Best Glamping near Garden Valley, CA

Recent Glamping Reviews near Garden Valley, California

382 Reviews of 55 Garden Valley Campgrounds

• 

  Travis S.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 25, 2019

  Inn Town Campground

  In a word, excellent!

  This campground has it all. It’s clean, has great amenities (pool, showers, kitchen, bathrooms), and it’s a nice walk away from town. It has a spot for everyone - RVs, glamping tents, and the standard tent sites (my style).

  Highly recommend!

• H

  Hani S.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 1, 2021

  Inn Town Campground

  Great getaway!

  We spent two nights doing a family and friends reunion. We loved our rv spot, the rest of the group had great tent site and glamping tents. Facilities were super clean and nice. Pool was small but the pool area was really nice. Great location for swimming in the Yuba river!

• A

  Amanda M.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 18, 2020

  Inn Town Campground

  Unlike Any Other!

  The Inn Town Campground is unlike any other campground I’ve ever been to. We have stayed in one of the glampinig tents, and have also brought our RV. The common house has a fully stocked kitchen so you can camp without having to bring supplies! The campground is exceptionally clean and meticulously maintained. We even had a heated mattress pad in our glamping tent to keep warm 😁 The owners, Dan and Erin Thiem, really have thought of everything. Staying with them is a must!

• R

  Rocky L R.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 5, 2021

  Plasses Resort

  Horses! One of the few horse campsites with tons of great trails!

  Lots of private sites; takes tents to big RVs. No cement or asphalt-all dirt. “Resort” is a bit of a stretch, this is no fancy “glamping.” Silver Lake, hiking, trails (tons!), kayaking, boating, fishing, swimming with ducks and geese, upper lakes to find. 8000 ft elev. some permanent loops with season-long residents. Open Jun-Sep. Has, market, bar and restaurant. There’s a few annual events i.e., BBQs, trail rides. Very kid friendly too. Bring your bike! Adjoins the El Dorado NF Allen Camp trailhead.

• 

  Rosina A.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 8, 2019

  Coloma Resort

  Nice place next to river

  This place is north east of Sacramento. Coloma resort is what some friends call "Glamping", but it's so much more than that. You can tent camp (it's covered sites for camping too), rent a cabin or RV camp. Great sites along the river too. One negative, is you have to book way ahead of time, but it's well worth it. You can pan for gold, relax, or bike, hike along the river, and kids can play along several playgrounds for kids of different ages. A large grass area great for games, and if you are up for it, rafting, kayaking and fishing in the cold American river. You can also learn some history about the discovery of gold and check out Sutter Mill!

• 

  Stacie L.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 15, 2020

  William Kent Campground

  Nice Spot Close to Lake

  We just got back from a short 2 night trip to William Kent. It was a lovely little spot. The sites are definitely close together and the pads are tight. We have a 25 ft travel trailer and with my husbands truck it was definitely a tight squeeze. Plus our pad was really not very flat so leveling the trailer was tough. But beyond that, we had a great site. Someone else made the reservations but I think we really lucked out. Yes, we were on the back end, so as far from the lake as you could be, and yes there are cabins that butt up to some of the sites. But we rode our bikes and/or walked to the lake still, and we barely even saw any people in the cabins. Now there were other sites that were much closer to houses than that and I'm not sure I could've handled those but our site was great. The site itself was huge and really nice for my large family. There is a breakfast place right next to the campground so if you want more glamping you can swing over there in the morning. We also didnt care for the William Kent beach area cause there are no dogs allowed, so instead we drove down a few miles to a dog beach that was really nice. I dont know the name but it's to the right out of the campground, a few miles down and you will run into it. All in all, if you want dispersed camping, this isnt the place for you. But if you want a nice place to set up shop and be super close to tahoe and other amenities, this is a great spot. We had site 30.

• 

  Suzy R.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 27, 2019

  Fallen Leaf Campground - South Lake Tahoe

  Beautiful nature filled stay

  Great campsite with trails to hike and explore.  Close to Lake Tahoe and also the Taylor Creek Watershed that has a beautiful trail to explore.  Done both tent and yurt camping, both great!

