Best Dog-Friendly Camping near South Lake Tahoe, CA

Fallen Leaf Campground is located on south lake Tahoe about a mile from the beach. It's a great staging campground to all that south lake Tahoe has to offer to include, hiking, paddle boarding, swimming, fishing, gambling and much more. 

The campground is large but most of the campsite are spread out. However there are a few that are right on top of each other so be wise in choosing. There's a path to the actual Fallen Lake which is beautiful. 

Cell Service: Bad

Only $35 dollars, which is the cheapest you'll find north of South Lake Tahoe. Perfect for tent camping. Not busy at all during the non reserve season. Would go again for sure.

Gorgeous campground, owned by the city of South Lake Tahoe. Not many hookups, but perfect location for visiting SLT. Beach across the street. Only 3 stars because of hookup situation and extra charge to dump.

Large campground. Some sites very spacious. Fallen Leaf Lake is accessible within campground. Bike trail from campground to Lake Tahoe bike trail. Ten min drive to Emerald Bay and 20 min to Stateline of South Lake Tahoe. Many excursions and hiking trails. Breathtakingly beautiful.

Fallen Leaf Lake Campground is a sweet spot to get away. It is just south of South Lake Tahoe, and generally won't be as crowded. Weekends get busy for sure. We have been several times and my 3 boys loved being near the mountains, out of the heat, and so close to an awesome body of water. Hopefully next time we can get a site next to the lake. Either way, the campground is clean, and the sites are large.

The campground itself is beautiful, walking distance to Fallen Leaf Lake and short drive to South Lake Tahoe. My husband, my pup and I liked the campsite a lot. The only downside was our campsite was pretty close to our neighbors' on either side. When walking through the campgrounds, other sites were more spaced out and secluded than ours. Overall the ease of location, along with beautiful Fallen Leaf Lake walking distance made the campsite a great spot for a visit to Lake Tahoe!

This campground is in the heart of South Lake Tahoe. It is right on Highway 50. There is loud traffic noise day and night. This campground is great for visitors to Tahoe who want to stay for cheap and avoid hotels, but it is not the wilderness getaway that some campers like. Restrooms are clean and HEATED. Hot showers are free. Fire pits were in good condition. Sites were flat and clean. We had a large group and were able to book sites close together and used one central campfire location. Campers around us were considerate and quiet. Close to Safeway, right across the street from the lake, near casinos. Short drive to beautiful hiking areas.

Fallen Leaf Lake and its campground were really beautiful and felt remote despite being pretty close to the development of South Lake Tahoe. Our spot (84) was not very private or great for a tent, but it worked for our overnight. The bath house was nice and new/clean. The hosts were super super friendly, but they called it a day pretty early (5?) so we missed out on buying firewood onsite. They did warn us about bears in such an admiring way, it was really sweet. However, we didn't see any bears, just poo about 20 feet from our tent (!). Fire ring, giant table, bear box, water, all as expected.

The lake itself is stunning. Seriously. Dusk was perfectly still and calm, but early morning was also beautiful. Would absolutely stay or visit here again.

This is by far the most beauty area on Lake Tahoe. The site is just a few miles north of South Lake Tahoe on the western side of the lake. The campsite is best suited for tent campers or those traveling in small camper vans. Our sprinter van was able to park in the site ok without the need for levelers. The site is a great first night stop for those looking to back pack in the National Forest. Emerald Bay is just across the highway and will no disappoint. You fee like your looking at a fiord in Norway. Great option backpackers and tent campers in the Tahoe area. Camp has good tree cover and was cool even in the summer. This is a popular option for camping you will need to plan your visit to avoid the crowded summer hiking and tourist season.

I booked this place because I thought it would be close to the water, but it's actually across a major street and there is a huge paid parking lot you have to go through to get to the water. I had booked a walk-in site thinking it would be a nice site where we could drop our stuff and park our car not too far away. There are some standard sites where you can park by your site but those didn't look very nice either. 

Here are the cons:

1. the walk in sites are on a significant hill which makes it a huge pain in the butt to take your stuff to and you have to walk up to the bathroom

2. the parking is far away because they hold all of their close parking for their RV sites 

3. these sites are literally right on top of each other, like barely enough room for a tent and you can see and hear EVERYTHING in the neighboring campsites which are like 20 feet away

4. It's way too congested and right by the major road which makes for a non-peaceful setting 

I had pre-paid for 2 nights here and ended up leaving after like 2 hrs. I guess if you're just looking to be close to South Lake Tahoe and the casinos and lots of people, this would be good for you, but it is by no means a serene camping environment.

Great location if you want to be near Costco and the capital city.  Great views of the Sierras and the Carson valley.  Sites are narrow, about twice the width of your RV, and separated by chain link fencing.  But all sites are perfectly flat, paved pull-throughs; easy in, easy out parking.  Also electric, water, sewer hookup, cable and strong wifi and cell service.  Sites are gravel, but the campground has nice grassy dog parks, clean bathrooms and laundry, and well-stocked store with propane refill.  Pool and fishing pond were closed but looked great.  We were there in early April 2021; with our binoculars we could see skiers at the top of Heavenly Mountain ski area!

We spent a total of 4 nights at the SPP SP/General Creek campground and LOVED it! 

The campground is across the street from the state park day use area where you can access the lake, but it's so easily accessible and you don't have to pay for the day use area once you pay for your campsites, so totally worth it! You can drive and park over there or walk or ride a bike. 

The campground bathrooms and showers were so clean, the camp hosts were AWESOME and our site was huge! We actually came here earlier than expected after leaving our South Lake Tahoe "campground" early due to overcrowding and congestion. This campground is close to all the greats, across the street from the Lake and with your camping fees you get access to all of the State Parks in the area, which meant we got to go to DL Bliss for multiple days for free and hang out in the Sugar Pine Day Use area. We also got to check out Meeks Bay, Tahoe City and Kings Beach because of this great central location. Make sure you stop at Obexer's market for some camp goodies and West Shore Sports to rent some bikes or kayaks. While Lake Tahoe was super busy, especially on the North Shore, it never felt too crowded or chaotic at Sugar Pine or any of the areas we were in on the west shore. Highly recommend this area and this park and campground! Active bears, so be cautious! Nice bear boxes provided. Great cell service on AT&T as well.

If you're traveling east along 395, turn immediately after the gas station (west side of the casino/resort building).  You'll proceed straight ahead to the RV park kiosk to check in.  Spaces are *very* close together and their idea of a 60 foot space is about 5-6 feet shorter in reality.  Our RV+truck tip to tail (unhooked) is about 54 feet long and we had to park the truck sideways to stay within the lines.  The space was wide enough for our slides to come out, but not the awning.  The space is marked 30/50 amp but only had 30 and 20 amp outlets.  

Despite being pretty crowded, it was quiet at night.  The casino is nice and about what you'd expect to find in South Lake Tahoe, but located in Minden.  The steakhouse was great and we enjoyed some $5 black jack.  This was our last stop on our way home and if it came up again, we'd come back.

A couple people were a bit liberal with parking over their allocated space, but we were able to maneuver by.  Some spaces apparently don't have dumps and it can back up getting out of the park if an RV wants to dump on the way out -- it will block the exit.

If you need gas, best to get fuel at the station prior to hooking back up if you're towing -- just easier to maneuver.  But you can still maneuver into the gas station on the way out or on the way in if you want.  If you're doing it on the way in, be sure to turn into the gas station on the west side so you can turn into the RV park entrance without having to turn around.