Searching for the perfect place to pitch your tent near Ely? Find the best information on tent campgrounds near Ely, including sites, reviews, and tips. Each spot offers quick access to one or more of Ely, Nevada's most popular destinations.
This Casino no longer has hookups available to campers, but does allow overnight parking along the adjacent roadway.
For visitors to Great Basin National Park, Grey Cliffs Campground is an ideal place to setup and start exploring. Experience the solitude of the desert, the smell of sagebrush after a thunderstorm, the darkest of night skies, and the beauty of Lehman Caves.
The park offers a variety of trails with views of mountain peaks and alpine lake surrounded by beautiful cliffs at trail's end. Reserve a guided tour of Lehman Caves, take the scenic drive to the face of 13,063 foot Wheeler Peak or see 5,000 year old Bristlecone pine trees grow on rocky glacial moraines.
The park offers a variety of trails with views of mountain peaks and alpine lake surrounded by beautiful cliffs at trail's end. Reserve a guided tour of Lehman Caves, take the scenic drive to the face of 13,063 foot Wheeler Peak or see 5,000 year old Bristlecone pine trees grow on rocky glacial moraines.
The campground is tucked beside limestone cliffs and set amongst pinion pines.
Hike along the Baker Lake Trail, reserve a guided tour ofLehman Caves , take the scenic drive to the face of 13,063 foot Wheeler Peak or see 5,000 year old Bristlecone pine trees grow on rocky glacial moraines.
$30 / night
Formerly known as Snake Creek Road Primitive Campground.
Campers must be in designated sites along these roads and backcountry camping regulations apply. Tents must be placed within 30 feet of the site's picnic table(s) and/or fire ring(s). Generators may only be used between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Checkout time is noon. The maximum continuous stay limit at any campsite is 14 days.
Groups size is limited to 15 persons and/or 6 pack animals, and/or 6 vehicles per site. Larger groups must split into smaller groups within these limits, and must camp at separate sites. Larger groups may request an exception to these limits from the Superintendent under the terms of a Special Use Permit.
Snake Creek may be closed due to snow in winter months, check our current conditions page for uptodate infomation. High clearance vehicles are recommended for these rough, dirt roads. RVs and trailers are not recommended at any time.
Snake Creek may be closed due to snow in winter months, check our current conditions page for up-to-date information: https://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/conditions.htm. High clearance vehicles are recommended for these rough, dirt roads. RVs and trailers are not recommended at any time.
Snake Creek may be closed due to snow in winter months, check our current conditions page for up-to-date information. https://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/conditions.htm High clearance vehicles are recommended for these rough, dirt roads. RVs and trailers are not recommended at any time.
Snake Creek may be closed due to snow in winter months, check our current conditions page for up-to-date information: https://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/conditions.htm. High clearance vehicles are recommended for these rough, dirt roads. RVs and trailers are not recommended at any time.
Campers must be in designated sites along these roads and backcountry camping regulations apply. Tents must be placed within 30 feet of the site's picnic table(s) and/or fire ring(s). Generators may only be used between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Checkout time is noon. The maximum continuous stay limit at any campsite is 14 days.
Groups size is limited to 15 persons and/or 6 pack animals, and/or 6 vehicles per site. Larger groups must split into smaller groups within these limits, and must camp at separate sites. Larger groups may request an exception to these limits from the Superintendent under the terms of a Special Use Permit.
We pulled in at about 4:30 pm on a Monday evening after Labor Day. Tried Upper Lehman, it was full. Lower Lehman is closed. So we chanced Baker. Drove into the left loop which has some larger sites, luckily found one of the three left that suited us. Only trouble is that it was super hard to level our 21’ class B. It is quiet and not many people have fires so it is not smokey. We can’t hear the creek from here but have some nice open views. It was very dusty on the road in and in the campground, but a light evening rain probably tamped down the dust. Partner says lit toilets clean. I haven’t used it yet.
I enjoyed camping here, and I could see it being a great spot for a large group. As the description said, it's a working gravel pit. ... and the BLM got to work at 8am the morning after I arrived. So, be aware of that. There is no shoulder on the highway, so you can't really pull over to check road or flood conditions before pulling into the pit. In my case it was totally fine, clear and flat, but I didn't really enjoy going in blind.
There is a lower and upper camp spots. The upper is about 1mi up a dirt road and has some shade trees but no ramadas. Both have vault toilets. Trash at lower. Horse corral at upper. No cell service except one bar at peak of hill anout 3/4 mi up from lower. Great views of wheeler peak, good hiking trails. Bring tp for the toilets, which were clean just no tp. And FREE 14 day limit. Hot but not unbearable in late july.
First off I'll start by saying the "Get directions" location on this app is incorrect AND the GPS will take you down a private, gated, dirt road to get there. Also, there is only ONE campsite on this road.
When you set your GPS for this location the GPS will take you down Lehman Caves Road which is also highway 488 into the national park. About halfway down this road from the small town of Baker, you will be told turn left on Rowland Ranch Road. IGNORE THIS. Rowland Ranch Road is a gated dirt road on private property. Instead continue down Lehman Caves Road until you get to a left on Baker Creek Road. I have attached a picture of detailed instructions of this ^ in my review.
