Best RV Parks & Resorts near Camp Nelson, CA

Nice park, well kept, friendly staff. As you will see from the photos this is an old KOA. RV spaces are all pull through, and spaced well and are pretty level. Electrical is updated and spaces have okay water pressure. Has laundry and pool as well

Restrooms and showers are clean but need updating.

There is no cable tv hook ups and Wifi is available but it’s really worthless can’t connect once you are away from the office. Verizon Wireless is 2 bars of LTE works okay....

Lots of great tent spots with shade, water and 110v outlets

It appears that they are trying to make this a nicer place. (Note: my 3 star rating is for lack of cable and wifi) Which should have for $50 a night. Otherwise, I would give 5 stars. Would stay again though.....

Along Hwy 178 towards Ridgecrest you'll find this campground that is small but quiet and clean. It is not for big rigs or RVs. 

There are 2 sites with fire pits and covered picnic tables that could fit a large van at most. There is one other spot that is level but has no fire pit or covered table. Further back are several scattered picnic tables and tent spots. There are also 2 unisex ADA accessible pit toilet bathrooms which were quite filthy.

This is a stop along the Pacific Crest Trail. The scenery is an amazing mix of Joshua Trees, pines, chaparral, mountains and large rocks, some snow on the peaks facing north. It is close to the highway so there is some road noise and people stopping to use the bathroom. The road in is paved and narrow and potholed but passable.

There was no cell service with AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile.

There is a donation based drop box for camping fee so pay what you want or what you can afford.

Fires and charcoal grills are not allowed per sign at info board, camp stoves are ok.

First time to the Kern River. Loved it. We were there August 1-6. The River was a little low but it was perfect for us with our 5 year old son. We were able to float down the river in our inner tubes safely. We were told May to June the river is very high in this area. We also fished in the river. Our camp site was great. We stayed in site 81 in our class C RV. Corner site on a creek that ran through the campground. The creek was great to sit in to escape the heat and float down. Lots of kids and dog friendly. The WIFI was good to stream TV and ATT cell service was good too. The sites had power, water and cable TV hook up. There is a dump station in the campground. They clean and rake all camp sites after each use and they enforce the 10:00pm quiet time. It is a short walk/ride to Kern River Brewery. Or it is about a hour drive to Trail of 100 Giants Sequoia Trees. Can’t wait to stay here again.

Beautiful small campground at the foot of the mountains, easily accessed from the small town of Independence and about 45 min drive north to Bishop.  

Campground is currently open (March), but in winter operation mode. No water, no host, no firewood, and no fees.  Campground open date is April 25, not sure when winter season starts. Price is $25 when open.

There are toilets but they are closed at this time and there are porta potties instead.

There are trash bins that are unlocked, but the website says that there is no trash service during the winter season so be prepared to pack out your trash if needed.

Each site has a picnic table, a fire ring, and a bear box. Some sites have a cool rock oven/stove.  Each site has a unique configuration, some being more private and surrounded by brush, and some more out in the open.

A really nice small creek runs behind the campground.

We arrived on a Monday in late March and had the entire place to ourselves for a night.  The next day several other campers showed up.

Cell service is very iffy, especially for Verizon and T-Mobile. AT&T mostly had 1-2 bars of 4G.  However, just a few miles down the road on the way to Independence there is excellent service from all carriers. 

Really nice campground. $25 seems a bit high but this would be a great place to stay while exploring the surrounding mountains.

Once again we heard about this campground from friends. We had been to the 3 rivers area before to camp but had stayed at another campground. This campground is our go to if we’re camping in Three Rivers. There are creek side full hookup pull through sites, pull through full hook site, back in full hook up and tent sites with raised wooden foundation for a tent. I would recommend this campground. Also the little town of Three Rivers is pretty cool to check out. Also there are a few places to fish and swim in the nearby Kaweah River. The campground is also a good place to stay if you plan on going up to Kings Canyon National park.

We heard good things about this campground from family so we decided to give it a shot. It’s about an hour and 15 minutes from our home in Bakersfield. That road off of the 65 is pretty decent as we have a 32 foot fifth wheel. As usual some sites are better than others there are some creek side sites that are very large and if there’s water are very nice. They have tent only sites as well. On our first trip we stayed in a pull through site. There is not a whole lot of space between campsites in this loop but it’s doable. They also have a stocked pond on site. However if you want to keep any of the fish caught, you have to purchase them. There are trails to hike. FYI, there is no cell reception and no provided wifi. Personally I think that’s a good thing 😬.

This camping ground is high up in the mountain about a 30 minute drive up and around. We drove in with a small pop up camper that fit fine but once we arrived we were very disappointed. The camping grounds are all on top of each other with very little privacy. Also there is so much fine dirt all around the concrete pad that is loose and will dirty everything you put out. Another down side is that we stayed close to the bathrooms and there was a strong foul oder and bad flies the whole time. There are zero amenities except for the toilet in the outhouse and toilet paper. We would not go back again, although we still made the most out of it. I definitely do not recommend this camp ground. Up the hill continuing on the highway and following the signs for “gas” you will find camp Nelson and that area was beautiful. If we ever came back I would be more interested in staying in that cute forest town.