Hilltop
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $19–$67Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 3835 on recreation.gov
- Season
- May 1 – November 30Open May 1 through November 30
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Hilltop Campground is set in the beautiful Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, just 40 miles from downtown Las Vegas. Visitors enjoy hiking, horseback riding and scenic driving in this forested desert oasis. Please note: trailers longer than 25 ft are not recommended in Hilltop Campground. The campground road is narrow with tight turns. Keep reading
Recreation
The North Loop-Mt. Charleston National Recreation Trail begins only 1/4-mile away. Robber's Roost and the CCC Trailhead are located nearby as well. The Spring Mountains Visitor Center is a short drive from the campground, offering guided hikes and educational programs.
Facilities
Please note: trailers longer than 25 ft are not recommended in Hilltop Campground. The campground road is narrow with tight turns. The campground offers single and double campsites, all with picnic tables, campfire rings and grills. Some sites have stairs from the parking spur to the campsite. Vault toilets and trash collection are provided. Roads and parking spurs are paved.
Natural Features
The Spring Mountains National Recreation Area is a beautiful island in the desert, brimming with breathtaking scenery and diverse flora and fauna. The Bristlecone pine, the world's oldest organism, and the rare Mount Charleston blue butterfly are both found within the Spring Mountains. More than 100 springs create the namesake for the mountain range, making it an ideal place to escape the heat of the city. The campground is situated so campers are awarded sweeping views of the Mojave Desert below and Spring Mountains above. Stands of juniper, mountain mahogany and ponderosa pine forest the site and provide limited shade.
Nearby Attractions
More than 60 miles of hiking and horseback riding trails crisscross the area; two trails allow mountain biking. Rock climbing, picnicking and scenic driving are popular activities.
What the agency tells you
No water available on site. Please bring all the water you will need for your stay. This includes water for drinking, washing, cleaning, and dousing fires.
Trailers over 25 feet in length are not recommended due to the tight turns within the campground.
Odd numbered sites are reservable. Even numbered sites are first-come, first-served.
Everything else this campground posts · 4
Campsite must be occupied first night of reservation. Contact host or employee if you do not plan to stay any other night of reservation after first night.
Please call 702-872-5486 to check current fire restrictions
Click here for more info about the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests
Don't Move Firewood: Help prevent the spread of tree-killing pests in our national forests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 38 · 1 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 35 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 3
- Pets
- Allowed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…from the parking spur to the campsite. Vault toilets and trash collection are provided. Roads and…”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- Biking
- Hiking
- Night sky · 50th darkest of 65 in NV
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 15:56 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 16 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 17 are free on Thu, Oct 22. read 15:56 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 15
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $19–$67 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 15:56 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
38 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 35 mapped sitesAll 38 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 35 of the 38 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 38 of the 38 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| HILLTOP | 001 | tent only nonelectric | 10 ft | 85 ft | 3,938 ft | 2,658 ft | $19 | |
| HILLTOP | 002 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 77 ft | 3,952 ft | 2,608 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 003 | standard nonelectric | 16 ft | 77 ft | 3,974 ft | 2,560 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 004 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 83 ft | 4,027 ft | 2,487 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 005 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 102 ft | 4,103 ft | 2,483 ft | $23–$67 |
| HILLTOP | 006 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 45 ft | 4,107 ft | 2,432 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 007 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 102 ft | 4,203 ft | 2,402 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 008 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | yes | 45 ft | 4,144 ft | 2,388 ft | $23–$67 |
| HILLTOP | 009 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 99 ft | 3,908 ft | 2,523 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 010 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 90 ft | 3,920 ft | 2,502 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 011 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 90 ft | 3,971 ft | 2,448 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 012 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 101 ft | 4,053 ft | 2,369 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 013 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 127 ft | 4,074 ft | 2,347 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 014 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 107 ft | 4,193 ft | 2,230 ft | $23–$67 |
| HILLTOP | 015 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 107 ft | 4,264 ft | 2,156 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 016 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 63 ft | 4,343 ft | 2,090 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 017 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 63 ft | 4,406 ft | 2,027 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 018 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 74 ft | 4,458 ft | 1,984 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 019 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 51 ft | 4,520 ft | 1,912 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 020 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 51 ft | 4,564 ft | 1,871 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 021 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 93 ft | 4,648 ft | 1,797 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 022 | standard nonelectric | 10 ft | 93 ft | 4,659 ft | 1,861 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 023 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 93 ft | 4,731 ft | 1,819 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 024 | standard nonelectric | 96 ft | 4,788 ft | 1,735 ft | $23–$67 | ||
| HILLTOP | 025 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 107 ft | 4,744 ft | 1,715 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 026 | standard nonelectric | 10 ft | 107 ft | 4,751 ft | 1,686 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 027 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 115 ft | 4,718 ft | 1,705 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 028 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 98 ft | 4,631 ft | 1,788 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 029 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 98 ft | 4,547 ft | 1,872 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 030 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 120 ft | 4,430 ft | 1,990 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 031 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 136 ft | 4,167 ft | 2,260 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 032 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 138 ft | 4,121 ft | 2,326 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 033 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 111 ft | 4,271 ft | 2,230 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 034 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 111 ft | 4,339 ft | 2,199 ft | $23–$67 | |
| HILLTOP | 035 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 127 ft | 4,420 ft | 2,167 ft | $23–$67 | |
| S&P | Standard Double S&P | type not stated | 20 ft | $19–$45 | ||||
| S&P | Standard S&P | type not stated | 15 ft | $19–$45 | ||||
| S&P | Standard Tent S&P | type not stated | 10 ft | $19–$45 |
25 of 38 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Mahogany GroveSpring Mountains National Recreation Area · 0.5 mi
Spring Mountains Visitor Gateway Group Picnic SitesSpring Mountains National Recreation Area · 2.9 mi
Fletcher ViewSpring Mountains National Recreation Area · 3.2 mi
McWilliamsSpring Mountains National Recreation Area · 4.2 miCampsite 11Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area · 18 mi
Red Rock Canyon CampgroundRed Rock Canyon National Conservation Area · 18 miFrom Las Vegas, travel north on Highway 95 to the junction with State Route 157/Kyle Canyon Road. Turn left and travel approximately 17 miles to the junction with State Route 158/Deer Creek Highway. Turn right and travel approximately 4 miles to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Mount Charleston, NV
Typical weather
Typical October night 35°F, day 62°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical November night 27°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Hilltop is in Nevada’s 4th congressional district. Its representative, Steven Horsford (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneySteven HorsfordU.S. Representative · Nevada’s 4th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationCatherine Cortez MastoU.S. Senator · Nevada
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJacky RosenU.S. Senator · Nevada
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Hilltop, Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Nevada
Dear Steven Horsford, I’m a constituent in Nevada’s 4th district. I tried to camp at Hilltop, Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Nevada, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 35 of the 38 campsites the agency files at Hilltop, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Hilltop keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Hilltop. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Hilltop (Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Nevada) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Hilltop, Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Nevada
Dear Catherine Cortez Masto, I’m a constituent in Nevada. I tried to camp at Hilltop, Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Nevada, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 35 of the 38 campsites the agency files at Hilltop, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Hilltop keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Hilltop. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Hilltop (Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Nevada) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Hilltop, Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Nevada
Dear Jacky Rosen, I’m a constituent in Nevada. I tried to camp at Hilltop, Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Nevada, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 35 of the 38 campsites the agency files at Hilltop, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Hilltop keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Hilltop. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Hilltop (Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Nevada) via campanac.com