Best Tent Camping near Shoshone, CA

You can take that heat from Vegas and completely forget you are in Nevada when you travel just outside the city and to McWilliams Campground and Mount Charleston area. But because of this break in the heat all summer you have to make reservations, even though they say there are walk up sites I wouldn't suggest banking on them to be there.

This campground is dry camping but with the setting of the mountains it hardly seems like any kind of inconvenience. There is a nice bathroom facility here without showers but plenty good for enjoying this place it is heated which makes for a lot better user experience especially I assume during winter months.

When I was there I saw a lot of RVs and Tents alike all pulled into spots and comfortable. While I didn't seem boxed in and overcrowded I did speak to someone who said when it is filled with more RVs it tends to get a little claustrophobic feeling.

Sleeping in a tent here I noticed that I could hear my neighbors pretty easily until around 11 p.m. after that it got pretty quiet and short of a few animal noises here and there it was silent. Temperatures dipped considerably at night so even though it was summer, in a tent I was finding I needed a little more cover than expected and pulled out the sleeping bag for some warmth.

Something I loved about this site was the set up for campers with the fire ring and table. The slab around the ring gives you a flat surface if you have camp chairs and also allows you do better manage your space and keep debris out of your fire.

TIPS:

• Bring a light or headlamp. Not sure if it really doesn't have light or if it was just burned out, I didn't check again, but the bathroom was dark at night so you want to have a way to see.
• Bring Cash or Check they didn't accept cards for the $25 nightly fee.

This was my first time camping at Hilltop. I reserved online, which is great, so when I got there I just pulled into the spot. The camp host came by and asked for either my ID or the reservation.

I stayed in Spot 1, which is nice if you want to be a little secluded, but I did have a lot of traffic noise when trucks or loud motorcycles came by. The tent area was level and smooth, which was a big help when Tent #1, which set up beautifully in my living room, refused to, in spite of much coaxing and cursing. I had to drive back into town and buy Tent #2, which was watertight even when the rain came pouring down.

There is no running water in the campground. Spigots have been capped, and where there once were showers, there are now portable toilets. In the larger group areas, they (and the trash bins) fill up fast, but less so in the remainder of the campground. Walk a little bit farther and you'll likely find a cleaner portable. This campground is very tent friendly.

If you want truly incredible views, reserve spots 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18. 22, or 23. All are on the outside edge overlooking the valley below. There are also deer that graze when the campground is quieter, and nearby access to a lot of hiking areas.

Pros: Reasonably priced, fairly quiet campground that is close enough to Furnace Creek w/out being in the thick of it. Great scenery surrounding the campground. Modern toilet/sink facilities and potable water.

Cons: Weird site designs - the site boundaries are not clear, so I had no idea which picnic table or fire ring belonged to my site or my neighbors because they seemed to be situated right on the edge of some of the sites. Almost no shade (which is a given), and the campground is very dusty covered in sharp edged cobbles. This is obviously not something they can control, but you'll want to keep it in mind if tent camping - definitely bring 1 if not 2 heavy duty tarps for under any tents, and I would recommend a canopy or awning of some kind. The oddest thing to me, however, is why they would go to the trouble of installing flush toilets and sinks, but not go one extra step and have showers. Even cold-water only coin-op showers would be awesome, and much appreciated at the end of a hot day hiking!

Given all of the above, however, I'd probably choose to camp here again if I was in the park. :)

All of the campgrounds in the valley are glorified parking lots, some more obviously than others. Texas Springs holds our favorite distinction, “No generators allowed!” This alone makes it worth the short drive up the hill, but it’s also got a little bit more charm than the open acres down the hill. The open sky makes it the perfect place to rely on your solar power as there are no electrical hookups here.  Within walking distance of the Visitors Center, the hotel, grocery store, gas station and restaurants, all contained in the Ranch at Death Valley, it’s a great base camp for your park adventures. 

