Best Tent Camping near Hiko, NV

We set out to camp here, but money was tight so we opted for a spot about 23 miles from town (south).

Looks as though it’s an old highway.

Great Hiking

There are a lot of animal remains in a ditch and a really neat dry creek to look for rocks and such.

It is our first night here so i may take more pictures. You can see from this side of the road that the highway that’s used is starting to slide away from the underside of it. Very scary. Soft ground everywhere.

The road is easy to drive on but as you rear the end of the road it turns into gravel and bushes as it leads back to the highway again.

Looks to be about 4 or 5 good places to set up camp on the road.

The rocks from both sides of the road are falling all over the road.

I would definitely stay here again. Its frozen in time on this road. Very nostalgic.

Highway noise isn’t very bad either.

Ranger Review: GCI Pod Rocker at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, near Alamo, NV.

CAMPGROUND REVIEW 

Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, 9 miles south of near Alamo, NV. This campground is absolutely gorgeous and FREE!! However, nothing is ever really"free," so the price you pay is tolerating the noise from the very close US 93 highway. Noise diminishes at night, as there's very little truck traffic. At the time of this writing, Interstate 15 is detoured to this highway en route to Utah(until Spring 2020). All sites are first come first serve.  Each site has a picnic table, grill, fire pit, and a view of Upper Pahranagat Lake. Sites were clean& tidy in spite of no camp hosts. There are very few amenities: No water and a few scattered vault toilets. There is a handicap accessible site at the end of the long campground road with a paved stretch of sidewalk that goes to the south end of the lake. At the south end, there is a telescope for viewing wildlife and a park bench. We fished in the kayak a bit, but there were no bites. The landscaping is beautiful, with song birds always chirping. There's also a loop trail around the lake and another trail to the visitor's center. 

Campground highlights:  https://youtu.be/Gch2ndb3t4Y

PRODUCT REVIEW 

As a ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time. While camping at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, we tested the GCI Pod Rocker. 

https://www.gcioutdoor.com/rockers/pod-rocker/ 

GCI Pod Rocker looks very sharp and is well constructed. However, it seems to be more suited for a heavier person. For a lighter person, the rocking motion takes some work, unless the chair is positioned on a downward sloping hill. Sets up quick and easy, has a little drink holder pouch, and it has nice storage case with shoulder strap. 

Pod Rocker in action:  https://youtu.be/MnZ4hCHwrXY

In summary, we loved camping at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, but with no water the stay was brief. However, adding this fun chair to our camping gear made our stay extra comfy!

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.

Campground Review: This lake is incredible! It is on the road to Cathedral Gorge State Park and filled with wildlife! We were there for the bird count and it took all day just to count the birds on the lake. 

There are fifteen lakeside campsites are available along Upper Pahranagat Lake. Sites are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. They are free, but there is a donation box at the registration kiosk if you want to leave some support for the Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge reserved sites for our group participating in the bird count service project. So be aware that you might want to have a back up plan if the sites are full since there is no reservation channel.  Several of the sites can accommodate multiple tents, camping trailers, or RVs. No electrical, water or sewage facilities are available. There are vault toilets. 

Visitors may stay for a maximum of fourteen days within a 31 day period. Quiet hours are from 10pm to 7am. Generators are allowed, but if the generator is noisy it should be shut down overnight to respect other campers. Fires are allowed only in provided grills and fire pits. 

Non-motorized boats or boats with electric motors are permitted on Middle Marsh Unit and Lower Lake throughout the year, and on Upper Lake from February 1 through September 30. Upper Lake is closed to boating October 1-January 30. Due to fragile habitats, the use of boats, rubber rafts, or other flotation devices is not permitted on the North Marsh at any time. Watercraft must be in compliance with all applicable state and federal rules. Trailer launching is not permitted. To prevent the spread of invasive species, only car-top watercraft are permitted.

We stopped in to review the campground for a future trip, pulling a 34 ft travel trailer with no problems. It’s located on a gravel road with a small portion washboard surface. Good for kayaking until October 1st. Then, closed to boating for the season. No swimming, no hookups. Fire rings available to use, but must bring your own firewood. There’s a trail at the south end of the lake. There are a few spaces for small vehicles only, but we found open choices today to fit our trailer. The highway runs along the campground, so there is road noise. We’d like to come back in a different season.

Stayed for a couple of nights in April 2021. The campsite is pretty small and also popular, so get there early! We'd gotten some advice to arrive between 9:00 and 11:00 AM. Turned out to be great advice! We arrived at 10:30 and had several sites from which to choose. It wasn't long after we set up to see that the remaining available spots had disappeared quickly. Rigs continued to circle through for the rest of the afternoon. They have an "overflow" area, but there are no power hookups there.

The restroom/shower was clean, but there is only one shower stall in each of the restrooms. It wasn't a problem for us, since most of the rigs there had their own facilities. The app says the campground has water hookups, but it does not. The have potable water stations, where you can fill your tank before setting up, but no hookups at individual sites.

Seems like most of the folks were locked inside their trailers by 8:00. We were one of maybe three sites that actually had a fire and s'mores! It was quiet and peaceful in the evenings.

During the day, we explored the adjacent slot canyons. They are beautiful and a great way to escape the heat! Most are great for kids to explore, but be careful as we found one had a sudden vertical shaft straight down. Gorgeous for sure, but just watch your kiddos!

We highly recommend this cozy spot if you're in the area!

It’s free .....they accept donations. Your stay limit is 7 days. Pick up after your pups and keep them on leashes.

They have water, trash and deers always running around here.
And up the street if you want full hook ups they have that further up the town but for free and basic is what you get here. Nothing fancy about this place but some spots do have shade and that’s nice. For free and water availability I give this place 4 stars because what else would you need? Your nearby to a park for your kids and plenty of history walking distance from here.