Best Tent Camping near Universal City, CA

The first thing you should know about Tapo Canyon Park is that for actual tent camping, you will be in either decomposed granite or concrete. The second thing is that there is no cell service and no phone landlines there. 

The park is very nice, and very well maintained. There is a large grass area with an upgraded playground, ample covered picnic area for large groups, and an archery range (private, but open to the public on Saturdays).

The archery range is one of the best in California. There is a members area and the original range is open to the public on Saturdays from 9-1, with a nominal $5 fee.

The campsites are designed for RVs. I have camped here in a tent and there is no way to drive a stake into the ground. The sites are fairly large and well spread out for an RV lot. 

Each site has a fireplace, picnic table, and full hook ups. There is not much shade. The sites are very well maintained daily by the camp host Terri. 

At night you can hear the coyotes calling as they roam the rugged hills, but don't worry it's a very safe park.

I would give the park 4 stars for camping in an RV, 2 stars for tent camping, the facility as a whole is probably a 4.

This is a great camping spot. The beach is across the street. Facilities are closer then that. The Navy Exchange down the street has camping supplies. The cost for a tent site is $10. An unbelievable place.

Our campsite & the bathrooms were clean & well maintained. However the location of tent camping v RV camping is awful. We are tent campers and had a nice spot with a beautiful lake view BUT the RV site was directly in front of the lake between our tent & the lake! So when a monstrous RV drove in all we could see was the side of the thing & we had to go around it to enjoy the view.

This is a great small, hike in camp ground with no privy but decent tent sites. There's no running water but the creek is usually running so come prepared with your own water and something to treat the creek water with. Check for fire restrictions and dig your cat holes at least 200 feet from the water. Or bring WAG bags and pack it back out. Very much like Hoegees campground. Good for families abs Scouts.

We stayed at Cabin Flat several years ago, and it's one of the most difficult campgrounds to reach near Wrightwood in the Angeles National Forest. To get here, you need to take the Blue Ridge Trail Road from Inspiration Point off of Highway 2. This road is closed during the winter, as it traverses through Mountain High Ski Resort. That said, the campground itself is very basic. I would not recommend bringing an RV here as the dirt road to get down is winding and bumpy. Tent camping only.

After experiencing both amenities this place is more or less for RVs and 4/10 as for they do have the tent camping on the steep incline and not too many sites but for RVs couldn't be happier plus the people here are nice and friendly you do have your Karen's but you're going to have them everywhere we enjoyed the lake the view the weather it could have been better over here will definitely be returning you can stay for 20 days and then you have to leave for 60 days and that's fine with me I'm looking forward to returning

I can't deduct stars for how crowded it was during Labor Day Weekend. I think it was a treat that we were able to book on a fairly short notice for a holiday weekend. The pool is awesome and huge compared to other campgrounds. It was overly crowded this Labor Day weekend but what do you expect, right? It was hot. They had a live band, movie night, roomy campsites. It was loud and rowdy in the tent camping area but calm in the RV area. I had T-Mobile and had ZERO reception here. I have since dropped T-Mobile and got Verizon because it seems like T-Mobile reception is terrible at most campsites. We are looking forward to going back soon.

This is a nice campground. Very close to the city but still with visiting. I’m a van camper so I rented an RV site because I wanted shade trees. The tent camping sites in the first section have very little shade. Maybe one or two sites have shade. You definitely have to bring a canopy. I camped there in Nov2020 it was a nice getaway. The view of the lake is beautiful. I enjoyed seeing all the ducks on the lake. Each campsite has a table and fire ring. The bathrooms have flush toilets and the campground is kept clean and trash cans are emptied daily. It has a fish cleaning area with running water too. Must put away all your food because the raccoons will get into it. Overall it’s a nice local place to camp if you live in Santa Clarita, Ca.

Tried this campground out for a single day/night of camping for my family of 4.

Location - 5 out of 5 Great location in terms of close to home (40 minutes from Bakersfield). 1.5 miles from Pyramid Lake for a day trip.

