Joshua Tree Lake Rv & Campground

First off, I would like to comment on all the haters that complain about every little thing,. Like its only a pond and that its a dirt parking lot.
Also CALIFORNIA STATE LAW requires ALL critters of every type to be leashed. and «NO» YOUR critter is no exception!!!
Remember its called camping not the Carlton Ritz…
The reference to the lake is the fact that down in the valley is a dry LAKE bed not referring to the RV park pond, secondly your smack dab in the middle of the desert, trees are hard keep watered and alive in both the dry and hot environment.
I for one am very happy with this campground and staff, its a great place to just get away and relax.
The stars at night are spectacular and if your not too lazy there are trails for ATV’s are used by people for hiking as I have seen as I whiz by on my ATV.
If your too prissy that you forget its called camping then please stay way from this place it will mean that those of us who enjoy this place will always get a site to camp on and enjoy ourselves without all the whiners and bitchers trying to ruin everyone else’s time.
I love this place in the fall, winter and spring…
Unless your a total sun worshipper or attending a concert event, bring your own shade in the summer.

Camped here with my girlfriend because all the campgrounds in Joshua Tree were full.
I want to start out by saying that we did not plan to spend our weekend at this campground. In fact, I spent the previous week hyping up Jumbo Rocks to my girlfriend, who had never been to Joshua Tree National Park before. As luck would have it, we came on a busy weekend and Jumbo Rocks campground had been completely full for the last couple of days before our arrive… as well as all the other campgrounds in Joshua Tree :(
Joshua Tree Lake Rv & Campground was recommended to us by a park ranger as we entered the park. We were told that it is the closest campground outside Joshua Tree that lets you to have campfires (a necessity for us). The campground is about 20 minutes away from the park, which annoyed me. Since we had no other choice, we begrudgingly made the drive out there with no expectations for what we would find.
To our surprise, the campground is pretty decent. What the campground lacks in sights and natural aesthetics, it makes up for with amenities and personality. First, there are two bathrooms locations with running water AND a bunch of porter-​potties scattered about. Second, there are two shower rooms (one for men and one for women), each with three shower heads that have their own individual stalls. There is a playground for small children and a pond that is nice to walk around. At night, the trees surrounding the pond are lit up.
Next to the pond is a convenient store that sells wood, snacks, and other camping necessities. We walked over to the store around 9:30 pm with the hope of buying more wood and were surprised that it was still open. We struck up a conversation with the staff and somehow ended up talking about the casserole dinner that their parents had made them.
In terms of price, it’s $ 10 per person for car camping, which is reasonable.
Bottom line: I wouldn’t stay here if there I can camp inside Joshua Tree National Park, but would be glad to stay here again if I had to.
PS: the campers around us were a friendly and lively bunch. We particularly enjoyed watching two gay guys tribal dance to Brittney Spears!

The guy I just talked to on the phone was a huge, condescending ass. F this place and their prices and their attitude.

We came here for a weekend to do some hiking in Joshua Tree National Park. Our trailer was too large for the NP, so we decided to stay here. The RV sites are quite wide and most have a fire pit and picnic table. There is power and water, but no individual septic at each site, so if your RV/​Trailer doesn’t have tanks, bring a portable sewer with you!
The bathroom facilities were clean although there was an event going on the weekend we were there and by Sunday, the women’s bathrooms needed cleaning (no toilet paper, no paper towels, clogged toilets, etc.). The showers looked nice although I didn’t use them.
The people running the campground were very pleasant & helpful. There is a small store for things like firewood, stuff to make S’mores, etc.
There is also a small pond for fishing although you do need a fishing license (sold at the store in the campground).
Not much to look at, scenery-​wise, but it was a quiet place to spend a few days.

This is good quality park but it could use some TLC to bring it to a 5 star place.
They could use a beer license and some other In the store as the closet store a ways down the road.
It is well priced and both people who run the place are helpful.
The little pond is very cool and adds done coolness of you sit by it during the heat of the day.
Our RV broke down and we were given some #s to call and given advice.

We stayed here due to Joshua tree park being totally full! So anyways, this is a privately owned campground, located about 8 miles from west entrance to Joshua tree park and about 18 miles maybe to the north entrance of jt park. The campground itself is small (good size though), has bathrooms, showers and most sites have a fire pit and picnic table. The tent camping is first come and is 10 bucks a person. Rv camping u can reserve. Inside the campground they have a little lake and the main office has some main convenient items for purchase incase you forgot something. The amenities were nicely kept and we had a good time there… only downfall is its not anything great view wise. It’s a very large flat dirt property with a bunch of fire pits and tables for you to park next to. Luckily you can drive to jt park for the fun stuff and go back to jt lake for sleeping. But overall it was a fine campground.

