Diaz Lake Campground

I happened upon Diaz Lake while driving up 395 and decided to stop in for a night mid-week at the end of June. Steve was helpful at checking me in at the kiosk and I was able to find a nice lakefront spot for my 30' motorhome. I had several neighbors but there were plenty of open spots (the best ones for lake access being in the 80s and 90s). There's definitely a lot of motorcraft activity on the lake but nothing bothersome. Fishing was fun and depending where you park, you can walk right in for a swim. The views of the Sierras are beautiful as well! The one major drawback was the bugs. They're plentiful during the day but by nightfall are so overwhelming there is almost no point in going outside. I'd return but probably not until summer is over.

Most sites are fairly large. Plenty of pull-through sites too. Some sites are very large. Reservations are welcome only through reserveamerica.com. There is a $7 fee per night for use of service and a $10 fee per extra vehicle. Never saw a park ranger or campground host the whole time we were there. The lake is easy to access in some areas but fishing is limited in some areas due to reeds and overgrowth in the shallow edge waters. Boating is good but it is a small lake so better for a row boat or kayak but not a great place for water sports.
There’s a bit of noise from the road (highway 395) but isn’t overwhelming. Close enough to run into the town of Lone Pine if necessary. Many fishermen. There are ample picnic areas and a playground for the kids. Overall a great place for family camping.

We stayed at Diaz Lake for one night after touring Death Valley National Park. The cost was $14. However, considering the condition of the campground it was overpriced. Maintenance seems to be non-existent; the campsites were completely unkempt. We saw one site where a tree had fallen on a truck and there are others that look like they could topple over at any time. The pit toilets had not been cleaned in years, and there was trash in some of the sites

On the plus side, the sites were large and each has at least one picnic table. A few of the sites have water connections, but the one I checked did not have a handle.

Inyo County should be ashamed of the condition of this park.

We stayed here mid-week just before Memorial Day, 90% of sites had "reserved" tags on them, but not very many campers pulled in before we left on Friday 5/24. There was one group near us with about 8 campers and three tents, and a few other single campers, all were friendly and respectful of our space, never got noisy. It was cold and rainy but we still got out and walked around the lake, and watched all the birds, ducks and pelicans playing. Very cool seeing Mt. Whitney from our campsite.

Recently stayed here, as looking forward to getting away from the city for a weekend, and wanted something with a lake to enjoy. All the lakes closer to us were either booked solid, or were not open to "Motorized Watercraft". Diaz had no stipulation on the website about not allowing boats.....
We arrived shortly after 12 pm on the day of check-in. No issues about getting there early. Office locked, but attendant in building came out and stated due to COVID-19 Pandemic, no one allowed in office. Asked if we had reservation, which we confirmed we did, and he told us to proceed to site. On "Reserve America" it shows 86 as the end site, incorrect. All the sites from 70 - 96 are in line with each other. The reserve america site shows some in front of others, again not true, the sites are approx 25 feet wide I'd say, and run from the road to the lake shore, though the reeds are almost impassible, so you have to get to the shore in certain "Reed Free" beach areas. The main thing that bothered me was that when we arrived, there was a sign at the boat ramp that said "No Motorized Watercraft" and we didn't see that on the website. I don't think we were the only ones who missed that, as almost 80% of the campsites had either boats or jetski's at camp. The grass did not appear to have been cut in a VERY long time, and was thick and hard to walk on. This was the first weekend open since COVID Shutdown, so they may have just not had staff on hand. Fire rings were falling apart, but they did have picnic tables at each site. The other issue I saw was very few restrooms (Vault Toilets right accross from our site, no smell either), but the line sometimes was lengthy do to limited number, and the TP ran out quickly. (We always carry our own incase)
We made the best of the weekend, weather was perfect, wind picked up a bit at night, but manageable. Family friendly, and we never had an issue with our neighbors, Sheriff seems to patrol frequently too.
Neighbors were fishing, crappie and small bass seemed to bite at dusk and dawn, not much other than that.

Hello campers,

Let me break it down for you if you never camped Lake Diaz or it's been awhile:

1) do you like sleep? well if you do don't come here. Why? Our neighbors decided to play music on a gas generator with a stadium size speaker until 2 AM. I called the cops at 12:30 AM and no cops showed up. The park states there is a quiet time from 10 PM to 8 AM.

2) do you like loud and obnoxious random fire works? It was clearly stated no fireworks on campground due to high fire risk. Well our neighbors set off several fire works (the kind you would normally see at a professionally held event in a safe environment). The next day after about 2 hours of sleep (see 1 for reason) I let the camp keeper know of the loud music and fireworks and they reassured me that was not allowed. I let them know the cops didn't show up and he said he would swing by their site to warn them. Well, later that day at 10 PM the fireworks and music were blasting all over again for round 2. Our group had enough, I called the police and no patrol officers came down to stop the illegal acts ( I mean there is dry brush all around the camp). Our group wanted to stay in a hotel to get some sleep for the rest of the night but we ended up packing and making the drive back to Los Angeles.

3) Another reason is a drunk (had beer bottles all around his picnic table) camp neighbor decided to pull out his air rifle and shoot at animals on trees. Then he crossed the barbed wire on to private property and continued to shoot. I had to grab one of my camp buddies kids who could have been in the middle or get injured.

Hope this review will help some fellow campers make an informed decision based on facts.

Nothing too fancy, but overall it was a good experience for those people that like to camp near a lake and don’t expect to rely on the campground too heavy. Took family and dogs. Using a trailer RV. Will definitely go there again. Close to Lone Pine, and close to a RV Park with a store, in case you need to get emergency supplies.

Cute local campground around Diaz lake. Nothing spectacular but good stop along 395. Unbearably hot during our visit at 100’F with sand flies around the lake. Dedicated tent area, RV spots are spacious and a little further away from the road than the day use area. Aquatic check for boats at entry.

Mellow camp site. Pretty close to lake and neighbors were quiet and minimal. We spent the week here with our toy hauler and road our motorcycles in to Death Valley a few days. I would stay here again. Only wish there was a dump station.

If this county park was properly maintained it would be a 5 star. Lots of lake side sites but many had foot high grass, were not level & trash in some.
I chose to camp in the group area because it had level sites, was closer to the pit toilets & there were only 2 other campers in a large area of old shade trees.
Located next to SR 395 but could not hear traffic at night. Views of Eastern Sierra Nevadas were stunning, close to lots of trails, Lone Pine & Mt Whitney.
Checking in was via a cc machine & there was no posted info about prices until you actually started the transaction. But $14/night for water, toilets & those views was reasonable.