Looking for tent camping near Yucca Valley? You can find tent campsites by type, including drive-in, walk-in, and even hike-in for a backpacking adventure. Search nearby tent campgrounds or find top-rated spots from other campers.
Yucaipa Regional Park is a water park based in San Bernardino County beside the San Bernardino National Forest and San Bernardino Mountains. Activities include fishing in three lakes, a water park, and disc golf. Yucaipa Regional Park camping includes primitive sites, picnic tables, fire pits, full hookups for RVs, and large group shelters for up to 350 people.
These five remote camping sites offer locations for tent and car camping. There are some mature shade trees near the sites, but other than a metal fire ring for campfires, these sites do NOT contain the amenities found at developed campgrounds. There is no water, no picnic tables, no restrooms nearby, and no trash containers. Please pack it in - pack it out! All sites are first-come, first-served. Campfire permits are required for any type of fire use - campfires, charcoal BBQ's, or stoves. Campfires may not be allowed certain times of the year. Contact the Mill Creek Ranger Station for current fire restriction information and road conditions. (909) 382-2882 (closed Tues/Wed) These yellow post sites are reached via forest road 1N12 (unpaved, trailers and large RVs not suitable). Please refer to the yellow-post site map available for free at the Mill Creek Ranger Station. High-clearance vehicles are recommended and four-wheel drive vehicles may also be required to reach these sites, depending on current road conditions.
Psitioned on the side of a hill so you can overlook the dry lake bed. Nearest nieghbor is 1/2 mile away. Far enough from town to be private and very peaceful yet only 7 miles from downtown Joshua Tree and JTNP.
$70 / night
Simply Camping is a dry camp...The only "frill" is a clean, well-equipped portable toilet with tiny sink. My five campsites are well separated for privacy, located approx., 700 ft. to the Copper Mesa Mountains! A great spot for hiking about and or off roading. Simply Camping is great for "sky"gazing, relaxing, enjoy quiet peacefulness of the beautiful desert with the amazing sunrise and sunsets, and the stars at night are incredible! Located in Joshua Tree, approx., 30 minutes to Joshua Tree National Monument and we are approx. 12 miles to Hwy. 62 aka: Twentynine Palms HIghway for shopping, eating, and sightseeing. You will not regret your stay at Simply Camping!
$33 - $39 / night
Raw desert camping for tents, rv’s and trailers. Pick your spot anywhere on the property. This is not glamping. Stay for the night and head out to Joshua Tree for some hiking!
$40 / night
Vacant land available for exploring and short term tent camping. Conveniently located near shopping, eateries and amazing areas to explore for days. Located near the North entrance of Joshua Tree National Park.
$25 - $80 / night
These 9 Yellow Post sites are individual camping sites. Each campsite will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis. No reservations. Each site is limited to a maximum of 8 people at any one time. There is limited parking at these Yellow Post Sites for 2 vehicles. Amenities include 1 picnic table and 1 fire ring per site. There are no restroom facilities or drinking water. Please pack it in - pack it out! During winter, Keller Peak Road closes due to snow accumulation, but it is still possible to hike, snowshoe, or cross-country ski to these sites. These sites are near the Children's Forest Visitor Center, the Children's Forest Exploration Trail, and the Keller Peak Fire Lookout. Campfire permits are required for any type of fire use - campfires, charcoal BBQ`s, or gas stoves. Campfires and charcoal BBQ's may not be allowed certain times of the year. Click here for current fire restriction information. Keller Peak Yellow Post Site Map
The Coon Creek Group Campground is located in the pine-covered mountains of Southern California. The unique campground is home to three historic cabins and a stunning view into the Coachella Valley on clear days.
The campground is adjacent to a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, a famous hike that spans more than 2,600 miles from Canada to Mexico. The trail is available for hiking and horseback riding only and offers multiple entry and exit points along its lengthy route, making it ideal for short nature walks or day hikes. In addition to touring the campground's three historic cabins, the campground also offers access to mountain stream fishing and bird and wildlife viewing. The San Gorgonio Wilderness is vast and offers a variety of trailheads and points of exploration.
The campground is situated at an 8,000-foot elevation, overlooking the San Bernardino mountains. Mature pine trees dot the area, but provide little shade over the rocky terrain.
The campground is less than 20 miles away from Big Bear Lake, which offers a variety of water-related recreation opportunities. The adjoining town provides golf, shopping and restaurant options.
