Best Tent Camping near Riverside, CA

Been here many times since it is local to me.

This place has changed a lot over the years, and not necessarily for the good, in my opinion.

What there is:

• Trailer camping
• Tent camping
• Fishing
• A playground
• Small water park
• Two lakes to fish at
• Trains, lots of them
• Bathrooms with showers
• Frisbee golf
• Picnic tables and shelters

What there is no longer:

• Paddle boats
• Horse riding stables
• Horses and cows
• Other interesting animals
• Water in the grass fields where the animals roamed
• Arenas

Beware of skunks and loud trains!

It is still a somewhat nice place to visit for a couple hours with the kids.

We have camped in a tent. The tents sites are adjacent to the lake.

Trailer camping isn't too bad, other than being adjacent to the busy railroad. Most sites have grass.

Offers wide range of tent camp sites, RV camping, showers, toilets. Beautiful scenic hikes. Small creek runs through property. Campsite grills and picnic tables.

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.

We tent camped here for 3 nights and loved this campground. The tent sites are spacious - can’t exaggerate that enough. the workers were friendly and helpful. The bathrooms were clean and had plenty of showers available. There is a playground centrally located, tennis court and basketball - all equipment available from the office. They also had board games for use and a pool table inside. There are a couple of pontoon boats available for rental as well! We took out kids on a couple hikes, be sure you have an interagency pass for parking at trailheads! Fantastic getaway!

Overall a nice campground with decent sites, but really not for tent camping at all. They say they have some tent sites, but pretty much every site is setup with gravel pull-in or pull throughs which you'd not really want to set your tent up on. They do have a "tent village" which you can camp on, but again, not really ideal for tents. They do have really nice facilities for washing your cloths or yourself along with a nice club house for unwinding. While each site doesn't have a fire ring, you do have a table and there is a group fire ring along with a pool and playground. You are a bit inside the city of Banning and not too far from the train tracks, so if you're not in something super insulated you'll probably hear a bit of train noise like we did.

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!

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!!

Does not allow tent camping

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

Super nice staff!! They remembered us after only staying here twice which means they take pride in the care for their customers. We love that we can tent camp by the water!

Will definitely recommend to anyone!

This is your typical regional park Campground. There’s a lot to do here, including fishing, playgrounds, and even a waterpark in the summer. The bathrooms are decent, no showers.

We stayed in group campsite A. Tent camping is only allowed in group sites. They do have about 30 to 40 RV sites as well. The tent camping sites come with plenty of space for group camping. There’s a built-in grill and running water.

There’s no larger wildlife, like bears, so less stressful when you have pets or kids. Plenty of space to bring bikes and ride around. There’s a large community park right next-door where you can go and play baseball, basketball, sand volleyball, or frisbee.

We’ve been here several times over the last few years and really enjoy a nice quiet place close to home.

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.

Bring own gear, tent sites are primative you have to walk to toilet and showers but not far campsites are big enough for more than one family and friends

Lake fishing swimming hiking campfires

Group activities

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

Great all around campground. If you are new to tent camping this place is great for getting familiar with your gear before you go out and "rough it". Bathrooms, showers, swimming pools, activities for the kids, general store, etc. A little on the expensive side but you will know where your money went once you have arrived. 15 minutes East of Temecula.

While I fully appreciated the location, the scenery, the quaint community of Idyllwild, the campsites were TOO close and on hills making relaxing and tent camping a bit of a downer. It felt like we were right on top of each other. We had loud campers on 2/3 sites near us. I don’t think I would camp here again.