Pet Friendly

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

Golden Village Palms Resort

Golden Village Palms Resort in Hemet, California, is one of the largest RV resorts in the state — a 55-plus destination in Riverside County's Diamond Valley with full-hookup sites, a spa, fitness center, mini-golf, and pickleball courts behind a gated entrance, open all year. Personal mailboxes and RV storage support the long-stay residents who fill it through the winter. Full-hookup sites serve the resort's largely seasonal population, with laundry, RV storage, personal mailboxes, restrooms, and showers handling the practical side, plus WiFi and recycling throughout. Check-in for RV sites is 1:00pm with check-out at 12:00pm; early arrivals and late departures may be available for a nominal fee, and cottage check-in times differ — confirm when booking. The amenity roster is the reason people come. An outdoor pool and spa anchor daily recreation, with a fitness center, clubhouse, craft room, and game room for the social calendar. Pickleball, bocce ball, shuffleboard, horseshoes, volleyball, billiards, corn hole, and sports courts fill the competitive side, with mini-golf and a dog park besides. On-site dining covers meals, live music and planned activities run through the season, and the resort also serves as a wedding venue. A casino, hiking, wine tasting, and hot air ballooning are all nearby. Pets are welcome. Hemet sits in the Diamond Valley between the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains, in the inland reach of Southern California — warm dry summers, mild winters, and a dramatic mountain backdrop, roughly 30 miles west of the Palm Springs resort corridor across the San Jacinto Fault. Winter is decisively the season. Book well ahead for January through March.

from $64/night

Paradise RV Park (Desert Hot Springs)

89 RV Sites

Paradise RV Park in Desert Hot Springs, California, offers 89 full-hookup back-in RV sites with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 50 feet, behind a gated entrance in the Coachella Valley. A pool, fitness center, dog park, and pickleball courts serve a private desert community near Palm Springs. Eighty-nine back-in sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp, sized to 50 feet, with picnic tables and BBQ pits at the sites. The 20-amp option suits smaller trailers that do not need a full pedestal. Restrooms and WiFi serve the sites, and a gated entrance controls access — which matters for the long-stay guests who make up much of the winter occupancy. Pets are welcome. An outdoor pool anchors daily recreation, with a fitness center for the rest of the day and a community fire pit for the evenings. Pickleball and bocce ball courts fill the competitive calendar, and a playground and dog park serve families and pets. The mountain and desert setting frames the property on every side. Desert Hot Springs is distinct from the valley's southern resort communities. Its famous natural mineral hot springs sustain a spa and wellness industry that operates independently of the Palm Springs tourist economy, which gives the town a quieter, more restorative character — and the hot spring access is genuinely the reason many guests choose this side of the valley. The San Jacinto Mountains rise to the south, with Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park both within easy reach. Winter is decisively the season in the Coachella Valley, when snowbirds fill the desert communities. Book well ahead for January through March, and expect April festival weeks to tighten availability across the entire valley.

from $65/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

Cathedral Palms RV Resort

62 RV Sites, 1 Onsite RV/Trailer, 1 Apartment

Cathedral Palms RV Resort in Cathedral City, California, offers 62 full-hookup RV sites and an apartment with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 55 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout, with EV charging on site. Deluxe and water-and-electric back-ins join the Happy Camper travel trailer rental, with a pool, hot tub, and pickleball courts. Sixty-two back-in sites run in water-and-electric and deluxe full-hookup categories carrying 30 and 50-amp, sized to 55 feet, with site WiFi. EV charging is available — still uncommon at RV resorts and increasingly decisive for guests towing with an electric vehicle. The Happy Camper travel trailer rental and an apartment serve guests without a rig, with check-in for rental units at 3:00pm. A laundry, propane fills, dump station, RV storage, bike rentals, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. An outdoor pool and hot tub and sauna anchor the property, with a clubhouse, community fire pit, and dog park besides. Pickleball, bocce ball, basketball, billiards, ping pong, and corn hole fill the competitive calendar, with biking from the property, planned activities through the season, and a golf course and national park nearby. Pets are welcome. Cathedral City sits between Palm Springs and Palm Desert in the Coachella Valley, which puts the region's golf courses, spa culture, national park access, and mid-century modern architecture all within easy reach. Winter is decisively the season in the desert. Book well ahead for January through March.