Baker Creek Road is a maintained road within the national park boundaries but is hard pack gravel with some washboards along it. Just a little ways down Baker Creek Road, you will come to NF-589. This road starts as a Y split. Your first left is a foot path only with no camping signs in it. Directly behind it is the vehicle accessible entrance. Enter at your own risk! This OHV road is narrow and rough with decent sized rocks. There are very little opportunities to turn around and I would strongly recommend AGAINST entering with a two-wheel drive vehicle or a trailer. With that being said, I managed to squeeze down this road with my stock 2015 Toyota Tacoma towing a 12x6 enclosed trailer. My truck made it no problem without 4wd but I was at the limit of capability with my trailers ground clearance, width, and length. I also pre-scouted the singular campsite on this road with my off-road motorcycle to make sure nobody was there first. The only way for me to turn around with my trailer on NF-589 was to use the campsite I stayed in. Just into the entrance of the road you'll come across a downed tree across the road. Don't worry, somebody remade the road to the left going around it so continue on. About halfway towards the campsite you'll come across a small picket sign on the left side of the road that marks the national park boundaries. The campsite is on your left roughly another 500ft after that, just barely outside the national park boundary. There are some good wash outs almost a foot deep and 6-8in stones in the road. My 6-ft wide trailer, which is slightly wider than my truck, was touching trees on both sides for most of the way down.
I'll say it again, there is only one campsite here. The GPS coordinates do not bring you to a campsite so follow my instructions instead. This campsite is tight as you first turn in but opens up in the middle about 20ft into it. It also has some flat open areas for tents just a few feet away from main area. The site is not level and on the slope of a hill. There are also some large rocks similar in size to the ones in the trail on the way in all through the site. My 4in levelers for my rooftop tent were not tall enough to counter this slope. I ended up having to use large boulders and back over them to level my truck so I could sleep. There's nothing here but a fire ring, that includes bathrooms of any kind. You are just in the middle of the woods.
I would love it if people would stop having glass bottle parties around campfires. When did ruining fragile campsites become the new cool? I always try to leave a free campsite better than I found it. I spend time cleaning up other people's trash, rebuilding fallen fireplaces, and sweeping off cement patios when present. I would greatly appreciate it if you would do the same for others.
Anyways, I was here for 2 nights. The views are slightly blocked by the trees but the trees are fairly short. If you can get above the trees like I could by sitting on the roof of my trailer when the sun went down, the views are actually stunning at this campsite. This campsite is almost walking distance to the Lehman Caves and just a few minutes drive to most other attractions here like the scenic drive to the Alpine Lakes at the base of Wheeler Peak. The campsite is completely silent but there is a home about a half mile through the woods to the North towards Lehman Caves Road so please be respectful with music volume even though it may feel as though you are in the middle of nowhere.
Full hookups, clean and neat grounds with a beautiful view. SXS trails too
This is my second stay this year. With Las Vegas temps reaching 115, This is a beautiful respite with highs in the mid 80s. Well kept camp sites are also a welcome bonus. Bring your own water. Super clean restrooms too.
Nice flat gravel camping spots. The road is not difficult at all. Small fee to camp but comes with a well maintained spot, fire pit, and grate for cooking.
There was a nice creek behind us and lots of cows roaming.
There were two of us in RVs. We stayed in spots 3 and 5. We were able to park so that both of our RVs opened to make the area in-between us as the common area. There are several big trees so we had some shade some of the time. Rustic and a bit dusty, but for a base camp it fit the bill. We were there in end of June 2024. The weather was in the high 90s so we were so glad we had full hook-ups. We did not use the bathrooms so I have no comments about them. We did use the laundry room and they had several nice washing machines and dryers. All spots were sold out on the weekend so make reservations early. Jen, the manager, is super nice and friendly. Note about Lehman Caves: Lehman caves were amazing. Make sure you make reservations early and purchase your tickets for the tour of the caves before you get there. Several people that just showed up were not able to get tickets to go inside Lehman Caves.
This was a stopover on our trip along Highway 50 and I was very pleasantly surprised. A very quiet and beautifully maintained campground and they even had flush toilets and showers. Hidden gem for sure. Next time we will stay more than one night and try some hiking and visit the lake nearby. Again, this campground is very well-maintained. Clean campsites and bathrooms and beautiful views. We stayed in site number two, which was a very nice site. There was also some privacy with the native pines and junipers.
