Salton Sea SRA, near the Salton Sea in California, offers a unique camping experience with a blend of natural beauty and quirky surroundings. The campground features spacious sites that provide a degree of privacy thanks to the surrounding vegetation, making it a decent spot for those looking to unwind.

Visitors appreciate the clean facilities, including restrooms with flush toilets and showers, which are well-maintained compared to other state parks. Many campers have enjoyed the large fire pits and picnic tables, perfect for evening gatherings under the stars. One camper noted, “The sites have plenty of room to spread out,” which adds to the overall comfort of your stay.

For those eager to explore, the area is rich in fascinating landscapes and nearby attractions like Salvation Mountain and Slab City. Birdwatching is a popular activity here, especially at sunrise and sunset when the views are stunning. Just keep in mind that the campground is close to a busy train track, which some found to be a non-issue while others noted it could be a bit noisy.

While the Salton Sea itself is beautiful, swimming and boating are not recommended due to its high salinity. If you're looking for a place to camp with a bit of character and some interesting local sights, Salton Sea SRA might just be the spot for you.

Salton Sea Sra

Looking for the best campgrounds near Salton City, CA? Salton City is filled with the activities, sights, and experiences to make everyone in your crew a happy camper. Discover great camping spots near Salton City, reviewed by campers like you.

Salton City

The Best Camping Near Salton City, California

Do not come here. Just don’t come. The gnats/flies literally rain from the sky and cover everything.... cars, tables, YOU! It’s a beautiful sunset to see on the lake but right afterwards you’ll experience a traumatic rain of insects that’s comparable to the plague of gnats or locusts from the Bible. 

An experience of biblical plague proportions

We camped here on New Years Eve. It was quiet. This area is interesting. Has a Mad Max Thunderdome vibe. Definitely go to Salvation Mountain then drive thru Slab City. I walked thru the odd Outdoor Art Gallery called “East Jesus” fascinating population of people live out there. We camped at the Mecca camp which is a mile south of the ranger station. The actual Salton sea is right there. Great for bird watching bring binoculars. The sunrise and sunsets were some of the prettiest I’ve ever seen. Best hook up site #138 but hands down best tent site #134. If I didn’t get either of those I would not have stayed as sites are very close with zero privacy barrier. The best part of this campground were the hosts. Good folks

Fascinating landscapes 

The campground area was closed due to Covid, but the park areas were open for day use. It was a nice place to visit and take some scenic pictures, but not much else to do there.

Not Much to Do here

We stayed in site 42 of New Campground. We had W/E (water pressure is really high) and the sites have plenty of rooms to spread out. A ramada, picnic table, large fire pit. Some sites have shade trees. Beautiful views of the Salton Sea (thats pretty much all its good for due to pollution and high salinity from what I read- advise against swimming boating etc. Bath houses were clean (showers $0.25/2 min).

The campground is right off highway 111 and the railway so there is a lot of noise (which didn’t bother us). Just 45 min drive to Joshua Tree NP and plenty of hiking and scenic drives in Box Canyon. 

New Campground Beautiful

This site serves our needs since we just needed a place to camp on our way up north. The Salton Sea is beautiful in the daytime and around sunset and it was a great play to see the night sky. However other than that there isn’t much to do and there is not a whole lot around. The camp sites are also right next to each other at the beach sites.

Beautiful but empty

This review is for the New Camp campground. For some reason Dyrt has listings for all of the developed State Park campgrounds within the Salton Sea SRA except for this one. It is near Headquarters campground but is not the same campground. First off, know that New Camp has no views of the Salton Sea. For that, you need to select one of the other campgrounds. What is nice about New Camp is that the sites are large and well spaced apart and there is a degree of privacy allowed due to vegetation. Some but not all sites have electrical hookups. There is a well maintained restroom with flush toilets and showers. The campground is small and the restrooms don't get savaged like many other Cal State Parks I've been to. We met the campground host, who was super friendly, and helpful, and very knowledgeable of the local area. My dog, camping buddy and I had a great time exploring some local hikes and attractions using New Camp as a base camp for three nights. There is a busy train track that runs parallel to much of the Eastern shore of the Salton Sea and is very close to New Camp. We didn't find this particularly bothersome.

Nice basecamp

I have been coming here for 25 years. Sadly the lake is disappearing, but it have beautiful sunsets and is isolated and peaceful ( except for the occasional train). Avoid in the summer, but winter is amazing. 

Photos of Salton Sea Sra

Real photos from real campers