Rolling M. Ranch Campground — Chino Hills State Park

If someone dropped you into the middle of this stunning campground, you’d never know that you were surrounded by one of the largest metropolitan regions in the country. This is a quiet, quaint and simple escape from the greater Los Angeles area, shhh don’t tell anyone. The campground is super simple, with sites that fit tents or vans to larger sites for bigger rigs. 

One of the limiting factors for this campground is the winding road in.  In a few spots it narrows down to one lane, so larger rigs might want to look to see if there are any size restrictions on the State Park website. Also, this park is used by a ton of walkers and cyclists from the nearby communities who park outside and roll in by human power- so plan to arrive before rush hour. 

There’s no hookups at any of the campsites so come prepared with your solar power and you’ll have more than you need in this sunny part of the world. The bathrooms were fine with a clean bath house offering single use toilet stalls and warm showers. We arrived in the middle of wildflower season, April, after a particularly rainy winter and spring ‘23, and those blooms were simply off the hook! 

Hiking trails to the nearby hills which provided unique perspectives on the suburban sprawl, began right out of the campground. Opportunities to cycle and hike throughout the park were abundant. Supplies can be gathered in the nearby communities, but the park gate closes at 10PM so plan accordingly.

Camping at Chino Hills State Park takes place at the Rolling M. Ranch campgrounds, located deep within the park. From there the assigned spots offer parking, spots to pitch a tent (though not specific tent patches), a picnic table, old school charcoal grill, and a fire pit. Additionally there are many trails throughout the winding hills.

However, on the weekend I stayed there, the park was caught in a paradox: due to rain and a desire to protect the blooming poppies, all trails were closed, and in addition, no wood nor charcoal fires were allowed. 

While this greatly limited my ability to enjoy the entire park, the website did make me aware of these restrictions, so I knew what I was getting in to, and looked forward to some peaceful beginning-of-week camping.

And it was mostly quiet, except when people arrived mid-day and ignored the trail ban, presumably to see the poppies. They had no problem parking in the otherwise-empty camping spots (parking for day use is down the hill), or in my extra car spots, or indeed, walking through my camp site.

But after they left I got to enjoy some solitude, do a little birdwatching, and at night was treated to owls and coyotes calling. I'm looking forward to giving this park another shot when it's fully "open" and when the poppy hikers aren't there.

This place literally feels like our back yard. That probably makes sense since a side entrance is only a mile down the road from us.

We hike this several times a month. Its a great place to go wander and feel lost, yet realize there’s a gas station right down the street (or in our case, home 😁). This park, and the hundreds of smaller parks dotted around the residential neighborhoods is one of hundreds of reasons why we love calling Chino Hills home.

Occasionally I work in Orange County so often I get to ride my motorcycle through Chino Hills State Park on the 142 through Sleepy Hollow on an incredibly regular basis. There is not an aspect to this park we don’t love and the wildlife here along with the seasonal changes make this place a wonderful escape from the daily life that can be Southern California. Great for day trips, picnics, and general fun. But be warned in the summer it can be deceiving, Chino Hills is lovely in the shade, but it gets HOT in direct sunlight, way hotter than most people remember to account for so bring plenty of water, and extra ice. Also realize that while there are main trails many people have a tendency to do their own thing so watch the main trails because off shoots tend to start/stop very abruptly.