Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Caliente, NV

We looked for a last minute camping spot as we went from LA to Colorado and came across this spot. It was free and pet friendly and right next to the lake which made for a beautiful sunset. The only downside is that you do hear quite a bit of traffic driving past since it’s right next to the road but it’s definitely worth it for being free.

We got in on a Thursday night right around 6:30 pm. We knew we were going to be cutting it close and in our 26 foot rig out of the 10ish spaces that could fit us (some spots are only for vans or tents) only 2 were left so we suggest getting here earlier. We found a space that was available next to another camping couple who were very kind. They were pulling a Bighorn maybe a 28 ft with slides and we both fit in spots 2 and 3 with ease. The road heading in is incredibly washboarded. Stick to the left side of the road if you want a slightly less bumpy ride. Scenery was gorgeous. Lots of shade for Nevada. Amazing view of the stars too! You are close to the highway but at night the road settles down and it was not a problem for us. Being so close to the lake be prepared to be inundated with bugs at night time if you have any lights on at all. Also, people do not seem to pick up after their pets (maybe even themselves?) as the closer you get to vegetation the more poop you’ll see alongside the grass/bushes. Overall, we enjoyed our stay here. It is a donation only park and it is first come first serve! We arrived Sept 17th around 6:30 pm with only two spots left and right after we pulled in another van and camper pulled in so I’m pretty sure it was full by 7 pm. Temps were low 60s at night and 85 when we arrived up until about 8:30 pm! Each site is spaced far enough apart where you aren’t necessarily on top of each other (except for our site which was meant for two rv’s)! There are also picnic tables, grills and fire pits at each site.

Off hwy 93 in Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge. #10 on Upper Pahranagat lake. Tables, grill, steel fire pit. First come first served. Free. Awesome campsite hosts. Hwy noise. Lots of birds. Lots of space around campsites. Dogs need to be on leads

Off hwy 93 in Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge.#10 on Upper Pahranagat lake. Tables, grill, steel fire pit. First come first served. Free. Awesome campsite hosts. Hwy noise. Lots of birds. Lots of space around campsites. Dogs need to be on leads

Off hwy 93 in Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge. #10 on Upper Pahranagat lake. Tables, grill, steel fire pit. First come first served. Free. Awesome campsite hosts. Hwy noise. Lots of birds. Lots of space around campsites. Dogs need to be on leads

If you need a breather from Vegas, this is a great weekend trip! Great hiking trails and awesome views! Dog friendly! Restrooms and showers are clean! So many state parks in the area! Hour or less from Echo Canyon SP, Beaver Dam SP, Spring Valley SP, and Kershaw-Ryan SP. Town of Panaca is 15 minutes away if you need more ice or groceries.

We had site #6 - campground was not crowded, lots of empty spots. Easy walk to the reservoir. Large area for a tent, a centrally located fire ring and bbq. Each site had a nice covered table. We did have to kill a couple black widows that had setup shop under the table. And day 2 we fought some tiny little gnats that left some nasty bite marks on both of the dogs. bring bug spray in future All that did not put a damper on our visit. Bathrooms were an easy walk, and clean. The little library was great and had a nice selection and the Family had no problems catching fish (10 bass & 1 crappie) on this visit. We will be back.

One of the best hidden gems in Nevada! Great camping with clean restrooms and well maintained campgrounds. Plenty of good trails nooks and crannies to explore.

Highly recommended!!

Whipple cave is located 3 hours from Las Vegas, heading north. Coordinates to the cave can be found here: latitude 38.48909 longitude 115.01829

Once you get to the Whipple cave access road, pass the wire fenced gate located on the right hand side. Here, you will drive on a dirt road for about 2 miles. A 4w drive is highly encountered. You won’t be able to make the drive in a sedan. You will see the trailhead at the end of the road.

You can camp here for the night. There’s fire pits available throughout, it’s a very secluded area so you will not run into other people or crowds. Just an FYI, it gets pretty windy at night. Dog friendly! No reservation required, free to camp!

The cave is located a couple minutes away, up the mountain. You will see signs for it. You can enter the cave by rappelling down 70 feet. Once at the bottom, you can embark on a 2 mile spelunking adventure!!! You will need a 165 ft rope and headlamps to accomplish this adventure as well as technical rope-climbing skills.

Nice little campground located in the Cathedral Gorge State Park in Eastern central Nevada. Sites are first come first serve. Each has Electrical hook ups, but no sewer/dump facilities. Bathrooms have running water and a shower which is very nice. The hiking trails are great and provide lots of exploring on the Cathedral Gorge.

Steve, the “Happy Camper”

Visited on October 10th. This was a quick one night in-and-out for us but very enjoyable. The water at the lake was low and no fires due to the lack of rain in months. There were a lot of families fishing. We are more into hiking but this spot made me think about getting into fishing as well. The sites are close to each other so there isn’t much privacy but everyone was very friendly and the bathrooms and showers are amazing (we are used to primitive camping). The ranger came by to check on everyone.

