Bird/Wildlife Watching

Camp Ikigai Animal Sanctuaruy 501c3

20 RV Sites, 3 Cabins, 100 Tent Sites, 1 Glamping Site, 1 Yurt

On 72 off-grid acres in Yokuts Valley in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Fresno County, Camp Ikigai Animal Sanctuary offers an entirely different kind of RV and camping destination—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit farm sanctuary where horses, sheep, dogs, and cats roam freely through the property and guests stay in tent sites, RV and van spots, hammock camping areas, or a tiny cabin on a private deck with sweeping valley views. At 40580 Ruth Hill Road, approximately 30 minutes from the entrances to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and 90 minutes from Yosemite Valley, the sanctuary provides an off-grid, animal-centered retreat that makes the Sierra Nevada's greatest parks accessible from a setting that's genuinely unlike any other campground in the region. Sites are primitive and the experience is intentionally off-grid—Camp Ikigai functions as a working animal sanctuary first and a campground second, and the accommodation reflects that priority. RV, van, car, skoolie, and tent sites are available alongside hammock camping and the small cabin, with each option providing a different relationship to the farm's natural and animal-centered environment. The private deck and valley views available from the cabin offer a sunset and sunrise experience that rewards those who plan ahead. Water and fire safety practices appropriate to the Sierra Nevada foothill environment apply throughout the property, and guests should arrive prepared for primitive conditions in a genuinely remote setting. Yokuts Valley sits in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada at elevations that transition between the valley floor's agricultural character and the higher-elevation conifer forest that begins above 4,000 feet. The property's 72 acres encompass oak woodland, chaparral-covered hillsides, and the private valley terrain that creates the views from the upper portion of the property. The sanctuary's animals—horses with established individual personalities, sheep, and a resident dog and cat community—move through the space freely, creating unexpected encounters and the kind of interspecies observation that's simply not available in any conventional camping environment. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, jointly administered and together encompassing more than 1,300 square miles, protect the world's largest trees by volume—the giant sequoias of the western Sierra Nevada—alongside the deepest canyon in North America, the High Sierra's most dramatic alpine terrain, and the headwaters of the Kings and Kaweah Rivers. General Sherman Tree, the world's largest living thing by volume, stands in Giant Forest. Kings Canyon's Canyon View Trail descends into one of North America's most spectacular river canyons. The parks receive far fewer visitors than Yosemite despite matching its scenic grandeur, making the experience measurably less crowded during peak summer season. Camp Ikigai operates year-round, with the foothill location providing milder winter temperatures than the high Sierra and a spring wildflower display on the hillsides that makes March and April particularly rewarding. Summer days are warm in the foothills but the higher elevation provides meaningful relief from the Central Valley heat. Advance reservations are required for all site types, and the nonprofit nature of the operation means that booking directly supports the animal sanctuary's ongoing work. Reserve your site at Camp Ikigai and let the Sierra Nevada foothills, the resident animals, and the valley views create a camping experience that no conventional RV park can approximate.

