Looking for the best options for RV camping near Thermal? Finding a place to camp in California with your RV is easier than ever. Each spot offers quick access to one or more of Thermal's most popular destinations.
Your desert oasis, Emerald Desert is ideally located in Palm Desert, California. Relax and rejuvenate in our resort pools and spas. Perfect your game on our putting green or driving range. Your furry friends can come along, too. Among our flourishing landscapes and vast desert skies, feel revitalized, make authentic connections, explore unlimited possibilities — without sacrificing the standards you deserve. Suited for everyone, Emerald Desert is the jewel of Palm Desert.
Palm Springs Oasis RV Resort is located in Palm Springs, an area rich in history and blessed with gorgeous weather! Palm Springs is a preferred destination of travelers from all over the world. Palm Springs Oasis is an RV resort nestled at the base of the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountain ranges, providing guests with magnificent views from every angle and conveniently located near entertainment for all ages. Take a ride on the Palm Springs world famous aerial Tramway, catch a play at a local theatre or shop in the many area boutiques and galleries. Palm Springs Oasis RV Resort features 140 sites, all with full hook-ups for ultimate comfort. If you are a golfer, book a tee time at our adjacent property, Date Palm Country Club and then grab lunch at their full service restaurant, AJ's On the Green. The staff at Palm Springs Oasis cannot wait to help you make vacation memories! RV Resort in California Whether you're planning a retreat for the whole family, a group of friends or a getaway for two, there's no shortage of unique activities to explore at Palm Springs Oasis RV Resort. Plan activities upon arrival or visit this page before your departure to plan ahead. Looking for more? Our friendly staff can fill you in on all of the great ways to make your stay a memorable experience.
Palm Springs RV Camping is the perfect RV camp in California for a weekend getaway or a long-term hiatus. Nestled in the beautiful Coachella Valley amid 805 date palms, this 25-acre preserve is a popular winter vacation destination. A golfer's paradise, Palm Springs and our RV camping park offer access to numerous well-groomed courses in what has become one of the most recognized locations in the world for this activity. No matter what you enjoy, there is something for you at our RV camp in this expansive California desert community! At Palm Springs RV Camping , there are numerous beautiful and natural attractions that await, such as Joshua Tree National Park, Thousand Palms Oasis, Indian Canyon, the Living Desert Wildlife and Botanical Preserve as well as the Santa Rosa/San Jacinto National Monuments. Stay with us at our RV camp in California and take in breathtaking views of the mountains and the Coachella Valley from the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway as it lifts you up 8,000 feet to the peak of Mt. San Jacinto. A Popular RV Camp in California Whether you're planning a retreat for the whole family, a group of friends or a getaway for two, there's no shortage of unique activities to explore at Palm Springs RV Resort. Plan activities upon arrival or visit this page before your departure to plan ahead. Looking for more? Our friendly staff can fill you in on all of the great ways to make your stay a memorable experience.
Ocotillo RV Resort is focused on family fun, desert adventures and good times for all! Here’s what you are going to love!
Contact our resort directly to book your stay with us!
$22 - $44 / night
When all the campsites are fully booked in Joshua Tree Nation Park, this is your next best option to get a campsite near the park and still have the "campground atmosphere" you seek.
Our spacious sites offer beautiful views of open desert and sweeping vistas in all directions.
$15 - $55 / night
Experience the ultimate RV getaway at Shadow Hills RV Resort with a variety of ways to stay.
Choose from grass or paved RV sites, or upgrade to our unique Desert Glamping Oasis options including 1 bedroom cottages, vintage trailers, tee pees and tent sites.
Book your stay now and start exploring the beauty of the Coachella Valley
$58 - $9999 / night
Coachella Lakes RV Resort is a brand new, state-of-the-art, resort with beautiful landscaping, five lakes, and is packed with features and amenities today’s RVers expect at a luxury resort.
