Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Nice CG at the south end of Lake Mohave, but inside the NPS Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Lots of campsites some are FCFS some are reserved. $24/$12 senior, other sites with power and water hookups are 73$ nite..crazy! 30 day stay limit. Tables, trash, water spigots, flush toilets, shower house and small laundry room. Marina is close by and there are some hiking trails around down by lake. Cell signal is very good.

A very short but kind of rough road right off of Valley of Fire Hwy less than two miles from the Parks north entrance. Free boondocking with no amenities. Follow the road and find your spot! You can see the traffic going to and from the park, but it is not a nuisance. The park is technically closed from sunset to sunrise so the only traffic is the occasional camper, arriving at the campground within the park. There are so many trails and points of interest to visit inside and outside the park. I highly recommend paying the price to drive through the park and then through the Lake Mead national recreation area into Henderson, Nevada near Las Vegas. The road along Lake Mead is as beautiful as Valley of Fire is!

Great place to disperse Dry camp. Spots are scattered along the main road. You can camp close to the interstate or 3 miles away at the lake. The lake shore gets crowded. The road is bumpy but we saw cars all the way down to the lake. The sign recommends 4x4 high clearance vehicles. The mine road offers good views and a few camp spots. 4x4 is definitely recommended for this road. There is no garbage collection so pack it out. One vault toilet near the lake. Bring your own firewood. No trees for wood in this area. Wood can be purchased at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Campground Store. We spoted motor homers near the interstate, ground tenters, rooftop tenters, van campers and pull behind campers at the lake. We camped up the N Mine Road with our RTT trailer.

Arizona Hot Springs is located at Mile Marker 4 US 93 South Of Hoover Dam, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Boulder City, NV 89005. Those directions will take you to the parking lot trailhead.

Although it’s only a 6 mile round trip hike, make sure to bring plenty of water as it gets extremely hot in the canyon. A bathing suit and water shoes are highly encouraged as you will pass multiple hot springs (when I say they’re hot, they’re steaming hot). Here, you can relax for a little bit in the man made jacuzzi, or continue your hike until you hit a 20 ft ladder which you need to climb and then you’re minutes away from the Colorado river.

Just an FYI,The hike itself is closed during the summer months.

In terms of camping, once you reach the Colorado river, you will come across a beachy area. You can set camp here for the night. Just an FYI, it gets pretty crowded prior to the summer months so get here early in order to get a nice spot. First come basis, no reservation. Free of charge, can stay up to 15 days. Primitive campsite with limited fire pits available. However, the area is absolutely beautiful, and makes up for the primitive campsite with so many amazing options from dipping in the hot springs or jumping in the river to cool off.

Ranger Review: Midland X-Talker Two-way Radios at Cottonwood Cove Lower Campground, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, NV

CAMPGROUND REVIEW

Cottonwood Cove Lower Campground is located 14 miles east of Searchlight, NV, on the shores of Lake Mohave. The decent into Cottonwood Cove is quite dramatic (about 2900 ft), for which the roadside cactus can attest, as the types of cacti change even with the slightest elevation change.

The "lower" in Cottonwood Cove Lower Campground's name characterizes it's lower elevation compared to the "upper" campground, which naturally has higher elevation.

Cottonwood Cove Lower Campground is included in Lake Mead National Recreation Area campgrounds, and keeping with their custom, all sites are first come first serve. The Cottonwood Cove area has low elevation, at about 650 feet above sea level, which means it gets very hot during the late spring, summer, and early fall months.

Only a few of the 45 sites have shady cottonwood trees, and there are only uncovered picnic tables, so come prepared with a shade canopy for much needed relief! There are beautiful views of Lake Mohave, three very clean restroom buildings (no showers), water on taps, and fire rings at every site. There is an RV dump station located near the entrance to the Upper Campground (although the Upper Campground is closed).

The Lower Campground is situated behind a hill, which obstructs cell service. Walking only a short distance to the marina area, you'll find a strong 4G signal. The park service provides fee-based internet at the campground, but we didn't try it.

Cottonwood Cove has a full service boat marina, gas, motel, RV resort (with full hook-ups), watercraft rentals/supplies, sandy beach, and shaded picnic tables with BBQs.

Here's a drive-along tour of Cottonwood Cove Lower Campground: https://youtu.be/s6AQ6KqtxPg

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at this campground. It was a peaceful place, with jackrabbits, a couple of hungry ducks, many songbirds, and the stars at night were bright & beautiful. 4 stars (not 5 stars due to lack of provided shade).

PRODUCT REVIEW

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time. While camping at Cottonwood Cove Lower Campground, we tested Midland X-Talker Two-way Radios (model T51).

https://midlandusa.com/product/x-talker-t51vp/

Camping in an isolated area behind a large hill was the perfect place to review these radios. However, with the hill as an obstruction our range was limited. [Note: We also tried these radios at home, and our maximum range was 3 small neighborhood blocks. Perhaps to achieve the maximum range of "28 miles," you'd need to be on the open ocean on a calm day or out on a very flat prairie.]

Here's a video demonstration of the Midland X-Talker Two-way Radios:

https://youtu.be/ocCEzY-MgUc

As you can see in our review video, we compared the Midland radios with a very inexpensive set. Midland's quality is far superior.

The Midland's instruction booklet is easy to follow, buttons are easy to operate, radio is comfortable to hold, and the belt clip is very tight (exercise care unlatching to prevent breaking). And… the NOAA Weather Radio scan was our biggest surprise, as you'll see in this video:

https://youtu.be/nZvTipRcln8

The radios can be charged while positioned on the charging stand or via a charging cord plugged directly into the radio and to an electrical source (such as a portable power bank).