Wife and I went to see stars. It was perfect, water and power for the trailer. Spent sat fishing in the desert who would have thought! Had a blast. What a great weekend get away ! We will be back.

We will not be back. I am giving two stars instead of one because the campground was not completely at fault but did nothing about the loud noise from a large group that went on until 1:30 am. Sites were unmarked and most had no fire ring or table so it truly was first come first serve to get a table and fire ring. There were two portables that were not serviced on a holiday weekend. Yes it was crowded and yes they had permanent bathrooms and showers near the front building but with that many people in camp they could have done a better job at keeping the place under control and keeping the bathrooms cleaner and functioning.
We did come to JTNP without reservations on a holiday weekend (arriving Friday morning) and that was our bad but the recommendation from the Ranger to this place was not even close to what they described. We could have easily packed up and left but decided to spend our day in the park and the evening in camp. Never again.

We were skeptical after reading some other reviews, but this place was fantastic! Large spots, electricity and water and nice view of the mountains. Some of the neighbors were a bit on the noisy side, but you can’t blame the campground for this. The dump station was quite busy 30 minutes before checkout, but by the time we left (right at checkout), we drove right up with no one waiting behind us either. Proximity to Joshua Tree National Park was about 15 – 20 minutes. Great value and we will definitely be back! Oh, if you want or need wifi, you pay extra and the signal isn’t great. Might be best to leave your technology behind and enjoy the wonders of Joshua Tree!

Came here for an overflow option after finding out all of Joshua tree campgrounds were full. Paid first and drove around to find out it was a parking lot full of dirt. Fenced in and no hiking options. Ask kindly for my refund but the front desk toad was very condescending and refused even thought I was only there less then 5 minutes.
Do not waste your time driving towards this place.

This campground is pretty much an ugly dirt parking lot. Like most people, we did not plan on staying here, but Joshua Tree National Park was full. At first the place looked nice (the office and small pond), but then we saw the sites. The sites are not marked. You camp in what would best be described as a large dirt parking lot. Most sites, in fact very likely all of the sites, do not have picnic tables. Many sites also do not have fire rings (which are literally 50 gallon drums cut in half).
Night 1: Kids are partying and drinking beer late into the night. If you are one of the kids, then great. If like me, you want a nice peaceful evening of camping, not great. An RV near us ran his generator ALL NIGHT LONG. Quiet hour begins at 11pm, however no one on staff enforces quiet hour. You will listen to partying kids and generators throughout the night.
Fortunately, my family and I were able to find a spot in Joshua Tree the next day. We had initially paid for two nights, but only spent one night at Joshua Tree Lake (pond) and RV Park. When I asked if I could have a refund, or even a portion of a refund, for Saturday night since I would not be staying there, the manager said «read the sign». There is a small sign on the desk that states that there are no refunds given for any reason. Would have been nice if they pointed that out when I checked in. I would have paid for only one night at a time then since the campground never fills up, and in fact was only about 10% filled.
My advice– if you are making the trip to visit Joshua Tree, do yourself a favor and either visit on a weekday or make a reservation far in advance online. If are not able to stay in the park and you have to stay at the RV park, you will be very disappointed. Especially after you see how beautiful the National Park campgrounds are compared to the RV park. If you must stay at the RV park, pay only one night at a time. They never fill up, so you won’t lose your spot.
The one plus, if there is a plus, is that there are showers and flush toilets. However, there are pay showers in town that will cost you less and are just as nice if not better. Also, you can stay on the BLM land for free if you can’t stay in the park.

Me and 4 friends of mine visited Joshua Tree park on Veterans day weekend and were turned away from the main State Park because they were completely full. We intended to stay at Jumbo Rocks, but couldn’t according to the park ranger that stopped us. He mentioned to us of this off site camp ground and we decided to make our way. IT WAS PERFECT!!! It was awesome that the main camp office was open late for us to check in and get the spot perfect for our weekend. The campsite was pretty packed that weekend for it being an offsite campground. Most people left the following day (Saturday Morning) and more people arrived that same day. We decided to just stick it out through the entire weekend rather than trying to attempt to leave our spot and find an open one within the state park (Jumbo Rocks).
We ended up finding this awesome water truck which provided some privacy for our site. We were able to take a cool pic on it as well. They have a cool lake which you can feed fish and ducks. Not much to site see in general as this is the desert. Overall had a great weekend. Lots of dirt and dead bushes. Typical desert landscape.
Not sure if I would head back to Joshua tree for camping. I got my fix. LOL
Fun times anyway… If your looking to camp in the desert at Joshua Tree I would suggest finding a spot that takes reservations to guarantee your site will be there. otherwise this place will hold you for the overflow.

