McWilliams Campground

First experience camping since I was a kid, picked a spot just outside of Vegas to test the gear and get away from the heat. Nice campground, clean, nestled in a valley up near Mt. Charleston. Plan on making it an annual excursion.

Tip for tent owners - if you can avoid the spots numbered high-40s, low-50s. While they do have tent pads they are spaced out more for RVs with the tent area quite a bit from the parking spot. The spots in the 60s seem to be more tent-sized and where I plan to go next time.

This is a spectacularly beautiful campground that was renovated in 2015, very easy access and lots of options for trailers and RV’s. Leveling was pretty easy and most sites are well spaced out, the Dolomite loop provides even more privacy, but fewer options for bigger rigs.
We arrived on a Tuesday afternoon in mid May, a few days before the entire campground was opened for the season, there were very few people around, so very quiet and peaceful. Everything was cleaned and well maintained, but with the Vegas strip a mere 50 miles away, I can easily see the issues occurring with disrespectful humans that was mentioned in other reviews.
During the busy season, the odd numbered sites are reservable and the evens are first come. Spoke to a local who mentioned that even during the busiest times, you can usually get a first come site if you arrive by 9am on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning. During the off season, only sites 1-14 are available first come.
There is a lot of hiking options available, directly from the campground or via short drives. The town of Mount Charleston is just under 15 miles away, we didn’t go to the old town, but did enjoy a great lunch at the restaurant at the end of the road there, Miss Lola has her first ever restaurant meal on the spacious doggy deck. There is also a ski resort about a mile from the campground which has a restaurant, but it’s only open on the weekends.
We were happily surprised to find this ‘island in the sky’ right in the middle of a desert. Go in the off season if you can.

Most important thing 1st: Do not make reservations for here if you're 4 or less days from your arrival date. The 'system' shouldn't allow anyone to do so, but it does. We made our reservations on a Weds for Saturday arrival & found out when we arrived someone else was in our site (double-booking issues). Per the camp host, others were showing up to check in when we were & having the same problem.

The area is beautiful and the campground is very nice by Forest Service standards. No hookups though. No cell service I'm aware of. There is a pay phone (yes I said pay phone) within a 1/2 mile or so if you needed to make an important call to anyone. Odd sites are reserve-able via recreation.gov, even # sites are 1st-come/1st serve. Flush toilets around the complex but they were blown up the weekend we were there. Neither of us would use them.

Other than the reservation system weirdness (5 days out limitation), the main issue I have with the place is with its proximity to Las Vegas (way too close) and hence the level of riff-raff is substantial. We did see 4-5 flavors of law enforcement cruise through the park at varying times.... there is a reason for that. It's good they were around at random times but bad it's needed.

Stayed here 2 nights. Made online reservations. There are first come first serve sites as well. Nice campground. Nice get away from The Las Vegas heat. Had a rain and hail storm for about a half hour. Our site was a pull through but really unlevel. There are some nice sites here however. Had to put the front of our 5th wheel at it lowest setting. It can get a bit noisy depending on the crowd. Already have 2 trips planned for 2020. No services but water.

Being only about a 50 minute drive from Las Vegas it's a great escape from the summer heat. When it's 110 in Vegas it's about 80-85 for a high up here. But being this close to Vegas it can be very busy. The first time we stayed here was the week before July 4 and it was full and some people were partying all night. The second time was the middle of the week later in July and there weren't nearly as many people. The campgrounds are very clean and new, The campground contains several single and double-family sites with picnic tables, grills and campfire rings. Flush and vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided. Roads and parking spurs are paved. The surroundings are just beautiful with the smell of Ponderosa pine.

We only paid $12.50 a night using our senior National Parks pass. We will be back for the cool temps and hiking. And Mt Charleston is the only location of Mt Charleston Blue Butterfly.