Best Tent Camping near Gardnerville, NV

Tent campgrounds near Gardnerville, Nevada offer a mix of established sites and dispersed camping options across the eastern Sierra Nevada region. Luther Pass provides free tent camping with approximately 12 sites near the Big Meadow trailhead, featuring basic amenities like pit toilets, garbage service, fire rings and picnic tables. North Canyon Campground near Incline Village offers four primitive tent sites accessible by hiking or walking in, while Desolation Wilderness - Aloha Zone provides backcountry tent camping experiences for those seeking solitude.

Most tent sites in the Gardnerville area feature natural, ungraded surfaces with minimal site preparation. The Luther Pass tent campground includes centrally located pit toilets but no drinking water, requiring campers to either bring their own supply or filter from nearby streams. Fire regulations vary seasonally, with some areas implementing complete bans during high fire danger periods. The dispersed camping area at Reno View allows tent camping but prohibits campfires year-round. Bear activity is common throughout the region, and many established tent campgrounds provide bear-proof storage lockers. According to one visitor, "Luther Pass sites fill fast! No water, but pit toilet, garbage, fire rings and tables."

Areas farther from town typically offer deeper wilderness experiences ideal for tent camping. The terrain surrounding Gardnerville provides numerous creek-side tent sites, particularly at Luther Pass where campers report enjoying the peaceful sound of running water near their tents. Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park Spooner Backcountry offers walk-in tent camping amidst woodland settings, though permits are required. Tent campers accessing North Canyon Campground appreciate its year-round availability and proximity to hiking trails, particularly the Tahoe Rim Trail. One camper noted, "It's a decent campground in the middle of a section hike of the Tahoe Rim Trail. Has toilet facility but no running water. That's ok as there's a stream close to it you can filter from."

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Best Tent Sites Near Gardnerville, Nevada (61)

    1. Luther Pass

    7 Reviews
    Echo Lake, CA
    17 miles

    "Great location to the TRT. Stayed here the night before getting on the TRT. Very quiet and plenty of sites open. Down side is all the used TP along the logs."

    "About 12 sites near the Big meadow trailhead. they fill fast! no water, but pit toilet, garbage, fire rings and tables"

    2. Markleeville Campground - Temporarily Closed

    4 Reviews
    Markleeville, CA
    17 miles
    Website
    +1 (775) 882-2766

    $18 / night

    "It was perfect weather and we hiked to the town of Markleeville which is the cutest town ever!   The camp host was super nice and a beautiful stream runs next to some spots.  "

    "Close to Markleeville and convenient to pop over to the town and pick up things from the general store. The campground is small and it’s more of a “passing through” spot."

    3. Olde LYFE Alpacas on Davis Ranch

    5 Reviews
    Washoe Valley, NV
    22 miles
    Website
    +1 (702) 496-7561

    $25 - $50 / night

    "I parked behind a hay stack and next to a picnic table where I could set up my little kitchen. There was also a clean porta potty and hand washing station which was very convenient."

    "Had the whole place to ourselves……and the roaming Alpacas of course 😁 Park anywhere you want in the designated circular driveway on flat grass and dirt. We walked along the creek and just relaxed."

    4. Lovers Leap Campground

    6 Reviews
    Twin Bridges, CA
    24 miles
    Website

    "Very clean vault toilets and drinking water. Safe and quiet with nice hosts. Popular with climbers and there’s a short trail that leads down to a river that’s very scenic. Good cell reception."

    "The campsite we stayed in was a little bit of a walk in (could not drive to it) but it was beautiful with just a short walk to the crag. Natural and quiet, even though 50 is not far away!"

    5. North Canyon Campground

    1 Review
    Glenbrook, NV
    17 miles
    +1 (775) 831-0494

    6. Desolation Wilderness - Aloha Zone

    5 Reviews
    Twin Bridges, CA
    25 miles
    Website
    +1 (916) 744-3320

    $5 / night

    "You can hike in for 6 miles each way (12 miles round trip) via the Echo Lakes trail, or park and take the water taxi ($12) to cut off 2.5 miles of the hike each way."

