Baker Creek Campground

We had initially planned on camping at higher sites in the mountains nearby, but an unusual cold spell in mid-May with freezing and below freezing temperatures accompanied by high winds in the mountains made our plans untenable. We found this campsite near Big Pine and were delighted with it - each campsite is on the creek, with a fair amount of privacy and it is located just off highway 395 that runs through the Owens Valley, well situated for wonderful day trips in the area. We were in a 20 ft Escape Campervan, though others in the campsite were using both tents and larger RV's. It had very basic facilities: vault toilets, but no fresh water supply due to a problem in the area. For fresh water, we were directed to a public park nearby by one of the camp attendants. He also provided lots of information about trips in the area, including advice to take the nearby 25 mile road that branched off of highway 168 to the Bristlecone Pines towards access to northern Death Valley (labeled "Death Valley Road"). The mostly paved, very scenic road is highly recommended. It passes through an extensive Joshua Tree forest on it's route to Death Valley. Near the entrance to the park, the road becomes washboard and nearby are large sand dunes which locals call Singing Dunes (access by foot). The Bristlecone Pines are easily accessible from the area and if it hadn't been snowing and blowing there we would have taken longer hikes in the area. Baker Creek is well stocked with rainbow trout and many were fishing.

This campground is managed by Inyo Co. There is no Iron ranger, on arrival you can check availability on line with reserve America and pay at the kiosk with your CC. As said before campsites are all over the place. Ours was nice level and by the creek. LA Water and Power owns the campground I am told. At present the well has been moved but not put into service .
We hand pumped and filtered water from creek.
The views are wonderful and the outhouses are a C for cleanliness. We where a week before opening of trout season, the sites had been cleaned and tables freshly painted.

So, this is kind of an interesting campground. It's got a lovely setting...along a creek, lots of trees and a view of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the background. So far, so good. The problem is the sites are all over the place. Some are fairly nice and large enough to fit a 40-foot RV (our size), others are so small and unlevel they could only fit a car. Also, some sites are right next to each other with no separation, while others are nicely isolated. The interior campground road is also rather bumpy and uneven and the entire thing just looks a little unmanage/wild.

My understanding is that this is primarily a Fishermans camp, so during the main fishing season it's probably very full, and probably not very nice. We came here in the off season (April) and there were only 2 other campers in the entire place giving us our choice of sites as well as a very nicely relaxed experience. I'd come here again during off-season, but would definitely avoid the high season. For big rigs be prepared to spend some time searching for a good site. There are probably only a handful or so that will fit us "beastly" types.

Good location right next to Big Pine (including hiking in the Big Pine Creek). Decen BBQ in town too.