Rules & Reservation Policies As you make travel plans that include reservations on Recreation.gov, there are standard policies that apply to most locations of which you should be aware. Do keep in mind, however, that there are many exceptions, so it is best to review reservation information listed on individual facility pages for those policies and procedures that pertain to your specific locations. Any location or activity requiring a permit or lottery will have unique requirements and policies. Please check individual facility pages for pertinent information for those sites. Booking Window For most locations, you can reserve six months in advance of your stay for individual sites and 12 months in advance for group sites. There are some exceptions, so it is best to check with each facility. Change and Cancellation Policies and Fees Overnight and Day Use Facilities: To ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed beyond the booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation. Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount. You can cancel or change reservations through Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Tours & Tickets: You may request changes to tour dates at no cost before the arrival date. If you cancel before your tour date, you may be eligible for a refund. Cancellation fees apply. Please check the tour facility description details page for cancellation policies. Permits: Varies by location. Please check the permit details for the permit location. Late Cancellations Overnight and Day Use Facilities: Late cancellations are those cancelled between 12:01 a.m. (Eastern) on the day before arrival and check out time on the day after arrival. Individual Campsites: If a customer cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival they will be charged a $10.00 service fee and will also forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a single night's reservation will forfeit the entire use fee but no cancellation fee will apply. Cabins / Lookouts: Customers will be charged a $10.00 cancellation fee and forfeit the first night's use fee if a cabin or lookout reservation is cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Facility: If a customer cancels a group overnight facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date they will be charged the $10.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's use fee. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Day Use Area: If a customer cancels a group day use facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date, they will forfeit the total day use fee with no service fee charge. No-Shows Camping / Day Use: A camping no-show customer is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Reserved campsites and group overnight facilities will be held until check-out time on the day following your scheduled arrival. Group day-use facilities will be held until check-in time on your scheduled arrival date. If a customer does not arrive at the campground or group facility by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by the times listed under "Late Cancellations" above, the customer may be assessed a $20.00 service fee and forfeit use fees. Tours: A tour or ticket no-show is one who does not cancel a ticket before arrival and does not arrive for the tour. Tour no-shows are not entitled to a refund. Refunds Customers must request refunds no later than 14 days after the scheduled departure date. Recreation.gov will not grant refund requests after 14 days of departure. Reservation Fee: For some facilities, tours or permits an additional reservation fee is charged. For some overnight and day-use facilities, an additional non-refundable reservation fee may apply. The non-refundable reservation fee for tours and tickets is $1.00. The non-refundable reservation fee for permits varies by location. Refunds for Bankcard Purchases: Refunds for bank card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank card. Refunds for Check or Cash Purchases: Refunds for Recreation.gov payments made by check or money order, and cash payments at selected campgrounds will be issued a check refund. A refund will be processed within 30 days of receipt and approval. Please Note: Refund requests made during or after departure can only be processed when approved by the facility management staff based upon local policy. Refunds for Emergency Closures: In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team will attempt to notify users and offer alternate dates (as appropriate). If this is not possible, reservations will be cancelled and all fees paid will be refunded. Reservation fees for free tickets are non-refundable in the event of an emergency closure. Recreation.gov Billing Information Reservation transaction will appear on customer's credit card statements as "Recreation.gov 877-444-6777." Changes to Policies and Procedures Recreation.gov reserves the right, when necessary, to modify reservation policies. These policies were last updated July
$127 - $137 / night
Traveler
Tent sites were massive, basically could be used for RV as well. Everything on the grounds were nice and as expected with KOA quality but the price is a bit much for tent camping.
Ranger
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.
Guide
Offers wide range of tent camp sites, RV camping, showers, toilets. Beautiful scenic hikes. Small creek runs through property. Campsite grills and picnic tables.
Guide
We tent camped here for 3 nights and loved this campground. The tent sites are spacious - can’t exaggerate that enough. the workers were friendly and helpful. The bathrooms were clean and had plenty of showers available. There is a playground centrally located, tennis court and basketball - all equipment available from the office. They also had board games for use and a pool table inside. There are a couple of pontoon boats available for rental as well! We took out kids on a couple hikes, be sure you have an interagency pass for parking at trailheads! Fantastic getaway!
Legend
Overall a nice campground with decent sites, but really not for tent camping at all. They say they have some tent sites, but pretty much every site is setup with gravel pull-in or pull throughs which you'd not really want to set your tent up on. They do have a "tent village" which you can camp on, but again, not really ideal for tents. They do have really nice facilities for washing your cloths or yourself along with a nice club house for unwinding. While each site doesn't have a fire ring, you do have a table and there is a group fire ring along with a pool and playground. You are a bit inside the city of Banning and not too far from the train tracks, so if you're not in something super insulated you'll probably hear a bit of train noise like we did.
Guide
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.
Scout
Best place ever!! Tent camping, RV camping, they have a restaurant and bar, best burgers in all of southern California!! They also have a small store, there's showers, restrooms and a swimming pool! Tent camping along Santa Ana River, you can also fish and hike. So amazing and beautiful, awesome memories made!!
Scout
Does not allow tent camping
Guide
Great tent camping facilities, privacy from neighbors, access to Zanja Peak Trail head, 3 lakes for fishing, water park during the summer, and friendly helpful staff
Ranger
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.
Scout
This is listed as horse campsite, but there’s few tent sites available. Not crowded and winds from mountains keep area cooled.
Traveler
Good home base for Joshua Tree is NP campgrounds are full. Pretty barebones. A few weirdos, but enough space to steer clear of them. The wind can be brutal if you’re tent camping. Have large stakes.