This is a first come first served location with no option of reserving at this time. There are fire rings and covered tables at each site. One note of caution, there were a lot of bees. I am not sure if it was the heat and lack of moisture but it did make lunch very uncomfortable.

We really want to go back and we want to go back in the winter as well to check out everyone Ice Fishing. I would love to do some hiking. It is such an interesting area, screaming to be explored. The kids and dog loved it.

This was our second Nevada State park campground and it was just as immaculate as the first. The sites were level, groomed, and not a speck of trash to be found. Great Verizon service, no ATT. We didn’t use the bathroom because of covid, but based on the cleanliness of the rest of the place, it was probably perfect. The park is nice, definitely worth a day’s visit. This campground would make a good base for exploring more state parks nearby.

There are natural springs and the flora is gorgeous!!! The short overlook trail is absolutely stunning. Our trip was in Fall so the colors were amazing. We camped for only one night but had a good visit and plan to return since this is a very nice place. This is a small first come, first serve campground with electric hookups, restrooms, and more. Each site has a picnic table, BBQ, and fire pit. The picnic table has shade and there are trees around the campground. There are showers but I didn't use them to verify they work well or are warm. There are water spouts, for use but not to hookup. There is a dump station at the park entrance but no sewer hookups. We got the last spot in the campground, it fills up quickly and people came after us who had to leave to find another place. Lesson: arrive early in the day probably between 10am-1pm will get you a spot. The campground is at the park entrance and is 0.8 miles from the main park area where the playground, wading pool, grassy areas, and most trail heads are. That main area is also where you will find maps and the stamp to use on your Nevada state parks passport. When we came the wading pool was empty. But I guess during summer it's a nice refreshing place for children to play. There are two spots to play horse shoes and one for volleyball. The playground equipment is old but usable. Cellular service is better up at the main park area than at the campground but the campground does offer wifi for a fee. Just outside the state park is a grazing area with cows and just past that is the railroad- you may hear the train from your campsite. We liked that but I'm sure some people wouldn't. Animals in the area we saw: turkey, rabbits, kangaroo rats, frogs, and various butterflies. The camping price is$15 per night without hookups,$25 with hookups OR if you get the state park all access pass then camping is free and you just pay$10 for the hookups if you use them. Read up on the Nevada State Park website for more details.

There are TWO CAMPGROUNDS in Echo Canyon State Park. There is the upper campground with FULL hookups for RVs and there is the lower campground meant more for tent camping. They appear about the same elevation, perhaps upper is higher. The lower campground is across Echo Dam Road from the boat launch entrance to the reservoir. The upper campground is at the end of a dirt road that runs along the west side of the reservoir. You can see the upper campground(aka RV campground) from Echo Dam Road- it has few tall trees and likely enough RVs to stand out. The lower campground is more hidden in the mountain with the trees. We stayed in the RV campground and used the electric hookups. There were water and sewer as well but we didn't use thus can't verify quality. Everything looked clean and well kept and the water had TWO spouts, which is very nice. Each spot had covered picnic tables and a fire ring. There was a small pile of firewood you could purchase on the honor system from the information stand at the entrance. The park, like all the Nevada State Parks with camping, is first come first serve. And you pay at the kiosk drop box. A ranger comes by and checks on the campers about once a day. It costs$15 per night without hookups and$25 with hookups. If you get the state park all access pass then camping is free, you just pay$10 for hookups if you use them. We ended up here because we went to Cathedral Gorge state park but it was full. This park had plenty of spaces and was just about 20 miles away. We chose Echo Canyon rather than staying in the Cathedral Gorge overflow area because we needed hookups due to the cold weather. Unlike other reviewers, our experience was bug-free! Also, visibility was far! We saw hundreds of deer across the meadows. The winds at night were very strong and loud but didn't do any damage. The morning sun was strong and warmed things up quickly. Overall, we thought this place was a great value because of the full hookups.

Great pitstop. Scenic canyon with mature trees. Conveniently located on the edge of town. Friendly staff. Restrooms are immaculately kept. Great tiled showers.

Very small nice place .

This campground has super small sites that are close together and offer little to no "camp privacy". I would say that this is more of an RV/trailer friendly campground than tent-friendly. There are tent pads at a couple of the sites. Each site offers fire rings, grills and covered picnic tables. There is flushable toilets and free showers available which is super nice.

The more we explored this park, the more awesome things we found. Close to the day use area, there is a horseshoe pit and a very nice volleyball court. There are a couple short hikes super close to the campground also, that offer beautiful views of the fall foliage. I highly suggest visiting this in the Fall as the colors were amazing.