The sites are big-rig friendly, allowing guests to settle in comfortably with plenty of space for outdoor fun. A variety of amenities within the resort allow guests to enjoy the great outdoors while spending quality time with family and friends. We have two outdoor pools, three spas, splash pad, indoor and outdoor exercise facilities, fitness path, pickleball courts, kayaking, paddleboards, bocce ball, outdoor amphitheater, and a world-class 18-hole putting course to name a few.
The options are endless! Relax at the clubhouse, pro-shop patio or while experiencing the world-class putting course. Take a walk on the paved fitness pathways or grab a bite to eat from one of our food trucks while listening to live musical performers at our amphitheater.
$49 - $110 / night
Traveler
I prefer to stay on BLM, but every once in a while I boondock at VLC for a hot shower and intentional socialising. I really dig the hostel vibes and communal activities. I'm usually stopping over, but there are folks who hang for longer and work remotely here.
Traveler
Love, love this campground. Beautiful rock formations set amidst the magical Joshua Tree National Park. RV sites are good size, no hookups, but campground does have vault toilets and endless exploration opportunities!
Guide
I have been coming here for 25 years. Sadly the lake is disappearing, but it have beautiful sunsets and is isolated and peaceful ( except for the occasional train). Avoid in the summer, but winter is amazing.
Guide
I’ve camped at Joshua tree national park numerous times but this is the first time at this site. It was great. Lots of climbing at hiking at this spot. Great Joshua tree experience without the long drive and entrance fee.
Scout
Growing up my family went on a few camping trips; mostly to Arizona to visit the ghost towns but when we wanted to go take a weekend trip and didn't want to leave state we would stay at the Catalina Spa Rv Resort in town. I remember my brother and I having so much fun running around or riding our bikes through the many turnaround streets at this park. They have an awesome pool and jacuzzis to use and a very large pond that all year round has ducks, birds, frogs, fish and turtles to look at. They have a friendly staff and the travelers were always very sweet and kind. The only town fall was that usually there isn't very many kids there, mostly older people come here to stay. They have. Gym and a game room. Lots of shade in rv parking areas and small bbq and tables to enjoy. Definitely worth checking it out !
Traveler
We stayed two nights here in a campervan. It's a really great location to explore the park. The rocks give some good shade. Space #9 was shady in the mornings. The toilets were fine. It was really quiet, they're were a few other campers mostly in tents. No sign of any rattlesnakes or other critters either. Except loads of cute squirrels, and some mice and lizards.
Traveler
The place felt very tired, and lacking in any atmosphere. There is a pool, which was nice. There just wasn't anything else there to justify the steep price of $100 a night. Though I'd award 5 stars to the lovely German lady who checked us in and was very friendly.
Traveler
Very nice to find a campsite this private on a weekend in southern California elevation is high enough that temperatures were very enjoyable (mid 80's)
Guide
i loved camping here! the campsites are pretty close together but only a few others were there when we visited so we were spaced out. the first campsite we chose had a few pretty big ant hills so we moved to another which had none. wood fires are allowed. the stars were absolutely beautiful at night! you are near the highway so you will get headlights shining towards you occasionally but it was overall still pretty dark and quiet. no amenities but you’re within a half mile of a cute family restaurant and gift shop, the general patton museum, and a gas station. when you first drive into the campground, you will pass some old tanks. keep going until you see the campground sign. i had an amazing time camping here with my dog and my friend. i hope to come back here with my family sometime!!
Traveler
This is a very nice and quiet campground and everyone there was very respectful of quite hours. The place was very clean and very beautiful. The only con was that there are way too many insects everywhere, My base camp got bombarded with a swarm of wasps, And I was forced to leave a day early, and had to leave my cooking pot behind because of the swarm of wasps... I wish there were some kind of rangers or someone there that I could have asked for help about this, or I wish someone would do something about this issue but I guess it is what it is at this location lol 😆 Other than not being able to cook and eat without wasps in your face and In your food, it was really nice
Legend
Heads up about this place if you’re in an RV like we are. We reserved spot #40, we are a 26ft class c (28 ft total length) and the length limit for this spot is 30 ft, and RVs are allowed. But we felt like we barely fit side to side, and definitely wouldn’t have put our slides out. Not to mention it was so unlevel that we wouldn't have wanted to take the slides out anyway. The spot was cute, a little spot by itself between a hill and the “bump out” type parking spot where you’d park your vehicle. There’s a picnic table, a grill, and a fire pit. We ended up parking there for a bit, walking over to skull rock and the discovery trail to face rock (dogs not allowed on trails), walked back, and left. We would have been way too uncomfortable if we’d tried to stay the night. Oh well- we only lost $20.