Scout
Came here for a weekend, good spot for tent camping, I went on an off trail hike, cool, fun area. Some views. Drove over to the lake but couldn’t find parking. Very quiet and clean as well.
Traveler
Awesome tent sites in Joshua Tree, tucked between some Jumbo Rocks. The sites are pretty spacious and private and have primo scenery and star gazing opportunities.
Traveler
Super nice staff!! They remembered us after only staying here twice which means they take pride in the care for their customers. We love that we can tent camp by the water!
Will definitely recommend to anyone!
Traveler
Nice place to visit in early January. With sunshine and daytime temperatures of 60s and 70s. Most sites are suitable for tent camping or small campers.
Would be a 5 star if it had water, a dump station or electric.
Guide
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
TravelerThis is your typical regional park Campground. There’s a lot to do here, including fishing, playgrounds, and even a waterpark in the summer. The bathrooms are decent, no showers.
We stayed in group campsite A. Tent camping is only allowed in group sites. They do have about 30 to 40 RV sites as well. The tent camping sites come with plenty of space for group camping. There’s a built-in grill and running water.
There’s no larger wildlife, like bears, so less stressful when you have pets or kids. Plenty of space to bring bikes and ride around. There’s a large community park right next-door where you can go and play baseball, basketball, sand volleyball, or frisbee.
We’ve been here several times over the last few years and really enjoy a nice quiet place close to home.
GuideSuper campspots among the boulders. Great hiking out of the campground. Some of the tent sites are "really" walk in sites so it makes it a bit more challenging if sleeping in van. Bring everything you need ie. Water!
GuideVery primitive camping, but location, views, hikes, and adventures nearby make it all worth it! We had site #6 and tent camped. It was back a little away from the road and people which was nice. Be sure to bring in your own water. We filled up our jug and got provisions in 29 Palms before heading into the park.
TravelerWhile I fully appreciated the location, the scenery, the quaint community of Idyllwild, the campsites were TOO close and on hills making relaxing and tent camping a bit of a downer. It felt like we were right on top of each other. We had loud campers on 2/3 sites near us. I don’t think I would camp here again.
Traveler
We took our RV here just for one night but we can't wait to go back. RV sites, tent sites and cabins. Has a resort feel with a cafe, clubhouse, horse back riding and more. Facilities are clean and convenient. Operators are there to assist and in touch via text if you need anything.
TravelerThis listing was showing as free but when we showed up that was not the case. For simple tent camping, this cost $15/person and charge $5/per kid and pet. Must be gone by 11am. Overpriced for what we needed. Very loud and rude campers next to us until early morning hours evens though it’s against the park’s policies. Disappointed. Front lady checking in was very pleasant. No discounts for Veterans, only active duty.
Travelervery nice campground. Always clean. Small store onsite. Small lake. Some sites are full hook-ups and many tent sites. Quiet and peaceful. I’ve stayed many times - September, October & May. The Joshua Tree Music Festival takes over the campground for a week in October and a week in May. Wonderful time to stay and hear such a huge variety of music and art!
Guide
This campground is a very large site, with huge amounts of RV and tent sites spread out, hookups and non-hookup sites, with a layout around the water of Lake Hemet. We only stayed for one night before continuing on to Idyllwild, so cannot speak for anything related to the actual lake but there was a lot of recreational boating and fishing going on when we were there in August. Our site was a tent site in the interior, we did not pay the extra money for a premium lakefront site. Overall it is your run of the mill campsite, but with the lake as a main attraction and focal point of course. With all of the families and kids it was more on the noisy side, and was noisy until later into the night. I would recommend this campsite on the value of the lake if that is something you are into, but other than that I would prefer something more quiet and peaceful. Another downside is visitor parking and I believe even day use of the grounds to get in were an extra charge. There is a large country style camping store before the gate. Overall, the surrounding scenery is still beautiful, and you can't really beat that.
Scout
This is by far the best place to tent camp that we have found. We love hiking the rope/ladder trail loop during the day and star gazing at night. No bugs and the weather is amazing if you’re at the base of the canyon. There’s loose sand roads the further you get in, so 4wheel drive only if you’re trying to get far away from the main road. There is a bathroom towards the beginning, but nothing close to the main hiking area.
Traveler
Love camping here via both tent camping and van life. Beautiful surroundings and nature all around. Tricky to get to and recommend 4WD/AWD vehicles. Trailers would be tough on the dirt switch backs. Bathrooms are gnarly but tolerable if you’re in and out quickly. But they are clean and stocked, it’s just the stench! No water so bring plenty of your own. No open fires this time of the year but nonetheless enjoyable and plenty of stars to be seen. Plenty of bouldering to be had in the area. Super fun times! Can’t wait to go back!
Tent camping near Yucca Valley, California, offers a unique blend of stunning landscapes and outdoor adventures, perfect for nature enthusiasts seeking a memorable experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Yucca Valley, CA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Yucca Valley, CA is Yucaipa Regional Park with a 4.8-star rating from 20 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Yucca Valley, CA?
TheDyrt.com has all 45 tent camping locations near Yucca Valley, CA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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