Best Tent Camping near Pixley, CA

Pros: Nicely designed tent sites, plus flush toilets and (free!) showers. Absolutely gorgeous views of Kaweah Lake in the foothills of Sequoia NP. Convenient location also, as it is on the road into Sequoia; it takes about an hour to get from the campground to the park entrance. I think this campground is also a nice alternative to staying in Sequoia; it didn't seem bears were at all a concern here, while they are in the park. It was a nice alternative to tent camping alone in an area bears frequent.

Cons: Outdated facilities - the toilet/shower house was in rough shape and not really clean. There was also a steep hill to walk up to the bathhouse that had been partially washed out, so somewhat of a hazard. Additionally, one of my nights there I got no sleep whatsoever because there was a group of young guys partying all night. And it was the works - loud music, yelling, swearing, vulgar language, and because the campground is pretty open and in a valley, it echoed throughout the entire campground. Definitely one of the downsides of 'unstaffed' campgrounds that only have a host on site; these guys were breaking every apparent campground regulation and were allowed to do so. I would say one other weird thing about this campground is that they have signs that say they close the gates after 9 pm, and their exit has tire spike strips! One night I went into the nearest town for dinner, but I was stressed about getting back by 9 pm. It's probably the first campground I've ever encountered that, and it's really weird.

I'm torn on whether I'd stay here again.. maybe, if there weren't any other campgrounds in the area.

Do yourself a favor and avoid campsite 008; this tent site is right next to the vault restrooms that have not been cleaned in ages…oodles of flies coming out of them and the odor carries into the tent site!! Also people have zero respect for quite hours; people were super loud and it was extremely upsetting and annoying!

Quiet, peaceful and great accomodations for your camping needs. Wether it be RV or tent camping. Walking distance to the lake

1. Campsites are very small

2. Water available at all tent campsites

3. Showers and bathrooms were clean

4.  Near highway in residential area

5. Almost no shade

6. Nice pool area

Clean restrooms and showers, nice picnic tables and fire rings, very nice tent sites. And the Wi-Fi was very good and covers the entire campground well. The campground has access to the river, though it did not carry a lot of water when we visited and you couldn’t swim.

Friendly staff, well kept grounds, solid amenities. Many long term guests, a few of which were a bit noisy. I stayed here in a pinch in one of the tent sites. It's a grass patch in the middle of an RV park. I didn't expect more. I might stay again in a pinch, but I'd probably just get a cheap motel room.

It was a very peaceful and calm campground on the I stayed in one of the yurts. It was very clean and there is a bunkbed with two full size beds and another separate full size bed. The bathrooms were also kept very clean. I didn’t get a chance to go hiking in the area, but there are trails nearby. There is no service but it is about a 5 minute drive from a cafe/store/lodge that has Wi-Fi. I was in site 28. Sites 6-10 looked amazing for tent camping.

We camped at site 13 between 2/12 and 2/14. There were restrooms and a large sink that is useful to dump bear attracting water located pretty close.

The campsite itself is fairly large. I would say it lends itself more to tent camping than car or RTT camping. The site is located on a significant slope, this includes the paved parking area and the grass. There are a fire pit, bear box and picnic table located at the site. Be wary, when we went there were numerous large holes that were definitely a trip hazard.

While there were rangers and employees of the park driving around, there were no actual rangers at the kiosk. Additionally, there wasn't a reservation list posted.

Absolutely the worst human beings on the planet. A man flashed my son in the bathroom and blamed my son for it.

We camped in a non-electric tent site for $30, I was charged $68 but she (the manager) used up all my points to pay for it, and pocketed the $30 I already dropped in the overnight box.

They only want you to come, sleep, and leave. Don't even think about enjoying the property or cabin.

They have cameras watching you and will nit pick you to death. They will tell you where to park, then get mad at you for parking there.

The employees drive around, obviously under the influence. I once witnessed the maintenance man running over the fire pit. Smh.

The only reason I’m giving a 1-star is due to our tent site next to the river—which was fun and refreshing especially for the kids. Also the proximity to the national park was very convenient. First of all there are signs at the riverfront campsites for other campers to NOT walk through people campsites to access the river but people were doing it all the time. The bathrooms were disgusting, atrocious! The campground didn’t adhere to the maximum visitors per site so there were so many people packed into one site. The worst, worst part of this campground people did not adhere to the 10pm quiet at night. Literally music, screaming, and yelling up until midnight and 1am. There was no security or anybody enforcing these rules. I would never stay at this campground again even if you paid me!

It was a great campground but I have been ruined by free campgrounds so when I do have to pay I am disappointed if there aren't showers. Also it was a little far away from the main section of the park (where we wanted to be) but it was the only campground available.

That being said, the campground was pretty sweet. We backed out truck in and slept in the bed, but there are plenty of rv and tent sites around. We stayed at site 12 for two nights and on our last morning we woke up to see a bobcat snoozing in the sun. We also lucked out and came across a mama bear and two cubs near Moro Rock which was incredible!!!

