cal K.

The Dyrt Pro

Northampton, MA

Joined August 2022

Busy in Summer.

I like this campground and prefer site 14 on Flax Pond, the quieter of the 2 (Cliff Pond). This campground gets very busy in summer. Hikes around the ponds and swimming is lovely.

Your camp pass gets you into an underutilized beach across the road.

Sweet Spot

A quiet campground in mid June - sites are close together but not many people this trip, quiet and friendly neighbors. Right on the rail trail. Wellfleet beaches and glacial kettle ponds don’t require a parking sticker Labor Day- 2nd weekend in June.

Great Pond and Long Pond are both close by and lovely swimming. You can also walk to Duck Pond from the campground.

Site 73 had noise from the bathroom exhaust fan from 7am-10pm- just background drone but I noticed it.

Nice outdoor showers w hot water and clean restrooms with wash sink for dishes.

Wild turkeys moved through camp during my visit.

Tents only - no RVs.

Remote, cold, beautiful

Bumpy road washed out farther up but the dispersed area was fine. Pretty cold and rugged in Jan but really gorgeous. Creek runs near road.

Pricey but really nice!

$30 /night in winter. Really nicely maintained. No water available tho. Probably due to drought? Hot showers clean restrooms. Nice sites with paved pads and picnic tables. Gorgeous views of the peak driving in. Saguaro abound. Gate closed at 10pm and office closes at 5 but you can self check in on non/reserved sites.

Little bit of a hard stay

I stayed at a camping cabin. I’d been car camping for a month and had stayed at a camping cabin at las cruces Koa and loved it. This cabin has a heater that was not able to keep the cabin warm - it was really cold maybe 15 at night and I could not get rid of a chill all night even though I was bundled up. Then in the morning I went to close the door and the door handle broke locking me out. Luckily I had my dog and car keys but no one was in office yet and it was bitter cold. They let me cancel my next night and did offer a free night but didn’t refund the money I spent. Loved Santa Fe tho the food and coffee are Amazing!!!

Really nice KOA

This place was well kept. Loved the camping cabin as a treat after a month of car camping. Hot showers, community kitchen, laundry, dog run. I also staying in one of the tent sites which was available despite the cold. Camping cabins are 1-4 and 3 and 4 are nicer just farther off the road.

Free but I didn’t stay long

For solo travel I didn’t quite feel comfortable here and didn’t stay the night- just a vibe. It was absolutely gorgeous though and I’m glad I stopped. Could hear shooting in the distance. Some vacant rvs and longer term stay RVs perhaps. One car came speeding through really fast.

Large campground with lots of amenities

Lots going on here but felt peaceful midweek in Jan. 3 spring-fed pools, hot showers quarter operated, clean flush toilet bathrooms, water, hiking trails and ample roads to walk the dog on. Mountain lion country - be alert. Friendly rangers. Clean facilities and well-kept grounds. Horseshoe pits and large group picnic areas. Cute cabins for rent - no pets allowed in those. Will definitely visit again. Many of the tent sites are close together - if the campground was full you’d have little privacy but it’s a large place and there were hardly any tent campers when I was there, though more RVs and vans in the hookup section. Tent site 106 is very private. I liked 109 it was in a kind of bird thicket with privacy from the road etc.

Loved this spot

Free. 30 day limit. Pit toilet. Pack it out - no trash service. No water. If you go left as you come in you can camp along a rock wall filled with agave, cholla and other plants. A large area for big rvs right at the front left. To the right there were lots of pull offs and I found it easier to navigate in my station wagon road-wise. Lots of space. Some areas say not to walk there/ keep dogs out to protect plants and wildlife. I felt safe solo camping - there were a few other van and rv campers. Recommend visiting the sweet desert botanical garden in nearby Borrego Springs.

Loved this site - too remote for solo camping

Gorgeous views but ended up leaving because there were no another campers anywhere around. Can’t wait to come back to Mojave with a camping buddy and high clearance vehicle. To reach: 3 mi on bumpy dirt road to main entrance for Kelso Dunes - keep going and first site is on left - level pull through with stone fire ring. Also got a bad vibe from 2 men that slowly drove by flying a drone above their highly rugged/ militaristic-inspired vehicle. Anyway - beautiful site but in the end it was too isolated for me.

Cute spot- high winds

Small camp with $35 tent sites eith shelter, table and fire ring and $75 cabins both reservable and first come (pay with card at kiosk tho cabins were not rentable like this due to no attendant present. Non-potable water. Token showers. Accessible site reserved for disabled folks and wheelchair accessible showers. Trailhead with views of ocotillo, agave and the other desert plants nearby. Only reason I’m giving 3 stars are the high winds made car camping without a tent pretty miserable. But I know that’s the nature of the park- windy!

My fave of the Salton Sea campgrounds

Loved the peace and quiet here and gorgeous view of the Salton Sea and yellow wildflowers. Please observe the no dogs on the beach rule to protect sea birds and migrating birds that use the area. Minimal facilities- $10 self pay sites, port-a-potties and 1 composting toilet house at very end. No water. Yes trash. No hookups. Nice showers but water turned off. A few sites here a bit more set back from road than Corvina and definitely more chill than Mecca. Picnic table and fire pit. Got some wind. Loved it here. Beautiful.

