Best Tent Camping near Tonopah, NV

Had this spot marked on my mapping programs for a while. Utilized it one evening while traveling through the state. It was so quiet and peaceful with the creek running through it. It did get a little cold once the sun set behind those mountains in the canyon but I camped in September. So for fall camping I would definitely bring lots of heavy sleeping bags and sleeping materials. I camped in a tent, and I was in a older jeep. While it was overgrown that was back in 2021 but otherwise no one had been down there in a while. Didn't get a chance to check out any of the trails as I was traveling through but I would like to go back and check out the Arc Dome Wilderness Area. There was no cell phone signal and you need to bring in your own water, the bathrooms were decent, like I said no one had been down there in a while probably because of covid. One motorcycle came in in the evening and he was very quiet and camped quite a ways away from me when he saw where I was at.

I really can't see a big camper getting in here there are pretty tight spots although there is a road that goes all the way through you could probably camp down at the end. But these are pretty much tent camping, rooftop tents, motorcycles, small trailers spots.

This dispersed camping site is located right off highway 95 in Tonopah, about half way between Reno and Las Vegas. It is not a destination camping site, but a great place to get some sleep along the way. The best way to access the site is to take a right off the freeway onto the large gravel road, just south of the BLM office. (Wouldn’t advise going through the BLM parking lot as the map directs you, as it takes you to an AWD dirt road instead…this was not good for our eurovan;)). There is a small butte between the highway and the road that provides a little sound barrier between you and the traffic. There was another RV parked up the road a bit and plenty of space in between. Overall this campsite provides a peaceful and restful night along your journey. Tonopah seems to be a bit windy and a fine layer of dust accumulated in our van during the night so you may want to “batten down the hatches.”

It was an easy road in. I think we got confused about where all the sites were. After two river crossings, there are a couple more sites, the nice fella let us know. The spot we stayed was big enough for our iKamper annex, which is sizeable(check pictures). We will probably go here again at some point to check out the other sites.

8ts got a creek, trails to explore, and motorcycles and ATVs are permitted.

Please note that this campground is currently closed due to heavy storms that have caused a lot of the trees to pose hazards to campers. Contact the nearest ranger station for updates.

we stopped while it was dark out, but it was pretty easy to spot. there’s a dirt road flanked by a cattle gate that’s marked on the map on this app if you zoom in. you can see the highway but it’s so quiet. there’s a minor sound of cars, but only if you strain your ears. we woke up in the morning to a pretty strong breeze, but it was still lovely. the hills in the distance are nice, and there’s some flowers and joshua trees scattered around the property. it was a great place to stop for a night!

Was looking for a place to stop for the night. This place was easy enough to find. Indicated by two reflective stakes, otherwise it would be easy to miss. I parked on the dirt road after the cattle gate but in the morning realized there is a pullout area farther down and another dirt part people have been using to drive out into the brush area.

Distant road noise but that doesn't bother me.

We are full-timers and have a 36 ft Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow. We stayed for two nights here in mid May to enjoy the spring. This is a nice comfortably hot spring with no odor and two stage lake with Coots and lots of little fish. They are in the process of putting up barriers to prevent people from camping right next to the Hot Well, but there is plenty of dispersed camping around it. Also, unfortunately, there is a new sign(the old one was shot up) that reads“This facility will be closed and filled in if the vandalism and killing of wildlife continues”. Some people are just bent on ruining things for everyone else. There were only a couple other people here during our stay. There is absolutely no light pollution here, so the skies when clear are awesome, as was the view of the snow capped White Mountains to the West. 

We had zero AT&T service. Starlink had speeds up to 8 MB/s and we had DISH coverage on all of the western satellites. We didn’t try any OTA channels with our fixed omni antenna.