Boulder Basin is a beautiful campground. It's great for rockclimbers because there are plenty of boulders and rock formations everywhere. The views are spectacular. Make sure to hike your way to the summit for some stellar sunset shots above the clouds. It's a primitive campground so no running water/showers and their vault toilets stink! If you can, get a campsite away from the bathrooms because you will smell it. We stayed at campsite 5, which was located right by the bathrooms. The campsites are huge and can fit a few cars and plenty of tents. Each site has a fire pit and a picnic table. Before making the drive up, make sure to have enough food, water, and firewood so you don't have to drive all the way back down to find a market. Make sure to drive an SUV or AWD car because the road up to the campground is really bumpy and windy and will mess up the bottom of your car. read more

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This was a terrible experience, awful roads. If you do not own a 4x4 I definitely wouldn't recommend it! Either way this is a no go never again. Outhouse bathrooms where disgusting worse than anything I've ever seen. No water access on the campsite itself. None of the water spouts work! Think 3 times before attempting to go here and have a great time ! read more

Beautiful campground in the San Bernardino National Forest. Boulder Basin Campground in the Black mountain area is popular with rock climbers as there are numerous boulders worthy of climbing strewn throughout the campground. Access to campground is via dirt road for a mile or so off the main road and therefore rarely gets filled up. Beautiful views of the valley below. Serene environment. One of my favorite places to pass out and nap in the middle of the day. Be wary of Mosquitos. They can be active here. I came home with 7 bites. I must be delicious. There is no water at the campground but 1/4 mile down the road there is a spring. Campground has pit toilets. My friend described the place as Disneyland for climbers as the campgrounds, restrooms, and boulders are all conveniently located. No crazy long approaches. Beautiful place to enjoy for climbers and non climbers alike. read more

Boulder Basin Campground - Bouldering - Campgrounds Near Me

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The campground itself was stunning. The boulders and rock formations were AWESOME! We were stoked to get there after the gnarly trek up. Which is one of the two reasons why I'm only giving it 3 stars. We took a Chevy diesel up and had no idea how extreme the road was going to be. So many bumps our truck was moving all over the place. We were going less than a mile per hour the whole way up. It felt like HOURS. We were definitely wishing for an off road built rig or Raptor to scream through the road. It was just too much getting up there. The second thing was the bathroom stalls. Holy Crap-----literally. Smells so bad my nose was stinging. Rather shat in the woods than go in there. They probably don't clean them out often due to the horrible road up. I am not trying to hate! It was all worth the experience. We had a blast climbing on the rocks and running around the trail. We went up to the fuller ridge trail (PCT) and hiked around. There are some incredible views up there that over look HWY 10 east/west. I would definitely go back if we had a different vehicle and my own crapper. Ha! read more

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This was our first time camping here and let me just say it far exceeded our expectations. The views are spectacular and if you have kids it's a short hike to check out some of the most breathtaking views. Be warned that the bathrooms here are pretty bad. I would suggest bringing your own portable toilet or a gas mask if plan to use the campground bathroom. Other then that there are really no complaints. We stayed in spot #23; be a great spot for a bigger group to share with site 25 as they are pretty close to one another. Second photo posted is of campsite 25 so can see how close it is. Not a lot of level spots for tents. After scoping out the campground we felt spot #30 would be the ideal spot to try out next. A hike to the lookout tower for sunset is a must! And make sure to bring your own water. For this campground not having any park rangers on site we really didn't have any issues. All the other campers were friendly and respectful. Ya not everyone was quiet right at 10pm but no one was out of hand or being super loud. Overall we had an amazing time and will be back for another adventure soon! read more

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I enjoyed my walk to the Black Mountain Tower. This site is clean and beautiful. I saw mostly young adults who like to boulder climb. Pretty cool! read more

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Went here over the past weekend and had a blast. Here are some recommendations... 1) If possible, take a vehicle with some good ride height. Mini suv and above. The road is a little rough. You could make it up in a car, but your car most likely wont be happy by the time you leave. The last 2.5 miles is a pretty good climb on an all dirt road except for a couple sharp turns where they have it paved. 2) The signage is very slim, once you get off onto to the dirt road that takes you to the top remember to take your time and you will get to the top! There ARE campgrounds up there and you will know when you are there! It may not seem like it at first, just keep going. 3) Cell phone reception is horrible. We all have at&t and were able to get texts out but took 15 minutes or so each. While going camping its important to get away and turn off the phone but for those who have parents or someone to check in with when they get there it is something to keep in mind. 4) The vault toilets stink, bring a mask, wish we did. Also watch out for snakes, we found a garter snake in the bathroom. 5) Hike up to the top of the of the mountain, there is a lookout tower that has volunteers in it and they will talk to you about the surrounding area. It is a breathtaking view. 6) You can bring extra vehicles, its $5 dollars a night and you pay for it cash in the collection box at the start of the campsite road. When you reach the top of the mountain you will see the sign with the payment collection box. 7) if you are bringing a lot of trash, plan on bringing it back with you. There is a limited amount of trash cans and no running water at the top of the mountain. Enjoy, it was truly a fun place to camp with a great vibe! read more

