Best Tent Camping near Kernville, CA

Lovely campground! Stayed with a small group at site 35, which is a large site with a parking area that can fit 3 cars/SUVs. We set up 3 large tents, 2 hammocks, plus a lot of cooking equipment, and still had room for more! There's a trail that leads down to the creek right from the site, which we used each day to cool down in the water. Very dog friendly- our group's pups enjoyed themselves too. Vault toilets are clean and the toilet paper was abundant. The price of $17/night (plus$5 for additional cars) is very reasonable. Used a bit of the non-potable water and came prepared with lots of drinking water from home. Was a pleasant temperature in the high 80s with a regular breeze.

Now for the downsides…it was extremely buggy;. Even with multiple types of bug spray and a Thermacell, we got bit by mosquitos and various flies all throughout the day. Plus, there are really big beetles that flew on us at night. Wish we had a big bug net over the picnic table or other areas, but at least the hammock was covered. There were also noisy neighbors- one group had a bunch of ATVs they started riding at 8am, and another was shooting guns. No cell service, but that was expected, so we brought satellite devices for emergencies.

Nearly all these campsites butt up against the Badlands-esque rock formations with mini slot canyons to explore right at your campsite. My son absolutely loved this place. I loved it. We had a great time!

It costs $25 per night and has zero amenities but the landscape makes up for it. Joshua trees and amazing rock formations, Jack rabbits and desert squirrels... it’s just great.

1 bar AT&T if you’re lucky. No water, no electricity, but there’s a dump station near the visitor center. No electric car charging. Lots of tents and small rigs, nothing big. Campground uses narrow one-way dirt road. There are about 50 campsites with a picnic table, fire ring, rocky tent pad and fairly level gravel parking spot. At least 2 spots are ADA with concrete parking spots and nearby restroom.

Now during COVID time it’s self registration, not sure about other times. We stayed one night and never saw a ranger. The campground was about half full and didn’t fill up while we were there.

Beautiful campground for $24/night. It is popular during the summer months, so if you want to reserve a site for the weekend, make sure to reserve online well in advance. Sites are pretty nicely spaced out and almost all sites have shade. The lsites are not as close to the river as Brush Creek campground, but still closer than Fairview, which is down the road.

Facilities. There are vault toilets. Both trash and recycling collection bins are available (not the case for nearby day use areas or dispersed camping). Each site has its own campfire ring and picnic table.

Dogs allowed throughout the forest as long as they are on leash.

Activities in the area:

• hike the 7 teacups trail or go canyoneering
• Swimming
• Fishing
• White water tubing/rafting/kayaking

Holey Meadows is a small campground with just 10 sites. We reserved campsite 5 and there was shade all day long, which was good because temperatures during the day were over 90 degrees in the sun. There was a flat spot for our tent and plenty of room to pitch another tent. This site didn't have any neighbors behind it and it was close to the bathroom. It's a short half mile drive down a dirt road to get to the campgrounds. The camp host was friendly and helpful. He suggested a number of activities for us and came around each day/night to check in. He also kept the vault toilets so clean and aired out. Two thumbs up for that. All of our neighbors were really quiet and went to bed early. There's a number of activities in the area to keep you busy during the day - Trail of 100 Giants, the view from Dome Rock, the Noble Waterfall, and the Needles Lookout 5 mile hike. If you are in need of supplies, there's a restaurant / store 18 miles up the road in Ponderosa. We were able to pick up firewood and ice and had a beer on their deck and enjoyed the band. Overall, we were very pleased with our stay and would recommend it to other campers who don't mind no showers. Please note that there is NO drinking water as the description on this site states.

General: Smallish (approx. 50-site) campground that does not take reservations. No hookups, one walk-in tent site, and the others are either back-in or pull-through. Some are “double” sites that would be ideal for sharing. 

Site Quality: Varies. All sites (except four, three of which are designated handicap sites) are a mixture of sand/gravel. Not all are completely level, and some accommodate larger vehicles than others. 

Bathhouse: Pit toilets only. Some are open air and some are enclosed; the one closest to our site was clean. 

Activities: hiking, photography. Good night sky area. The nature trail is accessible directly from the campground and the Hagen Canyon trail is ¾ mile from the campground. Red Cliffs is another short trail across the highway; these are the most popular (and short) hikes in the park but there are others. The views are jaw-dropping and well worth exploring. 

Note that although there is a dump station, there is a $20 charge to use it. 

We arrived around 1 pm on a Sunday in late March and had our pick of sites, however, the campground filled in to about ¾ full by the end of the day.

A small, quiet campground that’s good for groups of 2-4 people since the sites are close to each other. The 1/2 mile in is on a dirt road, but easy to drive as we saw others with small sedans get in and out. We were here at the end of July and because of all the tree covering, the temperature was comfortable and cool even during the day. There are 2 vault toilets and it’s true, the smell of them travel throughout the campground, but the toilets were kept clean while we were there. No water so bring your own. No bear lockers. Simple trash cans near the toilet (not ones that would keep bears out) so bears must not be a problem at this campground. There’s a nice meadow adjacent to the sites that we saw many cows meandering through.

We came up through Kern and after seeing the loads of people there, overbooked camp spots, and lack of trees to give reprieve from the sun, we were so happy to have found Holey Meadow.

Tip: Trail of 100 Giants is minutes away. Go in the late afternoon if possible to avoid crowds.