their families enjoy touring the ghost town. We hiked around the area and on hills during the day. The facility has running water, restrooms and showers.

If you have to camp near Barstow, this is a good place for a week-day stay. Calico ghost town was a fun spot for our kids, not too busy on a week day in the spring though I’m sure it can be crazy (and hot) at other times. The campsites were hit or miss. We staid in a tent site which was tiny, right next to all the others, with no trees or vegetation for privacy, and no permanent fire ring or picnic bench. We walked around and some of the other RV sites are bigger and nicer. Classic desert views. I give it 4 stars for access to the ghost town and price.

But very rock to tent camp on. A ton of RV’s, so the noise was a premium. Great hiking into the mountain and mines.

tent camped. not many amenities, but we found peace and quiet, across the lake, from big bear. lots of trees! we brought our own grill, but enjoyed the campgrounds fire pit also.

Big government campground. Big spots but it can be difficult to get reservations. Lots of tent sites that cram way too many people in. Close to the lake

There were no trees at all. We were told to wait for a white truck when we got there. No one came. We called the security number and they told us they would be by. We waited about 20 minutes and ended up leaving. The tent sites were gravel. Overall not impressed.

General: A mix of FHU RV sites tent sites, group sites around Horseshoe Lake and some additional dry camping and equestrian sites around Pelican Lake. There are also four RVs you can “rent” in the Horseshoe Lake area. The sites around Horseshoe Lake are close to an active rail line. And by active, I mean really active – I stopped counting after I counted 24 trains lumbering by during our short overnight stay. 

Site Quality: IMO the waterfront tent sites are the nicest. They are farthest away from the trains (but not far enough!) The other dry sites have paved camper pads; some are “doubles” which would kind of suck if both sites were occupied by people who did not know each other! (Ours was one but fortunately, this was not the case for us on a Sunday in November). 

Bath/Shower House: There were two restrooms about equidistant from our campsite, but both were very basic– no soap, hooks or shelves and no mirrors (it looked like they had been ripped off the wall). The floors were concrete, and the entire appearance was very drab. I did not use the shower. 

This was an overnight stop for us, so we did not take advantage of any of the activities (horseback riding, hiking, disc golf, fishing). There was a very nice playground in the day-use area, a reasonable walking distance from the Horseshoe Lake sites. I had called about a week ahead of time to make a reservation (the online reservation system has been down for quite some time) and was assured would not need a reservation. However, there is a gate that is locked at 4 pm and we knew we would not arrive in time, so we called and were able to make a phone reservation when our site was assigned. We were a little concerned when we saw a security guard making rounds around 10 pm (and this combined with the locked gate), we wondered if we were in a safe environment, although we did not encounter any problems. Make sure you know that the park is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (which seems a bit bizarre) so you will need to know the gate code after 4 pm and on those days (the code seems to change daily). Also, I read that seniors (62 and older), active duty military, and veterans receive a $5 discount Sundays through Thursdays but you have to go to the office and show proof and then you will receive a “rebate” a few days later (which we did). This was just an overnight for us as we worked our way back home but we would likely not stay here again.

Traveling while pulling my utility trailer along makes slow going. And pulling up a long, long, long desert mountain grade can be downright exhausting.

So this is a mighty grateful thumbs up review. Robert made my day when I phoned up in the late afternoon and offered me a limited use rate on one their full hookup sites.

And of course, I got in real late, just after late closing hours–10 pm!

I got the last pull through site at the end of the lane. It was a breeze to pull in, get my deep cycle battery charging. 30 Amp with an adapter is all I need.

Shady Lane is mostly populated by real big rigs. So a 50amp socket is also on the post.

The park is a little distance from the highway, so it's blessedly quiet overall. After a grueling pull from Las Vegas, it was a wonderful blessing to crawl into my tent with my feline road companion, Missy. She just loves tent camping the very best. It was down in the 40s last night, but our traveling bed is a cushy cloud ☁️ from Heaven 🌠🌌✨ Just me and Missy and all those stars on that dark desert night.

Just woke to a lovely quiet morning here at Shady Lane. Fully renewed, to make my long drive down towards San Diego.

Looks they offer all the basics, showers, laumdry, and the same wifi network is offered all over these desert parts.. So once signed up, its the same login wherever you go on this network.. That's handy. Great wifi signal all the way down at the end of the lane, too.

Most importantly, Shady Lane offers tent spots and doesn't get snooty about whether you're pulling a utility trailer, or a spit shined mega-rig. On the phone, when I spoke with Robert, told him what I'm pulling along, he was as nice as can be.

I'm glad I found this quiet little desert overnighter. 🏜 Just right for Missy and me.

Cool little campground. Spaces are typical desert with dirt, rock, and a few miscellaneous trees. Campground is in a narrow canyon. Clean bathrooms. The Calico ghost town is worth seeing.

