Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Yucca Valley, CA

To get to Black Rock Campground in Joshua Tree, you have to take a separate road into it from Yucca Valley. So if you are planning on spending a lot of time in the park and don't want to drive back and forth, this probably isn't a good choice for you. There's running water and flushing toilets in the bathroom. Views overlook the valley below, which is nice at night. Not a lot of shade. After all, this is a desert campground, with desert plants. Picnic tables and a fire pit. Flat places to lay a tent. Some trails go off from the campground. We chose to drive into the park. This was a good place to introduce my friend to his first camping experience. We ended up going into town (pretty close) for dinner. (Cheaters, I know!) The other plus about this campground is it's one of few that take reservations in Joshua Tree. So if you don't like knowing whether you have a site or not, you can be certain you'll have one when you arrive here if you make a reservation.

Originally booked this site because it is a good endpoint for the California Riding & Hiking trail though the national park, so if you’re looking to run or complete the traverse, it is a good spot to campout and/or leave a car. There are also great hiking trails right next to the campground. The campground is also super close to the towns of Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree for picking up supplies, enjoying the local Luna bakery (we went 3 times in 2 days!)

Only downside was sites felt really close together (particularly site 56, although some looked better), so noise levels were a little rough.

We were able to score this site on a Saturday night during the spring break season using Dyrt Alerts!

The winning factors for this campground are:

$15 per person/nightly

Really nice staff 👍🏼

A beautiful entry at night, one permanent residence opposite the office has a lovely succulent/cactus garden and the whole garden is pleasingly lit with tiny colored lights.

There is a tiny "lake" with reeds and visiting birds who congregate around the water. Fishing offered, but no swimming.

I spent a very serene time with just myself and my cat. There are so many tent spaces available, it's quite easy to make a camp and stay isolated from other campers. For winter, the location is pleasantly warm during daytime and any site will be nice. But be aware that in summer the sites ideally situated with trees are much more limited.

They have many types of site sections—loads of tent spots, a very tree'd and full hookup area for RVs, and there is also a "dry" RV section with no hookups.

The main bathroom and shower houses are kept very spic and span and there are also a couple outdoor dishwashing stations available. All the plumbed amenities are available for all campers at the park.

One wish that I would really appreciate would be the availability of a 110v outlet bank out in the tent camping area, or wherever putting one in would be feasible. I travel with a mobile freezer and a deep cycle marine battery. Not fully solarized yet, but I do have an inverter, and I really love when I can camp in places that offer electric only sites at a substantial discount off of full hookup sites.

I would happily pay an extra $5per night just to hook up my super efficient mobile fridge/freezer. Er, that is, my cat's mini freezer...it's for her special order frozen🥩 meat 🐈. I just use the little fridge section for the occasional tub of hummus, chunk of cheese, etc.

Overall, this is a very pleasant oasis, slightly off the beaten, no big highway noise. And Joshua Tree, Ca. is just a few minutes downhill where all the small town eateries can be found.

There's also a decent Dollar General store nearby that has the best prices for buying ice.

Slater Bros market in nearby Yucca Valley has hardwood firewood boxes and reasonable prices on all the extras–Firestarter blocks, compressed wood logs, and long nose lighter wands. Gas stations also sell wood, but it's not hardwood, nor fully cured. So that stuff burns up really quick and can be very smoky.

As for this sweet little campground, it's a nice place to get away to, and to have a sense of spaciousness. You might here the eerie, lonesome yips and cries of some coyotes in the distance, to boot.

And I sure can't beat the price for tent camping.

Jumbo Rocks Campground is truly one of the best desert getaways. The rocks around the campground are fun to climb on and explore, plus they create an amazing show of light and shadow from sunrise to moonrise. This campground does have a bit of a party vibe and people stay up late, but everyone was friendly and respectful about it.

This is a clean campground with plenty of toilets and dumpsters, the toilets were cleaned daily. There is no water here, so bring more than you think you need. Also, not much shade, so plan ahead in case you have a site with direct sun all day.

Each site provides a charcoal grill and campfire ring. Unfortunately, fires were prohibited while I was there. Bring your gas stove just in case.

Hidden Springs picnic area is about 20 minutes west of the campground, we used it as a day camp. There is plenty of shade at some of the tables against the rocks. We hung out there during the hottest part of the day to have lunch and stay cool. Twentynine Palms is closer than Joshua Tree/Yucca Valley for groceries, but the drive to Joshua Tree is much more beautiful.

Dogs are allowed, but you can't hike with them anywhere in the park.

To kick off a week-long road trip through 6 states, Black Rock Campground was the first stop. As a native Californian seeing Joshua Tree for the first time, under a crisp Spring sunset, the undulating Yucca Valley did not disappoint! Arriving merely two hours before sunset allowed for enough time to set up "camp" in the Element & hike a mile or so up a nearby mini-mountain for sunset. It's all we had; sunset & the desert moon. Knowing an impending departure time of 0700 for Zion crept closer and closer, time stood still atop our solely inhabited mountain.

Sweeping views of the valley, elder Joshua Trees scattered about, and the sporadic desert cactus flower offered a surreal landscape painting. The trees by moonlight's veil presented Black Rock as a different world than that gilded by glow of the setting sun. A chilly desert wind softly rattled the spindly agave family trees overnight, with intermittent embers flashing about. Black Rock hummed its overnighter's to sleep with a Shamen-esque protection and pristine desert air.

Not a very attractive drive in. Lots and lots of trash in the shrubbery and fields along the highway. Reservation and check in was easy. Staff were very friendly and accommodating. The RV park itself is attractive and seems to be fairly well maintained. It seems there are two rv areas. A lower older area and an upper newer and more attractive area. We were in the older area. Site was gravel with a small concrete area. Unfortunately, no one there seems to care about the dog poop everywhere (not exaggerating!). We and the people behind us parking had to clean dog poop off our site before we could set up. When walking our dog we saw poop everywhere. Dog park was ok, but on the small side and would be better with a gravel base instead of the dirt (very, very dusty and results in a dirty, dusty dog). There is a huge field adjacent and owned by the rv park that you can walk and or run your dog. But also full of poop. Bathroom smaller, older in the lower area. Much nicer, more modern bathrooms in the newer area. Two laundry rooms but no front loaders and the older laundry room only had two washers and two dryers. Can use quarters or an app. Pool and spa seemed pretty popular but we didn’t use. Area could really use some lighting at night. Very dark with minimal lighting in the older section. Trash is picked up every morning if you leave outside your site.

Being reasonably close to our home base, we frequent this park with the family. Major grocery and shopping establishments are nearby, with Target directly across the street, In-n-Out, local parks, and the like. Our kids love the pool area, grandparents love the pickleball courts, and there are always fun activities to do throughout the year. Full-timers are friendly and inclusive of newcomers and passer-throughs. Dog parks are clean and located at either corner of the park. The entrance security kiosk is staffed 24/7, and they'll even help spot you while parking your rig. We cannot say enough good things about this place. 

Check their website for events and specials.