Campground - 3 out of 5. $20 per night, by all means, this is only regards to the tent camping not the people or bathrooms etc. We camped in Loop 4 camp 72. While I was towards the end of the campground, very little shade was available. Prepare to bring multiple ezups for shade. Tent was easily put up as ground is soft. This camp was overrun by fire ants, so had to carefully move around their nest. There was a small section in between some trees that allowed us to get some shade, maybe even a small tent fits there. Bathrooms are flush toilets and very clean. No showers available to my knowledge. Camping came with a cement picnic table and a fire pit.

The 2 points off was just because of the shade situation. I did go through the campground all together to see which sites were more shaded and out of all of the sites perhaps 4 had some trees with good shade.

If you are looking for a weekend getaway from the city, good place to come. Just come prepared with multiple shade apparatus.

**My pictures were taken after 6pm when the sun is behind the mountains.

I have been camping here for many years. The sunsets are always beautiful and the weather is usually awesome!
The shoreline may be covered in rocks or not, it depends on the tides and the past storms. This is not a great swimming beach but if relaxing, short walks and sunsets are your thing, it’s a great spot.
The ocean has some resident sea doggies and dolphins which are always fun to watch! Might even spot a 🐳 whale at the right time of year!
The campground is getting smaller as Mother Nature has been taking her beach back. Previous storms have taken a lot of the north end and a couple on the south end.
The toilets are out houses and there is some water across the campground road. The camp host has wood for sale. The highway can be loud at times but it will quite down at night so you can hear waves and rocks rolling. Oh and bring your own shade. Winds can kick up so be prepared!
I have an RV but if you tent camp, watch the tide water marks and monitor your distance or you might just get wet! LOL. Happy Camping! 🏖⛺️

Quick and easy is my trips to Thornhill Broome!

5 miles north of Neptune’s Net, Los Angeles/Ventura county line at Point Magu Rock! 

Depending on the time of year, the beach may be very rocky or it may be smooth. This is not a great beach to swim and if you tent camp, be sure to know where the high tide line is!  

The bathrooms are out houses. No showers but there is water facets scattered across the road.  This is dry camping only but you can dump after your stay at Sycamore Cyn campground which is only a mile or so away. 

This campground is a line of spaces right on the beach and up against PCH. The car noise does slow down at night so you can hear the waves crashing!

The winds can kick up pretty good here also!  Be prepared to baton down the hatches!  

There are dolphins and seals that swim back and forth. Pelicans and sea gulls. If you’re really lucky, you might see whales!  

There’s a camp host selling wood but nothing around unless you drive back to Neptune’s. 

Dogs need to be on a lease...despite my video!  LOL 

You will be sited if they catch your dog off lease!

A fun place to camp and surf! This campground is literally on the beach, along the PCH with picnic tables and fire rings it’s one of the few on the beach that actually allows fire. There’s not much to this campground, it’s simple and straight to the point... just surf and sand. If you’re looking for more you will be disappointed. Sites are fairly close together with limited options for RV’s but if you’re tent camping and don’t mind neighbors, it’s just enough. Sites run approximately $35 a night for a standard site, depending. There’s a camp host and ranger at the entrance but keep in mind they lock the gates for vehicles entering at night and if you leave you can not get back in until they re-open next day! Doesn’t matter if you have a pass or not you can not re-enter and there is no permitted parking on the highway as a backup option. This campground is vulnerable to flooding, due to location. Some photos have been included of the campground when it’s flooded as well, so that it may give travelers a better idea of what they may encounter if conditions aren’t exactly in their favor. But if you’re just looking for a simple night on the beach with friends like us, some surf and a beer... this will do the trick!

I really liked this place, and would definitely go back. This is on the smaller scale of campgrounds, which is very nice. Less chance of drunk, noisy neighbors. When we went, us, and the other family we went with, were the only ones in that particular section. The kids had plenty of room to run around and get dirty, and there was a playground with an old school merry-go-round within sight of where our spot was. RV’s are allowed as well, but those sites are separate from the tent sites, which is nice too. The drive was 45 minutes to an hour from our house, which was great. You don’t have to go far to go camping. The one drawback was the camp host. We always bring our dog with us, who is a diabetic alert service dog for our two boys. This particular person kept telling us that the dog had to be on a leash, and that he was not allowed in the playground area. We explained to her that he was a service animal, and is allowed under the ADA to go anywhere. She wasn’t having it. Hopefully this person’s time as the host is over, because this really is a great spot.