from $21/night

Grey Squirrel Resorts

19 Cottages

Grey Squirrel Resort in Fawnskin, California, has welcomed families, couples, and group retreats since the 1950s, bringing more than seven decades of mountain hospitality to a collection of 19 private cabins spread across three wooded acres on the quiet north shore of Big Bear Lake. Tucked in the small mountain community of Fawnskin—across the lake from the busier Big Bear Lake resort corridor—the resort provides an intimate and unhurried alternative to the high-traffic south shore lodging scene, giving guests direct access to San Bernardino County's premier mountain resort while preserving the peaceful forest character that defines the north shore experience. The 19 private cabins accommodate a range of group sizes and comfort preferences, offering more privacy and enclosed space than hotel rooms while maintaining the forest-immersed setting that draws visitors to Big Bear Lake in every season. On-site amenities include a pond, spa, walking trails, and wedding venue capabilities that make the property versatile for romantic retreats, family reunions, and celebration events alongside standard vacation stays. Pet-friendly policies, a general store, and Wi-Fi support extended stays, while the resort's access to golf, hiking, and mountain biking from the property ensures guests can build active itineraries without driving across the lake to the south shore infrastructure. The Fawnskin area's forest setting—ponderosa pine, white fir, and black oak woodland at approximately 7,000 feet elevation in the San Bernardino Mountains—provides a true mountain environment that contrasts sharply with the Southern California coast and desert communities that send the majority of Big Bear's visitors up the mountain. The north shore's relative quiet and the absence of the commercial density found on the south shore give Fawnskin an off-the-beaten-path character that has attracted loyal repeat guests to properties like Grey Squirrel for generations. Big Bear Mountain Resort, accessible via the south shore road around the lake, offers skiing and snowboarding in winter alongside mountain biking and lift-accessed hiking in summer, making the surrounding mountain landscape a legitimate four-season outdoor recreation destination. Big Bear Lake itself provides boating, fishing for trout and bass, kayaking, and paddleboarding from multiple marinas and launch points, and the PCT-adjacent trail system of the San Gorgonio Wilderness to the south provides backcountry hiking access to some of Southern California's highest and most dramatic mountain terrain. The Moonridge Animal Park and the Baldwin Lake Ecological Reserve provide additional nature-focused excursions in the immediate area. Grey Squirrel Resort operates year-round in Big Bear Lake's four-season mountain climate, with winter skiing season from December through March and summer's lake and mountain recreation driving the two peak demand periods. Fall's aspen and black oak color in the surrounding San Bernardino National Forest creates a third visitation surge in October, when the mountain's foliage rivals the more celebrated deciduous displays of the eastern United States. Cabin reservations for winter ski weekends and summer holidays fill months in advance, and the resort's intimate 19-cabin scale means early booking is essential for any stay during Big Bear's peak windows.

from $75/night

Arrowhead Tree Top Lodge

1 Cabin, 19 Hotel Rooms

Arrowhead Tree Top Lodge in Lake Arrowhead, California, offers 20 cabin and hotel-room accommodations at 5,100 feet in the San Bernardino Mountains, with an outdoor pool, walking trails, and a creek on the property. A wedding venue and mountain setting serve guests two hours from Los Angeles. Twenty cabins and hotel rooms make up the accommodations — this is lodging rather than an RV park, with no sites or hookups. Restrooms and showers serve the property, with WiFi throughout. The lodge also operates as a wedding venue, which the pine and cedar setting supports well. Pets are welcome. An outdoor pool anchors the warm months, with walking trails through the forest and a creek running the property. Birding is productive across the mountain terrain, with swimming from the area and a lake, golf course, wineries, and skiing all nearby. The elevation is the point. At 5,100 feet in the rim country above the Inland Empire, mountain air runs 20 to 30 degrees cooler than the valley floor below — which is the entire reason Southern Californians make the drive. The Rim of the World Drive's panoramic views stretch across the San Bernardino Valley to the Pacific horizon, and the contrast between elevation and valley is what gives the Lake Arrowhead corridor its character. The lodge serves guests year-round. Summer heat in the valley drives the heaviest demand as visitors escape uphill, with winter bringing snow and ski traffic to the same corridor. Reserve well ahead for summer weekends and holiday periods.