There are dumpsters throughout the campground, and recycling at the entrance. We didn’t see any hosts or staff. There are pit toilets as well. We did see some other RVs in spots that looked fine, but overall I’d recommend this place for tents only unless you know for sure you’ll fit in the spot. Zero cell service in the entire park.
Legend
This is quite a resort! It’s huge! When we stayed here in late December they had just been open for about 2 months or so, and most of the spots weren’t even open for use yet. There was construction going on when we were there, so I’m sure they’re fully open by now.
This place has everything you could want in an RV park. Everything was new and sleek and modern and well designed. The price was average, I guess, though still much too expensive for us. Luckily they participate in Passport America and we got the 50% discount, so our FHU pull through site came to $52 with taxes and fees, so roughly double that for the full price. I believe the spots that will be opening up that are further away from all the amenities will be cheaper. Their laundry room uses an app payment system only, which is nice in that you don’t need quarters, but you need to download the app and then load money on to your account in set amounts, so we were left with an unused $1.50 after our 2 loads. Dryers work great. Dogs get a cute little goodie bag with a little bandana, poop bags and a bag holder for the leash, and a tennis ball. Eventually the dog park will have its own section of RV spots called K9 Corner. So cute!
There’s a nice shop at the front desk where you check in, and staff is super friendly. There is onsite propane fill as well. Their club house has a nice pool, 2 hot tubs, a nice gym, and really nice and open hangout area and work area, a little kitchen area, and a game room. Everything is really nice and artfully decorated. They also have activities on weekends so you get a real community feel if you stay here for a long time. We were definitely in the lower tier of RVs in our humble scratched up class C, surrounded by really nice expensive class As, but we still felt comfortable and welcomed. Highly recommend this place- as long as they stay in the Passport America program we’ll go back when we’re in the area.
Legend
This place is reservation only, through recreation.gov. The rangers at the visitor center do not handle anything with reservations whatsoever. We managed to get two nights fairly last minute, only to arrive and find the campground mostly empty. That’s pretty aggravating, probably due to people making reservations and not showing up.
Sites are $25/night, and rec.gov does not charge a processing fee, which is so nice.
The roads throughout the campground are in terrible shape, but we managed in our 26ft class C. The roads and many of the sites are washed out and crumbling. Most sites are not level. Our site,#90, was ok with leveling blocks.
There’s recycling here (no glass accepted), trash dumpsters, flush toilets, and a free dump station with potable water fill. No showers here. There are many hiking trails directly from the campground, which is nice, but dogs are not allowed on the trails.
ATT had good service and Verizon was usable but very weak.
Guide
The campsites are fine. Well used. There are pit toilets. Fresh water (you can fill water without camping). Had spaces on Labor Day weekend. It’s cooler than Palm Springs. (It feels like summer, not hell). Fire pits. I guess that works when fire risk is low. Note: I can faintly hear dogs and chickens from nearby houses. Oh, and the road traffic.
Traveler
Everything about this site is not only free, but literally free to park and camp anywhere. There are private properties around, so just double check, but for the most part its wife open land to camp. Also currently in a fire ban, but that should be getting lifted in October. So campfires would be a great idea out here as well.