Great stop once I scouted a good fit.

As another reviewer noted - this spot is huge so make sure you are staying on BLM land. There is a lot of trash in some areas and there was some dirt bikes but they didn’t bother me. Car camping I found the area I liked best was as follows: off 62 take Sunfair rd, right on cypress rd (dirt road which my GPS thought was Reagan Rd but is marked with a street sign Cypress) - go past ITH coyote ranch (no sign but may show up on map) Then right on cascade - an unmarked dirt rd. Then there is a large flat BLM area where rvs and vans were quite spread out, and a motorcycle with a tent was my neighbor (quite far away). No trash here when I was there. Zero facilities obviously so pack it out. Hot tip - water and restrooms 10 min away at the Indian Cove ranger station near Indian Cove Campground in JT park. I stayed here two nights car camping.

Friendly vibes and great private hot spring tubs.

Friendly host and fellow campers. Almost all camping is large and mid size RV. There are also small trailers and small units you can rent. Camp is $35 a night but gets you into the outdoor hot springs large and small pools and 4 private tubs which I really liked. I’m car camping and my immediate neighbors were truck camping. Heard coyotes at night and beautiful stars. It’s a funky spot and maybe a tad rough around the edges but everything was clean and folks were friendly. Cool desert trail in the sand where I walked the dog and nice bench to sit and mountain watch. All water here is mineral water so get your driving water elsewhere. Definitely was a good spot to stop for the night.

Close together sites, great beach views.

Salton Sea is such an interesting place. A bird haven for migrating birds - be sure to visit the Sonny Bono Refuge closeby. This camp had $20 basic tent sites, some full hookup sites available- paved, some sites along beach. One of the 2 loops were closed. Showers - tho no hot water left when I got to them and most bathrooms boarded up and in disrepair. Ample trash and recycling bins and water. Friendly host and camp wood available at $10 a pop. Check to see if sites are reserved at kiosk if you are coming without reservations.

Loved it. Solitude and accessible site plus accessible day use pads reserved for disabled folks

$6 sites. Rough road depending on rain washout - I managed to navigate in my low clearance station wagon - scout ahead some sections were fine. Loved this spot. Wanted to stay a few nights but headed out early after almost all campers left and it felt too remote to do solo. Vault toilet and no trash service. Water pump that may have worked I didn’t try it. Sites are very spread out and the cinder cone and volcanic rock around are awesome scenery. Hike to polished rocks of fossil falls. Will definitely come back! Great stop on the way to Death Valley.

Basic camp with conveniences nearby.

This is a huge parking lot near the stovepipe wells general store and gas. The sites are very close together, some along the edge of the lot up against the desert. Perks are $5 shower pass across street at the hotel and tasty breakfast sandwich at the general store. It was fine for a night to get my bearings in the park. Water, restroom and dumpster. Byo soap to wash your hands. Easy access right off 190. 30 min to Furnace Creek visitor center. Ranger station right next door for backcountry permits.

Protected from wind, not as crowded.

I moved here after camping outside the park to get away from high winds and found a sheltered site. Cost is $16 pay at kiosk with card or nearby furnace creek visitors center. Water, flush toilet, and dumpster. Sites are fairly close together but I had plenty of room bc this campground was much less crowded than nearby furnace creek. Easily accessible in any vehicle. Enjoyed my stay - friendly camp host. Showers can be purchased for $5 30 min away at stovepipe wells hotel or right down the hill at TheRanch for a steep $14 which also gets you into their swank pool. Gas is nearby. I ended up going into Pahrump Nevada 1 hr away for laundry, cheap gas, tractor supply propane refill, groceries and an oil change. Nice camp host. This was my favorite camp out of the 4 I stayed at during my time in Death Valley.

Just great, exposed to wind.

“The slabs” offer plenty of room and nice level parking. I had a great stay and then moved to a more sheltered campground for a period of extended heavy wind. Exactly 5.5 miles before the Death Valley Park sign at the east end on 190. Did not have any reception- as is the case in most of the park. Can’t beat the price!

Free camping, easy dog friendly walks.

This site was ideal for my needs. The southern end of the park seems a lot quieter- away from some of the more tourist-visited spots. The location is just prior to the the Joshua Tree Park Entrance sign - you get off 10 at cottonwood springs rd. I got there in the dark so it took me a minute to find it. There are sand road loops to the left and right of main road. Bumpy but fine in my station wagon with low clearance and no awd. Scout sites - some have soft sand or rocks. Heavy rains started as we were leaving after two days and I can imagine that would make navigating parts of this camp into a 4wd affair. The first site I pulled into was really covered with dog poop so kept going and found a cleaner site. There is a ton of space so easy to find your own area that feels close enough to feel not completely isolated but private. No shrubbery. It’s not as picturesque as some areas but for my needs - free, plenty of soft sand road to walk the dog and close to the park - it was great. Another dog note - no dogs on trails in Joshua Tree but they are fine on all dirt roads!