from $119/night

Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground

Joshua Tree Lake RV Campground in Joshua Tree, California, provides a lakeside and desert camping experience at the gateway to Joshua Tree National Park—the 800,000-acre California desert preserve where the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts converge and the iconic twisted Joshua trees create the alien landscape that has made this park one of the most photographed national parks in the American West. The campground's pond and lake, wedding venue, live music programming, and exceptional dark-sky stargazing access distinguish it from the park's own developed campgrounds, providing resort-amenity camping with the Joshua Tree character—moonlit boulder piles, star-filled desert skies, and the haunting silhouettes of Yucca brevifolia in the desert night—that defines the high-desert camping experience at the edge of one of California's most beloved national parks. The campground's facility reflects the desert environment and destination event character: a private lake and pond for fishing and desert water recreation, planned activities and live music and entertainment programming that takes advantage of the dramatic desert landscape setting, a wedding venue for celebrations in the Joshua Tree destination event market, bird and wildlife watching in the desert tortoise and roadrunner habitat, a general store, pavilion, showers, bathrooms, dump station, pet-friendly policies, Wi-Fi, and mountain and desert views that frame every camping site with the park scenery that brought guests to Joshua Tree in the first place. Stargazing events and the campground's exceptional night-sky access provide the evening programming that no facilities can improve upon in this dark-sky desert. Joshua Tree National Park's Wonderland of Rocks—a concentration of massive rounded granite monoliths that rose from magma intrusions 100 million years ago and were exposed by erosion to create the boulder-pile landscape that defines the park's distinctive visual character—contains over 8,000 documented rock climbing routes that have made Joshua Tree the most visited and most iconic rock climbing destination in North America. The Skull Rock Nature Trail, Keys View's panoramic Coachella Valley overlook, and the Cottonwood Spring oasis in the Sonoran Desert section provide the representative national park experiences accessible on day hikes from the campground's Joshua Tree gateway position. The town of Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms, and the High Desert arts and culture community that has grown around the national park's western gateway have developed a distinctive creative culture of galleries, music venues, and the annual Joshua Tree Music Festival that reflect the desert landscape's effect on artistic practice in the creative community that has colonized the Morongo Valley's high desert terrain. The Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum in Joshua Tree—a free outdoor sculpture garden of assemblage art created by Purifoy from the debris of the 1965 Watts Riots—is one of the most significant and unusual outdoor art installations in California. Joshua Tree Lake RV Campground operates year-round in the high Mojave Desert's four-season climate, with the fall and spring seasons from October through April delivering the most comfortable desert temperatures for hiking, rock climbing, and boulder exploration in Joshua Tree National Park—the summer months above 100 degrees Fahrenheit make the park's sun-exposed terrain genuinely dangerous for unprepared hikers in the heat of the day, while the mild winter nights create extraordinary stargazing conditions when the desert air's low humidity and the campground's minimal light pollution combine with the Milky Way's winter arc over the park's boulder silhouettes. The spring wildflower season in February and March after winter rains creates the desert bloom that brings maximum visitor volume to Joshua Tree.