from $65/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

Native Falls Campground

11 RV Sites, 14 Cabins, 15 Tent Sites

In the wine country hills of southwest Riverside County, Native Falls Campground has built a privately operated outdoor resort around a centerpiece swimming lake with a waterfall, sandy beach, and catch-and-release fishing—a rare combination in Southern California's increasingly developed inland valleys that creates a genuinely natural camping experience within one of the state's most celebrated wine tourism destinations. The campground's cabins, full-hookup RV sites, tent camping areas, and paddle watercraft rentals serve the full spectrum of camping preferences in a setting that combines the lake's aquatic appeal with the surrounding wine country's landscape of oak woodlands, rolling vineyards, and the warm inland climate that makes Temecula a year-round outdoor destination. Full-hookup RV sites—both back-in and pull-through—offer 30/50-amp electric, water, and sewer connections alongside access to the property's full amenity suite, while fully furnished cabin rentals and scenic tent camping spots extend accommodation options across the lodging spectrum. The lake centerpiece supports swimming, catch-and-release fishing, and kayak, paddleboard, and pedal boat rentals that give guests multiple ways to engage with the water feature throughout the day. A pickleball court, shuffleboard, pool table, fire pits, and picnic areas complete the recreational infrastructure, and the campground's pet-friendly policy with cabin pet acceptance makes it a practical choice for the traveling-with-pets family. The swimming lake, fed by the natural waterfall that gives the campground its name, provides a central gathering point throughout the warm season—a place where anglers cast for bass and bluegill in the early morning, swimmers and paddlers take over by midday, and fire pit gatherings pull the evening social activity to the water's edge as the sun drops below the surrounding oak ridgeline. Hiking trails through the campground's property extend the natural exploration into the surrounding terrain, and the wildlife corridor character of the Temecula area's surviving oak woodland gives guests reasonable expectations of encountering deer, red-tailed hawks, and the California mule deer that inhabit the valley's less-developed ridges. The Temecula Valley Wine Country, one of Southern California's premier wine tourism destinations with 40-plus wineries along Rancho California Road and De Portola Road, begins just minutes from the campground and provides a wine tasting and vineyard landscape experience that draws visitors from across the Los Angeles and San Diego metro regions for weekend escapes. Old Town Temecula's western heritage streetscape, antique shops, and lively restaurant and brewery scene provides a complementary cultural excursion, and the Pechanga Resort Casino offers entertainment, dining, and the nightlife that the surrounding residential valley lacks. Hot air balloon flights over the Temecula wine country offer a memorable aerial perspective on the valley's vineyard geometry. The Temecula area's Mediterranean climate—warm, dry summers and mild winters—supports year-round camping at Native Falls, with the most consistently pleasant conditions arriving in spring and fall when daytime temperatures stay in the 70s and the oak woodland's seasonal changes provide visual interest beyond the lake's constant appeal. Summer wine tasting season fills the Temecula wine country's tasting rooms and creates a festive atmosphere extending to the surrounding camping destinations, and the annual Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival in late May draws visitors from across Southern California to a celebration of two of the valley's most distinctive experiences. Reserve early for summer weekends and holidays when Native Falls' lake access and wine country proximity fills site inventory well in advance.

