Best Tent Camping near Ridgecrest, CA

Beautiful well kept campground. We tent camped and our site was close to the rv hook up sites. The rv sites have two different sizes and hookups. Tent sites had access to running water. We were located close to the creek and the bathrooms with showers. The walk to the water was a bit far but fun once you’re out there. The current wasn’t too strong so the kids were able to enjoy themselves in the water. Overall we had a blast.

Remote. Saw 3 rattlesnakes. Bring plenty of water. Tent camping only. Very limited space.

I’ve been coming here since I was a kid, not much has changed except the water level.. and nicer restrooms!

we tent camped by the river ( other options include by a brook ) and had plenty of space and trees. Full rv hookups and rv camping available on the top tier of the campground. Be careful of thievin raccoons!

Close to Riverkern , cell service and supplies

Excellent family spot. Beautiful well kept grounds. Clean showers and bathrooms. Polite guests. Respectable to after hour policies. Ground keepers make sure everyone is happy. Full hook up sites make it easy. Shaded tent sites make it comfortable. Camp store make it convenient. Walking distance to town and store. Kern river Brewing company is the family favorite. Pizza Barn delivers to you while riverside.

This is a nice clean campground right on the Kern River. However, the website says several spots are good for a 30-foot RV. I do not recommend anything bigger than 24 feet or so. The road through the campground is very narrow, and lined with large boulders. Some of the turns are very tight. For tent camping, though? Great spot. And the river front spots are nice. Just expect that others will want to get to the river and will be walking in or near your campsite.

Started coming here over 40 years ago as a kid. This was (still kind of is) a working horse packing station where they ran cattle out for the summer. Most trips out now are aimed at tourists/fishermen but the vibe is still the same. Fun horse riding trips. Great family vacation to get away from everything. Cabins are rustic but have everything you need. Plenty of tent camping in the campgrounds before the lodge. This is a great starting point for many backcountry backpack trips as it is near the PCT. Lots of hiking. Great fishing spot, river is generally stocked with fish on a weekly basis.

I go camp at Frandy campgrounds once a year in October. It’s a wonderful camp ground, very large and well maintained. Some sites are appropriate for RV with electrical hook ups. I always camp near the river, there are plenty of walk ways to get down there to relax. It’s enjoyable to be able to walk into town to have a drink or enjoy a bite to eat if you don’t want to cook at your campsite. I love this camp ground, it’s a great spot for the family. You can even rent a covered wagon to stay the night if you don’t want to tent camp.

This was a pretty nice campground. We were at group site 3, it has a covered picnic area and flat area for tents closer to the river bank.

We called park services to make sure our camper was allowed (Twice) and it indeed it was. However when using a pop up you are essentially camping in the parking lot. It didn’t end up being a bad spot but I would definitely say this site is more appropriate for tent camping.

Porta-potties were kept clean and trash was emptied from large trash containers regularly.

Bears are common in the area and there are no bear lockers for food. So keep this in mind.

Overall it’s a wonderful area to camp and play in the river.

Along Hwy 178 towards Ridgecrest you'll find this campground that is small but quiet and clean. It is not for big rigs or RVs. 

There are 2 sites with fire pits and covered picnic tables that could fit a large van at most. There is one other spot that is level but has no fire pit or covered table. Further back are several scattered picnic tables and tent spots. There are also 2 unisex ADA accessible pit toilet bathrooms which were quite filthy.

This is a stop along the Pacific Crest Trail. The scenery is an amazing mix of Joshua Trees, pines, chaparral, mountains and large rocks, some snow on the peaks facing north. It is close to the highway so there is some road noise and people stopping to use the bathroom. The road in is paved and narrow and potholed but passable.

There was no cell service with AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile.

There is a donation based drop box for camping fee so pay what you want or what you can afford.

Fires and charcoal grills are not allowed per sign at info board, camp stoves are ok.

I gave a four star only because there are a lot of tent spots only and I really like some of them but they are reserved for tent only. There are sites on the river with hook ups except sewer, but that’s ok for us. There is also a large grass area they have for large parties like weddings and things. We go every year.

Windy and creepy campers coming up to ur tents and some what stalking you!.

I love pitching a tent and waking up to a beautiful lake especially when your right on the water! First come first serve and Launching access anywhere pretty much! Kernville lake Isabella is the place!

Stayed here in my car the night before driving to Death Valley NP. There was only one other group there on a weekend in March, it was very quiet and secluded. Cleaner bathrooms than expected, beautiful stars, but very very windy, enough I wouldn't have been comfortable in a tent. Great cheap spot!

Our experience here was really frustrating for multiple reasons, but for the sake of this review I will try to highlight what is important for other campers to know. We had a bad experience from the beginning when we arrived at Hungry Gulch and were blown off by the camp host for asking who we could ask some questions of since we had made a reservation online at Recreation.gov and it was unclear what to do since there are not assigned camp spots. Since we had a kayak lesson to get to we called the Sequoia Recreation line and were told that we could pick any empty campsite, put our tent there and then it was OK to leave and the camp host would come along later to check our reservation (again which was done online so we had no other proof besides our email). We pitched our tent, went off for our kayak lessons, and when we got back to the campsite around 9 pm there was another family in our site and our tent was gone! The camp host took down our tent and gave our spot to someone else because we "didn't have the proper tag and hadn't checked in with him,"which of course we tried to do.  So, I had to go find him and explain to him how I had done exactly what I was told by Sequoia Recreation and then he had to drive around for 15 minutes to find us a new spot and didn't even offer to help us put our tent back up that he had taken down (at what was now almost 10 pm). We were surrounded by people playing really loud music on a speaker on one side, another group that was drunkenly yelling on another and loud road noise. Someone came around the sites at like 10 pm and of course everyone was quiet for all of 5 minutes and then we didn't see anyone else after that checking on things. At 12:30 am we had enough, asked both groups to be quiet and while it helped some, both were still making lots of noise. After a long day of kayaking I was exhausted and gave up. We packed up our site at almost 1 am and left out of sheer frustration and ended up having to get a hotel in Bakersfield just to get some sleep. Beware of this campground and know that they're tricky with their sites. There are not a ton of bathrooms and the sites on the periphery of the campground are really close to the road with lots of noise. There are some sites with shade but not many. I am giving it 2 stars for location and proximity to Kern River activities and Lake Isabella.

The Campsite is near Lake Isabella, along the Kern River. We visited on a non Holyday April week day and it was pretty empty so it was quiet and peaceful. The campsite is in a canyon surrounded by mountains and trees. There are fire rings, tables and grills and fore most spots you park next/near to your tent. There are also toilets. We really enjoyed climbing rocks along the river.

A very cool and Very unique spot in Southern California. Places to walk around places to climb around. If you plan on doing any rock climbing then you’re planning on doing this in the morning. With the face of the sun kissing the rocks expect them to get extremely hot!

Bring water! There are toilets around and single camp sites with fire pits.

This is a great little stop off the 395.