First, Julie was a truly wonderful host and she did everything she could to provide us with everything we needed for a comfortable stay. The bathroom was a nice, clean, enclosed facility; the kitchen was under a roof and included access to appliances, propane, a pizza oven, running water and plenty of dishes and cookware; there was a shower, but I would not have used it. It was hard to find a bad review of this place and the photos made it look like a unique desert oasis.
However, I would be doing everyone a disservice if I did not mention the CONS because they are important and they make me VERY hesitant to ever try this type of camping experience again. 1. There are a lot of dogs roaming the property and they don't leave us alone. (We had a hard time trying to squeeze in a moment to play fetch with our own dog because as soon as we would throw the ball, another dog would run and get it and our dog would just run back to us). I was afraid to set up our tent on the ground because I knew it would get peed on because the dogs were all peeing all over everything on the property, I later found this exact complaint from another review...luckily, we were able to set up on top of the roof of the shower structure. 2. There is an awful lot of trash piled up around the property. Not actual garbage, but just piles of broken things, a car without doors, random structures filled with clutter. It felt like anything BUT an oasis. It was very strange and oddly claustrophobic for a huge, mostly open property. I was glad we were the only ones there (well, there were other RVs on the property- not pictured, of course, but we were the only tent campers and told we had the place to ourselves) because it would have been even stranger to be here with other campers- and if we were not able to set up camp on the roof, I don't know that we would have been able to stay. Getting covered in dog piss is a deal breaker for me. 3. The property is 45 min to an hour from each Joshua Tree entrance. I blame myself for bad planing but when I did a search for "camping/Joshua Tree/dogs allowed" this was one of the top options, and looking at a map, it's technically on top of Joshua Tree itself and I just think that this should be mentioned. 4. The photos look NOTHING like the actual place. With the right lighting and the right lens, I can make my tiny L.A. studio apartment look like Buckingham Palace...it makes me not want to trust the other reviews and photos from hipcamp.
Past trips
Lovelight Ranch Tentsite Camping
in Lovelight Ranch, CaliforniaFirst, Julie was a truly wonderful host and she did everything she could to provide us with everything we needed for a comfortable stay. The bathroom was a nice, clean, enclosed facility; the kitchen was under a roof and included access to appliances, propane, a pizza oven, running water and plenty of dishes and cookware; there was a shower, but I would not have used it. It was hard to find a bad review of this place and the photos made it look like a unique desert oasis.
However, I would be doing everyone a disservice if I did not mention the CONS because they are important and they make me VERY hesitant to ever try this type of camping experience again. 1. There are a lot of dogs roaming the property and they don't leave us alone. (We had a hard time trying to squeeze in a moment to play fetch with our own dog because as soon as we would throw the ball, another dog would run and get it and our dog would just run back to us). I was afraid to set up our tent on the ground because I knew it would get peed on because the dogs were all peeing all over everything on the property, I later found this exact complaint from another review...luckily, we were able to set up on top of the roof of the shower structure. 2. There is an awful lot of trash piled up around the property. Not actual garbage, but just piles of broken things, a car without doors, random structures filled with clutter. It felt like anything BUT an oasis. It was very strange and oddly claustrophobic for a huge, mostly open property. I was glad we were the only ones there (well, there were other RVs on the property- not pictured, of course, but we were the only tent campers and told we had the place to ourselves) because it would have been even stranger to be here with other campers- and if we were not able to set up camp on the roof, I don't know that we would have been able to stay. Getting covered in dog piss is a deal breaker for me. 3. The property is 45 min to an hour from each Joshua Tree entrance. I blame myself for bad planing but when I did a search for "camping/Joshua Tree/dogs allowed" this was one of the top options, and looking at a map, it's technically on top of Joshua Tree itself and I just think that this should be mentioned. 4. The photos look NOTHING like the actual place. With the right lighting and the right lens, I can make my tiny L.A. studio apartment look like Buckingham Palace...it makes me not want to trust the other reviews and photos from hipcamp.
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