Legend
We traveled as a group of 17 campers and were able to disperse evenly between 4 close together campsites. We were in 19, 20, 21 and 23. Even though the website says it allowed 2 cars per site we were charged for the 2nd vehicle. In each site. I had also checked online prior to make sure we would have cell service with that many people meeting us. Only those of us that had Verizon had only a single bar. The campsites in the inner ring (ours was #21) are VERY close together. Not at all private, your camp is literally up against a couple others. We had children from the other sites running all through ours and it was so close you could hear everyone else’s private conversations. #19 and #20 were on the outer circle but just enough space to park and then walk through very sticky manzanita trees into the campsite and picnic table area. None of them had much or any shade. Our saving grace was our 4th spot - which gave us enough room to have all of us sit out of the way of the sticky trees and one tree in the middle to give us a touch of shade throughout the day. It had 2 picnic tables and was much more private so we didn’t disturb anyone and we didn’t have everyone else disturbing us. The vault toilets (yes, I know what they entail, and yes, it’s summer) were horrendous and barely useable, but we had 2 within very quick walking distance of us. They do allow dogs (we had 5 dogs and 3 cats with us) and it’s a short drive into the little town of Idyllwild. It’s a campground that served its purpose in getting all of us together and of course we had a blast, but it’s not on my “must camp here again” list.
Traveler
Peaceful dispersed campground. Wide open great views. Didn’t even know I had neighbors until I walked around in the morning and saw neighboring campers over the hill. Clear skies when I went back in November, could get pretty windy. Saw some coyotes pass by my camp.
Traveler
We didn’t plan to stop here. After we were driving for over 10 hours. We found this location online. And WOW!!!! Great experience.. the Mineral water pool’s was a great refresher after long day !!! Would highly recommend
TravelerThis is a great area. I recommend you bring extra mosquito repellent. Have fun!
TravelerI lowkey want to gate keep this area and keep it all for myself.. but spot #39 was hands down the best spot there (if #38 isn’t being used). We had a ton of privacy and fun rocks to climb on.
Scout
The pictures can be deceiving. It’s beautiful there, however, other than the picture showing flat ground, and wide space, this isn’t accurate.
This time of year, mosquitos and flies everywhere to the point where it really ruined the experience. No matter what sprays, lotions, candles or anything we tried, it was not working.
GuideIt’s a beautiful campground surrounded by giant rocks. The bathroom is decent.
ScoutHere in late May and the bees and other bugs have been nonstop on me the whole time I've been here. It's a really beautiful area and the spots are spacious
Traveler
Absolutely quiet and an amazing starry sky
Ideal for tents
TravelerThis campground is a luxury resort with immaculate ground keeping and facilities. The pool and hot tub were outstanding as well as the opportunities for fishing, golf putt, putt, and more if you’re in the area, this was a price performer for sure.
Scout
I don't think this map pin is correct for Yaqui Wells Primitive Camp, the location according to Google Maps is a little further south just off Yaqui Pass Road off Highway 78. There are two different camps similarly named, Yaqui Wells and Yaqui Pass, fairly close to each other. Anyway, we stayed here at Yaqui Wells for one night after attempting to camp at Blair Valley but getting swarmed by bees. Only saw 2 other vehicles, and while the sites are pretty small and close to the dirt road, they are nice enough. BE AWARE THOUGH: pull your vehicle well into the sites, we had 6 lifted off road trucks come flying through around midnight at a ridiculously high speed without slowing down at all and it could have been catastrophic if we were closer to the road or if we had been walking our dog at that time.
Guide
We booked and traveled here to show the kids the stars from a desert view, and it did not disappoint! My camera couldn't capture the magnificent view from just our site. We stayed three nights and had two perfect days, but the final full day was filled with wind, as expected in this part of the desert. No worries, though—explore the town and escape the wind. We did not use any facilities, but the hookups were great and the park was clean. I would come again in the off-summer season!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular RV campsite near Thermal, CA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular RV campground near Thermal, CA is Emerald Desert RV Resort with a 4.4-star rating from 5 reviews.
What is the best site to find RV camping near Thermal, CA?
TheDyrt.com has all 174 RV camping locations near Thermal, CA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
