Best Tent Camping near Lakewood, CA

Campground is separated by large parking spots (class A/C or travel trailers) and the other is geared towards smaller setups (smaller trailers and tents). Some spots have great shade over the picnic table (we hung our hammock on ours), and all of the tent sites have fire pits. Some units are on a slope so keep an eye out for that if you are tent camping. Bathrooms were clean and showers have token dispensers right by the showers. Got pretty cold at night.

Cottonwood is for the true RV’ers. Lakeside is more for tent camping. Nice park for family camping.

Walk to the beach is kind of long. Camp is on the bluff! We tent camped and had a good time

We tent camped here. The campground is large, so most spaces have a lot of room. Lots of amenities for those that need them. Short walk to the beach. Some seasons, the beach is very rocky and difficult to swim.

The first thing you should know about Tapo Canyon Park is that for actual tent camping, you will be in either decomposed granite or concrete. The second thing is that there is no cell service and no phone landlines there. 

The park is very nice, and very well maintained. There is a large grass area with an upgraded playground, ample covered picnic area for large groups, and an archery range (private, but open to the public on Saturdays).

The archery range is one of the best in California. There is a members area and the original range is open to the public on Saturdays from 9-1, with a nominal $5 fee.

The campsites are designed for RVs. I have camped here in a tent and there is no way to drive a stake into the ground. The sites are fairly large and well spread out for an RV lot. 

Each site has a fireplace, picnic table, and full hook ups. There is not much shade. The sites are very well maintained daily by the camp host Terri. 

At night you can hear the coyotes calling as they roam the rugged hills, but don't worry it's a very safe park.

I would give the park 4 stars for camping in an RV, 2 stars for tent camping, the facility as a whole is probably a 4.

We tent camped here. The sites are TIGHT sand the campground crowded. BUT, the tent spots are ocean front. It was wonderful! so for that I could overlook the crowded sites. It is more for surfing than playing in the waves on the beach, there are rocks spread out making it less enjoyable for kids, but our crew were happy there.

If you want tent camping on the coast, this is one of the few SoCal offerings that provides. The shortcoming is the proximity to the railroad, especially that 4am freight line which I’d be shocked didn’t wake everyone up who was tented. Other than that, the wave is worthwhile, but will require a lil hoofing to get ya there. Amenities were better then anticipated

Very well maintained campground with RV and tent sites. It’s right on the PCH so you get some great views of the pacific and the beach is just across the highway. It’s a bit noisy since the PCH is a heavily traveled highway and isn’t very remote, if that’s what you’re looking for. Great campground for families.

This is a great park in Southern Orange County. I have tent camped here for years with my kids in the Live Oak campground and never had a bad experience. There are hiking trails everywhere with lots of wildlife to watch. I switched to a travel trailer several years ago and now use Ortega Flats campground. The sites are big and well spaced, with 30 amp electric. The water is off for the time being. The dump station is very close by and easy to access.

We tent camped here. It’s a nice campground, clean with lots of amenities for those that need them. The vegetation is mostly brush, so not much shade from trees. In the summer, that can make it very hot. The walk to the beach is long for small kids, but if you want to gamble for a parking spot at the beach, your camp pass allows you to park at several nearby other beaches. They had a great Junior Ranger program offered, our kids loved it!

This is a great small, hike in camp ground with no privy but decent tent sites. There's no running water but the creek is usually running so come prepared with your own water and something to treat the creek water with. Check for fire restrictions and dig your cat holes at least 200 feet from the water. Or bring WAG bags and pack it back out. Very much like Hoegees campground. Good for families abs Scouts.

We stayed at Cabin Flat several years ago, and it's one of the most difficult campgrounds to reach near Wrightwood in the Angeles National Forest. To get here, you need to take the Blue Ridge Trail Road from Inspiration Point off of Highway 2. This road is closed during the winter, as it traverses through Mountain High Ski Resort. That said, the campground itself is very basic. I would not recommend bringing an RV here as the dirt road to get down is winding and bumpy. Tent camping only.

After experiencing both amenities this place is more or less for RVs and 4/10 as for they do have the tent camping on the steep incline and not too many sites but for RVs couldn't be happier plus the people here are nice and friendly you do have your Karen's but you're going to have them everywhere we enjoyed the lake the view the weather it could have been better over here will definitely be returning you can stay for 20 days and then you have to leave for 60 days and that's fine with me I'm looking forward to returning

We recently tent camped here for 5 days, space 138. Since we were here, Sunday - Friday, we didn't get any weekend crowds, and the days we were here, it seemed more 1-2 night use in the spaces around us.