    "One of my top 5 favorite place to go backpacking. Love the feeling of being immersed in nature and the views of all the lakes. We took the water Taxi that shaved about 5 miles off our hike."

    8. Middle Creek & Expansion Campground - TEMP CLOSED FOR 2023 SEASON

    2 Reviews
    Markleeville, CA
    24 miles
    Website

    "We stayed here just after the campground opened for the season, the upper campgrounds were still closed but lower blue lakes was open. We had the entire campground to ourselves."

    "Large grass area that looked like it could be for camping, it was on top of the lake overlooking it. It was absolutely beautiful. Didnt see any campers but it didn’t say don’t camp here."

    9. Reno View Dispersed

    3 Reviews
    Virginia City, NV
    25 miles

    "I would not drive it with any vehicle other than SUV/Truck. DO NOT bring up an RV/Trailer. you’ll regret it. we stayed and car camped. an awesome view of the lights of Reno."

    10. Donner Memorial State Park Campground

    18 Reviews
    Truckee, CA
    38 miles
    Website
    +1 (530) 582-7892

    $35 / night

    "Close to Truckee so you can easily get supplies. Lots of trees give a private feel even though it is a busy campground."

    "We were in a large site and had pleasant neighbors. The restrooms were SUPER clean with flush toilets and hot showers. Short walk to Donner Lake and Donner Museum."

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Tent Camping Reviews near Gardnerville, NV

1032 Reviews of 61 Gardnerville Campgrounds


  • Dani P.
    Jul. 12, 2019

    Meeks Bay

    Beautiful and big family oriented campground

    Just a small walk away from Lake Tahoe shore. Big beautiful trees cover the entire campground. A couple bathrooms that surprisingly do not smell bad and have a running faucet. Bears are a real issue, so they have big bear boxes at each site - make sure to use them. Sites close together and not much privacy. Camp Host on site. Very limited parking at the sites, but free parking if you park outside of the campground along the main road and walk in. Do not leave food in your car, especially on the outside. And dont forget to Leave No Trace!

  • Lee D.The Dyrt PRO User
    Dec. 15, 2023

    General Creek Campground — Sugar Pine Point State Park

    Available off-season camping near Lake Tahoe

    After October 2, it is first come, first available and only sites 26-72 were open so my review is limited to a small portion of the campground. When I researched ahead of time, it was the ONLY open campground I could find in the Lake Tahoe area. At least the per night rate was decreased to $25 ($23 for seniors). I don’t know about the rest of the loops but most of the sites in the open loop appeared to be “doubles” or even “triples”; the camper pads were paved but appeared to be side-by-side parking spaces. Fortunately, there were not many campers so this was not a problem, however, if the park were more crowded, this layout would only make sense if the camper pads were used to park vehicles and people tent camped. All sites appeared to be level. No hookups. Each site had a large picnic table, fire ring, and bear box. 

    We had been warned multiple times that we were camping in an active bear area and although we did not encounter any, one of the other campers told us they had seen a mama and bear cub, along with a coyote. 

    The showers and dump station were closed for the season. There was no host on-site. The restrooms were very basic: toilet and sink but no soap, paper towels, or air dryers. 

    My rating might have been higher if we could have seen other parts of the campground, but our experience was limited to one night and we did not visit the day-use area.

  • S
    Aug. 19, 2018

    Sand Flat Campground

    No Reservations Required

    Located off highway 50 near Kyburz, CA, this campsite is a first come, first serve campsite. No reservations. Listen to the sounds of the river while sleeping. You can also play & fish in the river during the day. The river is stocked with fish. RV & tent sites which are spacious & most have nice shade coverage. No hookups, vault toilets. Dog friendly on leashes. Camp host has been there for 5 years & is super friendly. we had no problems but we followed the rules. Only 4 stars because you do hear the highway traffic. one of my fav places. $23 per day per site, $8 for extra parking. Lots of extra spaces.