The simple bathrooms have flush toilets and hand washing sinks, great dishwashing sinks with good tasting potable water are just outside of the bathrooms. The sites are stacked pretty tightly together, so there’s not a lot of privacy and there is zero, I mean zero, shade. All of the palm trees are down at the resort, but the scenery is all mudstone, sand and gravel, and it is lovely.  Climb up the hill a short way and you can see clear across Badwater Basin and Panamint Mountains to the west. Sunrise is as lovely as sunset. 

This is Death Valley afterall, so come prepared to set up a canopy but be careful of wind- we saw many shade structures destroyed and discarded in the dumpsters. Mobile service was pretty spotty, we had Verizon which seemed to have a good signal in the morning until more people woke up and then everything slowed down. Service throughout the park was pretty spotty. Showers (and use of the pool) and wifi are available at the Ranch for an hourly or daily fee. 

Biking, hiking and even golf are just a few of the activities available nearby, but pay attention to Park warnings about heat. Pets are not allowed on any of the trails and only allowed to be walked on roadways, because of the hot conditions found on some of the trails. We visited in February/March and found some of the canyons pretty uncomfortable, even that early in the spring.

My brother and I stayed here in January 2022 and loved it! It was surprisingly chilly but the tent only loop was nice and peaceful with only a few other campers there. The restrooms (no showers) were clean and there’s a dish washing sink for camper to clean their dishes with. Camping was cheap (I can’t remember the exact amount but it wasn’t a lot). It was first come first serve though.

Each campsite has a fire pit and a picnic table. Sites are pretty level. There isn’t that much privacy which is to be expected since it is the desert. Either way, very nice campsite! I’d definitely come back

We camped here because it was one of only 2 NPS campgrounds with tables and fire rings and it was first come first serve. The campground was full both nights we were there. We arrived in the morning and were able to get two sites next to each other. The sites are very close together, so don't expect any privacy. If you are looking for peace and quiet and some stargazing, this place is not for you. People shining their flashlights all over, headlights turning on when they opened their car doors, people driving around after dark and headlights shining in our eyes. Totally ruined the stargazing. There was one car that kept coming and going in our loop. I finally realized that they were driving down to the restrooms. Too lazy to walk two blocks! Restrooms were clean and had running water. There is also a no generators rule. I would not return to this campground.

Texas Springs upper loop is for RV's and Vans, but no generators allowed. So it's lovely and quiet at night. If you want to run your generator you need to go to Sunset Campground closer to the road. Texas Springs lower loop is for tents only (though some tent campers moved up to the upper loop).

We moved to Texas Springs upper loop from Furnace Creek. It is first come / first served with checkout at noon. So if you find a site without a tag before noon, you can claim it. But if you are there before noon and there is a tag in place for that day (and there are no "place holders" like chairs or items on the picnic table) the ranger will not let you claim it until noon. We were there over a holiday weekend (Presidents day on Monday) we got in on Thursday morning and it was wide open with many choices, by the time we left on Sunday there were people asking if they could call "dibs" on your site when you left. I would suggest coming in Sunday - Thursday on a regular week.   

Most sites in the middle and to the right as you come in are pull through, but the left row is all back in. If you get a choice, pick a site at the top or bottom of a row for better views. Our neighbors were all very relaxed and friendly.  There is NO shade. It was a bit too windy to put up our pop-up, but we just stayed in the shade of our tiny trailer.  

    
The bathrooms were clean and pleasant, the water troughs for dishwashing etc were next to the bathrooms, and there were water spigots in each row as well. There are no showers and grey water on the ground is forbidden, so no solar or outside showers. If you want a shower you can get a day pool pass and access to the showers at Furnace Creek Ranch ($14) or Stovepipe Wells ($5).  

My cel provider is T-Mobile and I had full bars, but it was 3G! I heard neighbors on Verizon complain about being on roaming. We had no signal on our Visible phone. 
We saw a lot of coyotes - keep your little dogs close!