Looking for an adventure where you can explore Washoe Valley and then fall asleep in your tent? The Dyrt is an easy way to find tent camping spots near Washoe Valley. Whether you're looking for a quiet, dispersed site or an established camgpround with amenities, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to pitch your tent.
Donner Memorial State Park offers the summer vacationer opportunities for Donner Lake camping, picnicking, boating, fishing, water-skiing, and hiking. In winter, visitors can cross-country ski and snowshoe on trails and enjoy the season's beauty. Visitors are welcome year-round at the Donner Memorial State Park Visitor Center and at the Pioneer Monument, built to commemorate those who emigrated to California from the east in the mid-1800's. The Visitor Center features compelling new exhibits that tell the stories of the Emigrant Experience, the Donner Party, the Land of the Washoe, Chinese construction of the railroad, and early motoring adventures over Donner Pass.
$35 / night
Camping: Silver Springs Beach #7 offers developed campground facilities open year-round, with restrooms, tables and grills. Primitive on-the-beach camping is permitted in all areas except for day use and boat ramp areas. A camping limit of 14 days in a 30-day period is enforced. Sanitary dump station facilities are available near both entrances to the park. NOTE: Showers and flush toilets are CLOSED during the off-season from October to May.
$15 - $25 / night
Please do not try this if you are not in an all wheel drive high clearance vehicle. Not at all recommended for RVs.
Kaspian Campground is located in a mature forest of pine trees overlooking the beautiful Lake Tahoe. Campers will be nestled in a sparse forest of pine trees and evergreen shrubs, just minutes from the bright blue water of Tahoe. The lake and its sandy beaches provides ample recreation opportunities.
Kaspian Campground is ideal for visitors planning a full day of biking around Lake Tahoe. Bike trails that traverse the western shores of the lake begin near the campground. Visitors enjoy water sports on the lake and relaxing on its sandy beaches.
The campground is situated in a former picnic area, across the street from the lake. Campsites are spaced for privacy and surrounded by tall ponderosa pine and white fir trees. Some sites offer spectacular views of Lake Tahoe through the trees.
Kaspian Campground is less than 10 miles from the popular Meeks Bay.
This location has limited staffing. Please call (530) 541-1537 for general information.
$27 - $29 / night
Boca reservoir is a popular spot for water recreation of all kinds. Heavy motorized boat and personal watercraft use, and water skiing on summer weekends. Also popular for wind surfing on the east shore. Kayaking and canoeing when the water is calm (morning and evening). Swimming and fishing too. Year round fishing. Ice fishing during winter depending on conditions. Camping on both the east and west shores of Boca Reservoir. A boat ramp is located near Boca Campground on the southwest end of the reservoir, but may be subject to closure during low water levels. Most single family sites and group campgrounds can be reserved at www.recreation.gov or (877) 444-6777. NO CAMPING OR CAMPFIRES ALLOWED OUTSIDE OF DEVELOPED CAMPGROUNDS. Directions: From Truckee take Interstate 80 east for six miles to the Hirschdale exit. Go north and under I-80 for approximately one mile to Boca Reservoir.
$20 / night
$5 / night
Camping: Camping is allowed in three primitive, walk-in campgrounds: Marlette Peak, Hobart and North Canyon. Each campground has a restroom and camp sites with picnic tables and bear resistant food and trash storage boxes. While camping, store food and trash in these boxes. Pack it in, pack it out: when you depart, remove all food and trash from the boxes so they are available for use by other campers. Dispersed camping is not allowed around Marlette Lake or anywhere else within park boundaries. A camping limit of 14 days in a 30-day period is enforced.
Cabin Rentals: The Park also manages two backcountry cabins. The Spooner Lake Cabin (available May 1 - October 15) is located just north of Spooner Lake and sleeps four people comfortably. If you’re looking for a more intimate experience, the Wildcat Cabin (available May 1 - October 15) is approximately 2.5 miles up North Canyon (several hundred yards east of the road) and sleeps two. Both cabins have basic amenities such as composting toilets, beds, cook stoves and wood burning stoves, but other items such as sleeping bags, food and utensils will need to be packed in. Please contact the park for more information.
Guide
okay. let’s be real. the road is a beast. 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. can be very windy but if you get between some of the trees it’s not to bad.
