Best Tent Camping near Pahrump, NV

You can take that heat from Vegas and completely forget you are in Nevada when you travel just outside the city and to McWilliams Campground and Mount Charleston area. But because of this break in the heat all summer you have to make reservations, even though they say there are walk up sites I wouldn't suggest banking on them to be there.

This campground is dry camping but with the setting of the mountains it hardly seems like any kind of inconvenience. There is a nice bathroom facility here without showers but plenty good for enjoying this place it is heated which makes for a lot better user experience especially I assume during winter months.

When I was there I saw a lot of RVs and Tents alike all pulled into spots and comfortable. While I didn't seem boxed in and overcrowded I did speak to someone who said when it is filled with more RVs it tends to get a little claustrophobic feeling.

Sleeping in a tent here I noticed that I could hear my neighbors pretty easily until around 11 p.m. after that it got pretty quiet and short of a few animal noises here and there it was silent. Temperatures dipped considerably at night so even though it was summer, in a tent I was finding I needed a little more cover than expected and pulled out the sleeping bag for some warmth.

Something I loved about this site was the set up for campers with the fire ring and table. The slab around the ring gives you a flat surface if you have camp chairs and also allows you do better manage your space and keep debris out of your fire.

TIPS:

• Bring a light or headlamp. Not sure if it really doesn't have light or if it was just burned out, I didn't check again, but the bathroom was dark at night so you want to have a way to see.
• Bring Cash or Check they didn't accept cards for the $25 nightly fee.

This was my first time camping at Hilltop. I reserved online, which is great, so when I got there I just pulled into the spot. The camp host came by and asked for either my ID or the reservation.

I stayed in Spot 1, which is nice if you want to be a little secluded, but I did have a lot of traffic noise when trucks or loud motorcycles came by. The tent area was level and smooth, which was a big help when Tent #1, which set up beautifully in my living room, refused to, in spite of much coaxing and cursing. I had to drive back into town and buy Tent #2, which was watertight even when the rain came pouring down.

There is no running water in the campground. Spigots have been capped, and where there once were showers, there are now portable toilets. In the larger group areas, they (and the trash bins) fill up fast, but less so in the remainder of the campground. Walk a little bit farther and you'll likely find a cleaner portable. This campground is very tent friendly.

If you want truly incredible views, reserve spots 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18. 22, or 23. All are on the outside edge overlooking the valley below. There are also deer that graze when the campground is quieter, and nearby access to a lot of hiking areas.

This campground is open September through June and all sites are dry camping. There is a separate area for RVs, trailers, and vans but many camper vans (including ours) were in the tent section. The camper pads in this area are dirt/gravel and not all of them are level but we made it work. Each site has a fire ring, BBQ grill, and picnic table. Some of the sites (but not all) have a covered picnic table and the table is located on a cement pad. 

There are more than sufficient vault toilets sprinkled throughout the campground and all the ones we used were clean. No showers. No dump station.

The hosts were great – they are from Minnesota, and it is their third year at this campground. They made daily rounds and were very friendly. 

This campground is located just outside the park and therefore not subject to the park fees. You will need a timed entry for the 13-mile scenic drive from October through May (but if you enter before 8 am, you will not need it). We had only a fleeting one bar of Verizon cell service. Make sure you make reservations as the campground was full on a Monday night in mid-November.

Pros: Reasonably priced, fairly quiet campground that is close enough to Furnace Creek w/out being in the thick of it. Great scenery surrounding the campground. Modern toilet/sink facilities and potable water.

Cons: Weird site designs - the site boundaries are not clear, so I had no idea which picnic table or fire ring belonged to my site or my neighbors because they seemed to be situated right on the edge of some of the sites. Almost no shade (which is a given), and the campground is very dusty covered in sharp edged cobbles. This is obviously not something they can control, but you'll want to keep it in mind if tent camping - definitely bring 1 if not 2 heavy duty tarps for under any tents, and I would recommend a canopy or awning of some kind. The oddest thing to me, however, is why they would go to the trouble of installing flush toilets and sinks, but not go one extra step and have showers. Even cold-water only coin-op showers would be awesome, and much appreciated at the end of a hot day hiking!

Given all of the above, however, I'd probably choose to camp here again if I was in the park. :)

All of the campgrounds in the valley are glorified parking lots, some more obviously than others. Texas Springs holds our favorite distinction, “No generators allowed!” This alone makes it worth the short drive up the hill, but it’s also got a little bit more charm than the open acres down the hill. The open sky makes it the perfect place to rely on your solar power as there are no electrical hookups here.  Within walking distance of the Visitors Center, the hotel, grocery store, gas station and restaurants, all contained in the Ranch at Death Valley, it’s a great base camp for your park adventures. 

The simple bathrooms have flush toilets and hand washing sinks, great dishwashing sinks with good tasting potable water are just outside of the bathrooms. The sites are stacked pretty tightly together, so there’s not a lot of privacy and there is zero, I mean zero, shade. All of the palm trees are down at the resort, but the scenery is all mudstone, sand and gravel, and it is lovely.  Climb up the hill a short way and you can see clear across Badwater Basin and Panamint Mountains to the west. Sunrise is as lovely as sunset. 

This is Death Valley afterall, so come prepared to set up a canopy but be careful of wind- we saw many shade structures destroyed and discarded in the dumpsters. Mobile service was pretty spotty, we had Verizon which seemed to have a good signal in the morning until more people woke up and then everything slowed down. Service throughout the park was pretty spotty. Showers (and use of the pool) and wifi are available at the Ranch for an hourly or daily fee. 

Biking, hiking and even golf are just a few of the activities available nearby, but pay attention to Park warnings about heat. Pets are not allowed on any of the trails and only allowed to be walked on roadways, because of the hot conditions found on some of the trails. We visited in February/March and found some of the canyons pretty uncomfortable, even that early in the spring.

I make several trips out here each year and can't say enough good things. The group sites are large and have nice big pavilions at each site with picnic tables and fire pits.

Each site has walkways leading to platforms for setting up a number of tents.

This area Is notorious for having moderate to high winds so be ready to stake out all corners including the vestibules. Winds here are predominantly out of the east but can switch out of the west overnight. BE LIBERAL WITH TENT STAKES!

Each site has running water, trash bins and a pit toilet.

Close proximity to Red Rock Canyon, Hiking Trails and Climbing Routes.