Fallen Leaf Campground

A great lake for a Summer dip with cool, crystal clear water. Not as crowded as Lake Tahoe but just across the street basically. Beaches are pebble and not sand but I don’t mind that. The campground is large with a camp store, clean, warm showers ($1 for 3 min), get tokens at kiosk outside camp store, and flush toilets. Sites vary, some very large and private, others closer together and less private but all larger than average. Water spigots can be a bit of a hike from some sites. Very quiet during our stay. Our site also backed up to a stream and the sound of flowing water could be heard from the site. One of my favorite campgrounds. No dump station but some nearby. I believe $10 parking for day use well worth it if you don’t camp here, saw many park on the road to the campground and hike in for free.

Large campground
Only a couple of miles from South Lake Tahoe...very convenient
Little space and no trees between parking aprons
Flush toilets and sinks
Expensive $35/night
It felt very crowded, no privacy at all
No dump station....closest is Richardson Camp one mile away for $12.00!
No cool views...just views of your neighbors
Zero cell coverage AT&T

Absolutely beautiful campground! Large sites with plenty of trees and bushes between them to provide privacy. Easy walk to lovely Fallen Leaf Lake to hike or launch kayaks. Easy and safe 5 min bike ride on dedicated bike path to all the amenities of Camp Richardson- restaurant, bar, general store, ice cream, stables, without the highway noise and crowds. No dump station or hookups, but you can use the dump station at Camp Richardson for $12. Clean camp bathrooms and coin op showers. Each site also has a charcoal bbq grill. Our parking pad was large and almost level, easily corrected with jacks. We’d come back with both RV and tents.

There is no signal at this campground, despite its proximity to a bustling city. Go into town for supplies but go up north for trails and boating in Emerald Bay and the smaller coves. The larger parts of the lake seem great for big motorboats but not paddleboards or kayaks.

Just about everywhere here charges for parking even when it's federal lands and the America the Beautiful Pass doesn't get you in so be prepared for that. This includes Pope Beach down the road from the campground. Kiva Beach, right across the street, is a rare exception and I recommend it.

The bike trails are extensive and there's a paved one off the main road coming in from the campground. If you are going to boat they have very specific rules even for non-motorized craft so be careful you may need an inspection decal. They also require lifejackets be worn even on kayaks and paddleboards.

The road leading to the campground is one lane and pretty janky. Go slow.

Bears are habituated here. Leave your food and anything that smells in the bear lockers. There was a mama bear and two cubs checking out sites in broad daylight and three male bears checking the lockers for 3-4 hours every night.

We stayed in 2 different spaces. Space 36 was a great spot although it is not very private. The spot is level and spacious. I would definitely stay in that spot again. We also stayed in spot 17. Space 17 is pretty and large as a pull through but the space itself is on a hill and from side to side is not level either. Space 17 is not easy to level out a trailer. The campground itself is wonderful and very nice and very well maintained. We had cell phone with att but it was not fast but did work. Would definitely come back.

We had no reservations arrived on a Sunday. Our site was awesome, flat, 50 feet long, good sun for our solar and we got satellites on our dish. Huge area around us with 2 bathrooms close. Other sites that looked good were 5 and 55.
Water available for the RV near the entrance station, ask so you don’t have to make a complete loop around the campground. Lots of spigots also.
Numerous paths to the lake. Two main ones, one with parking and the other a shorter shot where people dropped off paddle boards and kayaks. We did both and also hiked around numerous paths near the lake. Some windy and some flat days on the lake. Some people were swimming or just sitting enjoying the view of Mt Tallac. Water was cold when not near the shallow part of the lake.
You can mountain bike ride to the marina or road ride on the bike path out to the main road and put in some mileage.
All roads are bumpy and irregular.
The marina was closing the end of the month and the campground was closing mid October.
Cell service varied all the time and in different areas of the lake. Don’t depend on it.
Across from the campground is one of the few free beaches called Kiva. Lots of paths over near Lake Tahoe to walk all around the historic Mt Tallac Museum which is free.

It was a standard CA state campground filled with burners looking to decompress after Burning Man. The campground was ok. Lots of bear scares though. Mostly I think of the yellow jackets who stung me in the first hour. They were everywhere. And it had zero cell service which was frustrating being so close to Tahoe.

