Tent Camping in California

Yosemite RV Resort

76 RV Sites, 22 Tent Sites

Yosemite RV Resort in Coarsegold, California, offers 71 full-hookup RV sites and 22 tent sites across 35 acres in the Sierra Nevada foothills, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 70 feet. Deluxe+ pull-through, deluxe back-in, and Standard+ back-in categories join an outdoor pool, clubhouse, playground, and dog park 25 miles from Yosemite's South Entrance. Seventy-one sites span deluxe back-in, deluxe pull-thru, Deluxe+ pull-thru, and Standard+ back-in categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp with site WiFi, sized to 70 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Seventy feet accommodates a long coach with a tow, which is generous for the foothills. Twenty-two tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, propane fills, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. One policy to clear first: the resort has a ten-year age restriction on all RVs, though older coaches are reviewed for approval — send a photo to [email protected] before booking. An outdoor pool anchors the property, with a clubhouse, playground, horseshoes, and dog park filling the grounds. Pets are welcome. The address is 34094 California State Highway 41, in Madera County where the blue oak and manzanita hills of the western Sierra rise out of the San Joaquin Valley toward the mixed conifer forest. Yosemite's South Entrance at Wawona is 25 miles north, which puts the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias and Glacier Point within a morning's drive. Summer is peak at Yosemite and the park fills. Reserve well ahead for June through September, and clear RV approval early if your coach is older.

from $73 $63/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

Mendocino Redwoods RV Resort

47 RV Sites, 18 Cabins, 15 Tent Sites

Mendocino Redwoods RV Resort in Willits, CA, offers 47 full-hookup RV sites, 18 cabins, and 15 tent sites, with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 60 feet. Sites run from standard back-ins and standard pull-thrus up through deluxe pull-thrus, end sites, and premium pull-thrus with a private hot tub. Every site carries water, sewer, and electric with cable TV, a fire pit, picnic table, and barbecue. The grounds are gated. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a general store, firewood, propane exchange, and a dump station cover the essentials, and pets are welcome with a dog park on site. The recreation list is genuinely deep for a park this size: an outdoor pool, a water park, a hot tub and sauna, a disc golf course, mini-golf, a game room and arcade, volleyball, basketball, bocce, and horseshoes, plus a bar, snack bar, pavilion, and a barn for larger gatherings. Creek frontage, walking trails, and hiking round it out. Willits sits just off US-101 in Mendocino County, at the junction of the redwood country and the road west toward the Mendocino Coast. Rates for sites, cabins, and tent spots are on the booking page. The premium hot tub pull-thrus are limited and book earliest.

from $46/night

Stagecoach Trails RV Park

115 RV Sites, 17 Cabins, 17 Tent Sites

Stagecoach Trails RV Park in Julian, California, offers 113 RV sites, 17 cabins, and 17 tent sites with dedicated equestrian back-in sites, horse paddocks, and horse pens — the premier horse-camping destination in San Diego County's backcountry. Sites carry 30 and 50-amp full hookups and take rigs up to 100 feet, with an outdoor pool and sports courts on site. Sites run from 30-amp back-ins and pull-throughs to 50-amp pull-throughs and dedicated equestrian back-in sites, all carrying water, sewer, and electric and sized to 100 feet. Seventeen cabins and 17 tent sites round out the accommodations. Horse paddocks and horse pens handle overnight boarding — the infrastructure that makes this a genuine equestrian base rather than a campground that tolerates trailers. A general store covers basics and WiFi reaches the property. The name on the reservation must be present at check-in. On-site recreation serves both the horse crowd and general campers. An outdoor pool anchors the warm months, with sports courts, pickleball, basketball, volleyball, horseshoes, and corn hole across the grounds, plus a playground, dog park, and community fire pit. Planned activities run through the season, and the mountain setting supports strong bird and wildlife watching. Pets are welcome. Julian sits at 4,200 feet, an apple-orchard town with nineteenth-century gold rush roots. Trail riding runs into Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and Cleveland National Forest, and the terrain drops east toward the Anza-Borrego Desert in one of the most dramatic ecological transitions on any Southwest trail system. The four-season mountain climate keeps riding comfortable most of the year. Fall apple season and spring wildflowers are the busiest windows — reserve equestrian sites well ahead.

