We camped in site 103 and found it to be an awesome spot. We brought our infant for her first camping trip and from 103 you couldn't really see anyone else's camp site (site 102 was across the street from our spot but no one was there). It is also nearly as close as you can get to the beach and has quick access to shower/bathroom and water.
Only downside was that while It was quiet at night, during the day you are near the entrance so there was a lot of foot traffic and cars/RVs driving through. It didn't bother us though.
We had a group camp at Jumbo Rocks during the recent new moon. We had campsites 147, 148, and 150. The campsite was completely full and the way the sites are laid out it feels like you are on top of one another.
While site 150 had some space deep into the landscape it had zero to no flat space. The site is also right next to the restroom and you have to park and walk back to the site. When we got there the parking was nearly full despite a car limit in place per site. Site 147 was even more on a hill side. It was barely a camp site.
The sites did have a good table and fire pit that we used. The restrooms are pit toilets and were not in the best shape.
The skies were awesome outside of some light pollution to the south (the direction of the milky way core). We stayed out quite late taking pictures.
Another issue we found was that coyotes were super loud throughout the night and kept some of us up.
We camped here in mid June and loved the campsite!
We stayed in site 45 for one night but accidentally reserved a day off from our plans. We were able to reserve a nearby site for the 2nd night and moved our tents over that morning.
The sites were both great for 2 x 2 person tents. There were no fires allowed and the fire pits had caution tape on them. The tent spots were flat and well maintained. While you are close enough to see other campers people were never too noticeable. We found that a lot of people were gone by 5 AM but were not loud enough to wake us up.
The real highlight of this area of the campground is that there is a trail that takes you to the rim of the grand canyon. The view there was awesome. We took night sky pictures and came back there for sun-rise. The view makes the campground awesome.
Unfortunately there is only 1 bathroom and the water is near that. It was a bit of a walk each time we had to go. Not awful, but I've definitely been to campgrounds that had closer water.
The host was nice, but we didn't see him much.
We hiked the South Kaibab Trail to Cedar Ridge on our 1st morning. We really recommend getting up early for this hike as the shade was really helpful. Hiking into the canyon kicked our butts a bit. Bring lots of water!
As far as weather, June was great. It was cool enough to sleep at night and pleasant during the day.
We camped at site 2 on 6/12 this year and had a great time. We had 18 people and found that there were a ton of different nooks to setup your tent. We even found on one up a little higher in the rocks that would have been cool.
We placed our tent just inside the rock area from the picnic tables and we are really glad we did. The wind on our first night was a lot and this one site was a bit better for wind protection.
There was a tree/bush at the corner of our group site that ended up being great for shade and a hang out place during the day. In the afternoon we spent more time near the tables and grill. The site comes with a large charcoal grill that we used to cook burgers on one of our nights.
At night we ventured off a bit near the camp site and took some night sky pictures. We also we able to see a bunch of owls up in the top of the rocks on one of the nights. During the full moon it was really easy to walk around with out lights.
There is no water and no showers, but the pit toilets that were there were clean and well maintained. They even had some nice candles to light in them. The dumpster was right next to our group site and was also well maintained.
Our only problem during our stay was that on our last night a bunch of people came in after midnight to the site next to ours (#1) and they played music and were loud until 4 AM… We barely saw rangers there and there is no cell signal so it can be challenging to get help for these types of things (assuming you don't feel comfortable confronting a group of drunk people in the middle of the night).
I've camped here a bunch of times and have always enjoyed it. The sites are spread out and there are a lot of areas to explore.
We came during a snowstorm once and it was a great time!
We camped at two harbors in May of 2015 and had a lot of fun. We took the ferry to two harbors and walked up all of our gear to the site. It is a bit of a walk if you aren't packed correctly (we brought a cooler and it was a bit rough getting it up there).
The water in the harbor is super clear. We kayaked around the area and loved it. At night we had deer walking directly through our site as we were eating dinner (seriously on a few feet away). They didn't both anyone and were really cool to watch.
The price is steep especially counting in the ferry, but it was a lot of fun and I'd do it again.
The bar near the harbor was a nice plus as well. Getting a beer after kayaking during a camping trip was fun.
We camped here for New Years 2016 and loved it. It was a quiet campground even on new years and had a good amount of room between sites. The site is pretty sandy so the tents get a bit messy, but otherwise the fire ring was great.
The beach that you can walk to is an awesome dog beach. We had a blast here. I will say be careful about tar in the sand as that ruined a good pair of hiking pants that I was wearing.
We attempted four pass loop in July of 2017, but were unable to get over the first peak because of altitude (from living in LA) and just being out of shape.
We camped in 3 locations and had a blast though. The last location on the way back was near the lake at the beginning of the loop. It was a huge site with space for 3 of our tents and opened up to a beautiful field where we found some frisky deer.
I'd love to come back here to camp again. The snow was still bad enough in July for 2017 after a pretty heavy season and that made it more difficult to get to the first peak. A little later in the summer would have been better.
I have stayed at this campground 2 times over the past few years. The last time was for a fun 1 night weekend visit to watch meteor showers with a group. The skies were awesome!
The bathroom wasn't amazing but was usable. The campground while on the edge of joshua tree is not really inside the park. You don't pay park fees, but you can't go directly into the rest of the part from the campsite.
The plus here is that you can get reservations fairly easily. The campsite was pretty busy for both trips. The hills around the campsite are fun to hike around on, but don't compare to the rest of the park.
We also came here in January a few years ago and it was very cold and windy. We even got rain while we were there. Just remember to tie down your tent well!
This campsite is one of my favorites! I've camped here two times and had a blast both times. The trails just off of the grounds take you down to a rock beach that is absolutely beautiful.
We also used one of the walk in sites during one of our trips (just parked at the road and was allowed to use it as none of the other sites were available). There was a small trail heading north of those sites that we were able to do some night sky photography at.
Can't wait to go back!
We had a great time on a short trip to Death Valley starting 3/24/22. We stayed in the lower section (we think it was 23) and found a nice semi-shaded area behind a bush at the back of the site. If you can find a shaded spot it can be super helpful as the heat was challenging. Unfortunately we hit a record high for march during our stay (104ºF).
We arrived on Thursday around 1 PM and had no problem finding a spot. The ones with good shade were taken though.
The hills just next to our camp site were a great place to watch one of the sunsets (see pictures) over furnace creek.
The bathrooms were clean and the water was both cold and had great pressure for hand washing and dishes (good to splash your face in the heat too). There are no showers.
The location of the site is a great base to explore death valley. You are right between Zabriskie Point, Badwater Basin, and the dunes to the north. Furnace Creek was also great for spending the hot afternoons. They have really good ice cream, a nice lawn to picnic on, and for us 4x level 2 EV chargers! We were worried about taking our model 3 from LA but the chargers were regularly open and helped us get enough charge to get back.
The highlight of our trip was a great hike (Golden Canyon - Gower Gulch loop) nearby. We did do some astro photography at zabriskie point the first night but the wind was not good up there (actually much better near the camp site).
If you can come when the heat is less this is a great spot.