from $61/night

Emerald Desert RV Resort

97 RV Sites

Emerald Desert RV Resort in Palm Desert, California, offers 97 full-hookup back-in RV sites across 33 acres with 30 and 50-amp service, cable TV, and rigs accepted to 56 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout, open all year behind a gated entrance. Luxury, elite, premium, and deluxe categories join a pool, hot tub, spa, fitness center, and disc golf course. Ninety-seven back-in sites run in deluxe, premium, elite, and luxury categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp with cable TV and site WiFi, sized to 56 feet. The four-tier structure gives real budget range within a single resort. A laundry, propane fills and exchange, restrooms, showers, RV storage, and boat storage handle the practical side. An outdoor pool, hot tub, sauna, and spa anchor the property, with a fitness center, clubhouse, craft room, pavilion, and disc golf course besides. Tennis, pickleball, bocce ball, billiards, ping pong, and horseshoes fill the courts, with a dog park and live music through the season. The resort is LGBTIQA+ friendly and operates as a wedding venue. Championship golf, concert venues, shopping, dining, wine and beer tasting, and Joshua Tree National Park are all nearby. Pets are welcome. The Coachella Valley's winter climate is the entire proposition — reliably sunny, warm, and dry from November through April when much of the country is frozen. Winter is decisively the season. January through March fills with snowbirds and festival traffic. Book well ahead, with far easier availability through the hot summer months.

from $68/night

Shadow Hills RV Resort

95 RV Sites, 19 Tent Sites

Shadow Hills RV Resort in Indio, California, offers 95 paved full-hookup back-in RV sites and 19 tent sites in the Coachella Valley, with 30 and 50-amp service, cable TV, and rigs accepted to 60 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout. A spa, hot tub, fitness center, business center, and library sit behind a gated entrance. Ninety-five paved back-in sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp with cable TV, sized to 60 feet. Paved sites hold up better than gravel through a desert season and make setup cleaner. Nineteen tent sites and cabins round out the accommodations. Laundry, restrooms, showers, and a snack bar handle the practical side, with a gated entrance controlling access. The amenity set is built for a long winter stay. An outdoor pool, hot tub, sauna, and spa cover daily recreation, with a fitness center, clubhouse, game room, craft room, and library for the rest. A business center serves guests working remotely, and a pond, walking trails, community fire pit, dog park, and horseshoes fill the grounds. Planned activities run through the season. Pets are welcome. Indio sits at the center of the Coachella Valley's date palm agricultural belt and hosts two of the world's most attended music festivals. Palm Springs' cosmopolitan appeal and Joshua Tree National Park's high desert are both within easy reach, and the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and Art Museum are close. Winter is decisively the season, and April festival weeks tighten the entire valley. Book well ahead for both.

from $45/night

Indian Wells

143 RV Sites

Indian Wells in Indio, California, offers 142 full-hookup RV sites with 20, 30, and 50-amp service, cable TV, and rigs accepted to 45 feet, behind a gated entrance in the Coachella Valley. Standard, premium, and pull-through full-hookup categories sit alongside a pool, hot tub and sauna, spa, fitness center, tennis courts, and an on-site casino. One hundred forty-two sites run in standard, premium, and pull-through full-hookup configurations, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp with cable TV and site WiFi, sized to 45 feet. Laundry, restrooms, and showers serve the extended winter residencies that fill the resort, and recycling is available. A gated entrance controls access. The amenity set is built for a long winter stay. An outdoor pool, hot tub, and sauna cover daily aquatic recreation, with spa services and a fitness center alongside. Tennis and sports courts, basketball, shuffleboard, and billiards fill the competitive calendar, and a clubhouse, game room, and library serve the social side. On-site dining covers meals, a casino sits on the property, and walking trails and a dog park round it out. A golf course is nearby. Pets are welcome. Indio sits in the geographic center of the Colorado Desert, 23 miles east of Palm Springs, with the Santa Rosa Mountains rising above the valley floor. The Coachella Valley's golf, tennis, and entertainment infrastructure is among the most concentrated in the Southwest. The resort is open all year, but winter is decisively the season — November through April fills with snowbirds. Book well ahead for those months, and expect festival season in April to tighten the whole valley.

from $72/night