Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Lone Pine, CA

Last minute decision to camp near Lone Pine. The site has a machine that takes cards now - super convenient. The breeze helped cool the temperature quickly, and the creek sounds great! Mostly quiet tonight, maybe a third full.

Portagee Joe is a small campground with round 20 camping spots. It's located 1 mile from Lone Pine on Mt Wilson Portal Rd. It's a good little campground if you are traveling thru or need a easy place to stay while exploring Mt. Whitney or the Alabama Hills. It cost $14 per night + $5 extra vehicle.  There's a pretty little stream that splits the campground that gives off soothing sounds. There's two restrooms and water. 

Since it's only 1 mile from lone pine there are plenty of restaurant to choose from for lunch and dinner. Lone Pine Pizza is really good.

Pull off the road right up the hill from Lone Pine. Great place to camp at the end of a long drive. Wake up to breakfast in Lone Pine at the Alabama Hills Cafe (yum!) and then drive up to Eastern Sierras for an early morning start.

Travel west on Whitney Portal Rd from Lone Pine, then turn right onto Movie Rd. Dispersed campsites are plentiful and easily accessible along Movie Rd. Hardest challenge is choosing a spot! Two-wheel drive vehicles are okay to access most sites.

Otherworldly panoramic views on Mt Whitney and the surrounding Sierras. Camped here in December with comfortable overnight lows in the 30’s. Served as a tremendous stop on the way to Death Valley, less than 2-Hrs to the Park’s Panamint Entrance.

Tip: Take time to visit the local outfitters shops in Lone Pine for fire wood and other camping, hiking, mountaineering gear needs...or just drop in to show your support and talk story 😊🤙🏼🏔

We parked our rig and looked around and were speechless. Whitney Creek runs through the campground, and the Sierra Nevada mountains rise up all around it. For those hardy souls who want to hike up Mount Whitney, the highest point in the Sierra Nevada range, this is the place to start. For the rest of us, it was just an amazingly beautiful place to spend a couple of nights, do a little fishing and a little hiking. One caveat is that it is at 8,600 feet and the road up from Lone Pine is pretty scary.

Absolutely love this spot! Very cool rock formations all around you. Nice short trail nearby that takes you by a stream.

Nearby to lone pine where I had one of the best patty melts ever. And internet is great if you need to work.

Keep an eye out for the 4x4 roads as the other spots get filled up. Don’t go in summer with pets unless you have an AC

Great, clean place only 6 miles from Sequoia National Park entrance. This place has sites where you can back up to the river, is clean, has nice dog park area, nice fire pits & courteous staff.

Camped here in spring when it first opened for the season. COLD and snow flurries, but still such a memorable and great experience. Most sites seem to be well spaced out and good amount of privacy. Lots of sites are along the stream. Great access to Mt Whitney trailhead. Hiked to Lone Pine Lake with my pup (no permits needed and dogs allowed up to here). Lots of snow, spikes were handy.

Stayed one night in April after a day trip to Death Valley. Clean and shady with bathrooms and water but the campsites are close together. Its a short trip to Lone Pine if you need anything. I would stay here again.

Came in a Tesla Model 3 after supercharging at Lone Pine.

Very hard to navigate at night, recommend to show up during the day.

Roads are well maintained, look out for signs that show where you can/can’t settle down.

Woke up to lots of rocks

Drive around, hike, climb! This place is amazing, there is something for everyone. You can find a secluded space or find space for a big group. The rock formations are amazing! It is just outside of lone pine, but there are no services in the rec area itself, bring everything you need for a good time!

Incredible stay for boondocking. Stunning area and easy to navigate on the dirt roads with RV if you can find a site closer to where the asphalt ends. We had no problem in November. 

Amazing weather. The sites are a little limited to one side of the recreation area, but we got lucky with our spot. AT&T service was 2 of 4 bars and we were able to work remote and live stream on that service. 

Small town of Lone Pine- there isn't much going on, but some good restaurants- TX bbq, Totem Cafe, etc., friendly locals,Jake's Saloon and accessible to Bishop, Independence. The Western Film Museum is a must. Only$5/person and it was definitely worth more than$5. Manzanar was also very interesting to learn more about. 

Movie Road connects to Whitney Portal Rd that will take you up to the trailhead for Mt. Whitney. Permits required, along with a fee and can reserve online and then pick up at the Lone Pine Visitor center. 

What a special place- we will be back again.

Awesome RV park and amenities if you're going to be in Lone Pine for a while. It's on the outskirts of downtown Lone Pine, but the views are beautiful of the mountains and the RV park is spacious with plenty of room to get your steps in. Complimentary muffins and coffee from 7-9a daily which was very hospitable and kind.

We spent a few days in the Alabama Hills and then came here for full hookups during the week. It was a great combo.

The internet worked pretty well for the most part for work emails and video and live stream. AT&T service was 2 out of 4 bars and worked just fine for us.

The grounds and amenities are very clean and the staff is friendly. The week was quiet, but as the weekend rolled around almost every site was full. It would be even better if we had more space between neighbors, but I'm still giving it a 5 star because it was perfect for the area.

We will definitely be back.

Location- ALABAMA HILLS, Lone Pine- Movie Rd. CA. Tent Dry Camping. BLM Land, for disperse camping. No reservations required, unless you choose to stay at a “campground”.

Absolutely breathtaking place, it feels like you’ve landed on another planet or as if you’ve been taken back into time, to the early dawn of mankind days. This was our first disperse/dry camping and I wouldn’t camp any other way, it was marvelous.

Directions- Once at Alabama Hills, Take Hwy 395 to Lone Pine. (it’s a proper town with restaurants/ grocery stores/ car workshops). Turn west at the stoplight onto Whitney Portal Road, drive 2.5 miles to Movie Road, turn right & the road turns into a “well groomed dirt path” from that point onwards “The world is your oyster! You can basically set up camp anywhere. As you drive down the groomed dirt path, there are multiple exits to various dirt paths leading inwards, where you can pick your spot to set up camp.

One very important thing is you MUST come here in a GOOD condition 4WD! There’s NO other way. You don’t want to get WHEELS stuck on the dirt path. We had rented a 4WD for the weekend.

We camped about 3miles in Movie Rd. Another good thing is if you run out of any supplies or have car trouble “Lone Pine” town is nearby you can drive over in minutes or call for any help. Phone service & wifi is available only on the groomed dirt path, also a bit unstable, however manageable for a call or text. So you’ll have to walk out of your campsite back to main rd.

It’s wonderful to go on hikes and explore during the day, that’s what we did. Evenings we’d sit around fire and cook dinner. Then at night time S’mores time! (we have a camp fire permit) you get it online.

Another important item to have around is a sturdy SHOVEL, as it’s very sandy here and the shovel is very multi-purpose, well at any camp for that matter. Bring Plenty of WATER, it’s very dry out here. As there are no water taps around, unless you head back to Lone Pine. Also you MUST clean up after, bring along a few trash bags or a bin, to clear up before you leave. LEAVE no Trace. Keep nature clean.

This is purely disperse camping. You’ll have to bring everything of your own. Our camp was a 3days/ 2nights. Arrived on Friday and left on Sunday morning. Waking up every morning to this spectacular view, is pure bliss! We’d definitely be coming back here a few more times! If you haven’t already then hop on a 4WD and head over to Alabama Hills!

There is a reason tons of movies have been filmed here, because it's like you are on another planet. The landscape is like no other and the views are amazing. It's open land so you can just set up camp anywhere. It does get windy so find yourself a protected area. Mt. Whitney portal is just up the way and Lone Pine is just down the way. Fun trails, fun rocks, and it's all free.