• 

  Jake C.

  Legend

  

  Jan. 20, 2023

  High Camp

  Yurt Camping in Central California

  Jake here from the Dyrt!  I had the opportunity to talk with Bonnie about her yurt and the great camping experience she hopes to provide for everyone who stops by.  Check them out and leave a review on the Dyrt to let everyone know how it was!

• D

  David C.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 13, 2020

  American River Resort

  Very nice location on the river. Will return

  This park is located very close to Sutter’s Mill where good was discovered. It also has a white water rafting business on site.

  The terrain is steep with mostly smaller sites. Water pressure is excellent. Our site had 30 amp only and I doubt any of them have 50 amp. The power is not good. I had to bypass the surge suppressor because it kept cutting out due to low voltage. Voltage was generally 104-105.

  There are very nice tent and yurt sites along the river.

  They have a nice shower and there’s decent AT&T service.

  I would be very cautious about coming here with a larger RV. Ours is 30’ bumper to bumper. I think 32 would be ok.

  Be aware that Garmin nav might take you the wrong way. Apple Maps had it correct though.

• 

  Elliott B.

  Legend

  

  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.

• 

  Debbie R.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 1, 2018

  Collins Lake Recreation Area

  Collins Lake in June Beautiful campground and Lake. Fishing there was wonderful lakeside and great hikes. Registration area and cafe has ice cream available and souvenir store.

  This campground is above Marysville California.

• M

  Michael

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 11, 2021

  American River Resort

  Family of 4 roof top tent camping

  Nice campground - close to river. .5 mile walk to town for shopping/eating. All sites have fire pit and picnic table. Bathrooms clean and private showers. A little pricey for a tent site - 45.00 and 5.00 for the dog but it’s California.

• 

  Sam M.

  Legend

  

  Nov. 1, 2018

  Nevada Beach Campground and Day Use Pavilion

  beautiful campground

  This campground was one of the nicest I've come across. It's right on the California-nevada state line near Lake Tahoe. In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful places in the US. A lot of the campsites have a view of the lake. They have sites for tents and RVs. The bathrooms are nice and there's fresh drinking water. There are some public grills to use. Really nice amenities at this place.

  I personally just love lake Tahoe. Amazing hiking around the lake. Mount Tallac is a killer but gorgeous hike. Go stand on the line between Nevada and California like I did! In the winter this place is awesome too, because the ski resort has some great runs.

• 

  Abby J.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 2, 2019

  Acorn Campground

  Easy camping, affordable

  Many sites, good water access, but not a lot of shade or flat ground for tents. Affordable. Not the prettiest scenery in California, but a cheap and reliable way to get some quick nature. Allows dogs.

• 

  Jill F.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 31, 2018

  Coloma Resort

  Gold panning!

  If you ever want to experience the thrill of gold panning, and California history go here!

  You will not strike it rich, but with a couple hours of effort you can get a nice little bottle of gold flakes to take home with you.

  Campground “resort” caters to the cabin and RV crowd. Very pleasant, with a cool old bridge to cross the river. If it’s hot outside, you need to be in the river!

• 

  Bearit W.

  Scout

  

  May. 12, 2021

  Sycamore Ranch RV Park

  Heaven on earth

  This is such a beautiful piece of California. It is clean and well maintained my daughter who is 5 loved writing her hoverboard around the entire park there are lots of kids to play with and the caretaker and his family were super welcoming and professional. It is really relaxing and refreshing

• 

  kathy C.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 30, 2022

  Thousand Trails Snowflower

  Great Little Lake

  I am a member of Thousand Trails and that being said this is one of my favorite TT spots in California. Family friendly, great little Lake for swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding. RV sites have partial hook ups.  Thousand Trails does not reserve campsites so it can be quite a scene to find a site especially in the summer. Only one dump station was open (there are 3) so waited 30 + minutes to dump, hopefully management is working on that… they do offer a honey wagon service for $40.00 available 2 times a week.

• 

  Lloyd G.