Just needed to clarify… The owner «elderly» fellow is super, super chill. The son I’m told is actually the «son-​in-​law» and may have taken a tip or two from pops cuz he was very, very pleasant last time we were there.
Mad props to all!!! Sure makes an outing much more enjoyable. Now… The word has been spread.
Thanks JTree Lake and staff :-)

This was my first time camping and I could have not picked a better spot at the last minute. Went for Memorial Day weekend and the tent camping was empty which I actually liked. Nice place to chill out and be one with nature, but still have basic necessities nearby, such as hot showers and a bathroom. Nothing fancy about, but this camping not glamping.
If I couldn’t camp inside Joshua Tree, this would be the first place I would good. However, I didn’t know there was free wifi. Would have come in handy since you can’t any service at the campsite. But you know what it was nice to unplug for a while.

«Lake»…
Right. I come from Wisconsin, on the border of Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes. And let me tell you, this is NOT a lake. It’s like a little pond. Barely a pond even, more like a little hole where rain water happened to collect. Mostly choked with weeds and looking like it’s starting to dry up with the drought. I saw a couple ducks swimming around which was a surprise.
We got turned away from the lake itself because I had my bearded dragon with me. I wanted to let her get some sun and enjoy myself at the same time. Well, one of the wardens told me I had to have her on a leash if I wanted to be around the lake because he didn’t want her «jumping in and harming the delicate ecosystem.»
A lizard on a leash. Riiiiiight…
So we had to get back in our car and just sit in the hot sun. Another woman who’d been walking her dog came to chat and had some complaints about the wardens as well.
I’m not sure if i was in the wrong area but it was such a small piece of land, with the tiny pond, some shacks, and a couple RVs. No shade, not really anything to do. I was pretty disappointed seeing as we drove 20 minutes to visit it.

My friends and I got a pretty awful treatment by the people who work at the front.
Never in my life have I ever been treated with such disrespect and rude attitude by anyone running a «respectable» business. Their customer service is well below anything I have ever experienced.
They had forgotten to mention to is that 170+ Girl Scouts had reserved the area we already had set up our camp (they told us we could stay wherever we wanted in the tent area cause it was empty) the owner showed up the next day and said we can’t stay there and made us move in the middle of the day to the other side of the camp (2 tents, 5 people, only staying 2 nights).
Then got the worst attitude from any business owner we’ve ever encountered when we asked for a discount. They ended up taking only $ 8 off our bill of $ 40 but with the worst customer service I’ve ever gotten. Got treated badly and we were super nice the whole time. We did not deserve this treatment and it ruined the rest of our stay. Will never return to that place. They must get a lot of irate customers who want a refund because there was a pretty nasty sign on the front desk… we were never asking to get refunded, just a better discount for the huge inconvenience and lack of communication to us. And by the way… We moved all our stuff for nothing, these scouts never showed up. I’m sure these people give good customer service to people who are happy but they deal with all other matters horribly. And that to me shows bad customer service.

The owners are very hospitable. We got turned away at the National Park because camps were almost full but this place was open and amazing. Very inexpensive and included showers, bathrooms, and wifi.

Nice place to camp outside the National Park.

Great place to camp out. I got lucky staying here. The campground at Joshua Tree National Park were full and we where given the number to this location for over flow camping. So happy we checked it out. Water hook up, hot showers, clean bathrooms, beautiful place to see te stars at night. Plus it a safe and clean place to bring young children. Its out in the middle if nowhere but only i you go you will sure be happy to ventured out that way.

Great place, way out in the boondocks! Very hard to find at night. The time of our visit there were plenty spaces available. We arrived after dark and our choices given to us was close to the restrooms and shower area. That worked for us. We set up our area, and made our way to the rest rooms. I found the women’s restroom and showers very clean. My husband found roaches in the men’s restroom, but said it was clean.
On the desert ground you would find some baby roaches and stink bugs crawling around.
We left early the next morning, but on the way out we could see a park for kids close to the check-​in office, as well as a sitting area.
This happen to work well for us, and we would give it another try.