There are pay per use showers, and flush toilets, that were both clean and had plenty of TP.

I think the wood bundles were $8 from the Ranger stop, but we had bought some in San Clemente before hand.

the long hike to the beach is fairly easy, but long, at least 30 minutes walking on a dusty trail. but it was better than trying to find parking.

I can't deduct stars for how crowded it was during Labor Day Weekend. I think it was a treat that we were able to book on a fairly short notice for a holiday weekend. The pool is awesome and huge compared to other campgrounds. It was overly crowded this Labor Day weekend but what do you expect, right? It was hot. They had a live band, movie night, roomy campsites. It was loud and rowdy in the tent camping area but calm in the RV area. I had T-Mobile and had ZERO reception here. I have since dropped T-Mobile and got Verizon because it seems like T-Mobile reception is terrible at most campsites. We are looking forward to going back soon.

Giant oval loop with camp sites all along both sides. Rv sites, tent sites and equestrian (horse) sites. Paved road is good for bike riding. Behind my Camp site was a few different hiking paths. Restroom buildings have water, toilets, and showers. It says to bring quarters for the showers but they were free. Each site is typical... Picnic bench, fire pit, and metal grill. No gathering fire wood, gotta buy it at local grocery or gas station. $20 a night. Lots of families with kids. Feels really safe here. Saw the park rangers driving around and the front has a gate guard who checks you in. Also only 10 minutes away from city.

Believe it or not, this was the first camp spot we stayed at with my family and it was my wife's first time ever camping since! We stayed in the premium tent campsites on the bluff that overlooked the beach. These are the best sites hands down in the whole campground. We camped here no problem in our sprinter van.

There are bathrooms and showers are good and nice hot water. There is a coin dispenser there.

The downer is that I thought our camp spot would be closer to the overlook, but it's actually just a parking spot with a grass spot and then walk over to an overlook. We only stayed one night as we were passing through, but would stay here again if we were in the area.

Also, we got there relatively late so the office was closed, got a ticket in the morning and had to walk all the way to the office to get us checked in properly. These premium sites are furthest away from the office just FYI.

Pros: Large campsites

          Clean-ish toilets

          Lake within walking distance

Cons: Right near highway, noisy

           Lots of flies during the day

           tent sites are very flat          

Last minute trip and decided to check out Lake Campground. There are 8 sites placed on this hilly area, with a vault toilet in the center of the campground. It is located right next to the highway, so it can be pretty noisy during the day as its a popular route for motorcyclists. The campground itself was fairly clean, and all the sites were very large and spaced well away from each other. The sites weren't very flat, so options to set your tent up were very limited. Some sites had some shade, others almost none. There were tons of flies, very active during the daytime, but went away during the evening. The vault toilets were the cleanest I'd seen (For vault toilets) and the staff came through the campgrounds several times a day.

Jackson Lake is a short walk from the campgrounds. It has a nice day use picnic area with coal grills, picnic benches, and four vault toilets (in pretty poor condition). The lake was pretty small and had a stagnant smell to it. Lots of people were fishing, and a few people waded into the waters. I saw people in rafts / kayaks later in the day. The area was covered in fleas so careful with pets.

I stayed here Labor Day weekend for tent camping! So, since I don't plan to camp here again for awhile, I should let you in on the secret(?) that the best campsite is Site 29!!! Reserve this one if you can!! It's the furthest away from the road and taxi dropoff, so it can be frustrating if you have to lug all your stuff, but it's well worth it. This site is much larger than the other sites. I think it's because it's at the end and it's not big enough to make into 2 separate sites. There's also a lot of shade relative to the other sites, which generally don't have much. This of course changes depending on the time of day. Site 29 also seems to be more separated from the other sites, whereas the other sites seem to be stacked on one another. 

The ranger was very helpful. The bathrooms were pretty clean and well-stocked the whole time, which is impressive since it was such a busy weekend. 

The shuttle is $2 exact change.

I appreciate that there are covered trash cans scattered amongst the sites so we don't all have to lug our trash to a big smelly dumpster. 

The ranger said that AT&T and Verizon have service at the campground. My friends have Sprint and they did not have service. 

Ok that's all I can think of for now. Have fun camping here! :)