Sportsman's Beach Recreation Site

Fees? Not really clear, but reported $6 but no envelopes so I considered it free.
Always wanted to stay around Walker Lake, used to pass it all the time growing up. There are several campgrounds, one just outside of Hawthorne before you start along the cliffs along the lake. Needed some clean up and windy. Further up several turn offs, but nothing really "Official". Sportsman Beach is towards the upper end of lake with 3 camping areas. On top, sheltered sites, 3 along the bluff. Continuing down to boat area, there open gravel area where you can camp. Further along the dirt road, you'll come to some sheltered pull through areas, some along the bluff, usually full and the rest on the other side with a view too.
Also, FYI, it can get windy/dusty at times, so plan accordingly.
Fees? while there might be fees, there weren't any envelopes so considered it free. Just looks neglected.

Clean with big sites,dumpsters and restrooms.sites have fire ring,shelter and picnic table.America the Beautiful pass accepted for 50% off the $6 a day rate.and one beautiful lake to look at .
Far enough off the road that noise is at a minimum.
Staying a week.We will return

We were heading north and just needed to stop for the night. This spot was the 1st of the BLM campsites on Walker Lake so, we stopped there. Luckily,there was a motorhome in front of us and I saw him drive straight past the others and head down a gravel road. I figured he must know where he was going so, we followed him. Good thing too! That’s where the best campsites were! All the spots are pull-thru , covered picnic table & fire pit. There was a vault toilet (clean). There is a loop to drive around . We didn’t have any issue at all with maneuvering our 30ft class A around. Spots were also pretty level. The only reason we didn’t give it 5 stars , is the mosquitos down by the water & it was fairly windy . There is a Safeway store 14 mi. south if you need anything. We could see 20 mile beach & Tamarack right off the highway and liked Sportsman’s beach the best. No problem with road noise .

What could be better? A nice quiet campground with a stunning view of a large body of water with the sun cresting the mountains with your favorite morning tea or coffee? I happen to wander off the highway and found this great spot for the evening right at 11 pm.
Spent only one night at the last week of June of 2018 before heading for Southern California. There are two other campsites in the area that I will do a review on as well eventually. I awoke to a few RV'sscattered about but it was not crowded by no means.
It was a clean campground that can easily accommodate 40-foot busses. There is no electricity, however, there are shade structures at every space and fire pit/rings. Bathroom facilities are vaulted toilets and trash bins for refuse. There is a boat launch at this campground.
The noise was not an issue as the highway is far enough to were you can have a good nights sleep without the sounds of traffic. THIS IS A PAID campground based on the honor system so if you don't mind paying between $4 and $12 dollars.
Unfortunately, due to irrigation and water diversion, the lake continues to drop and become more endangered of becoming a dead lake with a high salt content ( think Salton Sea of California ) There is an active campaign to attempt to save it check out http://walkerlakecrusaders.com and
http://savewalkerlake.org to see what can be done to preserve this lake for future generations. One negative thing is that there is not potable water. Be sure to check out all my reviews and my journeys at http://Vanninproject.com.

We stayed 2 nights on June 28 and 29. Then headed for Carson City NV. Great place..... Coffee in the morning watching the sunrise. We did some hiking and had Military jets fly by and over the mountains. Very quiet and peaceful. Watched the Strawberry Moon come up. The only problem is with the Bathrooms... they were in desperate need of cleaning. Our cell phone service was off network but still worked. Would definitely stay again and highly recommend it.

At first we drove by the sites up by the highway and were not impressed, mainly they were all very un-level and close to the highway... really more like tent spots. Then we realized there was a road that went down much closer to the lake. We took that and found a spot that was very level and it had just incredible lake and mountain views! We parked right where the paved road ends and it becomes gravel, near the restrooms that were closed for the winter. If you go past our spot and down the gravel part of the road I think all the sites there are pull-through and have amazing lake views too!

From Sportsmans Beach here, the lake and hills ware just unbelievably beautiful, especially at sunrise and sunset! We met some neighbors who were hunters and they showed us a bighorn sheep they had bagged, we also saw some of these animals in the hills on the way into Hawthorne one day, amazing animals, keep an eye out.

One thing we did not know until we got there was that across the lake from the campground is the largest military ordinance depot in the world. Just rows after rows of buildings full of every type of bomb the Army has. We heard they store it here because of the remoteness of the location and the dryness of the climate. If you come through Hawthorne you have to go to the Ordinance Museum. It has a tank outside and every type of bomb, missile, rifle, gun, grenade, you name it, that the military has!

I have heard there are spiders and tarantulas but we just had knats and flies, the flies were the only negative part of this campground. Another thing is, the farmers up the river, that flows into the lake have been using the water to irrigate, so the lake has been drying up over the last 150 years, and it looks like the lake will be gone in the future. So the time to visit is now. Also where we camped the lake was about 100 yards below us, it looks very nice from a distance but up close its full of algae, I don't think I would swim in it any time of year.

All that being said though, I still give the place a 10 for the views!

Was here in early April. Beautiful weather. Kids had a great time playing in the sand although the (cold!) water level was about .25 mi down from the actual campsite. Pit toilets right there. Very clean. A few other people on a Saturday night, everyone quiet and respectful. Could hear highway noise, but it wasn't disruptive. Could not find the fee box although I was prepared to pay the $6/night that I expected.

Note there were some butterflies but otherwise no bugs in early April. I saw a staggering number of black tiny fly? larvae in the wet sand at the waters edge, but no actual flying flies anywhere. And no spiders either. Must have been time of year. Water was cold but clean, I could have gotten into it.

No drinking water, pit toilets, no shower, no power. fairly close to town shops

Because you cannot see the good campsites from the Hwy, nobody comes here. The lake is beautiful but not used. It’s too saline for anything. There were little flies by the water but not at the campsites. No facilities except for pit toilet and trash. Big rigs are fine. The road loops at the end. Disregard the camp spots at the top near Hwy. Head down towards the boat ramp, follow tiny signs for camping. The road turns gravel. It’s a good road. I stayed over Memorial Day weekend - very quiet. Verizon is good and I pulled in several OTA tv channels also. I’ll be back here!

Stopped for a night after Death Valley. We were alone on the lower level of campsites, at the end of the paved roadway. Relatively level gravel site. Easy in with our 23’ Airstream. Far enough from the highway to not hear the traffic.

Great view of the lake and the snow capped mountains to the west.

I arrived here at dark and I had a bit trouble to figure the layout of the park and how to get into a campsite, as there is no light. The campsite I choose had a 3% off level, which is the max. off lever my fridge accepts without getting into an error mode. The views are great and I took a bunch of nice pictures on the next morning. My AT&T data hot-spot only got 0.1 MBit speed but my T-Mobile iPad got fast 30 MBit speed and 4 bars solid signal.