Wanted: Socal Car Camping for novices

[The Tiger]

I?m looking for ideas. I was asked to help plan family car camping trips for folks not as experienced and drive regular cars, not 4x4s.

I?m thinking keeping it to weekend trips within 2 hours of Los Angeles. I need ideas that could work for these short trips. So far I took them to Joshua Tree and that worked out well.

BTW I?m having some serious trouble with this board. This is my 4th time trying to make this post.

[EvoXRiley]

East flats up hwy 38 by jenks lake. OR if they want some amenities try sky rv camp park in arrowheadish area.

[hermosabeach]

What time of year?

Do you want remote? No toilets / running water?

KOA places with power and maybe a pool?

In tents? In RV or campers?


June lake is great but it's a summer place

[hermosabeach]

Type Camping near lone pine into Google maps

https://maps.app.goo.gl/5EjroqiyHkqLJneL7?g_st=ic

[The Tiger]

What time of year?

Do you want remote? No toilets / running water?

KOA places with power and maybe a pool?

In tents? In RV or campers?


June lake is great but it's a summer place

They want this to be a recurring thing. So year round family activities.

I like June Lake but that would be too far for most in this group.

Tents only. Remote is ok but the road has to work for minivans and passenger cars.

Everything else is negotiable. These people just want to get out more. I almost forgot that we also did Crystal Cove in Orange County last spring. They like to cook and eat and let the kids play. Having access to hiking would be nice.

[splithoof]

I have been spending one night per week at a nearby state beach campground for a couple of months. I have lunch on the way up, swim at the beach, then go make a campfire dinner for the night. Air bed in the van, get up and have a cold breakfast, swim, and go home. Very easy to do. I always go mid week, campground is always quiet at night, friendly, mostly older folks in motor homes and trailers. A few die-hard surfers. No summer rif-raf. I leave the van stocked for the next outing.
Water is now starting to be a bit cooler, if you trunk it.

[Spanky8601]

Well head up the Coast to Ventura/LA county line area. Leo Carrillo State Park has lots of spots especially in Fall/Winter. Then about 6 miles more and camp at Thornhill Broom right on the ocean. Further up in Santa Barbara County places like El Capitan SP.

[arrix]

San Bernardino/Lake Arrowhead area.

[BigMac90660]

What kind of amenities? There are two different kinds of car camping. Camping where you have access to water and toilets, and camping where you don't. Completely different situations with different options.

[Devilock04]

Look into Goodale Creek, Taboose Creek, and Tinemaha Creek campgrounds on the west side of Highway 395 between Independence and Big Pine. They?re decent dry campgrounds that usually aren?t too crowded on non holidays. There?s lots of fishing holes for trout in the area and lots of hikes. Lots of day trips for kids stuff too like the Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery and the Lone Pine Movie Museum. The scenery is amazing too, with the Eastern Sierras, including Mt. Whitney, and the White Mountains bordering either side of the Owens Valley.

They?re also not too remote so ice, food, water, etc. are available a short drive away if necessary.

[Q]

Since you?re doing tents. I watch Korean girls do tent camping on YouTube. It?s kinda interesting. Maybe a search like, Korean tent camping in the rain. There was one I really liked I don?t know if I put a favorite on it would have to look later. It was on a rainy night. They had a blow up sofa, projector, huge tent with windows. Looked so luxury it was pretty funny.

[Ora Serrata]

Palomar mountain has nice tent camp grounds and you can take the kids to tour the observatory. There’s also a cool fire lookout station you can hike to and visit.

A good get away my friends and I did in high school was go up to the Frazier Park area. Mt Pinos has some tent camp grounds too.

[rplaw]

I think the key here is how "remote" do you want to be? There are a bazillion places along the ocean where car camping is easy. Within 2 hours of LA means San Diego to Santa Barbara and that's a large area with lots of opportunities just along the coast. Go inland a bit and you can spend nearly every weekend someplace new for years if not the rest of your life if you want.

I would join KOA and get their maps and reviews for in depth knowledge of what the various camping places actually have. A symbol on a map can be very misleading if not an outright lie so having reviews is a valuable tool.

If you like sand in your food, there are campgrounds right alongside Hwy 1 between LA and Oxnard. More places in the coastal mountains too with easy access and less sand.

Pyramid Lake is right up I5. I don't think Castaic is open anymore but you can check. Same deal with Piru.

Here in Ventura county, Lake Casitas is open for camping and many people car camp there. It's beautiful even if the lake is down. Wheeler's Gorge is open but it's remote and tucked back in there. I'm not sure that Gaviota is open (long way from LA - 3 hours) because there's construction going on right there, but many of the campground beaches north of Santa Barbara are good places. Quiet and lots of things to do.

Many many possibilities. Join KOA and get their maps and stuff.

[golfish]

There's a nice campground just west of Wrightwood. I thinks it's called Table Mountain CG.
It has a great view of the valley on the north side.

Then there's Crystal lake above San Gabriel Canyon/Azusa.


Not sure if you want to go up there in the winter

[Surf & Turf]

Look up yellow post camping areas.... it is free.

I hate campgrounds....neighbours are too close and too loud!