from $69/night

Redwood Meadows RV Resort

35 RV Sites, 4 Tent Sites

Redwood Meadows RV Resort in Crescent City, CA, offers 35 full-hookup RV sites and 4 tent sites, with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 76 feet. Sites come in six categories — back-in 30-amp, back-in 50-amp, deluxe back-in 30-amp, deluxe pull-thru 30-amp, deluxe pull-thru 50-amp, and premium — all carrying water, sewer, and electric. At 76 feet the deluxe pull-thrus take long coaches. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a general store, propane fills and exchange, a dump station, and a recreation center cover the essentials. Pets are welcome, with a dog park and a basketball court. The resort's own pitch is about proximity, and it holds up: this is the closest RV park to groceries, shopping, the marina, restaurants, lighthouses, beaches, nature walks, farmers' markets, and the Victorian homes of the area. The resort sits ten minutes east of Crescent City on Highway 199 in Hiouchi, immediately next to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park — the most intact old-growth redwood grove in the state park system, in a forest that was never logged, on the jade-green Smith River. Rates by site category are on the booking page. Summer in the redwoods books early.

from $35/night

The Retreat at Redwood Shores

71 RV Sites, 13 Cabins, 17 Tent Sites

The Retreat at Redwood Shores in Eureka, California, offers 71 RV sites, three cabins, and 10 tent sites across 10 acres on Humboldt Bay, with 30 and 50-amp water-and-electric service and rigs accepted to 72 feet. Premium, pull-through, back-in, and standard categories join a dry camping tier, with an outdoor pool, mini-golf, and dog park. Seventy-one sites span back-in, standard, premium, pull-thru, and dry camping categories, carrying water and electric on 30 and 50-amp, sized to 72 feet. Two things to plan around: the sites carry water and electric but not sewer, so manage tank capacity accordingly, and the dry camping tier gives self-contained rigs a lower rate. Seventy-two feet is generous for the North Coast. Three cabins and 10 tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. An outdoor pool anchors the property, with mini-golf, bocce ball, a playground, dog park, swimming, picnicking, and planned activities filling the grounds. Pets are welcome. Eureka sits where the Humboldt Bay estuary meets the southern edge of the coastal redwood ecosystem — the tallest trees on earth, in the only place they grow. The Avenue of the Giants runs south and Redwood National and State Parks north, which puts the two great redwood drives within reach of a single basecamp. Old Town Eureka's Victorian architecture, the Sequoia Park Zoo and garden, the Humboldt Botanical Garden, Fort Humboldt, and Madaket harbor cruises are all close. Summer is peak on the Redwood Coast, when the fog lifts and the parks fill. Reserve well ahead for July through September.

from $34/night

Lemon Cove Village RV Park

47 RV Sites, 10 Tent Sites

Lemon Cove Village RV Park in California offers 47 RV sites and 10 tent sites in the Sierra foothills, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 45 feet, open all year. A Van Life Parking category and a water-only tier join full-hookup and water-and-electric pull-throughs, with an outdoor pool, clubhouse, and general store. Forty-seven sites span pull-thru 30-amp, pull-thru 30/50-amp, water-and-electric 30-amp, water only, and Van Life Parking categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted with site WiFi, sized to 45 feet. The Van Life and water-only tiers are genuinely uncommon and right-size for smaller rigs rather than making them pay for space they cannot use. One billing note: rigs 37 feet or longer, or with two or more air conditioners or other high-draw appliances, may be subject to a $10 per night electrical surcharge. Ten tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, boutique shop, laundry, dump station, restrooms, showers, RV storage, boat storage, and recycling handle the practical side. An outdoor pool anchors the property, with a clubhouse, sports courts, volleyball, horseshoes, gem mining, and a dog park filling the rest. Boating and a river are nearby, and the property operates as a wedding venue. Lemon Cove is the most convenient RV gateway to Sequoia and Kings Canyon, on the CA-198 approach along the Kaweah River in Tulare County. Summer fills the parks. Reserve well ahead.

