Campo Alto Campground, near Los Padres National Forest, is a serene spot that offers a true escape into nature. With its 17 individual and 2 group sites, you'll find plenty of space to set up camp and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.

This campground is all about simplicity and tranquility. Visitors rave about the beautiful views and the cool mountain air, making it a perfect getaway, especially during the hotter months. The vault toilets are clean and well-maintained, and while there’s no drinking water or electric hookups, the chance to disconnect and soak in the natural beauty is what draws many here. As one camper put it, “This campground doesn’t have much to offer in the sense of amenities but if you’re looking for peace, quiet, and few people, then this is the spot.”

For those who love to hike, the surrounding forest provides ample opportunities to explore. You can take in stunning views and enjoy the fresh air, all while being just a short drive from a nearby town for any supplies you might need. Keep in mind, though, that this is a pack-out campground, so be prepared to take your trash with you.

While some campers noted the presence of flies and bees, the overall experience of camping here is one of beauty and serenity. If you’re looking for a place to unwind and enjoy nature without the distractions of modern life, Campo Alto Campground is definitely worth a visit.

## Overview

 Tucked away high atop the Cerro Noroeste, you'll find solitude, serenity and unsurpassed scenery as you lose yourself in a pleasant grove of Jeffrey pines at Campo Alto Campground. Campsites are spacious, the air is filled with a pine-sweet scent, and you will enjoy end-of-the-road privacy. Invigorated by the fresh air, your inner hiker will hunger to head out on the Vincent Tumameit Trailhead to enjoy the scenic mountain vistas. Do your best to leave this natural setting just as you found it. The campsites have no barriers to block your view, so most modest sized RVs, and all tent campers fit well here.
## Recreation

 Campo Alto Campground is best appreciated by pristine camping enthusiasts who prefer to leave the hurried life behind. Hiking into the Chumash Wilderness by day, and star gazing by night are the chosen methods of decompressing.
## Natural Features

 Located at 8,250 f.t, the campground is shaded by a thick blanket of Jeffrey pine. Great views of the the Carrizo Plain to the north, Cuyama Valley, Quatal and Apache Canyons to the west, as well as views of the San Joaquin valley to the east and Lockwood Valley and Sespe ranges to the south, are also some prevalent attributes of this little piece of heaven. 
## Nearby Attractions

 Hiking trails, biking, fishing and swimming are accessed within 30 minutes. Restaurants, gas and shopping within 15 miles at Pine Mountain Club or 25 miles in Frazier Park.

Campo Alto Campground

Whether you're an RVer or tent camper, Pine Mountain Club, CA is a great place to post up for the weekend—or longer. There's so much to see and do, from exhilarating hikes or bike rides to exploring the local dining and shopping. Ready to plan your adventure? Check out our campgrounds near Pine Mountain Club and user-submitted reviews.

Pine Mountain Club

The Best Camping Near Pine Mountain Club, California

This is a great spot to grab a little serenity. Only about 2 hours from Los Angeles and yet you feel so much further away than that. The campground covers the top of the mountain and the sites are well spaced so you don’t feel too packed in with your neighbors. Great spot to sit by the fire, look at the stars, and listen to the wind. We didn’t find much hiking or activity nearby, but we didn’t really look either. Bring plenty of water for both drinking and washing. Best to stay hydrated at this altitude. If you’re not into rugged non-amenity camping, or have difficulty with altitude and/or excessive dryness, you should probably steer clear. 

Views on all sides

We found campo alto after a forced evacuation cut our yearly Big Sur trip short after 3 days this August. 

We’d booked 9 days so we had a lot of time remaining and weren’t prepared to head back to San Diego just yet &amp; trying to find a walk-in campground during COVID made it all the more challenging. After reading some reviews we drove the 4 hours with our fingers crossed hoping to find a spot. Thankfully we arrived around 8:30pm and found walk-on site 17! 

We set up for the night using our headlights and awoke the next morning in awe at how HUGE many sites are (including ours) and the utterly breathtaking beauty and quiet that surrounded us! 

•PROS•

There’s an old ski lodge at the entrance thats an unexpected find &amp; its forgotten beauty is haunting...if you keep an eye out you’ll see ski life strapping still in many of the trees.