We did enjoy the Fallen Leaf lake and the proximity to good mountain biking.

The road into the park is a terrible patch work of asphalt that will rattle everything in the RV.

Another down side was the bathrooms and showers were very dirty. I watched the host mop one and rinse the mop in the water access point. No soap or mop bucket.

I need to break this review down into two parts...

Part 1: the campground. Beautiful. Good amount of space between sites. Close proximity to bathrooms and showers which were clean enough. Water was warm and showers had good water pressure. Our site was nicely paved. Other campers seemed to be mostly quiet and there were minimal screaming kids. Definitely worth checking out Fallen Leaf Lake, an easy walk from our site. We enjoyed a beautiful hike along the NW corner of the lake, across Taylor Creek dam, which connected to Cathedral Rd. and dumped out at Hwy.89 and then back to Fallen Leaf Rd. (approx. 4 mile loop). Staff and Camp Hosts are SUPER friendly and helpful. Great proximity to Tallac and Camp Richardson... and even S. Lk. Tahoe if you’ve got a bike or a motorcycle. Caution: the half-mile(?) access road into the campground main gate is super bumpy with lots of potholes and a bit narrow for a big rig.

Part 2: our van. We have learned that we need as much direct sunlight as possible throughout the day to keep our batteries charged, so that our electric only fridge/freezer will run... AND so that we can avoid running our obnoxious generator. Yes, this campground is generator friendly and there were a smattering of generators running at various times throughout the day. Our Sprinter van is equipped with a loud Onan propane generator which seemed too noisy given the peaceful nature of this campground. Word of warning: if you need a lot of direct sunlight for solar charging, this campground has a beautiful tree canopy which filters out most of the direct sun.

My family and I have camped here many times over the last decade. It's well maintained, but it is very busy during the peak season. You're not stacked on top of each other like a lot of the campgrounds around the Lake Tahoe area. This is one of the better ones. (In context, this is one of the better options for the Lake Tahoe area, since most campgrounds are packed and each site is very close to each other. This campground gives you reasonable space.) The facilities are good and cleaned every morning. This is primarily dry camping, but water is easily accessible. The roads are well kept, but there are some narrow and bumpy spots. Bear activity tends to be more toward the end of the season (Fall), but if you're not responsible, expect to have a visitor, especially if you're by the creek (West side of the campground). This campground is on the North side of Fallen Leaf Lake and can easily be walked from your site. It is also in close proximity to all the major places in South Lake Tahoe or even Reno, NV if you want to venture farther. We have personally not had any issues with noise, but you have to put that in context, as the busier it is, the likelihood of experiencing noise will be higher. It's guaranteed you're going to hear pots and pans clanking at night when people are being irresponsible with storing their food. Use the supplied bear boxes!

Overall, Fallen Leaf is one of the best options to explore the South Lake Tahoe area if you don't need hook-ups. The park is so big though with really challenging roads that it's important to pick the right spot. The best things about the park are its proximity to South Lake Tahoe (about a ten minute drive), the cost, and the vastness which allows you to really enjoy the setting. Plan your visit knowing that there are no water or dump stations in the park and you'll need four quarters to use the three minute shower.

Dog's Perspective: you have to be careful walking on the narrow roads but if you're up for about about a mile roundtrip walk, there's a nice path to the edge of Fallen Leaf Lake where many dogs enjoy playing in the warm water.

Runner's Rave: there are a few trails within the campground you can access for a run including a road to the south side of Fallen Leaf Lake just be wary of cars as there are many spots of poor visibility.

Downsides: much of the interior road is buckled, bumpy, and narrow which makes for a difficult trip with your RV. We were also crammed into a back-in spot that was too narrow for our travel trailer (22') and pick-up truck. The rest of our site was pretty spacious so the space could've been laid out better. We saw a variety of sites throughout the campground from many ones similar to ours to a few that were much bigger, wider ones so be thoughtful with the spot you pick. AT&T is stronger than Verizon here but neither had consistent coverage.

Overall, Fallen Leaf is a really scenic park that's a good value in the South Lake Tahoe area.