William Kent Campground

Site 81 | Quiet | Popular so book fast
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Tahoe is incredibly packed and every campground is almost always booked during the summer months. So, if you happen to see one spot left on the reservation site, book it fast before it goes!
That’s what happened with us.
After a couple of failed attempts to find a campground online weeks before staying here, I fortunately found ONE site left on the reservation site and booked it. I honestly didn’t know where on the campground map it was, or what amenities the site provided. I just knew it would be better than Campground By the Lake and Granite Flat. Both campgrounds are right next to a hwy/​main road, so that’s why I wasn’t stoked on camping there again, if they were available.
Site 81 was our site.
PERFECT — quiet, shade, right across from the bathroom hut, close to water spigot, next to garbage/​recycle containers, had picnic table, and had a legit fire ring. Site had one good flat area to put our 4-​man tent. Site is able to park two cars comfortably.
Checking in was no problem. Fast.
1 car comes with the paid site.
2 car MAX — you pay $ 7 per day to have the second car parked at the spot. (That’s Tahoe for ya)
They sell firewood for $ 8 at camp host 1, I believe.
Dog friendly.
Bottom line: nice campground, wouldn’t mind staying here again. Quieter and cheaper than some other campgrounds in Tahoe.

Still a great campground. Just need a new person issuing Desolation Passes and camp host duties. I needed an overnight pass. Diane, the hostess from Hell was unfortunately on duty, didn’t recognize me from our previous encounter, probably because she was intoxicated at that time, can’t even issue a pass. She couldn’t work the computer. I had to help her with the itinerary section!!! Really folks, can’t they hire competent people! This woman has no business being a «camp host», doesn’t seem to be able to handle any aspect of the job! Seemed stressed and confused at the computer. It’s the end of the season, not sure how or why she is still there, but seems like she’d have learned how to issue permits by now! Hopefully next year they will hire a more overall competent/​qualified couple for the camp host position.

Camp was good pretty nice and clean. Drawback is camp hosts are crabby and don’t know how to treat people especially disabled. Would not come back because of that

This campground is not one I’d usually choose however searching the web for a last-​minute weekend camping spot I saw two spots still open at this campground. Looking at Google Earth, I chose site 62, and we headed up to the Lake fully expecting to be underwhelmed.
We checked in with some of the great staff they have there– friendly, helpful, and funny– and drove the loop to our site. The campground is built amidst vacation homes, and if you are on the exterior in the loops chances are you are looking at someone’s back yard. Judging by the bathroom architecture and the layout and size of the spaces, I’d guess that the campground was there before the majority of the homes, but it still is sort of awkward. Our site was on the interior side of the loop, so we had some good privacy and a pretty setting. The size of the parking space wasn’t very big– we have a small (13′) trailer and had to park our towing Pilot sideways to fit both in. This is a campground where it would very much pay to scout it out beforehand.
On the plus side, even though it was full, the campground wasn’t noisy and it felt like you had some space to yourselves. The bathrooms were very clean, and like I said the park resident workers really were friendly and helpful.
The best thing about the campground is its location. Although you aren’t on the water, a small stony beach is just across the street (highway). A short drive will get you to better beaches and a slightly longer drive allows you to take in the beauty of Emerald Bay in one direction or the shops or Gatekeeper’s Museum in the Tahoe City direction.
If you wanted to minimize cooking, this would be the perfect campground. There are several restaurants within a block of the campground. A breakfast place, a lunch place and several dinner options are within walking distance– the best being directly across the highway from the campground, Sunnyside.
Sunnyside isn’t all that cheap– but you can dine outside with a fantastic bar menu pretty reasonably and the cocktails are mixed with some panache. It is a sister restaurant to Duke’s in Waikiki so the fish and drinks are top-​notch. It’s nice to have a great meal at sunset on the deck, with multiple adult beverages and then just walk across the street to your campsite. Not a bad way to camp :)
So if you go, don’t worry so much about cooking, get an interior spot, and if you don’t like walking a long way through the darkened campground after some cocktails, get a spot closer to the entrance. Maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised like we were.

We camped there. We stayed in space 30. A little steep hard to level a 36 foot motorhome. Nice place a bit tight for the road going into the park. Great for camping and convenient for Tahoe exploring. However there are two groups of camp host. One couple is super friendly, super patient, super kind, looks like Col Sanders. Both a beautiful couple for camp hosts. The other couple are not so nice. Be aware. Jerks. The campground was in the middle of a residential area. But I never saw the neighbors. So I guess it was all good. Great location great walking to Sunnyside Bar. Loved the entire area.

I camp a LOT in USFS campgrounds… the huge downside of this campground is that it is SURROUNDED by homes. All of the perimeter sites back right against a homes back yard fence. If they are home you WILL get to know them and their dogs.
Two sets of Campground Hosts… they were really charged with clearing out as much downed wood and pine needles then burning them at the nearest fire ring. This caused an immediate inversion layer of smoke throughout the campground, or at least where the wind was blowing.
They started this burn in the campsite across from us burning damp needles and branches causing an incredible smoke screen that forced us to leave our site a day early.