  • Summer A.
    Jul. 25, 2018

    Big Meadows Campground

    Sequoia National Forest Lovely Spacious Camp Sites

    It sounds like there are multiple Big Meadow camp grounds in California. This review is for Big Meadow Campground, Sequoia NF - FS, CA. The photos are of site 009B. My visit was wonderful. The camp sites are large. We set up two 8 person tents and one 2 person tent and there was plenty of room for more. The firepits are very well made. They block the wind while allowing good airflow. There is a very large picnick table at each site, a bear box, and plenty of shade. There is a vault toilet that is cleaned daily. The sites boarder a stream. The water level is about 3 inches in July with temperatures in the 80's. This is a dog friendly site. There is no potable water at this site.

  • Elliott B.
    Sep. 28, 2018

    Fallen Leaf Campground - South Lake Tahoe

    Nice location, but has a few major issues

    We got a last minute cancelled site at the Fallen Leaf Campground, and thought we’d truly lucked out. We stayed at site 87 which is nestled among towering native pine trees on the South end of the campground and one of the few sites which doesn’t have neighbors on all sides. The sites have the standard standing BBQ's and fire rings at all sites (but we couldn’t utilize them because of the fire ban), old picnic tables and various amounts of space for RV’s/cars and the tried and true bear box. In this campground you NEED to utilize the bear boxes. They have signs everywhere about the mass amount of bear activity and how there is a mother and her 2 cubs which have been terrorizing the campground for some time this season (2018). Again, you need to keep everything (food, toiletries, etc.) in the bear box at all times. The sites are reservable, and on top of the $35 (nonelectric) per site there is a $7 fee for a second vehicle, Yurts go for $86 which do have power and a nonrefundable $10 service fee…. While the campground allows dogs, they aren’t allowed in the Yurts.

    There’s lots of bear proof dumpsters around the campground, lots of potable water in strategic spots and a number of decent restrooms, and it was nice that at some of them they provided hot (pay) showers (at $1 per 3 minutes) and while the ADA has some control the standard one has no control over the heat or pressure its simply on or off. Also, the restrooms have no soap, paper towels, or hand dryers, etc. Which was a little disappointing for the cost.

    My biggest disappointment in the setup of the campground has to do with the bears and cleaning your dishes. There is no dish-washing area in the entire ~200 site, ~14 bathroom campground. They specifically ask that you don’t wash your dishes in the sinks or at the water spigots as they don’t want any food particles going down the drains. So, when I asked about disposing of the dish water they said to just toss it at the base of a tree, as it’s dry and the trees would appreciate it. This doesn’t help keep the bears away… While we scrapped and collected every bit of food waste we could and tossed it into the dumpsters, ff you’re just tossing food scrap-soaked water at the base of the trees the bears are going to come for the smell… I’ve stayed at other sites in bear country which have setups for disposing of the waste water and food scraps to detract bears and Fallen Leaf definitely is lacking and this is possibly part of the reason they’re having such an issue with bears.

    While, our site (87) would probably normally be a great location with the Fallen Leaf Lake being the only thing behind you and no neighbors on at least 2 of your sides, we happened to somehow book the same weekend that a corporate event was taking over the vast majority of the campground with almost 200 people….

    While, not entirely the campgrounds fault it was a little disruptive to have this mass number of people come directly next to us in site 88 for their meals as they’d decided to make that site the meal prep site for breakfast (they started prep at 5:30 am) and dinner (we actually had to ask the drunk group to stop screaming at midnight) these were both well outside the “quiet hours” and definitely surpassed the “6 people per site” rule.

    Otherwise this campground is in a great location to see the area as it’s only approximately one-quarter mile north of Fallen Leaf Lake. The trail from the campground was only 3 sites over from us. The Taylor Creek Visitor Center is directly across Highway 89 and is a great location to talk to the Rangers about other potential hikes in the area. They also have interpretive programs, guided walks on the Rainbow Trail and to the Stream Profile Chamber (which was closed because someone decided to break it. Although it should be repaired now… end of September 2018). Also, nearby Baldwin Beaches or Pope Beach, which cost $10, or you can go to the Tallac Historic Site with tours and events at its historic buildings and grounds and the free (dog friendly) Kiva beach which is exactly the same as the other pay access beaches….

