Best Cabin Camping near Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, CA

We camp here regularly from spring to mid fall. Famous for its black and forest service atv/utv trails. Pool hot tub bar laundry. At&t and Verizon work well. T-mobile does not. Wifi is sketchy no over the air TV.

Nestled on the tranquil shores of Lake Tahoe, our family's stay at the cabins was nothing short of enchanting. From the moment we arrived, we were captivated by the breathtaking views of the crystal-clear Tahoe water. My wife and I were having a celebratory wedding weekend with family, we had just gotten married (eloped) in Yosemite the day before driving to Tahoe. The cabins were full of rustic charm, very cozy, and in a great location!

One of the highlights of our trip was waking up to the beauty of Lake Tahoe right outside our window. Whether we were sipping coffee on the porch or enjoying a family campfire by the shore, the lake served as the perfect backdrop for our celebratory memories.

The campground itself was well-maintained and staffed by friendly and accommodating personnel who were very helpful when it came to our firewood needs! We took advantage of the various recreational activities available, from hiking trails to water sports, and even had a chance to roast marshmallows over a campfire under the starry night sky.

Overall, our experience at the Meeks Bay Resort cabins exceeded our expectations in every way. It provided the ideal setting for quality family time, relaxation, and adventure amidst the stunning beauty of nature. We can't wait to return for another unforgettable getaway. Everyone voted that we should do this every year so we are looking forward to making this a yearly event!

There are 4 cabins that can be rented from the Park Service however, they are not actually in the park. They are across the highway and up in the hills. We drove to the park but it's only short distance.

The cabins are great but expensive, $170 per night, so I deducted a star. They are rustic. No TV, no air conditioning (just ceiling fans), no bedding or towels. You bring your own.

Jake from the Dyrt here!  If you're looking to get out there but still enjoy some nice amenities, Sierra Inn has some great cabins with a quick drive to famous Lake Tahoe.  Check them out and leave a review on the Dyrt!

Spent a great couple of night here in June. Some of the sites back onto cabins and we were worried they would be noisy at night, but we didn't hear a thing. 

The hosts and rangers were really friendly and helpful. The sites were large considering the prime Tahoe location - we had plenty of space for our 9x8ft tent. 

You can walk to a small beach from here, or go to Sunnyside bar + restaurant for lakeside food and drinks. Also walkable to Tahoe city, but I think cycling would be nicer. 

Recommended!

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a bar any family, miner, 4-wheelers, motorcyclist, hunter or explorer would feel at home in. Has been referred to as: It’s as rustic as it gets, Norman Rockwell flashback, jewel of the Sierra, an anomaly on its own and my favorite Best Mountain Bar Ever!

Stop in for a drink or snack from the simple menu of Cold Beer, Soda, Water, Hot Coffee, Cocoa, Tea, Candy and Chips. The bar is old dates back to 1864 and looks it, THIS YEAR 2018 MARKING 154 YEARS, come celebrate with us. Bring a picnic use one of the many BBQ grills and tables. Play a round of horseshoes or bring a tent and stay the evening. Enough room and beautiful scenery for a wedding or group gathering.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin welcomes 4-wheelers year round. Snow never being an issue for the true winter adventurer knowing their arrival at the cabin will be welcoming and warm with the fireplace that’s always being stoked to dry the boots or little ones mittens. In the winter have the kids bring a sled or utilize one that may be hanging around.

In the warmer season stage a tent in the available campground then check out the local lakes, trails, and waterfalls.

When you visit be sure to bring one dollar bills, you will see when you get here as have the thousands of visitors from around the world.

Wentworth Springs Road is the traditional Rubicon Jeep Trail but the 4-wheeling doesn’t begin until the road reaches the old Wentworth Springs town site north of Loon Lake. A connector 4-wheelers route connects from the Lake to the historic route that is legendary among extremist jeepers. The historic “road” continues east until it climbs over the Sierra Crest and drops down to Lake Tahoe near Tahoma. In several places along the route, you can walk faster than the 4-wheelers can drive it. The annual Jeepers’ Jamboree is an ultimate driving experience for passionate 4-wheelers.

Stumpy Meadows Lake is the perfect location for a day trip or overnight camping in any of the three campgrounds. Great for boating (5mph limit), fishing, swimming or just a quick stop on your way to Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Union Valley Reservoir located on Ice House Road is popular for all water activities, camping, hiking or bicycling on the paved route that skirts the shores of the reservoir between Jones Fork and Wench Creek campgrounds.

Loon Lake is one of the prettiest reservoirs in the Sierra Nevada. Campgrounds are designed for RVs, Trailers, Equestrian riders, 4-wheeler groups, tents or a bag on the ground. Trails radiate several directions from the lake.