Scout
Came on a Saturday around 4pm, there were 2 other campers other than me so it wasn’t busy at all. No service for at&t. Overall had a good stay here with my 2 dogs
Ranger
Camped here for what we thought would be a couple of nights for an event. However, event was canceled due to massive wild fire (air quality index was horrible, so stayed 1 night and left ASAP next morning). Campground is right on the main drag through town and just across the street and a short walk to the lake, although the lake does not permit dogs in this area. Nice walking/biking paths, but heavily commercial district means lots of traffic going by. Site (#E06) is huge with enough space for several RVs, but we parked sideways adjacent to the picnic table and had spot near to bathrooms/showers which are clean but a bit ragged around the edges.
Food aside: Dinner of Curly's pork with cheese and Hatch green chile tortillas. Good to come back here at some point when not high season and can stay more in camping zone, this is a pretty commercial district.
Guide
We were only after a night, so didn’t need much. Travelling this time of year when campgrounds are closed makes for desperate last minute decisions. BUT if you’re staying here, go across the road to Lake Tahoe Pizza Co. the best pizza!
Scout
Free camping
Ranger
The two closest roads coming in from the West are blocked off and labeled no unauthorized vehicles. This is due to the construction of the new neighborhoods and they probably annexed the area. You could probably access it from the East but I have no idea how many miles it would be in from where you would come in.
Ranger
It's sad where we have this public land to camp on and people just dump tons and tons of trash and abandoned cars and demolished cars on the property would not recommend going. There's some more BLM land about 15 to 20 minutes north on Red Rock road.
Traveler
We stayed one night on our way through the area. Spot was nice level and clean. We loved the bike paths all though out the area. Rode In to south Tahoe and had a great experience.
Scout
Very simple and clean park but it is right next to the highway with very limited amenities. Their “amenities” they list online are not accurate but again it’s nice and clean. Also make sure you have a secondary form of transportation since this place is secluded due to private neighborhoods so there is no access to town via bike or on foot.
Traveler
Nice peaceful spot. Few cars go by, but it’s tucked away enough.
ScoutNot really sure if we camped in the right spot. It isn’t great, but it got the job done to just crash for a night. Felt like we were in a construction zone
GuideTight spaces but close to the lake if you want to enjoy the water and beach. Toilets and showers where filty but okay. Lots of chipmunks to enjoy..
Scout
Large sites very peaceful. Most sites close to the lake. We visited the last week of August. Expect to see bears. Hosts were clear about the need to keep campsites clear of food. Since you could not dump dish water on ground because of the bears it was more effort to wash up after meals. It would be nice if there was a dish washing station . We have seen this at other campsites we have been to. The have AT&A cell service had good service
Guide
Love our stay at Logger Campground, very clean vault toilets, and facility. Most of the spots are very tight, narrow spaces. Make some when you book, you get the right size spot. Pay dump just offsite.
Ranger
We normally prefer wilderness parks, and generally avoid RV parks. We’ve stayed in a few though and this one is by far the absolute nicest one we’ve ever stayed in!! It recently changed ownership and the new owners have invested in a first-class place! We had to find a last minute place on a Sunday due to the Davis Creek Regional park fire. We pulled in here and were helped by a wonderful young woman in the office. What I liked most about this place was that it is more spacious than typical RV parks. Also, more importantly, the bathrooms were amazing and deserving of the “resort” name. While there may have been a few rigs here longer term, their sites were neat and orderly. The location is by a highway (and behind Costco), but the noise wasn’t bad at all. The pool area is beautiful and includes outdoor grills and a gas fire pit. There is minimal shade as the trees are all new. The laundry rooms (2!) were lovely. We would stay here again in a heartbeat. Beautiful and well run facility. Does it compare to a state or National park, no. But for what it is it is outstanding!
Guide
All camp sites have a picnic table and a fire ring. Please ensure fires are permitted before starting a fire. The campground was clean and quiet. Pit toilets were clean and well stocked. Please note that I was there during the week. I imagine that during summer weekends it can get quite noisy with boat and jet ski traffic being so close to Reno. I would definitely stay again.
Traveler
FCFS OHV campground that can be approached from a couple of rough dirt roads, high clearance helpful, 4wd not needed. Not all sites are flat. People from the area (i guess) seemed to be "reserving" sites with styrofoam coolers and water jugs... they did not occupy their sites at night. I didn't use the vault toilet facility. Took a hike. Very pretty. No OHV noise, but a copter was circling the area in the middle of the night.
