Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Salton City, CA

We decided to extend our Borrego Springs trip (first time here) by one night and try a little boondocking at Peg Leg Smith Historical Marker (yes, there is actually a marker).  We did not arrive until well after dark, so the parking was a little challenging (F250 pulling a 30' Toy Hauler) but overall not bad at all. 

The lot is fairly uneven (for free-99, what do you expect?) but was a great little spot (the uneveness of the lot can be easily dealt with by leveling ).  We were one of 7 rigs there for the night, and there was one group of tent campers.  The only real issue was the wind, which is very common for the desert - about 2 hours after sunset, it really started to howl an rocked the trailer until about 8am the next day.

We were able to find it in the dark without too much drama.  We entered from the Salton City side - exited Highway 86 at  Sunrise Road, then Borrego Springs Road for 22 miles or so.

I stayed at Arroyo Salado one year during a super bloom at Anza Borrego Desert State Park.  The campground is very, very basic.  You pull up and find a spot and camp.  There are no designated campsites.  And it's free.  There are pit toilets, which are clean and don't really smell.

We had the pleasure, as I said, of coming during the super bloom, when all of the sites closer to town were booked.  This is in the "badlands" part of the park, leaving Borrego Springs and heading toward Salton City, which happens to be the cheapest place to get gas in these parts.

There's room to pitch a tent.  You basically set up camp wherever there is room. We were among blooming desert lilies and had to be careful not to damage any, but plenty of fairly flat sandy soil to pitch a tent.  You can bring your own barbecue if you want a fire, but fires must be self contained and you have to pack out what you bring in, so don't leave behind your ashes or coals.  Want to be lazy?  Grab dinner from one of the restaurants in town.

This part of the park (the badlands) tends to be slightly warmer than other areas of the park.  (Because of elevation and topography? I'm not sure why.)  This is a dry camp.  There is no water, so you have to bring your own. But Borrego Springs is maybe 15-20 minutes away if you need a supply run.

During the blooms and when it's not super hot, it's lovely, but it's ungodly hot in the summer here (110-115 degrees), not cooling much at night.  There are off-road roads in this area.  We watched a lovely moonrise amid some night-blooming flowers.  So time it right and it's lovely.

Our family of 3 just left the campground this morning, and we had a great time during our 1 night stay.  To find it, just plug the GPS coordinates into Google maps and follow the instructions.  It’s fairly primitive (outhouse and water spigot), but the sky is clear and the whole place is very serene with trees and nature. They have several protective, very human-friendly dogs on the property.  They also open the barn around 0800 and allow campers to pet the rabbits, chickens, cats, pigs, turkey, ducks, and even feed the goats.  Sites have campfire rings (bring your own wood), picnic table, and a couple Adirondack style chairs.  The staff is also very friendly and informative.  We will certainly be back.

The is a beautiful Thousand Trails RV Resort in Palm Springs, California! The park is large, very spacious and so clean! The gorgeous Palm trees are a little bit of a parking hazard, but they were here before we were! 😊 And besides, they are so beautiful to look at every day. The park feels like a day on beach with white sand to park on in most spaces, towering Palm trees, and brightly colored tropical flowers. What a treat in the winter! We are here in November and December and daytime high’s are in the low 80’s. The park is split in half with one side 30 amp FHU and the other half 50 amp FHU. For TT members, there is not an additional charge for 50 amp. Quite a deal! There is plenty of room to get out and walk in this park, along with a nice dog park, playground, billiards room, swimming pool and spa, horseshoes, 8 pickle ball courts, many laundry rooms and restrooms, and community recreation room. The surrounding mountains ranges are pretty amazing, too. This park is close to it all in the Palm Springs area and everything is within a short drive. Joshua Tree National Park and the Salton Sea is just over a half hour away. The Thousand Trails Palm Springs RV Resort is perfect and we will definitely be visiting again!

For videos on this park and others, check out our YouTube channel: Jeff & Steff’s Excellent Adventure.

Very spacious resort in the center of a gorgeous 9 hole golf course/driving range. Check-in packet was prepared & ready along w/an escort to our space, which has level concrete parking and picnic pad with table. 50/30/110, water, sewer, wifi and cable included. Catch and release fishing pond, pool, hot mineral spas, tennis, lawn bowling, big and little dog parks. The stargazing is amazing! Very clean and well maintained. Quiet respectful guests. Great area to bike. You can drive to the sculptures, Salton Sea, downtown Borrego and Julian.. you Will be driving through curvy mountain ranges to get to this destination. Stayed 1/4-8/2021

Definitely not the norm for us to stay in a place like this, but we had some things to do in Palm Springs and wanted to be close.  With taxes and fees, and additional dog fees, we paid about $87/night, and that's in the cheapest spots.  Yipes. 

It's close to the freeway and the road noise is loud and never stops. There is also a freight train that frequently runs along behind the park, and it's very loud.

Other than the noise and the high price, it's a very nice RV park.  Lots of amenities and activities.  There's also free wifi, download/upload was pretty slow but streaming and browsing was good.  Two pools/hot tubs (one is adult only), tennis courts, library, gym, showers, laundry, 3 dog parks (one is under construction), trash pickup service (though I'm personally not a fan of leaving my bags of trash outside for someone to pick up), a club house, storage units, lots of community activities. We asked if they had recycling and they said to bag up our recycling and leave it out with the trash.

We stayed here for a weekend and had no reservations and there was plenty of room in November.

Laundry way too expensive at $5 for wash and $5 for 45 min dry. Credit card payment only and the dryer didn't dry our clothes all the way.

Nice park, but way too pricey for us!

We only stayed one night in a pull through but enjoyed the facilities. Park is very clean and has a good restaurant. They do have a lot of mobile homes but most are newer and well kept. Some RV’s look abandoned which is a shame. Nice dog park area with grass, could use water for the pups. Laundry and bathrooms were very clean. Pool area and restaurant, bar area is nice. We had dinner, wing’s were great burger was good but not great. Service was very good. Pull through site was narrow but had all we needed for one night. Looks like the workout facility is nice.