    There’s also a really nice paved bike trail that runs 3 miles along Highway 89 and can be used to access all of the above. You have access to excellent day hiking and backpacking in Desolation Wilderness via the Glen Alpine or Mt. Tallac trailheads which are also nearby.

  • kathleen K.
    Jul. 2, 2021

    Dayton State Park Campground

    Unexpected Oasis

    First stop in my early summer road trip. Stayed for two nights. Easy self pay station at the front entrance. To get to the campground at the first right little dirt road before the pay station. Entrance into the park patch to the campground has a limited day-use fee also and there is group they use facilities with a large barbecue and outdoor sink that you would be able to wash dishes at if necessary. Great shaded spot in the middle of the desert. This was quite the unexpected little Oasis. Comes with peacocks. Limited number of spots available for tent camping or RV camping with no hookups. There are water spickets available and the park part of this Campground has flush toilets. The campground itself comes with a fire ring and a picnic bench. Trees are plentiful shade is wonderful the heat in this area in the summer time is Relentless but the shade is perfect at this location. There are peacocks on the property that apparently come from somewhere else I believe there are at least three of them they do make noise at night but it's not ridiculous unless there are coyotes on the property. Beware this is the desert there is wild life. Do not leave your food out at night. Bear boxes are not provided but keep your food items inside of your tent or your vehicle or lock them up. I did not have any issues because I am Savvy to the situation. I had a wonderful time hiking around and exploring the area through the trails making my way to the Carson River. This place is a gem and I will be back!

  • Scot J.
    Aug. 19, 2019

    Desert Creek Campground

    Awesome little getaway

    8.5 miles of the main road, crossing the creek 5 times, we found the perfect little spot. Restroom was quite a distance from our campsite, so we opted for our own portable toilet. No showers available but boil some creek water and washcloth wipe yourself down, you're good to go. Also recommend getting a fire permit from the Bridgeport Ranger Station. No trash receptacles or bins.......so pack out your trash.

  • Elliott B.
    Sep. 27, 2018

    Eagle Point Campground — Emerald Bay State Park

    Campground with a beautiful layout

    I walked through the seasonally closed Eagle Point Campground while exploring the Emerald Bay section of Lake Tahoe. This campground is a newly renovated area of the peninsula on the South/West side of the Emerald Bay State Park separated into Upper and Lower sections.

    Since the campground was closed we had to park on Highway 89 and walk through the campground to get to the Rubicon Trailhead which is located at the divider between the 2 camping sections.

    As we hiked through I was really blown away with the layout of the campground. I loved that these sites were almost a multi-leveled. Meaning that your tent site might be 10 feet lower than your picnic table, bear box, etc. or it could have a raised fire pit on a small bluff above the tent pad, table. Each site was unique, and this added to the separation between sites, so you’re not on the same level and directly next to your neighbors, adding to the feeling of being in the wilderness. (At least to me)

    Also, it should be pointed out that there were signs everywhere about using your bear boxes and that they’d fine you if you leave anything in your car. I know some people seem to have an issue with this for some reason…but I don’t want a bear roaming through any campground I’m staying at.

    There weren’t any sites that I saw which could hold an RV or 5th wheel, unless you have something under 18 feet… So maybe tents only, and there are no hookups. While I know I got a sterile experience since no one was actually camping, the campground was very clean and well maintained and the restrooms looked really nice. They had running water, flush toilets and pay showers ($1 per 3 minutes). The little amphitheater at the trailhead was cool and seemed ideally setup for presentations with incredible views of Lake Tahoe.