Dirt interior roads, including a dead end that was really a challenge to back and fill the trailer out of. Quiet at night once the off-roaders go to bed. Good hookups. Pretty easy walk to Calico Ghost Town, well worth the effort. We will probably be back.

This Covid summer my family and I took two trips out to the Calico Ghost Town campground. The first was over Fathers day weekend and the second at the end of September. We had a great time despite the over 100 degree weather. Because there are so few people the wildlife is abundant. It was nice to take walks and hike the hills. The night sky is amazing (download the app that tells you what everything is, "star walk 2") your kids may have never seen the stars like this. Lots of places to ride OHV and great shooting in Mule Canyon. Caves to explore in camp and free admission to the ghost town.

Campground could use more trees but the showers and toilets are nice.

A great desert get away! ENJOY and please keep it clean!

We stayed here with family who had an RV. At the time, we didn’t so we rented one of the cabins. They have bunks, a bed AC and heat and that’s it. Lol. You have to use the public restrooms and showers. It was raining and super cold when we stayed here but one of the days it cleared up and we walked to Calico ghost town. We had the best time exploring, shopping, eating at the restaurant, panning for gold, touring the mine. Super fun. We also enjoyed some off roading. Bathrooms were clean. Showers are run by quarters and were hot although the windows high above don’t close so the cold air was constantly blowing in. It made for an adventure that my daughter and I will remember for many years. Lol. I’d stay here again. It was fun.

We arrived on a Friday night, without reservations. Our first night of van living. Found the security guard who connected us with the ranger. There were plenty of sites to chose from. The ranger then found us a better site for $5 less, The place was quiet, Beautiful sunset. We aren't off-roaders but noticed a lot of ATVs around. Seems like the place to be. There are also mountain bike trails around. In the morning we discovered the Calico Ghost Town attraction right next to the park. In fact entrance to the ghost town is included in the camping fees. The town is an abandoned silver mining town. There's a few historical buildings and mines you can hike around. You can pay for a tour of the mine. Lots of old west quaint shops, and restaurants. We watched a skit of a shoot out preformed in the main square. Spent more time there than planned, it was that fun.

Barstow is a good mileage stop between Las Vegas and SoCal. The campgrounds are pretty quiet with only a little road noise (surprisingly, due to its proximity to the highway) and very easy to access. The Sites aren’t very private, being so close together but there are small bushes that offer some semblance of separation. The gravel pads are a bit different than most KOAs and don’t create that fine white dust, which is a plus. The full hookups worked well but there is no Wi-Fi and all amenities were closed aside from laundry and bathrooms (neither that we used). Pool was closed due to construction on it. The town doesn’t offer much in the way of amenities. You can grab some food at the diner across the street or head to the Calico Ghost Town 3 miles up The road. The biggest draw here is the electricity to keep your A/C running in the high temps.

A great spot that we can’t wait to go back and spend a couple of days at. The amenities at this KOA are great. Pool...playground...horseshoes...archery range...etc.

Just up the road too is the Calico western ghost town.

They have some decent shaded areas that made it look like just about every spot would be a good one.

We had a spot in the front with a patio and everything. It was very nice except for the sewer drain being at the front end of the site (I had to put an extension on my poop pipe)...the other down side of being in the front is the traffic noise from the highway...I could hear it all night.

Last bit — the staff is very responsive and helpful. The sewage pipe had a back up in it (thankfully learned this with grey water!). The staff got out there and foxed it right away. The only other weird thing was my 30AMP power surge protector said polarity was reversed on the L1 or L2...but everything worked fine.

I am here in California getting ready to leave the state by FY22 and had to get outside. I have been exploring the idea of going camping and decided to go this weekend. I stayed a half mile down from the main camping area. Setup my tent on the back of my truck and enjoyed the scenery. It was amazing sleeping under the stars, I had not done that in years

We loved visiting calico ghost town! It was fabulous, but the two nights at the campground were rough. We stayed in the “O” section which I didn’t want based on the map but after we arrived, I’m glad we were in That section. The other side of the campground looked awful. Our sites were small but the main campsite area had lots that were Even smaller! I mean we had 10’ from the edge of our camper to the next camper. How do I know? Our 10’ awning was only an inch or two from my parents camper next door. The picnic tables were nice in our area but warped and awful in the main campsite area. The bathrooms were dirty. They didn’t stink but they don’t appear to clean anything. I brought Clorox wipes with me every time to wipe the toilets. There was no toilet paper in the bathrooms ever and the light are off at night but on during the day. Super helpful. I passed on the showers - didn’t even look at them based off the toilet area. The first night there was so many parties and loud drunks. It went on past midnight. The people next to us were loud and had apparently rented a trailer and had it swapped out for a new one at midnight and no one seemed to care about even attempting to be semi quiet for the neighbors. The second night was a Sunday. Everyone moved out and it was much quieter but early Monday in the am the trash picks up. I probably wouldn’t stay there again.

I agree with others warning about the rough road to the campground. Winds blew down my tent and I had to sleep in my car. Left next morning.