  Guide

  

  Nov. 24, 2021

  Acorn Campground

  Deers-a-plenty

  The lake has receded quite a but that one of the docks is about 100 yards from the actual lake now (California drought). The campsite was well maintained. Each camping section seams to have it's own restroom within 2 minutes walking distance. The wildlife was " people friendly" to say the least. I had a family of deer pretty much monitoring my whole trip plus they couldn't seam to wait until I went to bed to come check out my camping gear 😊

• 

  Summer A.

  Traveler

  

  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.

• 

  Steve & Ashley G.

  Legend

  

  May. 28, 2019

  Meeks Bay

  Nice Lakeside Camping

  We stayed here for two nights last year during a Northern California Camping trip. This site is on the western side of Lake Tahoe about 20 minutes from South Lake Tahoe. It’s a beautiful lake side campground with a very nice sandy beach for those willing to brave the cool waters. The sites are on top of each other. So you will need to pick your site carefully. This is also a popular campground and you will need to plan ahead or get lucky claiming a walk up site. The camp staff were very helpful and the facilities were great. This is a safe choice for a Tahoe visit, especially those traveling with kids.

• p

  phillip H.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 27, 2024

  Acorn Campground

  Extended stays

  A good clean campground, popular in central California. Reasonably priced $20 per night. They do accept golden age passes which reduces your nightly expense to $10 per night maximum 15 days for the month. Geared mostly for small trailers and tents, however, they do have some sites for larger RVs drive-through 40 foot max and roadside, slide outs might cause a problem. Park managers are very professional, courteous and pleasant. Bathrooms are a problem for cleanliness dump station is available for RVs. If you have a portable black tank, it would work out better for you on extended stays when dumping your black tank. If you are self-contained, you won’t have any difficulties at all.

• 

  Ryan W.

  Legend

  

  Aug. 10, 2017

  Fallen Leaf Campground - South Lake Tahoe

  Fallen Leaf Campground at Fallen Leaf Lake, South Lake Tahoe

  Fallen Leaf Campground • South Lake Tahoe

  $34.50 - 36.50 • Sites 078, 156

  Pulling into Tahoe via Stateline, Nevada is like pulling into a Las Vegas/Up North baby. Casinos and resorts turn into camps and fudge shops. From the East you’ll pass thru all of that, past the Camp Richardson and finally turn away from Lake Tahoe into Fallen Leaf Campground. If you’re going to camp in Tahoe you’ve made the right decision. Fallen Leaf Lake is at the rear of the camp. While smaller and not as well known it is also not overly trafficked, crystal clear and surrounded by hiking paths along the water.

  Fallen Leaf Campground is a massive 206+ site compound complete with its own store, shower houses and if you travel past the camp all the way to the other side of the lake (and other campgrounds) an ice cream shop. That said, Fallen Leaf Campground does a great job of keeping an “out in the woods” vibe. It is absolutely that place that families go year after year after year, but if you can get a site on the outer loop you can still have some separation, plenty of trees and with the lake so close, feel like you’re in the heart of nature. One of the better jobs by a large scale campground I’ve experienced.

  But be prepared. It’s going to be full of kids and dogs and campers who are not necessarily out there to experience nature but to see family and friends and likely drink a caseload of Bud Light a day. There may also be bears. Bears are everywhere here. Or so we heard. We never saw one, but the camp staff and campers around us all had bear stories that "just happened yesterday! or last week! or in 1950!" Basically, bears. There are bear boxes at each site, and kids everywhere you probably won't be a bears first target. Just be bear aware. Across the main road from the campground is the mighty Lake Tahoe. It was okay. Lots of people, lots of choppy waves. We preferred setting up the hammock by Fallen Leaf Lake.

  The showers were nice but pricey. Four U.S. Quarters for 3 minutes. You can get done what you want but no more. There are about four per loop (give or take 25 sites) but we never had a problem finding one open. There are no outlets for charging or bathroom appliances though. The older bathrooms along the inner loop are dated and worn but have accessible outlets if you need some juice. The toilets everywhere are flush and each loop has at least one camp host staying on it. The staffers were friendly, helpful and accessible.

