Lone Pine Campground- Inyo National Forest

We stayed here when we left Death Valley. It is just outside of Lone Pine, CA, above the Alabama Hills, which offer practically endless opportunities for hiking and climbing. The boys loved exploring in the huge rock jumbles. Lone Pine Campground must have one of the best views of any campground out there. It sits in a little canyon at 6,000', in the shadow of the high Sierra, just below Mt. Whitney. Incredible. There is a trail up to Whitney Portal that leads right from the campground. We were there in April, and the weather was fantastic. There are very few trees on the lower portion of the hiking trail- in summer I would bet it seems pretty exposed, but we saw lots of wildflowers. The Inyo National Forest website indicates that there are no walk-in sites, but I saw them, and the recreation.gov site will allow you to reserve them. They looked very nice.

This was a superb campground- killer views, nice hiking, an icy-cold creek for the kids to play in. Our site was a bit close to the Whitney Portal road, and we did occasionally hear cars drive by.

Further info: www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/

Furnace Creek Campground (and a few others)- Death Valley National Park

We just spent spring break in Death Valley National Park, so this is where I will begin. We camped at Furnace Creek, 196' below sea level. Even though we had no reservations, we happened upon a shaded tent site that was lovely, although close to neighbors on both sides. I think it was site #86 or 88. There is a row of sites, all numbered in the 80's which have shade. That row is nice, but it is right across the road from an rv area. There is a tent-only area with walk-in sites, but there were no shaded sites left when we arrived. I was pleasantly surprised that Furnace Creek ended up being a great place to stay. We could walk to the visitor center, where the boys completed their Jr. Ranger activities, and we attended an evening star program which was worth the time. It is centrally located to several other park attractions, and you could run over to the ice house to re-stock the cooler. We did not bring the kids' bikes, but it would be a great place to have them.

Here is what I observed at other campgrounds in the park:

-Stovepipe Wells- a giant parking lot for rv's

-Sunset- another rv parking lot

-Texas Spring- looked good, but we did not stay there. I believe it is a generator-free campground, which is a plus.

-Emigrant- a small, tents only campground, but right next to the main park road, and questionable shade. Might be a good, quick stop if you were coming in late at night from the west.

More info can be found at www.nps.gov/deva

Why the Tent Camping Companion?

I always wish I knew more about a campground when I am planning a trip. I am frequently in search of the perfect place to take the kids. I want to know if there is hiking right from the campground, and what the trail is like. Is there safe water for the kids to play in? Is the campground overdeveloped or does it cater to rv's?  It is so difficult to know just the right place to go simply by reading a book or a canned description on a website. I thought it might be beneficial to others if I shared some of my campground experiences. Most will be in northern California, although we do travel and camp in other places as well. We are tent campers with kids- mine are ages 8, 5 and 1, so kid suitability is always a consideration.