ArboursAbroad contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. If you purchase using one of the affiliated links, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. See our Disclosure Policy for more information.
Before getting to Lake Tahoe, we didn’t believe we’d be able to find free camping in Lake Tahoe. Especially not close to the lake. However, we were so wrong!
I can’t tell you the last time we paid for camping. In fact, in the last 10+ years of traveling, I can probably count on one hand how many times we’ve paid for camping. So we were pretty stoked to find these free camping in Tahoe spots!
While I don’t believe camping for free is as easy to do in the busier seasons, when you hit the sweet spot before winter sno-park permits are required and after campgrounds have begun shutting down, it’s possible to camp for free in Tahoe.
A Few Things To Note About Camping For Free
Bear Activity
Bears are extremely active all over Lake Tahoe. And when I say extremely active, I mean, they’ll literally break into cars. While we were in Tahoe, we met someone whose car was broken into the previous night by a bear after an empty mint container and Monster energy drink left in their car.
The bear literally pulled the door frame down, bending it in half and breaking the glass, to get inside just for those two things.
You need to be extremely careful with scents in your vehicle, and certainly do not sleep with anything in your tent with you.
Trash Disposal
Never leave your trash outside your rig. Always keep it in a sealed container, and if possible throw it away in a bear-proof canister immediately. There are many bear-proof trash canisters along trails all around Lake Tahoe and in all of the cities and towns.
Where To Use The Bathroom
We actually found that everywhere we stayed had a bathroom close by. Sometimes we had to drive to a separate parking lot where there were porta potties out for use, but in many cases, there are pit toilets at most pull outs and day use areas.
If you can’t make it to a nearby bathroom, be sure to be digging a hole at least six inches deep and be 200 feet away from an water source.
Learn More | How To Properly Poop Outdoors
3 Places With Free Camping in Lake Tahoe
Free Camping on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe
- Location | Kaspian Campground | 39.114033, -120.158583
- Amenities | pit toilet, bear boxes, picnic tables
Kaspian Campground is actually a paid for campground right on Lake Tahoe. All of the sites are hike to sites, with parking in one big parking lot. However, the campground “closes” mid-October, but there’s no gate or anything.. so really it’s open, but free.
We stayed at the Kaspian Campground for free, for three nights in a row without any problem while on the west shore of Lake Tahoe. There we had access to the pit toilet, bear boxes, and picnic tables, while also having great views of the lake.
It’s super important to note, that the bear boxes are not for trash. And while there are no trash services here, there are bear proof trash cans up and down the shoreline.
Walking up the lake towards Tahoe City, you’ll find a trash can and picnic area not too far from the campground.
Starting November 1, the Kaspian Campground parking lot turns into a sno-park parking lot, and you must have a son-park permit to park there. I’ve read in a few places that you can still stay overnight here, as long as you display a valid sno-park permit.
Free Camping in The Southern Area Of Lake Tahoe
- Location | Sno-Park | 38.932427, -120.058035
- Amenities | none
In the Southwest side of Tahoe, we stayed at a sno-park near Taylor Creek. This sno-park was used for construction workers, so it wasn’t too peaceful early in the mornings, but it worked great for a place to stay for free.
This sno-park is located right along a very busy area of wildlife activity, including both bears and coyotes. If you choose to stay here, it’s a good idea to cook, do dishes, and brush your teeth in a different parking area, then drive here to sleep.
We stayed here for over a week while documenting bears at Taylor Creek and had no issues. Many other campers stayed throughout that time there as well, just not as long as we did!
We would cook dinner, do dishes, and try and plan our bathroom breaks at the Taylor Creek Visitor Center before and after photographing the bears. And in the mornings, we would drive down to Kiva Beach and make and have coffee on the water, and use the much cleaner bathrooms before heading to see the bears for the afternoon.
If you choose to stay here, I would recommend breaking down camp each day, and moving to different parking lots during the day time, only to return here to sleep.
There are small bear-proof trash cans at both the Taylor Creek Visitor Center and Kiva Beach parking lot to properly dispose of your trash. And, at Kiva Beach, there’s even a large dumpster if you have a bigger amount of trash.
With that said, being in an area with such high bear activity, we strongly recommend dumping your trash as often as possible. Alternatively, you’ll find bear proof trash cans all over South Lake Tahoe if you choose to go into town instead.
Free Camping on The East Side Of Lake Tahoe
- Location | Captain Pomin Rock Trailhead | 39.10163, -119.91218
- Amenities | none
We scouted a few different camping areas on the east side of Lake Tahoe, however, with a storm coming in, we actually left and got over the pass instead of staying the night.
With that said, there are a few places to stay at the junction of Highway 50 and Highway 28, and it seemed like quite a few on the way to Carson City up the Highway 50 pass.
I also noticed a handful of potential places on iOverlander, to camp, however, it seemed like you would have to be super stealthy and in late and out early. Secret Cove Beach parking seemed the most promising, and is actually where we were going to stay had the storm not rolled in.
Drinking Water + Showers
Showers at Lake Tahoe
On multiple accounts we jumped in the lake and counted that as a shower. But with the whole “Keep Tahoe Blue” push, we never used soap in the lake. Instead, we just gave ourselves a nice scrub down while swimming, and chalked it off as good.
However, that doesn’t last forever! Ha.. So when we wanted a real shower, we popped into the Recreation Center in South Lake Tahoe and paid $3 each to shower for as long as we pleased. It was super nice to have a hot shower after a few too many days without one!
Camp showers or kettle showers are the way we normally go, but we found all the areas we were in to be too busy to strip naked in nature, so we opted to skip on the kettle showers for this area and bite the bullet with the $3 charge.
Learn More | These van life apps really help with finding places to shower, water, and more.
Drinking Water In Lake Tahoe
The lake is so clean and easy to filter straight from, that we recommend doing that so your water is super fresh.
Alternatively, there is water at different campgrounds and visitor centers, although we found that most of them were actually shut off in mid-October and winterized already.
Instead, when we needed a small amount of water, we used the filtered water at the public library and filled our water bottles, then dumped it into our water jug.
Filtering from the lake though was, in our opinion, the best option if you have the time and a filter like this one that does all the work for you.
Visiting Lake Tahoe
All in all, we had such a great time exploring Lake Tahoe. It certainly made us want to come back and explore more of the area, but we had to leave to head south before the true winter hit.
Seeing the bears at Taylor Creek was definitely a highlight of our time in Lake Tahoe, however, we found other great things to do in Lake Tahoe in October as well.
We hope you enjoy your time in Lake Tahoe. We’d love to see where you explore. If you post on social media, tag us, @arboursabroad so we can see the adventure you go on!
More On Tahoe + Camping
Bear Week Photo Journal | These photos & this experience was just amazing.
Things To Do On Lake Tahoe in October | Most of these things are free, and shoot, we found some amazing viewpoints!
3 Days of Easy Camping Meals | These meals all have very little prep work and even less clean up.
Ultimate Car Camping Checklist | Don’t forget anything with this checklist for car camping.