  The outer loop is where you want to be if you are looking for any privacy or traveling alone. The inner loop, with its lack of privacy, was the spot for large groups. On our second night we stayed in the inner loop and our neighbors had booked 19 sites for incoming family and friends. It’s tough being in the middle of that when you weren’t planning on joining a new family. The outer loop sites are mostly well shaded and have a lot more privacy, as well as lake accessibility if you are in the back row which I’d recommend. At $34.50 you want the best spots. It also forced me to ask myself, “How much is too much for a campsite?”

  Fallen Leaf Lake Campground gets 3 Tent Stakes of Awesomeness. In Tahoe, you’ll never escape the crowds or tourists, but Fallen Leaf Lake Campground does a good job of insulating you somewhat from that while maintaining a nice campground on the edge of a lovely lake. No blasphemy intended but I’d spend the day at Fallen Leaf Lake over Lake Tahoe any day.

  Pro-Tip #1: Site 078-079 are massive pull-thru sites but great if you’re tent camping. More private, well shaded and closest to the lake and free downed firewood.

  Pro-Tip #2: Site 156 sucks. Unless you want to look at stars. No shade or privacy. A long way from any shower/bath house and electric wires running above you.

  _Pro-Tip #3: Firewood is readily available downed by the lake or on trails if you’re willing to put in five minutes of effort. _

  Pro-Tip #4: The Baldwin ruins aren’t worth it, but the walk around the lake or along the Morraine Trail is.

  Pro-Tip #5: There is a decent wind that starts early to mid-afternoon coming in against the shore over the lake. It is blocked to the camp, but mornings are the best time for lake time. Mornings are glassy on the lake for paddle boarding and kayaking as well, but choppier in the afternoon.

• S

  Susan S.

  Scout

  

  Apr. 1, 2019

  Coloma Resort

  Nice and Clean

  This is a nice retreat. The spaces are a bit small but clean. The bathrooms are spotless and they offer a lot of amenities for families. We are two single adults and to no fault of their own there was a lot of children running around, riding bikes and it seemed like everyone had a dog. But at 10:00pm it did get very quiet. So, it’s a great place for families.

• 

  Cassidy Y.

  Legend

  

  Jun. 20, 2020

  Coloma Resort

  Pretty location on the river

  Beautiful spot to camp.

• J

  J A.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 15, 2020

  Coloma Resort

  Loved it!

  We were very skeptical of going during the ongoing COVID situation and we were amazed at how well this place was doing to help. Bathrooms smelled like Clorox every morning ( good thing, means they were cleaning often ) staff used mask at all times. The River was not crowded at all and when people did get near by they would respect each other’s boundaries and not crowd up. Our site was perfectly shaded and good sized right on the waterfront. Will definitely be back.

• 

  Whiffaroni M.

  Guide

  

  Mar. 22, 2021

  Coloma Resort

  Love this place

  This place was amazing. It was our first trip in our new RV and it couldn’t of been more beautiful. There were super cute cabins available as well as tent sites. We came in the beginning of March and it was fairly empty so that made it really nice as well. River was stunning and it was neat to walk across the bridge and check out the old historic mining town. We are going back in august and can’t wait. Looking forward to rafting in the river !

• 

  Karen T.

  Traveler

  

  May. 24, 2021

  Coloma Resort

  Beautiful spot!

  I was worried about our pop up camper not being able to fit in the “tent only sites”, but it ended up being perfect.

  The sun shade provided in the tent sites came in handy when we had a short moment of rain. It was also much appreciated during the sunny weather.

  Beautiful view of the river but it was certainly crowded. Group sites we were near played loud music. Quiet hours weren’t enforced as people played music or loudly chatted until 1am the first night we were there. However, there’s after hours staff you can contact if you have any concerns.

  For the amount of people in the area, there isn’t many bathroom stalls. Yet, we somehow never ran into any long lines.

  There’s a lot of people, kids, bikes, and dogs. It’s highly stimulating environment but everyone was very friendly.

  Definitely recommend visiting if you are able to make a reservation!