Best RV Parks & Resorts near Johnson Valley, CA

The is a beautiful Thousand Trails RV Resort in Palm Springs, California! The park is large, very spacious and so clean! The gorgeous Palm trees are a little bit of a parking hazard, but they were here before we were! 😊 And besides, they are so beautiful to look at every day. The park feels like a day on beach with white sand to park on in most spaces, towering Palm trees, and brightly colored tropical flowers. What a treat in the winter! We are here in November and December and daytime high’s are in the low 80’s. The park is split in half with one side 30 amp FHU and the other half 50 amp FHU. For TT members, there is not an additional charge for 50 amp. Quite a deal! There is plenty of room to get out and walk in this park, along with a nice dog park, playground, billiards room, swimming pool and spa, horseshoes, 8 pickle ball courts, many laundry rooms and restrooms, and community recreation room. The surrounding mountains ranges are pretty amazing, too. This park is close to it all in the Palm Springs area and everything is within a short drive. Joshua Tree National Park and the Salton Sea is just over a half hour away. The Thousand Trails Palm Springs RV Resort is perfect and we will definitely be visiting again!

For videos on this park and others, check out our YouTube channel: Jeff & Steff’s Excellent Adventure.

A bit challenging to locate via Google Maps... Just go up (south) Summit Blvd, when you get to the parking lot of the ski resort, veer towards the left, and just past a concrete wall, you'll see the little Pineknot Campground sign attached to an aluminium pole. The campground is very cozy, countless tall pine trees, clean bathrooms, clean sites, water from taps, no hookups, and not for big rigs. The hosts are friendly, but strict! No generators from 8 pm to 8 am, a $3000 fine if your campfire is left unattended, and no rowdy obnoxious behavior is tolerated! We appreciated the rules, and thoroughly enjoyed our peaceful, quiet, deep in the woods getaway!!

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.

A great spot away from the main Joshua Tree strip. We visited for one night during the waning height of COVID and staff was taking all the necessary precautions. There were some restrooms and dish cleaning station available, though we didn’t use them. Spaces were clean and tidy and, although close together, were separated by beautiful bushes that kept it feeling private. Lots of birds around and great views of the desert and mountains. Fire ants were everywhere, so wear shoes. Most of the spots don’t have individual sewer connection but access to shared dump station. Everything was in great condition. The art installations and theatre looked so cool, but were closed temporarily. The lake was super cool and teeming with wildlife. Very reasonably priced for 50 amp & water hookup per night. Very easy access with 25’ trailer. We will definitely return.