from $16 $14/night

Cabins at Joshua Tree Lake by Hostel Cubed

2 Cabins, 4 Hostels

The Cabins at Joshua Tree Lake, operated in partnership with Hostel Cubed, provides air-conditioned cabin and hostel accommodations in the high desert community of Joshua Tree, California — a campground with a community fire pit, a duck-inhabited lake, and a gated environment that offers immediate access to the bouldered landscape of the Mojave Desert and the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park a few miles south. The modular cabin architecture, designed to blend with the desert environment in an eco-friendly configuration, gives the property a distinctive aesthetic that aligns with Joshua Tree's broader tradition of design-forward desert accommodation that has made the community a consistent destination for Los Angeles and Southern California weekend travelers. Air-conditioned cabin accommodations are the primary lodging format, directly addressing the high desert's temperature extremes — summer days in the Joshua Tree area can reach triple digits, and reliable cooling makes the cabin accommodations more functionally appropriate to the desert environment than traditional tent camping through the hot months. The community fire pit provides the evening gathering space that desert camping's spectacular dark skies make particularly rewarding, and the duck-filled lake on the property provides a surprisingly lush visual contrast to the surrounding Mojave landscape. The gated entrance and playground round out a property designed for comfortable small-group and family stays in the Joshua Tree area. Joshua Tree National Park, one of the most visited National Parks in the United States and a unit that encompasses the convergence of the Mojave and Colorado Desert ecosystems, provides the primary outdoor recreation draw for guests at the Cabins — the park's granite boulder formations, twisted Joshua trees, and the particular high-desert light quality that photographers and artists have been capturing for a century create a landscape of genuine visual singularity. Rock climbing at Joshua Tree is internationally recognized as one of the finest crack climbing destinations in the world, with thousands of routes across the park's boulders and monzogranite formations that range from beginner sport climbs to expert crack systems on the Headstone, Hidden Valley, and Intersection Rock formations. Dark sky quality in the Joshua Tree area is exceptional — the high elevation, dry air, and distance from major urban lighting sources combine to produce Milky Way visibility on moonless nights that is among the best available within a three-hour drive of Los Angeles. The national park's designated dark sky status formalizes what desert campers have known for decades: that Joshua Tree's night sky is worth the trip in its own right, independent of the daytime bouldering and landscape appeal. The Cabins at Joshua Tree Lake operates year-round, with the key seasonal logic being temperature — spring and fall deliver the most comfortable desert visiting conditions, with March through May and October through November representing the ideal combination of warm-but-not-brutal days and the full park accessibility that extreme summer heat makes more logistically challenging. Winter stays are cool and can be cold at night at Joshua Tree's 4,200-foot elevation, but the dry air and winter light quality attract landscape photographers specifically. Reserve ahead for spring wildflower season in March and April and for fall weekends, when Joshua Tree draws its strongest non-summer visitor concentration.

from $69/night

Outdoorsy Yosemite

141 RV Sites, 4 Cabins, 10 Tent Sites, 6 Glamping Sites

Outdoorsy Yosemite in Bass Lake, California, offers 141 full-hookup RV sites, four cabins, 10 tent sites, and six glamping sites in the Sierra foothills, with 30 and 50-amp service, cable TV, and rigs accepted to 40 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout, open all year. Superior back-in, premium pull-through, and standard back-in categories join a pool, clubhouse, boat and kayak rentals, and lake access. One hundred forty-one sites run in standard back-in, superior back-in, and premium pull-thru categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp with cable TV, sized to 40 feet, with picnic tables. Note the 40-foot cap before booking a larger rig. Four cabins, 10 tent sites, and six glamping sites round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, propane fills, restrooms, showers, and RV storage handle the practical side. Reservation holders must be at least 18, and guests of all ages are welcome. An outdoor pool anchors the summer, with boat rentals, kayak rentals, and bike rentals opening the lake for boating, paddle boats, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, and fishing. A clubhouse, game room, billiards, ping pong, basketball, horseshoes, sports courts, walking trails, hiking, mountain biking, a playground, community fire pit, dog park, and on-site dining fill the rest, with strong stargazing and birding. Eighteen miles from Yosemite's South Entrance with Bass Lake's warm water immediately adjacent, this works as both a park basecamp and a lake destination. Summer fills both Yosemite and Bass Lake. Reserve well ahead.

