Best Campgrounds in Nevada: 2026 Guide

Nevada camping is a study in contrasts. Most visitors see the neon of Las Vegas and assume the state is nothing but desert — but the reality is a chain of mountain ranges rising like islands from the basin floor, each harboring alpine lakes, pine forests, and campgrounds at 8,000+ feet. The Spring Mountains sit 40 minutes from the Strip yet feel like another planet. The East Humboldt Range near Wells holds Angel Lake in a glacial cirque that rivals anything in the Sierra. Lake Mead's desert shores offer year-round warm-weather camping. Nevada is vast, empty, and spectacularly underrated.

Why Nevada Stands Out

Privacy. Nevada is the least-crowded camping state in the West. The campgrounds here are small, often primitive, and almost never full outside of holiday weekends. The Great Basin's basin-and-range geography means each mountain range is a self-contained ecosystem — you climb from sagebrush to aspen to alpine cirque in a single canyon road. The dark skies are world-class: Great Basin National Park is an International Dark Sky Park, and most Nevada campgrounds offer Milky Way views that city dwellers can't imagine. Lake Mead extends the season year-round, and the Spring Mountains offer mountain camping within an hour of a major airport.

Top Campgrounds to Explore

Angel Lake

High on the East Humboldt Range at 8,400 feet near Wells, Angel Lake sits in a stunning glacial cirque. The drive up is dramatic and the lake is a hidden gem of the northern Nevada mountains.

Angel Creek

On the grassy foothills of the East Humboldt Range at 6,200 feet near Wells, Angel Creek offers a more accessible alternative to Angel Lake with mountain views and creek-side camping.

Callville Bay Campground

Along the northern edge of Boulder Basin at Lake Mead near Boulder City, open year-round with paved sites accommodating tents and RVs — desert lake camping minutes from Las Vegas.

Echo Bay Campground

In the northern Overton Arm of Lake Mead near Boulder City, open year-round with desert scenery and lake access. Quieter than Callville Bay, with excellent fishing and boating.

Hilltop

In the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area just 40 miles from downtown Las Vegas, Hilltop offers hiking, horseback riding, and scenic mountain camping at elevation — a world away from the Strip.

Fletcher View

Another Spring Mountains gem just 24 miles from Las Vegas, Fletcher View delivers mountain relief with scenic drives and hiking trails in the pine-and-juniper forests above the desert floor.

Bird Creek Campground

High on the Schell Creek Range at 8,200 feet near Ely in the Duck Creek Basin. Remote, quiet, and surrounded by the kind of mountain scenery that most people don't associate with Nevada.

East Creek Campground

Also in the Duck Creek Basin on the Schell Creek Range near Ely, East Creek sits in an alder and pinyon forest offering a wide range of recreation at elevation in central Nevada.

Planning Tips

Mountain campgrounds (7,000+ feet) are typically open June through September. Lake Mead campgrounds are year-round but scorching from June through August — spring and fall are ideal. Water is scarce everywhere; carry far more than you think you need. The drives between campgrounds can be very long with no services — top off fuel at every opportunity. Cell service is nonexistent in most of rural Nevada. Wind can be fierce in the basins; use strong stakes and windbreaks. The reward for all this planning is solitude that the crowded West rarely offers.

Find More

Browse all Nevada campgrounds on our Nevada camping page, or explore the full campground directory to plan your next trip.