Best Cabin Camping near Joshua Tree National Park

There are no bathrooms or water here, but you have cell service and a convenience store very close by. This is a great spot to find a free camping site and still be somewhat in your own seclusion. The sky is really nice here at night. You can see the freeway a bit of a distance out from this location and it takes about 45mins or so get back into Joshua tree National park from here. The fire pits are in the ground so you might have to rebuild the walls above ground if they’ve been knocked down. Overall a very cool spot to check out that’s right outside of Joshua tree National park with beautiful sunset views. This is BLM land

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.

Near and clean campground with clean restrooms requiring a key code to enter. Two laundry rooms. One large pool and three spas (hot tubs to folks not from So Cal) all heated with naturally heated mineral water. Secure. Park staff drive around at night to keep an eye on things. Most camps are close to the neighbors but most folks are quiet. Pay extra foe larger or premium campsites. Play area for the kids by the office. Put-put golf. Not much shade but many hedges. Gravel parking. Separate are for tents, communal sinks. Few trees around. Each camp has a sturdy picnic table. Propane fires only. And probably the same for BBQs. Great AT&T 5G cellular. Wi-Fi is weak, but it’s free.RV spot had fill hookups (water, 30 or 50 amp power, sewer, but no cable TV.

Well run and friendly, responsive staff. Understand that Desert Hot Springs is sometimes WINDY!! And that can mean dust storms, but that goes for the entire Cochella Valley. Not close to anything out here. A convenience store about 1/3 mile away. You won’t be running for coffee here. The the management sometimes hosts events and a weekend breakfast can be purchased.

All rigs are in good repair and I’ve seen nothing sketchy here at all. Been here 3 weeks with 3 more to go.

Bottom line: I would definitely stay here again, but it is a drive to get into DHS or Palm Springs. And it is windy/dusty.

@RoarksVentures has been to this park multiple times since January of 2018. It is actually one of our favorites. The staff has been kind and welcoming. The conversations started around the warmth of the hot tub have led to continued friendships long after our wheels have left the city.

With the skyline spotted by the leaves of vibrant Palm trees you get a sense that you are camping in a sort of desert oasis. That is, until you hear the roar of the cars on the busy freeway right across the street. Depending on the side of the park you end up camping in determines the volume that you hear that rumble.

Cell coverage is fantastic here allowing for mobile workers, RV movie streamers, and daytime internet explorers to meet all their needs and wants.

The rows are lined with palm trees and full of walkers, joggers and slow time strollers. The people all wave warmly whether they have met you before or not. Along with that the park offers a variety of social events including line dancing, swap meets, ice cream socials and more.

With such close proximity to Joshua Tree National park within a 45 minute drive, an hour to LA, and 20 minutes to down town Palm Springs there is no shortage of quality exploring for any type.

The one knock, other than the freeway is that there has been some increased homeless activity in the tree line that flanks the park. Their used to be a little fence you could walk through to let your dogs run and play. That gate is now locked with a no trespassing sign. I enjoyed running out in the sand dunes in that area and came across a hideout that had several books, which I imagine were stolen from the resort's well stocked library and a gas generator that you wonder if it was stolen from somebody who didn't lock up their belongings at their campsite.

All the same, the park does the best they can and often has a security patrol come through the park every once in awhile to make sure all is well. All that said, I never feel unsafe or worried here. The laughter from the rowdy pool volleyball games puts you at ease.

I already have plans to come back and look forward to doing so. It is still one of my favorite parks. Maybe it could be yours too.

You get what you pay for and this park is adequate at best for the price. It is old and clearly in decline. Beware, the pictures and term resort are misleading. They cater to full time RV-ers and have very few rules for keeping sites clean and orderly. Many of the full timers have excessive junk, garbage, toys, vehicles, etc. Cluttering their sites. The residents and staff are pleasant, quiet, and respectful of your privacy and space. It is gated but you will need to pay a $20 CASH (no credit/debit) deposit for a key card. Well behaved dogs are allowed off leash but there are not many dogs in residence. There is a large dog run but it was VERY overgrown and we felt not usable due to insect and flea/tick concerns. Most important to note the water (sourced from a well) is NOT SAFE to drink or cook with due to excessive arsenic and fluoride. There are however 3 locations in the park with reverse osmosis filters to fill water jugs. The water is safe for bathing and dishes but does have a large amount of sediment and discoloration. It is severe enough that our onboard filter was not sufficient, it left rust colored residue in our porcelain toilet, and for the first time ever we had to add an inline filter as well. Laundry facilities are available but due to poor water quality we chose to do laundry in town. In addition California is in a severe water crisis yet leaking faucets are prevalent here and some full time residents run sprinklers at their sites. Two of these sprinklers near us ran around the clock for at least 48 hours straight. This park was sufficient for our needs for the week we were here, but I can not recommend it nor would I return. We camped at Oasis Palms RV Park in a Motorhome.

Overall- convenient and clean place to stay if looking for a place to stay in Southern CA and want to head into Joshua Tree, The Living Desert Zoo or check out anything else in the area. The sites themselves are easy to navigate into. Nice wide streets. Some fun things on site like miniature golf and bike rentals and the pool area is a relatively nice size (we just checked it out - didn’t end up using it).

Where it is lacking and needs some work:

• Sites are not level. *Our dump hookup ended up being uphill so one has to milk the house to empty (our neighbors had the same situation.) *The entrance into the KOA - if coming in and making a right - be careful as you essentially end up making a U-turn around a rock wall and into the park. Just a funky entrance.

Would give it 3.5 Stars. 👍

What an amazing place with friendly staff. Go check out them out!! I really loved the ease of their website and reserving a spot. The check in is just as easy because you click on a link from the confirmation email sent from the reservation. Staff are always available, but never bother you. The bathrooms and showers are very clean and the hot springs tubs are nice and comfortable. There are also 3 pools, 1 hot springs and the other 2 are cold. It's definitely nice in the winter because you can do a cold soak then warm up in the hot springs. There are also dunes and ATV rentals, unless you have your own. It is definitely a homey hot springs resort with a positive vibe! Check out www.glamisnorth.com