It is very very important to realize that this campground is literally in people’s backyards. Be prepared to deal with the consequences of staying in someone’s backyard. Locals party and its their right too because they live there. Just know what you’re getting into.

Good place to stay. Not too far from the beach or a great restaurant, Sunnyside. Why 4 stars? No shower.
And watch out for a baby bear. where there is a baby, there is a mama right behind him

Excellent location. Walking distance to the beach where you can rent kayaks or dine, and a short drive to Tahoe City. Our site was HUGE!!! We could have fit 10 tents on our site no problem. There were some sites that were backed up against fences of houses that were much smaller.
The Down side is there are no showers and no real place to wash dishes. The faucets were for emergency fire purposes. We ended up carrying water from there anyway and trying to wash dishes at our site without getting food on the ground.
One night driving into the campground a huge bear was crossing the road. A little scary but also quite and experience.
The bathrooms were nice and clean but you had to bring your own lighting. No big deal though. The staff cleans the webs so there are no creepy crawlies. There were quite a bit of ants and mosquitos though in comparison to our previous week at the Zephyr Cove camp site. We did see a bear at that site also.
I would definitely stay here again.

Great campground in a top notch location to the plus side. To the negative, you’ll need to hop in the car to get to a decent beach or hiking trails.
Larger than it may seem from the road, some of the sites are really nicely sized while others are realtively small. Bathrooms were adaquit. We really enjoyed as we had a great site (#32) and the kids, of course, had a blast. Also, this place seems quieter than most of the state parks or Camp Richardson.
For those looking for a quality place to camp and the other parks are already full, this is a super go-​to!

Agree with other reviews. Sites are close to eachother, no showers, flushing potties and running water a plus — no lights in bathrooms though. Also, campground surrounded by residential houses, which is odd.
The best part of the camping was walking my dog all around and hiking nearby. Tahoe is pretty dog friendly with the trails. Host seems nice & helpful. Overall the camping was just OK., but I wouldn’t want to be there when it was crowded or full.

This campground is a lot bigger than it appears to be from the entrance on the road… you could drive by the sign a million times and not really pay attention. Its a great campground as far as proximity to Tahoe City while still being a campground. There is only one other campground closer to Tahoe City, actually IN Tahoe City (right between the lake and the highway), and both this one and that one pack in the sites.
Driving thru William Kent you have little room on either side of the road to each of the sites and there is little protection between sites… so plan on getting cozy with the neighbors. The sites at the top of the campground feel a little more spread out it than others, but it’s pretty packed most of the summer.
The last thing is that there are houses on all sides of the campground which really takes away from the point of most camping trips. But if you’re trying to get away from it all, don’t camp this close to town… Silver Creek and Goose Meadows are over on 89 between Squaw and Truckee and are right on the river, but William Kent has the proximity to town going for it.

For a car camping campground here’s what’s missing — hot water, lights in the bathroom, coin-​operated showers, flat ground on which to pitch your tent, any sense that you are in the woods with a houses as close to your site as your neighbors tent. Guess what you’re paying for is to be able to camp close to Tahoe City. Staff are nice but strict — they drive through the campground a lot checking on car tags and smokey fires.

Another time I wish I could give half stars. I really liked this place, but you definitely feel like you are on top of other people here. You are surrounded by houses on all sides of the campground, and you can barely eek out 2 cars in the designated spots. However, they do have a fair amount of overflow parking, onsite. Firewood was ridiculous, so we went to the store that was across the street from the campground. Loved that the beach was so close (across the highway). However, it’s ot sand but small rocks. Still ok to lay out, sunbathe until you’re warm enough to jump i the water, then lay out again to dry off. We had site 46, 17 & 18. The map was a little deceptive regarding how they were set up, but considering there were 17 of us and we made it work, I was happy. HOWEVER, do NOT go for site 17 of you are only getting one site. There firepit backs up to a bush and there is very little space for a tent. Oh and one more complaint, the sites are very slanted, it was hard to find a plot of flat ground to set up tents.

This place is great! By far the best location. It is accross the street from Sunnyside and walking distance to all the fun stuff. There is a store close by and it is only minutes from Tahoe City. Unilocal’s info says it is in Southlake and it definitley is not. I highly recommend it for anyone with dogs because it is very pet friendly. No showers, so swim in the lake! It does have realtively clean bathrooms, though and no porta-​potties.

If you like camping, but still like all the amenities of civilization within walking distance-​this is the place for you. No showers-​no problem. The beach is a short walk away (Yes it is cold-​stop whining) and they do have actual restrooms with running water. Need beer? The store is right around the corner. Feeling too lazy to cook or better yet, pour your own drink? Take your bad self over to the Sunnyside resort and enjoy the sublime satisfaction of having someone else take care of it.
Hotel rooms in Tahoe during the summer can be outrageously expensive. If you have a tent-​this is a way decent alternative for $ 20 a night. Then you can take all that cash you saved and blow it on an evening out at the Sunnyside or Tahoe City (only like 3 miles away). By the time you are done with that, you won’t really care where you are sleeping anyway. Nuff said!