Best Tent Camping near Yermo, CA

But very rock to tent camp on. A ton of RV’s, so the noise was a premium. Great hiking into the mountain and mines.

tent camped. not many amenities, but we found peace and quiet, across the lake, from big bear. lots of trees! we brought our own grill, but enjoyed the campgrounds fire pit also.

Big government campground. Big spots but it can be difficult to get reservations. Lots of tent sites that cram way too many people in. Close to the lake

The campsite at Calico Ghost Town is nice with hook ups for RV and spaces for tent camping. Our boys scout troop spent a weekend October. The boys and their families enjoy touring the ghost town. We hiked around the area and on hills during the day. The facility has running water, restrooms and showers.

There were no trees at all. We were told to wait for a white truck when we got there. No one came. We called the security number and they told us they would be by. We waited about 20 minutes and ended up leaving. The tent sites were gravel. Overall not impressed.

If you have to camp near Barstow, this is a good place for a week-day stay. Calico ghost town was a fun spot for our kids, not too busy on a week day in the spring though I’m sure it can be crazy (and hot) at other times. The campsites were hit or miss. We staid in a tent site which was tiny, right next to all the others, with no trees or vegetation for privacy, and no permanent fire ring or picnic bench. We walked around and some of the other RV sites are bigger and nicer. Classic desert views. I give it 4 stars for access to the ghost town and price.

General: A mix of FHU RV sites tent sites, group sites around Horseshoe Lake and some additional dry camping and equestrian sites around Pelican Lake. There are also four RVs you can “rent” in the Horseshoe Lake area. The sites around Horseshoe Lake are close to an active rail line. And by active, I mean really active – I stopped counting after I counted 24 trains lumbering by during our short overnight stay. 

Site Quality: IMO the waterfront tent sites are the nicest. They are farthest away from the trains (but not far enough!) The other dry sites have paved camper pads; some are “doubles” which would kind of suck if both sites were occupied by people who did not know each other! (Ours was one but fortunately, this was not the case for us on a Sunday in November). 

Bath/Shower House: There were two restrooms about equidistant from our campsite, but both were very basic– no soap, hooks or shelves and no mirrors (it looked like they had been ripped off the wall). The floors were concrete, and the entire appearance was very drab. I did not use the shower. 

This was an overnight stop for us, so we did not take advantage of any of the activities (horseback riding, hiking, disc golf, fishing). There was a very nice playground in the day-use area, a reasonable walking distance from the Horseshoe Lake sites. I had called about a week ahead of time to make a reservation (the online reservation system has been down for quite some time) and was assured would not need a reservation. However, there is a gate that is locked at 4 pm and we knew we would not arrive in time, so we called and were able to make a phone reservation when our site was assigned. We were a little concerned when we saw a security guard making rounds around 10 pm (and this combined with the locked gate), we wondered if we were in a safe environment, although we did not encounter any problems. Make sure you know that the park is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (which seems a bit bizarre) so you will need to know the gate code after 4 pm and on those days (the code seems to change daily). Also, I read that seniors (62 and older), active duty military, and veterans receive a $5 discount Sundays through Thursdays but you have to go to the office and show proof and then you will receive a “rebate” a few days later (which we did). This was just an overnight for us as we worked our way back home but we would likely not stay here again.

Traveling while pulling my utility trailer along makes slow going. And pulling up a long, long, long desert mountain grade can be downright exhausting.

So this is a mighty grateful thumbs up review. Robert made my day when I phoned up in the late afternoon and offered me a limited use rate on one their full hookup sites.

And of course, I got in real late, just after late closing hours–10 pm!

I got the last pull through site at the end of the lane. It was a breeze to pull in, get my deep cycle battery charging. 30 Amp with an adapter is all I need.

Shady Lane is mostly populated by real big rigs. So a 50amp socket is also on the post.

The park is a little distance from the highway, so it's blessedly quiet overall. After a grueling pull from Las Vegas, it was a wonderful blessing to crawl into my tent with my feline road companion, Missy. She just loves tent camping the very best. It was down in the 40s last night, but our traveling bed is a cushy cloud ☁️ from Heaven 🌠🌌✨ Just me and Missy and all those stars on that dark desert night.

Just woke to a lovely quiet morning here at Shady Lane. Fully renewed, to make my long drive down towards San Diego.

Looks they offer all the basics, showers, laumdry, and the same wifi network is offered all over these desert parts.. So once signed up, its the same login wherever you go on this network.. That's handy. Great wifi signal all the way down at the end of the lane, too.

Most importantly, Shady Lane offers tent spots and doesn't get snooty about whether you're pulling a utility trailer, or a spit shined mega-rig. On the phone, when I spoke with Robert, told him what I'm pulling along, he was as nice as can be.

