Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Cleveland National Forest

The hiking in Cleveland National Forest is so beautiful and we find new nooks to explore every time we go! There is a beautiful lake that is worth hike (walking) to and probably great to bike ride around. 

If you can get a spot here don't hesitate!

El Cariso, Cleveland National Forest, was a last minute stop on our way home from Bierbaum Pepper Farms.

The campground was right off the highway, cost affective ($15/night), and there were no reservations needed. There were 24 sites tucked in the woods. A few water faucets & bathrooms throughout.

Across the street was a Fire Station and Visitor Center. Directly behind the visitor center was a 1.4 mile looped trail we took our six year old and dog on around 3:00pm. The firefighter was helpful and guided us in the right direction. The trail ended at the Firefight Memorial. Pretty cool.

The campground was empty on the Friday afternoon in February - when we arrived. We stayed in site 10 after my 6 year old reviewed all 24 sites!

Fires were allowed. It was a good stop. Nothing special but worth it too.

Very clean, dog friendly ( with dog park) helpful nice staff, propane available, small playground and swimming pool, picnic tables and grills at each site

It's wonderful! A very big rv park with lots of things to do. Hot tub heated pools several shower rooms, bathrooms. Tennis courts dog parks. The list just goes on and on

Location near I-15 and Gas stations. Staff is kind and professional. Full hookups. Fill propane avaible. Resort-style amenities. Heated outdoor Pool. Nice dog park. Access to a park for walking. 🔹For sure we will stay again and recommend🔹

🔹location in front of Pala Casino. 🔹Great guest services. Full hookups sites. Propano fills available. The spot are big as well, each spot have a picnic table! Resort-style amenities. Nice Pool, kids playground and dog park great! Near Gas station and small market! 🔹We sure

will stay again and recommend

Had a wonderful time with the kids and our two doggos here! Great dog park, family friendly and the hot springs was just perfect for all of us. Even have 3 temperatures so the kids can enjoy hot springs too! Thanks for a wonderful stay! We’re here last week of March 2024.

I loved camping here. They have so many activities and things to do on the campground. There’s a pool, a park, a dog park, the beach, a bar, an arcade, and so many things you can rent for the water and on land. They also have cool special things they like concerts and huge blow up water slides.

THEY HAVE SELF CHECKIN, for after hours I think that’s something everyone must know, especially if you can’t get ahold of them. We stopped for one night, we thought about staying another but we just wanted to get home. We had no complaints, other than the bathrooms were closed, but I was atleast warned about that when I called. I got cellphone service. The pool seemed very nice & clean. The dog park was honestly amazing, I loved it & then dogs loved it.

Shadow Hills RV Resort is a stellar urban RV resort with all the amenities. Full hookups, daily trash pickups at each site, cable tv, large level pads with privacy hedge, small dog parks scattered throughout, gated security, nice restrooms w/ showers (free). We were visiting family who were just a short bike ride away. Can be extremely windy here. Desert X environmental art installations are nearby.

Fairly level concrete pads. Very clean showers, but you have to push a button about every minute to keep water on, but they are free. Heated pool and hot tub though I didn’t try them out. Good location to get all of my errands done while visiting Temecula. A little dog park and they offer a shuttle if gambling is your thing, it’s not mine. Used my Passport America pass for 50% off which made it about $32.50 a night. Loved hearing the coyotes yipping during the night a couple of nights.

Being reasonably close to our home base, we frequent this park with the family. Major grocery and shopping establishments are nearby, with Target directly across the street, In-n-Out, local parks, and the like. Our kids love the pool area, grandparents love the pickleball courts, and there are always fun activities to do throughout the year. Full-timers are friendly and inclusive of newcomers and passer-throughs. Dog parks are clean and located at either corner of the park. The entrance security kiosk is staffed 24/7, and they'll even help spot you while parking your rig. We cannot say enough good things about this place. 

Check their website for events and specials.

Spa in the desert We wanted to escape the rain and cold and hit the jackpot with this location. I was concerned that the pools might be closed due to COVID but both pools were open. They are fed by natural hot springs and warmer than most hot tubs. The camp ground was tidy and the sports were separated by shrubbery for privacy. They had mini golf and picket ball. The kids loved the pool. That was the main attraction. After a week of boon docking in the desert, this resort was a nice respite. The dog park was ok, dusty and small but the other campers were super nice so it was a fun way to meet people and their fur babies. The owners made it very clear that kids and families are welcome, although most campers were silver haired.

This place has a great weekly rate ($35 per night) and great amenities. We got a site across from the laundry/pool/bathroom which was also not far from the dog park. We arrived on a Tuesday, so we got to spend a few quiet days before the weekend campers showed up which was nice. This is a very family friendly resort so on the weekends there are lots of families with kids. There are lots of activities such as mini golf, pickle ball, and shuffle board, just to name a few, but the main draw is definitely the pools. They’re fueled by the hot springs, so the pool is at about 90 degrees and the hot tub a bit hotter. They also recently opened a little convenience store where you can get the necessities such as ice and whatnot. Definitely would come back here!

The pros: elite sites are nice with two concrete pads and turf. You park on gravel, but the rest is nice. The people are friendly, but the front desk could be friendlier. They also have two nice dog parks. The sunset view is lovely. All streets are paved. The cons: this area can get VERY windy. So windy, that we closed our slides on two,occasions during our two weeks stay. The sites are also close together. We wanted to to spend a lot of time in Palm Springs and found the distance too far. There is really nothing in Desert Hot Springs except a burger joint and a small breakfast cafe. The biggest problem with this place is the exit area. There is a huge dip in the road. We scraped a bit (45’ MH) and I saw many other TTS and 5th wheels scrape bottom. This needs to be fixed.

I brought my family with our 2 dogs for Thanksgiving and unfortunately we left early because it was a major danger for our dogs with the very bold and brave coyotes.

We tent camped but I feel like if we had an RV it would have been safer for the dogs.. for us alone with out the dogs, tent camping would have been fine!

Other than that. BEAUTIFUL!!! We loved every single moment from the colorful drive up to the stars and checking out the observatory which was also pet friendly. It’s SO FUN to see all the different color leaves and the sunsets, the sunrises, the crisp air, the views on the way up….all of it was so beautiful.

Clean, pet friendly and good for kids.