Best Campgrounds near Thousand Palms, CA

Had to drive in quite a way to get away from garbage. It's a weekend so lots of OHV noise and other noise. Moving on.

Great place to ride atvs and enjoy the beauty of the lake and surrounding areas. There are no designated spots or fire rings, but as long as you're careful and responsible, there are plenty of rocks to build your own.

I stayed here on two nights, one week apart. The electrical connection at my sites were old and almost unusable. The internet was non-existent. Finally, one of the men’s toilets was still broken after a week’s time. There was nasty water on the floor of the bathroom both times. The morning I woke up on the second stay, both commodes were out of order! Why pay $54/night for a poorly managed campground with no working toilets?

The KOA is reasonably priced for KOA and California. 3 hot spring tubs. Pool is warm and wall stops wind. Many activities for kids miniature golf, jump board, play ground. Many activities for adults as well the staff are very nice and helpful.

If you are looking for isolation this is the place. The directions take you deep into Park Drive which I’m sure has decent spots if you looked long enough. Ultimately this place has not been kept up by previous campers or people in pacing, which is unfortunate because it has the potential to be be a good spot for dispersed camping. Ended up going to another spot due to the surrounding trash everywhere.

BLM, Dispersed Pack in Pack Out, spent 2 nights quiet and comfortable.

I only spent one night, but it was fabulous. It is a primitive site? No utilities, but if you're comfortable backpacking you'll love it here.

If plan to go decently far in or off the trail at all, make sure to have a 4x4 or traction boards at least. Got my camper van stuck here and even the tow truck almost got stuck. Thanks to Baja Boyz for getting me out! Otherwise some nice views here but also beware there may be sportsman out here firing. While I was waiting for the tow truck, heard lots of shooting.

Wide gravel sites, most with 50/30 amp service and water, many right on the small fishing lake. No trees or other screening between sites (the difference between four and five stars) although not packed in like a standard RV park. Lots of availability in February, mid-week. Quiet, with a small bath house with showers. Dark, beautiful skies at night. Good hiking trail into the mountains, with the trailhead near the entrance to the campground.

Lovely campground and quiet. This place is huge and so are the sites. 2 pools but of course as luck would have it one pool that’s about 20 steps from our campsite is closed! Office staff were friendly as were workers. Very clean and gated.

This is a wide open area. You can camp wherever you like. The best way to access is off hwy 62 to Sunfair. Turn right on Broadway and continue past the end of the pavement. If it has rained or snowed, stay off the actual dry lake bed. It can get deeply rutted, and if wet, you will sink several inches. The area had great views of the nearby mountains, terrific sunsets, and lots of space. There was campfire areas, but we didn't choose to camp by these due to broken glass. For the most part, the area was clean.

Stayed here for just one night. During winter you have to enter the dirt road off Polique Canyon RD (2N09) as the shorter route (the way gps will go) off Van Dusen Canyon (3N09) is closed during winter months. This is a nice camp area and easy to get to. Lots of area to hike through, I hiked up a hill not too far away to watch the sunset. Even during winter there was still 7 other groups there, but plenty of room for all of us. It was nice to have bathrooms there.

The best road into the area is Sunfield to 4th then left at Cascade (t intersection). Cascade is lumpy with dips & such but it’s a short drive to the entrance. You’ll see a wide open area to your right (NE) & choose a way in. Some are horrendous paths-especially after a rain-if you stay right it is better. We didn’t continue north on Cascade - that might be a decent way to get to the back. Coyote Lake is dry but probably is a muddy mess after a rain so avoid it. It can be spotted before you reach it & on satellite view. The official JTNDCamping area is NNE of that intersection. We quit driving before we got there. We were in line with the off road area but we’ll out of their way. Some reviews have mentioned a lot of possibly permanent people here, there must have been a clean up because there were only a couple that we suspected. Negative-if you are disturbed by semi/automatic rifles being shot off, this might deter you from here. We think it’s from the other side of the hills due north of Cascade. We stayed Saturday to Sunday (8days) & on the weekend it seemed endless. During the week there were a couple of days without the tat tat tat. It is loud.

Good little camping spot. Nothing too fancy but there are fire pits and great access to the National Park.