from $57/night

Trailer Lane Campground

14 RV Sites, 1 Tent Site

Trailer Lane Campground in Weed, California, offers 14 full-hookup RV sites and a tent site in the shadow of Mount Shasta, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 65 feet. Back-in, pull-through, and dedicated van camping sites sit directly off I-5 in Siskiyou County, with a general store and laundry on site. Fourteen sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp in back-in and pull-through configurations, sized to 65 feet, with picnic tables. Dedicated van camping sites serve the growing number of guests traveling in converted vans rather than trailers. A general store handles supply needs after long highway stretches, coin-operated laundry serves extended stays, and WiFi reaches the sites. Arrival is between 2:00pm and 6:00pm. On-site facilities are practical rather than recreational — restrooms, laundry, the store, and a dog park. The campground's position directly on the I-5 corridor makes access and departure straightforward for drivers pulling large rigs through mountain terrain, which is the main reason travelers choose it. Pets are welcome. Weed sits where the Shasta Valley's wide grasslands meet the forested slopes of the Cascade Range, at the foot of Mount Shasta — one of the most visually commanding volcanic peaks in North America. The campground serves both through-travelers using I-5 between the Bay Area and Oregon and guests basing themselves to explore the volcanic landscape of interior Northern California. The campground operates through the Siskiyou County season. Summer brings the heaviest I-5 traffic and the best conditions for exploring the Shasta area. With 14 sites, reserve ahead for summer weekends rather than arriving on spec.

from $32/night

Surf Outpost

95 RV Sites, 35 Tent Sites

Surf Outpost in Malibu, California, offers 95 full-hookup RV sites and 35 tent sites on the Pacific coast, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 45 feet. Ocean view, premium ocean view, and XL categories join no-view back-in sites, with beach access across Pacific Coast Highway. Ninety-five back-in sites span no view, no view XL, ocean view, ocean view XL, and premium ocean view categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp with site WiFi, sized to 45 feet, with picnic tables. The category structure is refreshingly plain about what you are paying for — an ocean view or not, and extra length or not. Thirty-five tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, propane fills, dump station, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. Beach access is on foot: down the driveway, right on PCH, then to the signal and crosswalk at the gas station. Stays of four nights or more in September run 20% off, applied automatically. The beach carries the recreation, with surfing, paddle boarding, swimming, hiking, and horseback riding all available. A dog park sits on the grounds. Pets are welcome. The Malibu coast's surf breaks and the Santa Monica Mountains meeting the Pacific make this one of the most photographed coastlines on earth — and full hookups here are genuinely scarce. Summer is peak on the Southern California coast. Reserve as far ahead as you can.

from $75/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

Antlers RV Park & Campground

65 RV Sites, 39 Tent Sites

Antlers RV Park and Campground in Lakehead, California, offers 65 full-hookup back-in RV sites and 39 tent sites overlooking Shasta Lake, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 75 feet. A single back-in category means every guest gets the same spec, with a private boat launch, slip rentals, outdoor pool, and general store five minutes off I-5. Sixty-five back-in sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp, sized to 75 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. One category and no guesswork — and 75 feet accommodates a long coach with a tow, which is generous for a lakeside property on sloping terrain. Thirty-nine tent sites, cabins, and trailer rentals round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. A private boat launch, boat rentals, and slip rentals open the lake for boating and swimming, with an outdoor pool, sports courts, volleyball, basketball, ping pong, horseshoes, a playground, and picnicking filling the rest. Planned activities run through the season. Pets are welcome. Directions southbound: take the second Lakehead exit (702) for Antlers Road / Lakeshore Drive, turn left, right onto Antlers Road at the stop sign, and continue about 1.5 miles. Shasta Lake is California's largest reservoir, and this is one of the few private camping resorts that genuinely overlooks the water — houseboating, bass fishing, and the Shasta Caverns are all here, with Mount Shasta rising to the north. Summer lake season drives demand hard. Reserve well ahead for June through August.

from $33/night

Bridgeport Reservoir Marina and Campground

18 RV Sites, 7 Tent Sites

Bridgeport Reservoir Marina and Campground in Bridgeport, CA, offers 18 RV sites and 7 tent sites, with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 80 feet. Sites come in four categories — pull-thru, premium pull-thru, water-and-electric back-in, and water-only back-in bluff sites. Full-hookup sites carry water, sewer, and electric with site-delivered WiFi, a fire pit, and a picnic table; the bluff sites trade hookups for the view. At 80 feet the pull-thrus take the longest coaches. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a general store, firewood, propane fills and exchange, a dump station, and both RV and boat storage cover everything. Pets are welcome, with a dog park. The marina is the anchor: boat docks, a boat ramp, boat rentals, and fishing guides, plus a beach, a community fire pit, and walking trails, with fishing, boating, paddling, paddle boarding, swimming, hiking, biking, horseback riding, and birding. The campground sits on Highway 182 near Bridgeport in Mono County's high eastern Sierra country, with the Sawtooth Range across the valley. Turn off Highway 395 onto 182 toward Yerington and it's on the left. Rates for sites and tent spots are on the booking page. Trout season on the reservoir is the busiest stretch.

from $20/night