I'm glad I found this quiet little desert overnighter. 🏜 Just right for Missy and me.

I had always wanted to visit a ghost town so when this came up in our travel path, we had to stop for a night. Located in Yermo, CA, this campground offers over 250 sites although we were about one of 5 campers there on our visit which made it even more ghostly. It is a desert like area with few trees. There was a bathroom with showers nearby, fire ring and hook-ups. Also lots of steep canyon walls and abandoned mine shafts. Since there were hardly any others there, we picked our spot and set up for the evening. I kept wondering when a coyote or some other wild animal was going to show up. The next morning, we wandered into the Ghost Town for some entertainment. We took pictures of the bottle house, mercantile, and many other buildings. There was a shooting show going on that was really cool and the boys enjoyed ice cream on a hot day. I loved the ghost town themed park and would like to visit again one day and explore when we have more time.

I am here in California getting ready to leave the state by FY22 and had to get outside. I have been exploring the idea of going camping and decided to go this weekend. I stayed a half mile down from the main camping area. Setup my tent on the back of my truck and enjoyed the scenery. It was amazing sleeping under the stars, I had not done that in years

I agree with others warning about the rough road to the campground. Winds blew down my tent and I had to sleep in my car. Left next morning.

We just spent last weekend here at Serrano Campground. The staff were friendly and helpful. The place is well maintained and clean. Campsites have ample spaces in between there are a lot of flat places to pitch our tents. There are a mix of tent only, converted vans and trailers in loop but it doesn’t feel packed with visitors. The Lake was a 5-10 min walk from out site and we can see the lighthouse from the lake. Restrooms were clean although the showers were cold and does not heat up well. Will surely visit this site again. Its just 2 hours from home and that is one consideration we always look at when planning for a quick weekend with nature.

I’ve been to Big Bear many times, and love it every time, but this was my first time camping there. My family went with our normal camping family, as our kids get along beautifully, as well as the adults. We had spaces 1 and 3, which were close to the main gate. They were far enough away where you felt like you were well within the campgrounds. Between the two spaces, was a huge open area, which was great for the kids and dogs to play. I discovered toward the end of the trip, that we should have set our tents up at the back end of the sites, as this is where the flattest spots were. Fire rings are provided, as well as grills if you chose to make use of those. This campground does provide running water throughout the campsite for washing dishes, hands, etc. There are also flushing toilets in multiple locations. Bear lockers are provided, and they should be used. My only complaint, and this is no fault of the campground was that there are a ton of flies during the day. They leave at night. Make sure to keep your tents fully zipped up because they will get in there. We had to buy a can of Raid and spray the entire tent. I have never swept up so many dead flies. :) Beyond that, I would stay here again in a heartbeat. The weather was great, there is plenty of shade, and it gets really dark at night, which makes star gazing, and having a campfire perfect!

Great, secluded campground that's only accessible via hiking. I was backpacking along the Pacific Crest Trail & decided to hike down the Crab Flats Trail to checkout Tent Peg & Fisherman's Campground.

Toilets, fire pits, bucket for water, bear proof trash cans, plenty of room for a dozen or more & easy stream access with fish!

The trail to Fishermans is extremely overgrown but besides that fine & easy to navigate.

This place wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be. The guy running the place was so nice!! But... There were a few really hilariously creepy things that happened. Like a naked homeless guy getting chased out of the pool. And a bunch of wild raccoons wrestling outside our tent and eventually being chased off by a very enthusiastic RV guy. It wasn't like we felt unsafe or unclean... Just a lot of interesting people around to make our overnight stay amusing!

I stayed with a group here for 3 nights a few years ago in October. This is a beautiful campground. Very primitive, with pit toilets and one water faucet. Trash is carry in carry out. It is a small campground (Less than 25 sites). It was also extremely hot (I think above 110F during the day), but at night it was beautiful. We didn't even need a tent because of the mild temperatures and calm breeze. Our group site had plenty of room for everyone, and picnic tables that had a covering to provide some shade during the day. The area felt very remote and quiet, and we were able to hike right from our site each day.

Tips: When you’re on the road heading into Holcomb go slow (Rocky). Prep for dusty ground sediment. Bring extra water and chargers. Dropped to around 40 degrees at night so bring extra blankets/ jackets. Bring firewood from town. Otherwise, As expected when arrived with fireplace, secluded space (enough from other tents), space to spread out, and scenic meadow views. We saw mule deer and of course the horses! Check out grand view mountain trail, it was a gorgeous view- across the lake. Oh and it’s rifle hunting season in Oct, FYI.