Next time I would try to reserve a campground up higher, but I wouldn't think twice about staying here again if they were full.

Cold Springs campground is a must for camping in Mineral King. Remote, but not too remote and great for kids. Closed in winter due to snow. Usually open late May through October.

Getting to this campground takes a little patience. It is about 45 min drive from SR-198 on Mineral King Rd (partially paved/dirt), but with a couple small pull offs with water falls and Sequoias along the way. You can also stop at Silver City, a small cabin resort that offers a hot meal, some supplies, and paid showers, that is located about 15 minutes down the road from the campground.

To access the campground, you drive across a bridge and locate the camp site that you want (first-come, first-served). Tent camping only. There is a drop box for camping fees and the ranger does a walk-around daily.

The campground road is a loop. There are sites located along the East Fork of the Kaweah River from which you can climb down into the River. In spring, some river sites have some flooding because of rain and runoff. Note that the water is COLD, even in summer.

Vault toilets and potable water are provided. No cell service, but they do have a pay phone you can use. Be sure to bring all the supplies you need. Firewood is a must, and each site has its own fire ring. Keep food in bear boxes. I have seen bears there, but not every time. Also be wary of marmots.

Great access to many different hiking trails of varying difficulty. 100% Recommend.

We chose this campground to be an easy "getting back to camping" campground since it was supposed to be developed and even have showers.

Cons: The central restrooms/showers have been non-operational for over a year based on the maintenance log of the porta potty. While the porta potty was well maintained, there were no hand wash stations or anything to make up for the loss of sinks and showers. The tap outside the building didn't work and neither did the water fountain.

The host was not there for check-in. Thankfully, we ran into a very kind maintenance worker that gave us the predator rundown for the area and told us how to get to our site. The host eventually showed up, but was not there for at least 5 sets of campers who were trying to check in.

Nearly every campsite has a major hill, so most will not have a good flat area for a tent. Site 61 is flat and a couple of others have flatter grounds, but many will have you sleeping on an angle.

Cons Site 61: The previous group was very disrespectful of the site and left glass shards everywhere. We had to sweep it away from our tent site and kept finding more as we were using our site. It was especially a problem since we brought our dog, so eventually we just laid tarps out to let her walk on instead of the dirt for her safety.

No shade at all. While most other sites had trees or an aluminum awning to provide some sort of shade, Site 61 had nothing. Thankfully, we planned for that, but definitely worth mentioning for other campers. Most sites on the inside of the loop had good tree coverage, so if that's what you're looking for definitely book one of the inner loop sites like 63.

For those looking to be fully removed from the world, you should know this campsite is RIGHT off the highway, so there is traffic and some headlights if drivers have their brights on. That didn't bother us, but we've lived off of major streets for years, so we tune it out pretty well.

Pros: There was running water, but you had to find it near other campsites. (Closest one to ours was near Site 63, which was very convenient)

Pros Scenery: The stargazing is beautiful. There is some limited light pollution emanating from the other side of the foothills, but because you are surrounded by foothills you get some good, dark surroundings to really appreciate the stars. Similarly, the sunrise and sunset were slightly late/early because the sun was contending with the surrounding hills. When the sun was rising over the hills, there was a beautiful glow to them.

Pros Site 61: You have absolutely no neighbors, which gives you more privacy and the ability to face out in any direction and enjoy the scenery.

Predators: Coyotes, rattlesnakes, meat bees (bring cheap canned meat to set out during the day and they will leave you alone for the most part)

Cool Wildlife: Various birds, though I was never able to get a good enough look to identify them. There were also bats at night that really helped with the bug problem and created a cool ambience while stargazing. My husband loved listening to them hunt!

Overall: We enjoyed the site, but were extremely grateful that we are redundancy packers. If we didn't have our extras, we probably would not have had a good time since it was 100+ degrees every day we were there and the grounds weren't totally as advertised. (Toilets, showers, etc)

This is a really cool little campground near the entrance of Sequoia National Park. The sites are tent only, so no hookups or anything like that. Pretty nice sites though, a lot of space. I think there can be fire restrictions in the summer since it can get so dry, so just be aware of that. As far as places go, it wasn't too pricey. I think we paid about $20 a night. There are bathrooms with running water, and the sites have picnic tables and fire rings. Each site also has storage lockers for your food, so be sure to lock it up in order to keep the bears from getting into it.

As for stuff to do around here, you obviously have to check out the trees. Go look at General Sherman and all the other Sequoia trees. They're so amazing and honestly it humbles you a little. Also check out Moro Rock Trail. The view from the top is amazing. You'll also probably see a fair amount of wildlife while you're hiking around, so be careful of the bears. Out of all my trips to California, I've seen the most bears here in Sequoia. They are super cool creatures, just keep a respectful distance and of course don't feed them.

It would have been a good site for a tent but we are traveling with a roof tent. Our site was a bit uneven with no way to level it. Otherwise the site was good. The area is popular so it was a bit crowded but not overly noisy for the number of people. There is access to the river for a cooling dip. Bring bug spray.