from $44 $38/night

Outdoorsy Yosemite National Park RV + Campsite Packages

5 RV Rental + Campsite Packages

Outdoorsy Yosemite National Park RV Campsite Packages in Bass Lake, California, provides a comprehensively equipped resort camping destination in Madera County's Sierra Nevada foothills, positioned on the shores of Bass Lake approximately 14 miles south of Yosemite National Park's South Gate entrance in a setting where the southern Sierra Nevada's forested mountain landscape delivers natural beauty fully competitive with the national park itself at substantially lower competition for campsites. The resort's full-service infrastructure—cabins, full hookup RV sites, pool, boat rentals, lake access, and a complete activity program—makes it one of the most capable family vacation bases on Yosemite's southern approaches. The resort's amenity scope reflects a self-contained destination designed for multi-night family stays: full hookup RV sites, cabin rentals, an outdoor pool, lake access with boat rentals and kayak rentals, paddle boats, a game room with billiards and ping pong, sports courts with basketball, a dog park, laundry, walking trails, general store, dining, propane fills, RV storage, a community fire pit, a clubhouse, and the stargazing enabled by the Sierra Nevada foothills' relatively dark skies. The combination of Bass Lake's recreational water access and Yosemite's proximity creates a two-resource camping vacation that families consistently cite as among the most productive outdoor experiences in California. Bass Lake is a PG&E hydroelectric reservoir at 3,400 feet elevation in the Sierra Nevada foothills south of Yosemite, known for warm summer water temperatures suitable for swimming and water skiing and a mountain shoreline of ponderosa pine and incense cedar that creates a dramatically scenic backdrop for water recreation. The lake's year-round warm-season accessibility—its lower elevation keeps it reliably swimmable from Memorial Day through Labor Day—distinguishes it from the higher-elevation Yosemite Valley lakes, which are accessible only in summer and often cold even then. Bass Lake's marina services, food and beverage operations, and the developed shoreline create a full lake recreation ecosystem. Yosemite National Park's South Gate, accessed via CA-41 through Wawona, provides entry to the park's southern tier including Mariposa Grove—home to over 500 giant sequoias including the famous Grizzly Giant—and the historic Wawona Hotel district before the road ascends to Yosemite Valley's iconic granite walls, Half Dome, and the Merced River corridor. The Wawona section of the park is considerably less crowded than Yosemite Valley during peak summer season, making it a more accessible introduction to Yosemite's superlative landscapes for guests who want genuine park immersion without the Valley's reservation-constrained entry logistics. Outdoorsy Yosemite operates year-round in Madera County's foothill climate, where the 3,400-foot elevation provides seasonal snow that occasionally closes CA-41 in winter but generally allows spring-through-fall outdoor recreation in conditions more moderate than Yosemite Valley's higher and more exposed position. Summer drives peak demand for both Bass Lake swimming and Yosemite National Park visitation, with the park's timed-entry permit system making early reservation planning essential for guests whose itinerary includes Yosemite Valley exploration. The resort's dining and lake infrastructure make it a genuinely self-contained option for guests who want equal parts mountain lake recreation and national park sightseeing.

from $38/night

Bridgeport Reservoir Marina and Campground

18 RV Sites, 7 Tent Sites

Situated on the shore of Bridgeport Reservoir in the high-elevation eastern Sierra country of Mono County, California, Bridgeport Reservoir Marina and Campground offers panoramic views of the Sawtooth Range and Bridgeport Valley from a remote and scenic location that has been serving anglers and travelers since the reservoir's establishment in the 1920s. The campground's position in the upper Great Basin at approximately 6,500 feet of elevation gives it a cool, dry, high-desert character that distinguishes it from the forested western Sierra campgrounds and delivers the wide-open skies and mountain vistas that define the eastern Sierra landscape. Sites include 80-foot pull-through accommodations with electric, water, sewer, and Wi-Fi connections, alongside tent camping positions that take full advantage of the reservoir's open shoreline setting. Off-road trails from the campground lead into the Bodie Hills—the volcanic upland terrain east of Bridgeport that provides access to open-country driving routes through high-desert landscape with views across the Great Basin to the Nevada ranges beyond. The marina provides boat launch access and services for guests arriving with trout fishing vessels, and the combination of campground hookups and marina services in one operation simplifies the logistics of an extended fishing stay. Bridgeport Reservoir is one of the most productive trophy trout fisheries in the eastern Sierra, with rainbow and brown trout reaching exceptional size in the cold, nutrient-rich reservoir water that has developed a thriving fishery since the dam's construction. Anglers targeting trophy rainbows and large brown trout find consistent productivity from both boat and shore, and the reservoir's reputation among knowledgeable California trout anglers makes it a destination worth planning around for guests whose primary interest is fly or lure fishing in a high-elevation Sierra setting. The surrounding Bridgeport Valley is rich in regional attractions for guests extending their stay beyond the reservoir. Bodie State Historic Park, approximately 13 miles east of Bridgeport via dirt road, preserves one of the most intact gold-rush ghost towns in the American West—a remarkably preserved collection of 19th-century mining-era buildings maintained in a state of arrested decay by the California State Parks system. The East Walker River below Bridgeport Reservoir is managed as a wild trout catch-and-release fishery of exceptional quality, with large wild brown trout accessible to wading fly anglers on a stretch of river that ranks among the premier catch-and-release waters in California. Bridgeport Reservoir Marina and Campground is most active from late spring through early fall, with the trout fishing season and the peak of eastern Sierra tourism overlapping from June through September. The reservoir's high elevation means snow is possible through May and can arrive again in October, making the June through September window the most reliably accessible for camping. Advance reservations for fishing season weekends are recommended, particularly for waterfront and pull-through positions that provide the best reservoir access and views. The campground's long history, panoramic Sawtooth Range views, and access to trophy trout fishing on both the reservoir and the East Walker River make it one of the most compelling all-in-one fishing and camping destinations available on the eastern Sierra landscape between Mammoth Lakes and the Nevada border.