Overall, we are very impressed with the clear reception and convenience of the Midland X-Talker Two-way Radios. We are looking forward to using these radios during our future no-cell service camping, fishing, and hiking adventures. 5 stars

This RV park is available to retired and/or active duty…great sites, most are pull thru…dogs loved the dog park instead of leash walks…

The staff were very friendly and had hours until 9pm. This was refreshing as we got a late start to our trip and arrived in around 8pm. Most campgrounds this would be considered after hours. Maintenance and security were always around the park and friendly. The campground has 2 dog parks. They were both fairy clean! Thankfully we got a back in spot with grass since we did have our dog. Most of the park is just gravel. Just a 5 minute walk across the parking garage to get to the casino if you choose to go to the one that is linked up with it. Would stay here again

This is a one night stay for us and a last minute idea! Was a little worried about finding somewhere for an RV and peoples reviews scared me. This KOA is right off the Highway with easy parking for all sizes, 15 minutes from Vegas strip and there is a casino right next to us too. Friendly staff at check-in, 2 security men patrolling at 1am when we got in. Dog park and dog relief area are small but clean. Showers and bathrooms are well lit and clean. Pool looked good but did not have a chance to get in. Friendly neighbors too. Would definitely come back again.

Don Laughlin’s Riverside RV Park Resort offers a prime location along the Colorado River with convenient access to all the entertainment and amenities of the Riverside Resort.

The park features spacious, level sites with full hookups and well-maintained facilities, including a laundry room and a dog park.

Guests can enjoy shuttle service to the casino, restaurants, and movie theater, making it a great blend of outdoor relaxation and vibrant nightlife.

Its proximity to the river also provides opportunities for boating, fishing, and scenic views, making it an excellent destination for travelers seeking both recreation and comfort.

Some of the best campground restrooms. Full hookups & affordable long term rates.

The only way to this campsite is getting onto Nellis AFB. You have to be active or retired military. This is by far the best, cleanest, nicest, best shade coverage, mostly pull thrus, tons of mature trees for shade, and the safest. You will not need to tie down anything loose around your site for fear of being stolen here. Obviously reasons being on a military base. All spaces are large and trees in between in the circle park areas. Back in along the walls and a good amount of spaces in a parking lot style. Full hookups, playground, dog park, and many many more amenities. A perfect place to stay if you are able to get on base. Sleeping in can be difficult though, after 7am expect to hear planes, helicopters or jets starting to take off.

This RV park has everything! The spaces are large and mostly pull-through. There is lots of shade, which is very important in Las Vegas. There are two nice swimming pools with hot tubs, a bowling alley, a casino (which by the way is much friendlier than down on the strip and cleaner too). There is a dog park and an 18 screen movie theater (first rate movies for $5). There is a TGIFridays and several other good restaurants in the casino. The shuttle bus is large, air conditioned and comfortable and you don't have to worry about parking and paying the high fees to do so.

On a side note, we went without our RV last year and stayed in the casino hotel. We had a beautiful room and paid well under $100. a night (in fact less than $50. a night).

We have not stayed in a nicer campground anywhere!

This is a nice clean campground! Everyone has been so nice and wonderful. It’s Vegas and the pool closes at 10, we were told because the kids are screaming and playing. They need to offer adult hours after 10:00 pm. Probably would not do pet site again as the pet yards are toooooo small. Needs more trees and shade.

We stayed at this park twice while passing North and South of Las Vegas.  It's a no frills Thousand Trails park that could use some updating.  The spaces are very tight together partially because the occupants don't follow the site lines on the ground.  We saw several that parked on the line and extended their slide outs into the area of the next RV'er, therefore, they were unable to extend their awning.  Car parking is chaos, again because no one seems to stay within the space lines painted on the ground. We had difficulty even backing into our site because of the way the next door neighbor parked his rig and vehicle.  They finally saw us struggling and came out to move their car.  There is noise from a busy road behind the park and it's in the path of the airport.  Between the noise and the close quarters, we were ready to move on after a week.  The laundry rooms were decent but twice we found washers to be out of order.  Showers are OK.  Dog park is half grass and half dirt.  Pool was closed when we arrived but looks nice.  Some annual or seasonal sites could use some clean up.  Looked like they were storing everything they owned outside.

Beautiful sunsets near waterline. Tent and/or vehicle camping only in this lower area. RV camping up on hill side. Fishing good. Hiking good. Lots of birds and some coyotes. Watch your small pets! Facebook SNORR (Southern Nevada Off Road Recovery) if you get stuck in any soil. They will get you out free but please donate anything you can after.

Large pull thoughts Horse, pet & desert toy Friendly... Owners are amazing and Scarlett (the Boss) is the cutest kid on Earth.

Great for fishing(trout, strippers, big/small bass), kayaking or paddle board, Boats and jet skis. Market in willow beach and bathrooms. Pet friendly!!

Mid-Basin cove is more secluded than its sister site up the road but much more secluded and enjoyable. Dispersed camping on the beach, fires and pets allowed.

Check in was rather seamless. The entrance is attractive.

Huge park with over 800 spots. Hard to see numbers after dark so make sure you have your map and know the street names to turn on.

Bathrooms are clean and the park in general is clean. No mention of a pet area and we did not find a good spot to take our dogs other than the pavement through the park and our small gravel patch in our site. We rented a standard site for our van and car. Spaces are close together like many RV places.

We had an okay meal at the cafe and appreciate that this is on site. Had a killer margarita at the cafe bar.