A big flat gravel lot - found based on a dispersed camping map provided by the national park
Free BLM numbered designated sites. We read other online reviews about people making a camp site wherever they want and this happened during our stay. We witnessed this (see the picture) happen to our neighbor. Thursday evening a single male with CA tags comes flying thru the campground and whipped into our neighbor's campsite and pulls right in front of their picnic table with his truck and 5th wheel trailer. Our neighbor came outside (as did several other neighbors wondering what this guy was doing) and confronts the guy. He asks him "you're not going to park there are you?!?". The guy tells him "yes, I need to watch TV" and proceeded to pull out his satellite dish and plop it down. Our neighbor says "this is my site and you're blocking my view." The guy told him he didn't care and set up anyways. Meanwhile there were 2 other RVs camping at the entrance waiting for a campsite to open up. In 7 years of RVing the entire country I have never witnessed such rude and entitled behavior before! The town of Ely for supplies had some of the rudest characters we've come across as well which was very surprising for a small town. This campground might have been a hidden gem at one time but with too much Internet publicity it's very busy now. Constant cars coming and going at all hours especially racing to the upper level of the campground. It probably would've been more peaceful sleeping at one of the highway pullouts.
Great sites, very clean and ready for any size rig. 45 minutes to Great Basin and easy to get a site (mid April)
Nice quiet park just outside Ely. As usual with KOA, it was bit on the pricey side. They could have used some dust control on the gravel roads as well.
Overall, the place was clean and quiet, sites were level, and the front desk lady was so friendly! I only stopped here for one night, but would stop again if I was in the area.
If they get the dust under control, I would have left 5 stars.
Needed a place to overnight in my RTT, and this worked out great. Pulled in, was the only one there so had my choice of spots. Had a restful night and hit the road in the morning. No fuss! Not sure if this is what I understand to be dispersed camping, as it’s a first come first served campground with tables, fire rings and pit toilets, just no water.
We loved this spot for an overnight. We drove our 25’ RV up and found a perfect spot. It snowed over night and we woke up to a gorgeous sunrise. We navigated the gravel road just fine, even with light snow.
Absolutely one of my favorites. We pretty much had the campground to ourselves. The babbling creek and the color changing of the leaves made this campsite perfect. Pit toilets were not horrible but really could use some hand sanitizer in them at least… Our campsite was by the rushing creek it was lovely to hear. Fire pits and picnic tables were nice too.
Wheeler peak campground sits at the base of a most glorious vista with access to gorgeous, easy hikes. The campground was closed in October but there's plenty of flat trailhead parking and a toilet. No water but there is a creek. No cell signal on Verizon. The aspens were gloriously yellow, especially in the dawn and dusk.
Stayed here after hiking Great Basin NP and was this a welcome spot. It was highly recommended by the ranger at the visitor center. We were the only ones in the three sites next down the way (which was walkable) to a pit toilet and bear proof trash. The site was well managed with a fire pit and concrete picnic table. It was right off snake creek which was fun to explore.
Located outside of Ely, but close enough if you need to run into town.
Staff was great, informed us about facilities and also map listed restaurants that deliver.
Hometown Pizza delivers to your site, good pizza.
They do inform you that by state law they have to have water pressure regulators on the water hookups so no need to add yours. (in Las Vegas at the KOA they had no idea what I was talking about but since we were within the city limits may not be needed).
Great view of the night sky after dark, dog parks are decent size, but by the time we got their our dog had found a spot on the roads.
Site pretty level, site and roads are gravel. Appears to be quite a few long term campers.
We were only there one night, but with everything if offers appears to be a place to stay for a week if so inclined.
Gets chilly at night, high altitude (close to 7,000 ft in elevation).
Staff were very friendly and helpful. Restrooms extremely clean, which surprised me for some reason. The park is located along side the casino-store-cafe-motel-bar. EV charging station on site. Very close to Great Basin NP, the reason for our visit. The park itself it nothing special, full hook ups on stone lots, some with shade. The views and night sky make it a special place. Laundry also available.
Recreation.gov and The National Forest/Parks need to do something about reserved sites being unoccupied - it's getting really bad.
Upper Lehman is not RV/trailer friendly, but sites 1, 3, and 17 are the best options.
Make sure you take the road up the hill out of the lower camp spots to the upper area. To this day this is one of my favorite spots. Worth staying a few days, we were there in late April and the weather was great.
I was pleasantly surprised at how large and private the campsites were. Lots of trees and a creek that runs along the campground. The vault toilet was clean and well-maintained.
This park is a little dusty, weeds between sites, and facilities are kind of dated. However, everything worked fine, it’s well priced, and very close to the Great Basin National Park. if you look at your site as simply the base camp for your adventures, this will be fine. Even has a bar and a nice outdoor restaurant.
Been camped here for 10 days and has been a good place to be Not many camp sites along the 3 mile dirt road to get here Weather and sunsets have been awesome
About 10mi north of Ely. Map will take you to BLM off the highway. However, there are 4 forest service designated campgrounds on the road across the highway.
A 4 mile gravel road mostly up hill. We drove our 25 ft class C without a problem. Many places to camp with minimal leveling. Great views of the terrible Kennecot Mine Scars!
Camping near Ely, Nevada, offers a mix of stunning views, outdoor activities, and unique campgrounds. Whether you're looking for a cozy spot to pitch a tent or a place to park your RV, there are plenty of options to explore.
Camping near Ely, Nevada, is a fantastic way to enjoy the great outdoors, with plenty of options for families and RVers alike.
Frequently Asked Questions
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