Kershaw-Ryan Campground — Hotel in Caliente

While on a road trip from the San Francisco Bay Area to Northern Colorado in mid-August, 2021, we stayed at this campground for 1 night and had no problem finding a flat, somewhat shaded site on a 98° Tuesday afternoon after driving across southern Nevada from Bishop CA. Only one other of the 16 sites were occupied when we arrived. There was no park staff to be found, so we used the self-service registration to pay for our site. All sites have electric and water hook-ups. Since we did not use the hook-ups we paid the lesser $20 fee. Two other sites were occupied later in the afternoon.

Each site as a covered table and a few trees provide some shade for relief from the hot Nevada sun.

The only downside for this campground is that all of the posts that provide the electric and water hook-ups at each campsite have an area light that is on all night, taking away from the enjoyment of the darkness of this remote location.

The campground has restrooms with flush toilets, coin-operated showers and an RV dump station. Be aware that it only takes one quarter to start the shower. The shower water temperature was almost too hot, considering how hot the air temperature was. Being not too far from the railroad track, we heard a few trains at night but it was not annoying. The facilities were clean.

The campground is a narrow valley surrounded by tall, steep cliffs. The night sky is very dark, so the astronomical display...

The campground itself is decent. Located in a bit of a canyon or valley. Roughly 90-95% dirt and/or gravel surface. A total of 16 spaces. There is a covered picnic table at each site. A few of the spaces have a tree or two... But, not a lot of shade. They do a great job of keeping the bathrooms and showers squared away. Water available in several areas. Wood may or may not be available. Just up the hill is the Kershaw-Ryan NV State Park itself... Which is a small oasis in the desert. Nicely manicured grass, quite a bit more shade, 5-15° cooler than the campground. A few trails, picnic tables, a couple of covered picnic type event spaces, horseshoe pits, flowers and a natural spring fed wading pond that is finished...

Clean quiet campground with WiFi available for a fee. No cell service. Power at each site is a plus if needed, but there is a light that can’t be turned off. Came for the trails to mtb on and was a bit disappointed compared to nearby trails in Barnes Canyon. You can access them from the campground, but the climb is steep with many tight switchbacks. Rest of the trails were very basic which would be good for e-bikes or casual rides. Visit was late March so no greenery yet which meant no shade under the tree for my tent. Wading pond was also empty which would have been nice with daytime temps in the 80’s. Probably a much better visit in late/spring early...