Best Equestrian Camping near Rancho Mirage, CA

This is a really fun place to stay and has a bunch of awesome amenities. Right behind the campground is the Pioneertown Main Street, featuring replica buildings from the old west. They have stores, gun fights, and a restaurant nearby. The campground itself has a communal fire pit and bbq area that all campers can use. Each site has a table and fire pit. The layout of the sites is a little cramped and there is no privacy. It is designed mostly for equestrian camping and has horse stalls you can rent along with your site. The restaurant (Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace) is somewhat of a local icon, and has amazing food and is known for their live music.

Stayed here one night when the park was full. Short drive to the park and easy to get to the main grocery stores. The sites are not very shady and there is not too much privacy but overall it's a nice place and the bathrooms are very clean. It also has an equestrian campground attached.

Huge open horse camp with 10 corrals, picnic tables, bbqs and fire rings, pick your spot anywhere you like. Almost all sloped but not awful. Lot gets regularly graded. Central water location so you do have to schlepp your water to the corrals. Trails are amazing. There is even an overland trail from here to the south end of Joshua Tree NP which is around 35 miles long.

Although it's technically in the park, you'll need to drive over to one of the main entrances for park access. Still, this is a great option. The horse stalls are on the north end of the camp, and there are a few loops. It's desert camping so bring your own shade and lots of water. The weather was great in October, and there is a short trail on the west end of camp (plus lots of other in the area to explore).

We had an RV so I can't speak to the bathrooms.

Sweet Oaks winery campgrounds has 16 sites available for both tent camping and RV’s (no hook-ups). It’s pretty close to grocery stores and big box stores just in case you forgot some gear/supplies. They have a beautiful well-kept property with super-clean restrooms (no showers). They do have a water hose for you to fill up your tanks or Jerry cans. They didn’t allow campfires due to high fire danger though. You’ll have to bring your own fire pit setup if they ever allow them in the future. It was a beautiful walk around the vineyards but there are also hiking trails nearby. It’s off a road suitable for road bikes but there are also mountain bike trails nearby. They have equestrian activities also available for guests. We were able to get our tin top Eurovan to fit on one of their tent sites which offered a beautiful view of Temecula valley. The wine tasting room was closed due to the pandemic but you can order wine online and they will deliver to your site. One more thing, we counted about 8 hot air balloons as we had breakfast!

This campground is a little outside the main Joshua Tree area.  It used to be the only campground you could reserve ahead.  So we usually spend the first night here and then head into the main park in the morning.  It has full facilites and water on sight. It has a small visitor center/ranger station as well.

You drive through a residential area and then you are at the campground.  You are on a knoll or incline so you are looking down over the valley.  There is horse site as well but I do not know the details of that.

We are tent campers. There are  good tent sites as well RV sites.  A great place to watch the star, the sunset and the sunrise.  Trail right fromt= the campground up to a hill/mountain behind the campground.

Be prepared.  We have been snowed on here and wind whipped. Always go in February.

Sites have tables, fire rings and water. Modern bathrooms.

You are surrounded by Joshua Trees and if you catch them in the right time they are blooming.

While technically in Joshua Tree National Park, this campground sits on the Northwest edge of J.T., requires no park entrance fee, and does not connect with the main road through the park. It's a fine campground for those who can't get a site at one of the other campgrounds, or those who don't want to make the long, slow drive into the park. If you want to actually visit Joshua Tree, I'd find a different campground further into the park.

PROS: Easy access, Lots of sites with nice views overlooking the town, Several hiking trails starting at the edge of campground, separate campground for people with horses.

CONS: No shade, lot of the sites are uneven and hard-packed ground  (You can't get spikes in deep enough at some sites, I wouldn't trust my tent being secure in high winds), Not really "in" the park, long drive to park entrance, you don't get that isolated feeling, campsites feel a bit too close to each other.

Each site has a fire pit and a concrete picnic table. Size of campsites seem to vary greatly. Facilities are clean, with flush toilets/urinals.

After being unable to get a site at our preferred campground in Joshua Tree we grabbed two spots at Black Rock Campground. While not bad, it wasn't that normal Joshua Tree feel, the lights from the nearby town wash out some of the night sky, and the camp just felt packed, even when it was at ~60% capacity.

Best place ever!! Tent camping, RV camping, they have a restaurant and bar, best burgers in all of southern California!! They also have a small store, there's showers, restrooms and a swimming pool! Tent camping along Santa Ana River, you can also fish and hike. So amazing and beautiful, awesome memories made!!

This is a great family campground right around the corner from Temecula, Murrietta, and Menifee. It has tent, partial, and full hookup sites along with a camp store, fishing, biking, bathrooms, and day use areas. The lake is beautiful and boating is also an option. The fishing costs an extra fee per day on top of your California State License, so it’s a bit pricy. There are also nice hiking trails near the campground.

Originally booked this site because it is a good endpoint for the California Riding & Hiking trail though the national park, so if you’re looking to run or complete the traverse, it is a good spot to campout and/or leave a car. There are also great hiking trails right next to the campground. The campground is also super close to the towns of Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree for picking up supplies, enjoying the local Luna bakery (we went 3 times in 2 days!)

Only downside was sites felt really close together (particularly site 56, although some looked better), so noise levels were a little rough.

We were able to score this site on a Saturday night during the spring break season using Dyrt Alerts!

This is two different campgrounds. The front (closest to entry road) kinda sucks. Lots of noise. Sites are small, open and up against an industrial fence.  Everything to the back (after site 7 on the right and 18 on the left) is great. Sites with trees, road noise is blocked, closer to the trailhead and just generally nicer.

This campground is about 11 miles out of Temecula (1 bar of service still with Verizon) and only about 50 minutes from coastal North San Diego. The sites are all a little different but in general have some form of a table, grill, firepit. Bathrooms are standard pit toilets, but they were clean and the camp hosts in March of 2021 were on top of things.

There is a well trafficked trailhead at the back of the campground so on weekends during the day there is a lot of traffic from locals who are just there to hike. We came in on a Sunday and just caught the end of this. The trail itself is a big loop (10 miles) that connects to another loop and another. Almost 20 miles of hiking if you want it. We did an out and back. Trail was nice but it does get narrow often and very few people were wearing masks or even had them which sucked for trying to social distance. The views were fantastic.

Don't bother setting an alarm here. There are roosters nearby that will crow which will wake the dogs and then about a dozen other types of birds will join in at dawn. Crows will chatter. Bluebirds will chip. California Quails will...I don't know...quail?

A definite recommend if you're trying to get away without getting to far away.

While visiting family in LaQuinta this was perfect...great view over the lake, clean showers, spaces not too close, walk around the lake, big horn sheep viewing