Pros: Large campsites

          Clean-ish toilets

          Lake within walking distance

Cons: Right near highway, noisy

           Lots of flies during the day

           tent sites are very flat          

Last minute trip and decided to check out Lake Campground. There are 8 sites placed on this hilly area, with a vault toilet in the center of the campground. It is located right next to the highway, so it can be pretty noisy during the day as its a popular route for motorcyclists. The campground itself was fairly clean, and all the sites were very large and spaced well away from each other. The sites weren't very flat, so options to set your tent up were very limited. Some sites had some shade, others almost none. There were tons of flies, very active during the daytime, but went away during the evening. The vault toilets were the cleanest I'd seen (For vault toilets) and the staff came through the campgrounds several times a day.

Jackson Lake is a short walk from the campgrounds. It has a nice day use picnic area with coal grills, picnic benches, and four vault toilets (in pretty poor condition). The lake was pretty small and had a stagnant smell to it. Lots of people were fishing, and a few people waded into the waters. I saw people in rafts / kayaks later in the day. The area was covered in fleas so careful with pets.

I have been to this campground twice now. I would love to go back again one day. There is a nice size creek that runs adjacent to the campsites, which appears to run only during snow melt. It was dry one of the times we camped there, the other time it was flowing very good. I would estimate that it was probably around 40-50 feet wide when we went there. You do have to drive through the creek to get to the campground, so a small car probably would not be advisable when it is really flowing. I drove my small Toyota pickup through it with no problem.

A forest adventure pass was required.

Campsites were very clean. Has pit toilets, which were also very clean. No electricity or water at the camp site. No dump station. Has fire rings.

We tent camped both times.

A mother bear and her two cubs did visit us on one of the visits. We did find what looked like mountain lion footprints. There is wild life. No bear containers at the time.

This campground is nestled in a valley/canyon and is next to Fenner Canyon Conservation Camp #41.

There really are no views other than the surrounding trees and landscape, but was still very beautiful.

It is a very quiet place to stay. Depending on the traffic from the nearby Highway 2, you might hear some of that traffic, but it is not bad at all.

At the time of visiting, we did not have cell phone service in that canyon.

Very large park for RV, cabin and tent camping. As it's listed as a "resort", we figured it would be pretty upscale. Disappointment upon our arrival. Floods have been in the area and much of the sites were closed and being cleaned?? The road closest to our site was washed away (from earlier reviews it's been months), so a long jog or drive around the perimeter to get us to the pool, laundry and hot tub…speaking of which, the pool, hot tub and laundry facilities all needed attention. You could actually see people's footprints (bottom of pool and on pool and hot tub entry steps)…that much sand, dirt, etc…I didn't venture in. When we arrived, we started driving around to find the best site for our rig. We're a 32ft class A w/20ft enclosed cargo trailer tow. So, all in all about 55ft. Well, that wasn't easy. Most of the park's electric and some sewer connections didn't exist or were "down" for repair. We have yet to actually SEE someone working on these issues. We are currently here and checked in for a two-week stay. After some boon docking prior to our arrival, we wanted all the bells and whistles the park boasted they had. Took us just over THREE HOURS to find a decent spot. Many levels to this park and most didn't have a decent WiFi (we have our own router) signal. Some sites had dumpsters blocking them from being a true "pull-thru". That left us with about two areas to choose from. It's dusty, dirty, and, really, not ready to be called a "resort"….more rustic than we'd been looking for or what website photos showed. We would not recommend this "resort" to anyone. Several folks with dogs they let simply sit outside and bark, poo, etc….strict rules against that, in most all resorts we've ever visited. Unless you plan on tenting, cabin or what have you, it's not worth it. Very disappointing! :(