Salt Creek Beach Campground

This is a State Park boondocking site with no hookups. It does have picnic tables and a a fire ring/ BBQ. There are porta-potties thru-out, and free showers in the group area. The history, smells and "beaches" here are all so unique, that its just a sorta fun. The water is lovely, and thousands of seagulls beach along this shore. There are quiet times, but the gulls can make quite squabble when they get going. The beach is a mixture of sand, crustly salt and tiny barnacle shells - again, quite unique, but make for difficult walking. I was here in March, and it was wonderful sleeping at night with the windows open (19' Airstream), a salt breeze, and a railroad track by the highway (far enough to enjoy if you love the sound of a train like me). Access is directly of Rte 111, self pay, $10 less $2 senior discount.

We had every intent on staying here only to find the gate shut with a sign saying it was closed due to flooding. We ended up at Corvina Beach, just up the road. We did not come back & tour the closed CG, but Corvina had unmistakable evidence of flooding as well with lots of cones warning folks not to park too close to the edge due to soft surfaces. I recommend heading the warnings or it will cost you to have a tow truck get you out!

It's going to take a lot of work to shore back up the edge if they even have the resources, so Salt Creek may be closed for quite a while.

Probably not a long term option but a wonderful overnight stop. This was our first trip around the East side of the Salton Sea and found the trip interesting (Slab City) but a little depressing, however when we stopped at Salt Creek it had a tranquility that compelled us to stay the night and we're glad we did as the sky show that started at sunset was amazing. A great value for birders or photographers you will be sure to enjoy.

We stopped here after visiting Salvation Mountain. For the price and the view, it was perfect. If you come with the expectation that it will smell funky and the water is not touchable, than you'll understand how serene this place can be. There were not many people there and the views were beautiful. A great stay for a few nights. There were cold showers and restrooms as well.

Beautiful views, cool weather helped keep the odor down. We checked out Salvation Mountain just south east of Salt Creek. We were on a mission to find BLM / free camping, but after seeing Slab City (with kids in tow) we wanted something a bit more established.

Every one we encountered was polite. There are portable toilets. There's actually a Kayak Camp, Coldwater Showers, potable water all over. Further North were more campsite options, but this was an excellent place for us to stop off.

Picnic Tables and Fire Pits were nice.

I can see how some would be put off by the "beach", however we enjoyed peace and quiet with great views and stunning sunsets on the Salton Sea! We checked in at the visitor center first, to be sure we could fit into one of the other campgrounds... they were very nice people, but not very knowledgeable about the various campgrounds or access. Thankfully they called one of the other park employees who was able to help determine the best place for us to park our beast.
I had read reviews for all of the campgrounds in the state park and so felt good with our choice of Salt Creek Beach. Wide gravel/packed dirt roads with good turn-around width meant any sized rig could park here. The rangers that patrol the park daily stated that this campground is the least utilized of the group along the shore, which was great for us. The park is way out there, not a lot of civilization close by which was fine for us, but likely not some place we would have spent a full week at. However, for the two days we were there, we enjoyed our time. The lake's story is very interesting so do stop into the visitor center to watch the video and read about it. It helps to understand why the beach shoreline is nothing but fish bones and barnacles, not sand which is very strange when you first walk down to the water. The briny/sulfur smell was not bad while we were there- smelled no different to us than the Great Salt Lake or even some parts of the coastline in California. Overall we really enjoyed the short time we were there and even went up into the Coachella Valley to enjoy a Date Shake and learn a bit about the date farming industry. The highway noise was minimal as it is not a heavily used highway and the nearby trains were quiet with no horns as in some areas we have stayed.

We self registered and parked along the lake. There were only one or two other campers. The Ranger was in the area from time to time and was a good source of information. We braved wading into the water the first day we arrived. It just had a lot of rain so the water was clear. The very next day the water was nasty as it usually is.

The entire area is economically depressed.

Not a great place for kids, but very nice quiet place to enjoy a sunset. We loved visiting Bombay Beach Right up the road. It was so weird, but worth the trip - you'll have to see our blog for the scary details.

I tried going here and the gates to this & surrounding Salton Sea campgrounds are closed due to unsafe conditions.

Salt Creek is gated. The three other Salton Sea NRA campgrounds (Headquarters/New Camp, Mecca, and Corvina Beach) are open for business with plenty of room at each.

This spot was a surprise! I had stopped at the two campgrounds in the same rec area just north a few miles and they were both fine, but I wanted to stay right on the water and have a view. This place didn't disappoint. It's inexpensive and has clean, new bathrooms, trash receptacles and cold showers. The spaces are well-spaced apart and everyone gets a view. The trains do go by often but they don't sound their horns and didn't bother me at all, in fact I loved watching them...some of the longest trains I've ever seen. Decent cell service from all carriers and beautiful sunsets!