Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Santa Clarita, CA

This is a nice campground. Very close to the city but still with visiting. I’m a van camper so I rented an RV site because I wanted shade trees. The tent camping sites in the first section have very little shade. Maybe one or two sites have shade. You definitely have to bring a canopy. I camped there in Nov2020 it was a nice getaway. The view of the lake is beautiful. I enjoyed seeing all the ducks on the lake. Each campsite has a table and fire ring. The bathrooms have flush toilets and the campground is kept clean and trash cans are emptied daily. It has a fish cleaning area with running water too. Must put away all your food because the raccoons will get into it. Overall it’s a nice local place to camp if you live in Santa Clarita, Ca.

The road out there is pretty easy if you come from Lake Hughes. Truck or SUV recommended but 4x4 not required.

I showed up right before sunset and the campsite was empty. A lot of the trees are blackened from the last fire and the new growth hasn't come in yet. Hopefully this spring it'll recover more. Tables were nice and there was a vault toilet but I didn't use it. Someone showed up shortly after sunset but it remained quiet. Fire rings were available and in good shape. Not much else in way of amenities.

The views of Mojave were cool, but you are down in the trees a bit, so it's a little blocked. At 8am, a group of adventure bike riders showed up and were pretty loud. This campsite would be a good place for people on dirt bikes and adventure bikes looking for a place to stay. If you're driving a good distance to get out here though, I'd recommend Red Rock or something with more things to do. There werent any good hiking trails nearby. I did end up driving to Burnt Peak. There is an FAA Navigation Aid up there and gorgeous views of the Gorman/Santa Clarita area. Just don't mess with the equipment.

I was hoping to disconnect when I went out there and I ended up with decent 5G service with Verizon... So take that how you want.

Ultimately, good for a night if you're just trying to get away but I think better could be found.

Economical for California and the area. Off the beaten path from all the craziness by the beach.

We are just passing through CA or it would not be my top spot. They nickel and dime a lot of things, showers pets. We paid online and we pull up and all of a sudden getting charged $5 a day extra for pets including a cat that doesn't leave the camper. Was not thrilled about that.

Otherwise, it was scenic, had a camp store, was close to restaurants, had a gate to drive into, so the place was pretty secure. Seemed like a lot of people gathered on the weekends.

We had the dirt campground which wasn't my favorite but all that was left, while the other campgrounds had cement pads. It was still pretty level.We did have cell reception, nice views and they had a water park for kids during summer months, though wasn't open while we were there.

Pros: Large campsites

          Clean-ish toilets

          Lake within walking distance

Cons: Right near highway, noisy

           Lots of flies during the day

           tent sites are very flat          

Last minute trip and decided to check out Lake Campground. There are 8 sites placed on this hilly area, with a vault toilet in the center of the campground. It is located right next to the highway, so it can be pretty noisy during the day as its a popular route for motorcyclists. The campground itself was fairly clean, and all the sites were very large and spaced well away from each other. The sites weren't very flat, so options to set your tent up were very limited. Some sites had some shade, others almost none. There were tons of flies, very active during the daytime, but went away during the evening. The vault toilets were the cleanest I'd seen (For vault toilets) and the staff came through the campgrounds several times a day.

Jackson Lake is a short walk from the campgrounds. It has a nice day use picnic area with coal grills, picnic benches, and four vault toilets (in pretty poor condition). The lake was pretty small and had a stagnant smell to it. Lots of people were fishing, and a few people waded into the waters. I saw people in rafts / kayaks later in the day. The area was covered in fleas so careful with pets.