from $20/night

Lake Hemet Campgrounds

245 RV Sites, 10 Cabins, 19 Tent Sites, 1 Glamping Site, 3 Onsite RV/Trailers, 1 Park Model

Lake Hemet Campgrounds in Mountain Center, California, offers 248 RV sites, 11 cabin and park model units, 19 tent sites, and a glamping site on a reservoir at roughly 4,340 feet in the San Jacinto Mountains. Sites run full hookup, partial hookup, dry, and lakeview dry, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 50 feet, open all year. Two hundred forty-eight sites span full hookup, partial hookup, dry RV, and lakeview dry categories carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted on 30 and 50-amp, sized to 50 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. The tiering by hookup level lets self-contained rigs take a dry or lakeview dry site at a lower rate. Named rental units — Eagle's Crest, Lakeside, and Trout Pines among them — plus cabins and park models round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, dump station, boat storage, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side, with a gated entrance controlling access. The reservoir is managed for recreational fishing and non-motorized boating, with a marina, boat ramp, and boat and kayak rentals on site. An outdoor pool and splash pad, sports courts, volleyball, basketball, hiking, biking, paddle boarding, and picnicking fill the rest, with a bar on the property and a wedding venue besides. Pets are welcome. Mountain Center sits where the Pacific Crest Trail passes and climbers drive up from Los Angeles and San Diego, on the winding Highway 74 escape from valley heat. The elevation makes this a genuine four-season destination. Summer is peak — reserve ahead.

from $57/night

Jellystone Park™ Zion Utah

212 RV Sites, 11 Cabins, 2 Tent Sites

Jellystone Park Zion Utah in Hurricane offers 212 full-hookup RV sites, 11 cabins, and two tent sites at the western edge of red rock country, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 75 feet behind a gated entrance, open all year. Categories publish exact length — 45, 60, 70, and 75 feet — alongside a lazy river, water park, splash pad, and beach. Two hundred twelve sites run in 45-foot back-in, 45-foot waterfront back-in, 60-foot back-in, 60-foot pull-thru, 70-foot back-in, and 75-foot pull-thru categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric with site WiFi, with fire pits, picnic tables, and BBQ pits. Publishing length by the foot removes every guess about fit, and the 45-foot waterfront tier is worth requesting. Eleven cabins and two tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. The Water Zone runs weekends from mid-March to Memorial Day, daily through August 10, then weekends to late October, weather permitting. A lazy river, water park, and splash pad anchor the season, with an outdoor pool, hot tub, spa, lake, beach, and boat rentals besides. A jumping pillow, gem mining, gaga ball, sports courts, pickleball, basketball, ping pong, corn hole, golf cart rentals, a craft room, walking trails, playground, pavilion, dog park, and food trucks fill the rest. Sand Hollow State Park is close and Zion within day-trip range. Spring and fall are peak in southern Utah. Reserve well ahead.

from $34 $30/night