Best Dispersed Camping near South Lake Tahoe, CA

This spot is national forest, and overnight camping is not allowed. We had a knock from someone with the forest service the next morning who was very kind and let us know that overnight is not allowed.

Look up lakes and forest in this area on google — not many places allow dispersed camping

It's sad where we have this public land to camp on and people just dump tons and tons of trash and abandoned cars and demolished cars on the property would not recommend going. There's some more BLM land about 15 to 20 minutes north on Red Rock road.

Plenty of dispersed camping spots. My flat spot that I found not too far from a Creek and I even had 2 bars on my cell phone and watch the movie.

Free camping

Several areas along Blue Lakes Rd offer dispersed camping. We had a wildflower-filled meadow to ourselves in early August with plenty of near-by trails for dirt bikes, Jeeping, horses, mountain biking or hiking.

Scout camp is on the Carson river and within the tall cottonwoods. Camp in the shade or out in the open if it’s very windy as the trees can shed branches. Garbage collection and pit toilets. Nice trail along the River.

As of October 2023 the access road to scout camp was washed out. But there is dispersed camping on the terrace to the south.

Dog Valley is a special place where we come to boondock. It’s quite and has a great creek. People come out here to camp, ride atvs, side by sides, dirt bikes, or off road. People target practice a lot and the ranger is very nice.

This is a beautiful lake. I like visiting it and geometry dash breeze which is amazing. Upon reaching the lake, you will discover approximately twelve camping spots. These sites are fairly basic, each equipped with uncomplicated stone fire pits, though only around half of them seem to feature picnic tables based on my observation. Upon our arrival, all the Lakeview sites were occupied, prompting us to locate a pleasant spot towards the back to set up our camp. Unfortunately, there is a segment of the camping area that would typically be open for use but was closed off by the Department of Fish and Game(DFG) due to environmental concerns. It's regrettable as there were some appealing campsites situated beyond that wooden barrier.

The coordinates listed on the app are simply for the entrance to the dispersed camping. There are infinite amounts of primitive roads to drive down and find camp. I stayed at N38.768811• W 120.238630° — on top of a peak that offered 360° views with sunrise and sunset right from my tent. At this specific sight, there are no overhead trees. Despite being primitive, the roads are well kept, even if you have a small SUV. It could get slightly tricky with a car. I stayed here for 7 days (10/31-11/6) and only saw one other person on the primivite roads. The above coordinates are about a 6 mile drive in from US50. You will see a campground on your right about 5 miles down when driving in, about a mile further down the road you will come up on the dirt road leading you up the mountain.

A couple of notes:

1. You are required to have a permit for any day/overnight use in Eldorado, including this area. They can be easily acquired at recreation.gov
2. Cell phone reception is very spotty, in and out of a couple of bars throughout the drive in. — AT&T coverage. At the above coordinates, there were 2 bars of low grade coverage allowing basic texts to send. Not enough service for web browsing or sending photos via text.
3. This area has been widely burnt by fires last year. There are still large areas unburnt. You will find yourself going in and out of them while driving.
4. KEEP IT CLEAN — this area is immaculate and besides dug out fire pits, human trace is non-existent. Leave it cleaner than you found it, pick up your trash (and other’s if you see any), respect the area and it will respect you.
5. NO CAMP SERVICES — There is no trash service or even dumpsters at the signed entrance; pack it in pack it out. There are no restrooms in the area either.

So disappointing this app has failed us like 5 times now on camping spots. Not the right location.

This is a nice little private camp spot for the most part, There's a campground with its own fence around it for private camping With signs posted very near it, "no camping here" in the other spots without the signs good to go.

We recently spent a night at this campsite and found it to be perfect for a quick overnight getaway. The area is spacious and conveniently located not too far off the main road, making it easy to access without feeling too isolated.

There are plenty of sites to choose from, catering to different preferences. However, we recommend taking some time to survey the land before setting up camp, as some spots are slightly sloped.

A huge plus is the gas station just about 5 minutes down the road. It’s well-stocked with all the convenient store items you might have forgotten at home, making it easy to grab any last-minute necessities.

Overall, it was a delightful stay. Just remember, always practice Leave No Trace principles—pack out what you pack in!

We backpacked up to the high loch levens lake where we found many available campsites. But also a lot of the nice view spots were occupied since we didn’t start our hike up early, we started at 5:30pm. The middle lake is very large and had many beautiful spots to camp. But we headed to the upper lake since a lot of day hikers go to the middle lake and don’t always pack out what they pack in. All the sites are very dispersed and you have so much privacy. We saw some people even camping on the boulders! It was very serene and quiet with very respectful campers. The trail up is a bit confusing if you don’t pay absolute attention to where you are going. You can find some orange markings or stacked rocks that help you stay on the path. Reaching our destination was amazing. We swam in the lake and napped in our hammocks. I will say that there was a lot of mosquitos. Even with bug spray I left with 7 bites. But, it’s the outdoors what do you expect? Overall very beautiful area to camp!