Hell Hole Reservoir has to be a close in the rankings of great back-country reservoirs. The Hell Hole hiking trail along the south side of the lake is one of the best in the Georgetown area.

The Middle American River provides some of the best whitewater action of any river in California. However, the easier access is from the north and the Foresthill Divide.

The upper (eastern) end, that provides some of the most remote sections of the Auburn State Recreation Area in the Middle Fork of the American River, lies north of Georgetown. OHV routes behind Volcanoville provide access into the canyon that can’t be readily reached from any direction.

On the other side, south, of Georgetown is the Rock Creek OHV Area that is one, if not THE, best in our area. The huge area has well over 115 miles of trails, most of which are available for motorcycles or ATVs – but not 4-wheelers. Several trails are popular with mountain bikers and still others for equestrian riders. Maps available at the local Ranger Station located on Wentworth Springs Road.

Equestrian riders also enjoy the Dru Barner Equestrian Campground and the Donadlson Campground that attracts enthusiastic trail riders. Loon Lake also has an equestrian campground with popular rides leading into the Desolation Wilderness.

If I had the option to do a negative star I would! Planned a rafting trip over the weekend for my children and I We arrived late Friday and were unable to upgrade to a cabin as they were all closed, not booked just closed. We set our tents up in the rain and made the best of it. Then late that evening I got a call that my father had been rushed to the hospital so I choose to stay the night and leave first thing in the morning. I went in as the office opened Saturday morning and told them about the situation and asked if I could simply reschedule the$450 rafting trip I had scheduled for the kids and I. Was told no one is in the office and had to go through the reservation desk on Monday. So we packed up and rushed to the two hour drive home to see my father. Just received a call from Melinda Jones the lead reservationist and was told that they were unwilling to reschedule the rafting trip and I would loose the$450 I spent despite the need for having to leave unexpectedly to see my father in the hospital. What kind of family friendly business is this? Asked to speak to the manager was told this is as far as it goes, asked who made the decision to not let me reschedule and refused to release a name. The spot was beautiful but the customer service is atrocious. I would never recommend this place to anyone because of how poorly they handled an already very difficult situation.

Fallen Leaf Lake Campground is a sweet spot to get away. It is just south of South Lake Tahoe, and generally won't be as crowded. Weekends get busy for sure. We have been several times and my 3 boys loved being near the mountains, out of the heat, and so close to an awesome body of water. Hopefully next time we can get a site next to the lake. Either way, the campground is clean, and the sites are large.

We reserved and camped at this AWESOME campground in September of 2018. 
We were going to camp here in 2017 when it first opened up to the public, but a near death experience from a ladder accident occurred to me in July of 2017. I survived though and so happy to have had a chance to finally camp at Webber Lake!

We reserved a spot #6, which was in the corner of the North Campgrounds. It was nice and secluded and on the water's edge :-) It was dry camping, so there were no power, water or sewage hookups. They are working on upgrading several of their campsites but I do not know the status of those upgrades. 

The campground was nice and peaceful. It is a historic location with an old hotel museum on the property. They had a old firetruck near the hotel and you can go into the hotel (1st floor) to look at historic items. 

The fishing was awesome. Before the lake opened up to the public, it was a private lake that was used by fishing groups. We are kayak anglers, and we had a blast here! There was quite a bit of weed in the water which made it hard to paddle out to open water. The maintenance crew were working on dredging the weeds so it was more easy to pass through, especially for the rental boats that they provide. I caught quite a few cutbow trout and rainbows. 
There is some awesome hiking trails in the area. You can hike to a small falls that feeds into the lake. I would definitely camp here again!!!

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.

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.

Calaveras is, hands down, my favorite park in CA. It’s beauty and trees are unmatched anywhere in California. It is perfect for hiking, exploring, and nearby fishing. If you do any park besides the more well known ones in CA, do not pass this one up!

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.

I think this is my favorite California State Park. It is situated in the Calaveras Big Trees Giant Sequoia Grove.

The campsites are spacious with lots of room between you and other campers, hot showers, great Visitors Center, campfire programs, puppet shows, self guided hikes, Stanislaus River, Beaver Creek, lots of wildlife, astronomy programs (we even got to see the International Space Station go overhead) and so much more.

We saw a yearling doe with the longest eyelashes I have ever seen on a deer, a fledgling osprey with a little hick-up in his first flight, lots of squirrels, chipmunks, and other critters, birds of all different colors. Just delightful.

Big Trees is close to explore the many little charming Gold Country Towns in the area and if you want to go out to dinner every kind of cuisine you can imagine.

You will have an awesome time at Calaveras Big Trees.

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.

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.