Best Tent Camping near Ely, NV

While Grey Cliffs campground didn't impress me as much as the other campgrounds as it was more open with far less trees than the others, you won't have the RV crowd here, this is a tent only campground, No RV's or trailers allowed.  Campsites can be reserved during the summer season.  On my visit only two of the three loops were open in June, the other loop was being used by the Park Service.  Sites are nicely spread out which is nice.  There are 2 ADA Accessible campsites site C3 and A8 both sites are located next to accessible restrooms.  Campground has vault toilets, trash service and recycling.  Each site has a picnic table and metal fire ring.  Fire ban is currently in effect.  No water is available at the campground, water can be obtained at the Visitor Center.  Campground does have some group camping sites for groups between 9 and 16 people.

This is a popular stop near the town of Ely (a couple miles north off the highway; the closest town is actually McGill). Because of its proximity to a major thoroughfare, and I guess what northern Nevada would consider a major town, it seems like it fills up quickly. There isn’t a lot of privacy from neighbors because the foliage is limited and the landscaping is minimal, but it’s clean, relatively quiet, well run, and a good pit stop if you’re making a run across this area of the country.

Recommend that, if you know you’re coming in advance, you go ahead and make reservations at recreation.gov.

There are two pit toilets in a pretty good state of cleanliness. Potable water, picnic tables, and fire rings. Out of the eleven sites total, five are considered group sites and six are considered RV sites (you can car/tent camp here no problem, however).

This is a campground within Great Basin National Park. It is reservation only, which is why we picked it, but there are several other campgrounds within the park. I believe the others are first come, first served. We found that the sites were pretty private and not on top of each other at all. The cliffs here are very pretty and are a nice backdrop. Grey Cliffs is a tent only area and each site has a fire ring with a grill and a picnic table. There is no running water, vault toilets and trash cans put here and there. We have a tent that needs to be staked-this was a problem there. The ground is so rocky it became very difficult to drive a spike into the ground far enough to work and not bend them. Do not bring a large tent, the pads are small. It wasn’t terrible once we were set up, and the price is right. If we were to come back to the park we’d try to either camp at Baker or Wheeler Peak, up the road a ways.

Baker Creek Campground is a first come - first served campground in Great Basin National Park.  Campground has 37 sites and sits along Baker Creek.  It is a dusty drive to Baker Creek campground along a gravel road, but that dust leads you to a pleasant campground.  Stayed in the upper most loop at site 14.  RVs and Trailers over 24 feet are not allowed on Upper Loop.  Three sites in the campground are ADA sites.  Each site has a picnic table and metal fire ring.  Water is currently not available in the campground, water can be obtained at the visitor center.  A fire ban was in place due to dry conditions.  No cell service at the campground except for a few spots in the upper loop.  If I stood in just the right spot in my camp site I could get service.  Campground has vault toilets and dumpsters for your trash.  The campground was quiet at night and being next to the creek was an added bonus.

Upper Lehman Creek campground nice sized campground in Great Basin National Park. Campground has 24 sites sitting in trees.  Campground is available by reservation only. This is the second campground along the paved Wheeler Peak Drive. Campground road and parking pads are all paved. Each site has a picnic table and metal fire ring. Trash, recycling is available. Campground has vault toilets. The campground has two ADA campsites(Site#2 and#18) . While water spigots are located through out the campground water is currently not available at the campground and a fire restriction was in effect. Water can be obtained at the Visitor Center. Campsites are nicely spread apart and being in the park made for a silent night with the only sounds coming from the nearby creek.  Some of these campsites are listed as no tents, so be careful when registering for a site if you are tent camping.

As the connotation infers these sites are large and clean. Paved parking, dedicated tent sites, picnic tables, fire rings and bbq. Clean, well maintained pit toilets. Set in a well treed area with a creek on either side of the loop. A few pull through spots and a few tent only spots makes a well rounded campground. The stars are amazing!Lehman Cave as well as Wheeler Peak are just minutes away. Hikers rejoice. We volunteered for a project on Public Lands Day and also squeezed in some pine nut harvesting. At $23 a pound who wouldn’t? The weather was iffy for our first time here. Rain, wind and snow with a few sunny breaks. We would definitely come back, but maybe a little earlier in the year next time. FYI, this park seems to always be needing camp hosts. Hint, hint.

We stayed on August 2nd. We took a chance and drove up on a Saturday. Needless to say we were afraid that we wouldn’t find a spot. We drove around for a while and finally found this spot. The group sites were closed due to the pandemic but they did have individual first come first serve sites - you had to drive in to see it.

The site worked for us as we have a rooftop tent so we always gain space and have no worries about setting up tents in the ground. Each site has a fire ring and a table. The vault toilet was a bit of a walk from our location but we were happy to have a spot, so it didn’t matter.

The views were nice and the night sky is amazing at Great Basin. Very little to no light pollution. Unfortunately we didn’t get any hiking in as we had the dog with us. Dogs are allowed at the campsite but not on a majority of the trails at Great Basin.

Eagle Peak is by far the nicest campsite location along Great Basin National Parks Snake Creek Road. The three sites are off the road and in full shade of large trees and sits along Snake Creek which is flowing at this location. Each site has a picnic table and metal fire ring. An ADA accessible vault toilet is located at the campground, and is also the location of the trash and recycling bin. No water is available at Eagle Peak unless you filter it from the creek. Eagle Peak is the last camping area you can drive to along Snake Creek road. Hiking trails for this area of the park are just down the road.

Be warned, the information on the parks website is a bit misleading. Road is not for RV's or trailers. Just after you enter the park on Snake Creek Road a sign clearly indicated no RV's or trailers past the roads first pull out. Road is a narrow single lane road for almost all of its length.