Silver Lake East- Eldorado Campground, Markleeville, CA

Silver Lake East- Eldorado Campground is located in the Carson Ranger District, Eldorado National Forest (1 hr 4 min southwest of Carson City, NV) with an elevation of 8,240 feet. There are a total of 40 campsites. The campground is normally open from the end of June to the beginning of October. 30 sites can accommodate RVs and trailers between 25 and 35 feet. All sites are currently reservable. Reservations can be booked up to 6 months in advance. Fees range from $24.00 to $48.00. Some amenities include drinking water, swimming, restroom. Activities include fishing, hiking trails.

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Campsite Reviews (65)

4.0 out of 5

5 star		48%
4 star		18%
3 star		20%
2 star		6%
1 star		6%

@ConnieD6270207 · Camped on Aug 21, 2024 at Campsite #13

Nice campground, we were in site 13. A nice hike up to Granite Lake, and easy to walk over to Silver Lake (although it would be nice if the trail was marked, it's next to the restroom near site 10). Also a great hike to the Potholes along Silver Creek.

@Madeleine16D16 · Camped on Aug 20, 2024 at Campsite #11

Lovely quiet campground with a great host. Beautiful hike around the Silver Lake.

@WendyR2339887 · Camped on Jul 5, 2024 at Campsite #14

Great camping spot. Keep your food in the bear box. We had a bear visit our camp. No running water, and no cell service (welcomed for our trip). Take your bug spray. Biting flies and mosquitoes were hungry!!!

@williams984835 · Camped on Jul 2, 2024 at Campsite #42

First our reservations were cancelled or moved to Caples Lake [we were told the upper loop was undergoing renovations]; fortunately camp host helped us move reservation to a FF site. Second, arrived to find there was no water; very hard to have to boil all our water from the creek; third the trail from campground to lake still strewn with many fallen logs one had to climb over or around. Kudos to the camp host and a FS employee that finally came with a chain saw and within a few hours had the trail cleared [almost]; for some reason they left a few logs across the trail at the top near lake [really wondered why its taken years for this to get cleared]. The cleared trail makes it so convenient for campers and bikers that use this trail to get to the lake. Silver Lake is still gorgeous; the lake is great to cool off on hot days. Over the July 4th week, the beaches were packed. So sad to see all the dead trees on route from Jackson to Silver Lake and all the burned trees from Silver Lake to Kirkwood. Even though there were cans for recyclables, we noticed an employee dumped all the recyclables into the garbage bin which filled up rather quickly. We are looking forward to the campground renovations and hope 2025 will be a better camping experience for all.

@KathyH9289839 · Camped on Sep 4, 2023 at Campsite #47

Camped near the lake, but with windy conditions, we had to switch from lake activities to hiking. Lots of great hikes nearby. We will be back!

@CarolP9818555 · Camped on Aug 14, 2023 at Campsite #26

The camp host was friendly and had valuable suggestions for us

@SteveC5760416 · Camped on Aug 13, 2023 at Campsite #29

Very nice campsites. Beautiful lake. Camp hosts are very nice and helpful.

@AudreyH3EDA236 · Camped on Aug 11, 2023 at Campsite #5

Friendly camp host / dog, and decent location for hiking along HWY 88 but the bathroom were so gross (at least 100 flies in the one closest to us). I also wouldn't recommend D5 as a spot. The campsite seemed like it was 90% RVs and 10% tents.

@MelindaMDC06B5 · Camped on Aug 10, 2023 at Campsite #50

Silver lake is such a beautiful spot. All the campsites are pretty nice, the campground is clean and the hosts are helpful, accommodating and just really nice guys! We will be back for sure. - only comment is on the reservation system: there are a lot of first come first served sites that are not on the recreation.gov website. So it seems like youre reserving 2 sites next to each other, but when we arrived there was a site in the middle.

@DanielS7047089 · Camped on Aug 7, 2023 at Campsite #11

Seemed to be quite a bit of trash from previous campers. Flies were pretty bad on some of the restrooms. But overall beautiful area and neat sites. Camp host was great too! 10/10 will be back next year!

@PatrickB523191 · Camped on Aug 6, 2023 at Campsite #29

We spent 4 days at the campsite and a wonderful time! Jay and Darrell were outstanding hosts making sure everyone was had their needs met and answering many questions that came to mind. They were outgoing and great conversationalist and a hoot to to talk with, additional they were letting us know about the importance of fire safety within the camp ground. The bathrooms were stocked and cleaned daily by these gentlemen. Will return ASAP!!

@RebeccaC264620 · Camped on Aug 4, 2023 at Campsite #16

Silver Lake is a beautiful place to relax and enjoy nature.

@IRAG0B60F327B9 · Camped on Jul 30, 2023 at Campsite #38

Great place. We love silver Lake

@MaxK36C6EB1F22 · Camped on Jul 28, 2023 at Campsite #34

Great campground. Not many mosquitoes

@JackieT71AE490 · Camped on Jul 24, 2023 at Campsite #29

They had no potable water. I wish we had known and we would have brought water.

@DeannaS4104291 · Camped on Jul 19, 2023 at Campsite #58

Lovely area, the camp management was disappointing this trip.

@StevenL6130350 · Camped on Jul 18, 2023 at Campsite #53

Silver Lake is gorgeous, the campsite hosts are dedicated, and the campsites are pleasant. However, the lack of any water is awkward and degrades the cleanliness of the bathroom/outhouses.

@WilliamK482864 · Camped on Jul 18, 2023 at Campsite #62

Average camps, bathrooms a little on the dirty side.

@LawrenceG26BF4 · Camped on Jul 12, 2023 at Campsite #16

Nice campground. Campground managers were friendly. No water from spigots but I was informed before I got there.

@CathyE007326DF · Camped on Jul 11, 2023 at Campsite #58

I love this lake. It is beautiful and the campsites are mostly spread apart well.

@EmilyM5280790 · Camped on Jul 9, 2023 at Campsite #47

Kayaking on Silver Lake, the Pot Holes though river too swift for swimming, hiking to Granite Lake, sunset over the lake with Thunder Mountain, hiking at Thunder Mountain

@RobertF6718628 · Camped on Jul 5, 2023 at Campsite #44

There is no better place to unwind than camping and Silver Lake East campgrounds. The camp hosts, Jack and Daryl, are very pleasant and attentive. The grounds are neat and clean. There are tons of hiking trails all around. Fishing on the lake is good and the alpine glow on Thunder Mountain is spectacular. There's also Kirkwood Mountain Resort just up the road and another large lake just beyond that. South Lake Tahoe isn't far away but, for me, there's nothing the beats the peacefulness of camping by Silver Lake.

@AlexTF83970AD8 · Camped on Jul 3, 2023 at Campsite #17

Lovely campground. The hosts are great and helpful, the vault toilet was clean, the lake/stream is super cool. Nothing bad to say about it.

@MeganG6561796 · Camped on Jul 2, 2023 at Campsite #5

I love silver lake it’s pretty quiet and the campsites are well spaced. Just make sure to bring bug spray.

@DavidBry248C79 · Camped on Jul 1, 2023 at Campsite #3

Water has been turned off the past two years we visited. Be prepared for trucking in water. People also steal sites and not much is done about it. don't be that person!

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