Traveler
I stayed only one night here in 2022 while traveling through. It was a pretty drive through rural western Nevada, which ended in a four mile graded dirt road. I was driving an SUV with high clearance, but the road is suitable for RVs if you take it slow. Both campgrounds are RV suitable. This one does not have hook ups, but quail run does. The facilities are very new. Each site has a covered picnic table It is not a great tent camping area in my opinion because it is a desert loop and you are out in the open. I slept in my SUV. The area itself is beautiful though, and I need to make another, longer stop there and at the nearby "elbow" unit, which is more remote.
Ranger
My 1-star review is only because, sadly, a fire started at this campground and was out of control by the time we arrived. It grew to 1,500 acres and destroyed 6 structures. I was really looking forward to staying at this park. Sadly, it has likely been destroyed.
Guide
(September 28th, 2023) Got here after dark and found an empty clearing to park in for the night. The moon and the stars were so bright, it felt like we were on another planet. Got to explore the area in the morning, such a cool spot! Very quiet when we were there.
Guide
I thought this campground was pretty decent for being NPS run and due to its large size. The campsite was close to other campers, but not right on top of them. The location is ideal. Bathrooms were the least favorite part, only one bathroom (with 4 stalls?) for one large loop of campsites. Check-in was a breeze. Nearby visitor center and camp store was convenient. There were hiking trails nearby. Be bear aware!
Traveler
If you are looking to be near the water and no service, this is perfect. The rough road in I believe must keep some folks out but the lake is amazing.
Guide
Beautiful river area, friendly people, hills to hike around! There’s a fire pit and bbq set up at each site and bathrooms and drinking water around the campgrounds. Seems like an amazing spot for a family camping trip! I believe it was $28 a night for a single spot or $14 with a discount. Cons for a nomad is there’s 0 service out there even hiking to the top of the mountain. It’s also about an hour of winding roads from the nearest town to get there. IMO not worth it when there’s plentyyyy of free camping pull offs you pass on the way there.
ScoutI’m motorcycle camping and the ground level was about half full, mostly RVs, so I attempted to head up Scott Lake Road.
The dirt was manageable but there are sections of large rocks difficult to pass on two wheels. I crossed several but I dropped my bike before the second circle. Defeated and exhausted from a long day’s ride, I headed back down to set up my camp among the RV set.
No shade to the lifestyle but this is an awfully long drive to watch TV at top volume.
Guide
Easy stop going north - level site, free showers. Laundry was 4.00 for aload to wash/dry. Had a nice simple meal at casnio
Ranger
I made reservations here a week prior to our trip because I was looking for a warmer place to camp. I previously had reservations at Pinecrest, but it was going to be in the 50s during the day and 30s at night. Which isn’t ideal since I have a 7 month old and a 3 year old. But it ended up getting pretty chilly here as well - high 50s, low 40s. I do not recommended campsite 3, where we camped. It is a double site and is spacious enough for two families. But the campground had 3 bears that were visiting every night. One huge black bear, and a mama black bear with her cub. It was disappointing to learn this by getting a visit by the black bear who comes down from behind our campsite (which is why I do not recommend campsite 3). Luckily, our kids were asleep when the black bear came around 9pm. The camp host never came by to check us in, even though we were right next to their site. They did not inform us of the three bears that would be coming by. Obviously we are in bear country, so precautions were taken. But it would have been nice to know, since we have little ones exploring the area behind us (where one of the bears was coming down). When my husband informed the camp host of the bear that came by she wasn’t surprised at all and said “oh there’s three that come every night. One big black bear who is about 4.5ft tall on all fours - he’s a big guy! And a mama bear with her cub.” This was very strange to me that she didn’t come by and tell us this, nor did she tell the other campers around us. We went and informed the two sites by us so that they were aware of this. Aside from that, the campground is beautiful. You can chop your own wood, since there was a couple of dead trees around. The walk to the reservoir is short and sweet. The water isn’t freezing either, our dog enjoyed her daily swim. I recommend this campground for its beauty but be prepared for a bear visit.
Scout
There’s no legal “dispersed” camping at Luther Pass; there are 11 tent sites with a maximum stay of five days. Very nice campground, though.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Washoe Valley, NV?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Washoe Valley, NV is Donner Memorial State Park Campground with a 4.8-star rating from 17 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 60 tent camping locations near Washoe Valley, NV, with real photos and reviews from campers.