    While pets are allowed in the campground, they’re not allowed on the Emerald Bay SP trails or beaches. Sites are $35 and all are reservable 6 month out, so

  • Shane C.The Dyrt PRO User
    Oct. 17, 2022

    Scotts Lake Rd Dispersed Camping

    Dispersed camping with campground layout/feel

    Camped here for a night in early October. Easy access and reasonably good road quality make it very RV friendly - I would say that it was at least 75% RVs/Trailers. Beautiful views of the valley and hills to the east. Most sites are obvious, with a driveway and stone fire ring. We like a more "dispersed" feel, but felt comfortable. 

    There are no services - bring all the water you will need and practice "leave no trace." This goes for your waste (human and animal) as well. I wish I could say that we didn't see any dog waste or "TP Flowers" but we did. Not a significant amount, but any is too much.

    The place was pretty much full, but still good vibes and quiet neighbors. Very close to Hwy. 88, so road noise and campers coming in looking for a spot after dark. Gets quiet later in the evening.

    Overall, a nice spot.


Guide to Gardnerville

Tent camping near Gardnerville, Nevada ranges from high-elevation forest sites to dispersed desert camping, with most areas located between 5,000-8,000 feet. The eastern Sierra region experiences significant temperature swings, with summer daytime highs in the 80s dropping to the 40s at night. Camping season typically runs May through October, with many forest service sites closing during winter months due to snow.

What to do

Climb at Lovers Leap: Access rock climbing routes directly from Lovers Leap Campground, a premier climbing destination just 35 miles from Gardnerville. "The cliffs at Lovers Leap are spectacular, and this valley is beautiful. The town of Strawberry has a friendly general store. This is a destination for climbing, and there is also hiking along the old Pony Express trail," notes Amanda P.

Explore alpine lakes: Backpacking into the Desolation Wilderness provides access to pristine mountain lakes. "We took the water Taxi that shaved about 5 miles off our hike. Our first night we set up camp at tamarack lake then moved up to beautiful aloha lake. The best part of this is that if you don't want to camp you can just go on a day hike," shares Arturo C.

Fish mountain streams: Many campsites sit near productive fishing waters. One camper at Markleeville Campground reported, "The creek is right behind the campground. Some good fishing in the deeper holes. Caught 5 small rainbows during our stay."

Visit working farms: For a unique camping experience, some sites offer agricultural settings. "Stacey, the owner of the alpacas ranch, was very welcoming and friendly! There were so many alpacas, all very cute and friendly! I parked behind a hay stack and next to a picnic table where I could set up my little kitchen," shares Lindsay B.

What campers like

Cold mountain creeks: Campers frequently mention the natural water features as highlights. At Luther Pass, one visitor shared, "There is a creek that flows from upper blue lake to lower blue lake and it is a nice walk to explore along the creek. Very beautiful and peaceful. We saw two deer from our site."

Accessibility to trails: Proximity to hiking networks draws many tent campers. "Great location to the TRT. Stayed here the night before getting on the TRT. Very quiet and plenty of sites open," notes Ann W. about Luther Pass. The Tahoe Rim Trail connects many camping areas around Gardnerville.

Stargazing opportunities: The rural setting provides excellent night sky viewing. At Reno View Dispersed, campers appreciate the elevation and distance from city lights. "We stayed and car camped. An awesome view of the lights of Reno. Can be very windy but if you get between some of the trees it's not to bad," reports Tyler C.

Wildlife encounters: Many tent sites offer chances to see native animals. "We saw two deer from our site. There are several sites right along the creek," reports a camper at Middle Creek Campground. Bear activity requires proper food storage at most sites.

What you should know

Fire restrictions vary: Regulations change seasonally and by location. At Reno View Dispersed camping area, fires are prohibited year-round. Another camper warns, "Holy Christ for the love of god take away the rv tag. There isn't a single spot for an rv, I tried it with my 19' single axle unit and nearly ripped the spare tire off the back the road was so steep."

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Gardnerville, NV?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Gardnerville, NV is Luther Pass with a 4.7-star rating from 7 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Gardnerville, NV?

TheDyrt.com has all 61 tent camping locations near Gardnerville, NV, with real photos and reviews from campers.