The surrounding forest allows for plenty of hiking opportunities either long or short depending on what you feel up to. 

Town is just a 15 minute drive down the mountain &amp; has a store with nearly anything you could need. 

You may get 1-2 bars of cell service if needed. I struggled to keep a single bar no matter where I walked too &amp; found it better to stop at one of the pull-off areas halfway down the mountain for full service. 

•CONS•

-There’s a large fly &amp; bee population. 

Our dog had a healing injury on her back knee that was nearly impossible to keep a bandaged. This quickly became a nightmare...our only option was to re-wrap with new gauze &amp; vet wrap every few hours and put puppy pajamas on her in the evening in attempt to keep wrap up. 

I wasn’t too bothered by them but the Mr had a horrible time with them and the bees swarmed our dogs water &amp; our hand water station. Leaving any uncovered water out for more than 2 minutes meant it was full of drowning bees. 

-Lack of Shade: I highly recommend bringing a pop-up canopy &amp; side walls for shade if going during the summer. Being hot and sticky with the large flies means you may be miserable sitting still.

-Trash: Its a full pack-out campground so you’ll need to keep trash packed up to take out with you.

Staying for a week meant we really needed to find a dumpster and spent an hour looking for something around town. Unfortunately due to the bear enclosures we didn’t have any luck. 

Out of pure desperation we ended up using the dumpster found at the campground located at the bottom of the mountain road despite the surveillance warning signs :-/. 


•OVERALL•

We not only found this campground to be peaceful and stunningly beautiful but loved that its half the length of time to get home compared to Big Sur. We‘ll definitely be back soon! 


Great Getaway!

A great campground if you truly want to get away. This campground doesn't have much to offer in the sense of amenities but if you're looking for peace, quiet and few people then this is the spot. Higher elevation so cooler temps, beautiful views, spots spaced far apart and new vault toilets. We've been here twice, both times were over 4th of July weekends. It was nice to be away from crowds and full campgrounds during a popular holiday weekend. Temps were not too hot and not too cold. Camp host resides at another nearby campground but drives around Campo Alto every morning. They will charge you $10 for extra vehicles on site. We shared sites 9 an 10 with our friends. Those sites are perfect for friends and/or families to share. They are connected to each other and separated with a short driveway off the main campground road. Highly recommend if you enjoy serene and primitive camping.

Forest Mountain Camping

Campo Alto is a small campground with 17 individual and 2 group sites with an 8 mile 2 lane route from the main road up to flat mountain top. Roads entirely paved with mostly gravel unlevel parking near sites. Easily traveled by Class B rigs or trailers if enough power for steep inclines. Most sites can handle unlimited length but may not get large rigs leveled. My 30ft class C was fine. Had 2 clean lit vault toilet buildings of 2 stalls.  Only text messages randomly worked. 

Two objections discussed with service personnel. An arrow painted at end of road up at stop sign was demonstrated one way road. It was on the wrong spot, so ignore since most of the sites are to the right. The other serious issue was the large population of cut dead trees laying on the mountain top. A service came up 2 years ago to thin the area but didn’t bother to pick up logs leaving beetles and potential fire more fuel to consume and spread. A disaster waiting for either problem.(Had to help clear private property of down trees since city told us the beetle would spread further.)

It also would be profitable to cut or trim trees to make available the 4 sites closed. Not economical to  keep them closed - not to mention the demand for camping.

Quiet forest setting on mountain top - Map and pictures of sites below

This is a wonderful campground if you're looking to escape the crowds elsewhere. We were in spot 4 which was right next to the check in board. Despite the close proximity to the road the site was very big and had plenty of trees to throw our hammocks up and relax. Next time we would likely pick spots 6-8 or 13-17 as they were a little further into the campground and away from the main road. 


There is plenty of firewood to gather but I may suggest a small hatchet. 

The vault toilets were clean enough for vault toilets. 

My husband and I stayed Saturday to Monday and found that only a few hunters were left Sunday night and Monday morning and we enjoyed walking through the campground and checking out all the small viewpoints through the trees to the valleys below. The group sites looked spacious and awesome as well!

Pine Mountain Club was close, quaint, and the people we met were friendly. 

We are keeping this spot in our back pockets for the next time we want to escape the busy city life! 

Photos of Campo Alto Campground

Real photos from real campers