This is definitely the place to get away from it all. As some others have stated it is a primitive Campground. The facilities are well..... pretty horrible. I've never smelled something so bad in my life. I don't think they come up very often to pump out the outhouse. That being said maybe bring your own potty. Other than that everything is absolutely beautiful. Do bring plenty of water. We went up with a 4 x 4 Tacoma and had no problem with the road. We did see some cars going up as well. Everyone at the campgrounds or friendly. Lots of pups to which we love since we brought ours as well. We will definitely return. read more

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Primitive camping! It took good 20 min uphill through winding and bumpy road to get to Boulder Basin. If you have a car, you can still make it but just make sure you drive slow and avoid big potholes. I liked the fact that campsite was pretty well spread out and overall campsite didn't feel crowded. No flushable toilet so make sure you bring a mask because bathroom stinks. No running water either. We brought plenty of water so we were able to wet a towel and wash ourselves. I brought about 8 gallons of water for 2 people, 2 night trip and we were left with about 1 gallon at the end of the trip. If you feel adventurous, you can drive further up through Black Mountain Truck Trail and there's a spot where you can park your car and climb some rocks for some breathtaking view. btw, I had Verizon, I didn't get signal but I did have my phone GPS working pretty well read more

Avoid on the weekends. This is a hangout for loud drunks and there is no campground host. The road is rough. It takes about 35 minutes to drive up the 5 mile road. But it's no worse than many other Forest Service roads. The vault toilet is smelly, but we brought our own camping potty. The campsite is beautiful, clean, well maintained. The problem we had was campers not observing quiet hours. It was extreme. There were 2 loud drunken parties. The one party started getting loud around 11:00 - they were playing amplified music, had a massive fire (they were walking around breaking limbs off trees). I had a 4-year old girl who had been awaken by their antics and finally had to go talk to them (around 2:00 am). They did turn off their amplified music, but they were heavily intoxicated and continued absurdly loud conversation. The second group was directly on the other side of us (yes, luck us we were sandwiched between the only 2 loud groups). They continued yelling and screaming until about 3:00 am or so. We had talked to some families the next day that indicated that they too slept poorly due to these campers. The place was perfect through about 10:00 pm on Friday. The loud campers were one of several groups that arrived late. There was a steady stream of cars arriving after 9:00 pm. There is no host at this campsite. The campsite is back a distance of 5 miles of rough forest service road (approximately a 35 minute drive). I'm not sure what could be done to enforce quiet hours - but perhaps an occasional patrol after midnight on Fridays. I'm not sure but this was the worst camping experience I've had in 25 years. We had paid for a 2-day reservation - Friday and Saturday nights. Our experience was so bad we left Saturday morning. We went to another campground that was within Cleveland National Forest and ended up having a great time. The irony is we chose Boulder Basin because we thought that would give us a more authentic, rugged, and quiet camping experience. However, it was the more accessible campground site that gave us an experience free from drunk partyers. read more

I havent actually camped here yet but I have come by for day trips. The campground is excellent. Massive boulders dot the campground with Douglas firs amd pines. Most campgrounds are shaded. Theres a short hike to a fire lookout tower. The road in is a little rough. Id recommend a suv or truck. A sedan might get stuck. At the very least you'll be scrapping the bottom of your car. read more

If you don't have the right car to drive up this steep, tight and bumpy road...don't bother. Scraped the bottom of my car several times on the way up and once I get to the very top the bumps were the worst. I ended up turning back because I couldn't do it without damaging my car read more

What a spectacular place! The campground is beautiful, the hiking is among the best, the Black Mountain Lookout is staffed with friendly people and the views are to die for. My favorite part of being in that location are the sugar pine pine cones. They drip with clear sap this time of year and look like crystal ornaments on Christmas trees. read more

A gem for those that don't mind a little adventure and can bear nature for a quiet get-away from the city(: got to the top of the mountain after driving up the crazy 5 mi unpaved road, there was so much weight in the back of my Toyota tacomas bed xtender that it ripped off going uphill at some point but we managed to pick everything up and put it back in safely, as no one is going up and down the road haha. Once we got to the top after 8pm when the sky was dark from the sun setting, there was no signage as to where your campsite was. We drove around looking for the number but was unsure which number our friends had, whom were coming up a little later. We couldnt call them because there was absolutely no service on the top of this desolate mountain. Signage is poor but the campsite alone is pretty chill and spread out from other campers depending on your spot. The next day was gorgeous as we trekked along the side of the mountain and experienced a breathtaking sunset. Night time was pretty chilly considering the elevation but I wasn't too layered up. No running water so be sure to bring all that you'll need!!! Breathtaking views and overall a great experience for the nature seeker read more

My favorite place to come and camp hands down. Just can't beat it in Southern California.

So beautiful! We drove up in our Mazda 3. We won't be doing that again. The roads are rough. But once you get up there.. The views are spectacular! The bathrooms are so smelly they hurt my nose! Lol. The camp site is clean. And we loved being able to have a campfire ! This is our go to spot!!! read more