Dos Picos County Park

This place is a jewel, and if you live in San Diego, right in your backyard! Rangers are super helpful and friendly, the campground is clean and quiet, and the setting is beautiful. There’s a tranquil pond, nice hiking trails, places for kids to play…. Just a fantastic option close to home for locals and well worth consideration for visitors to the area.

I have never had a bad experience at a camp ground with any ranger. They have all been wonderful. Not at this park. My registration tags went to my home so I did not have current tags. I had to have a family member collect my mail and forward to me on my travels so it was delayed. I did have a receipt which I was required to provide. However, the ranger barged into my campsite in a huff, treated me as if I were vomiting a crime and demanded my receipt on the spot in front of all. It was quite over the top. Later the same man barged back into my campsite throwing accusations at me that I hadn’t paid my measly $4.00 parking fee and breaking the rules of the park. He had the nerve to argue with me after I explained that in fact I had paid. He backed down after realizing I had. He then returned to harass us for the kids using chalk. There were kids from several campsites using chalk. We apologized and made them clean it up, no big deal. But the ranger was didn’t simply ask for it to be cleaned. He was threatening and confrontational. I dealt with one other ranger here who was quite nice and helpful but this other was awful. I discovered I was not the only one to have this experience here. I would recommend Sweetwater or Lake Jennings in San Diego area or Aqua Caliente where they are quite friendly. Yikes this was horrible

Shouldn't have a problem finding a site here.

Second time here, booked to be close to the San Diego zoo safari park. This is a very well run county park.

General: A mix of partial hook-up and tent sites plus six cabins about an hour from San Diego. 

Site Quality: All the sites have paved pads except 64-68 and 70-75; these have gravel pads. These sites also have a curb which can be a bit challenging when backing in an RV. A fire ring and picnic table complete the site. Some have better separation/privacy than others. This area had a lot of recent rain so the creek that meanders through the park was very high. Sites 74 and 75 were flooded and unoccupied when we were there.

Bathhouse: The one closest to site 73 was very basic (no hooks, shelves, or mirror); there was also one handicap-accessible separate bathroom. Although there were showers in other parts of the campground, there were not any in the bathhouse closest to our site.

Activities/Amenities: Campfire program, horseshoe pit, short nature trail, dump station. There is also a large, enclosed picnic pavilion. This park seemed to attract family groups (at least on a Friday) and it was great to see so many kids around the campground not on their devices! Appreciate the dishwashing sink and the propane canister recycling. 

We had to change our plans at the last minute so we were fortunate to secure a site at this park on a Friday night in late March and it was fine for an overnight.

The county park is quiet and peaceful. During the week I’m 1 of about 4 campers. It has filled up on the weekends with mostly families and scout troops. It is a mix of RV and tent campsites.

Site #30 This campground was an awesome campground from beginning to end. The guard shack that’s in the middle of the entry to get into The campground appears to not be used. You actually check in at the office to the right of guard shack. They only appear to store their ranger trucks near the guard shack, so go into the lane on the right when you’re entering the park. Check-in was quick and easy. There are signs in the park that direct you to where to go to get to your site as well as they give you a map when you check in. The Site was not level (which isn’t a problem) just mentioning it so that you know you’re going to have to have things with you to level your rig. Our site was covered with chalk from overly creative previous campers. Otherwise is was clean. This is a beautiful park with lots of trees and shrubbery. Saturday night was busy and slightly loud but quieted down by midnight. Sunday morning most of the campers packed up and left. The line for the dump is long and slow moving. Blocking sites in its path from 10:30 am to after 12:00 pm. So keep that in mind when you’re scheduling your camping site. Our site was blocked but we could squeeze out so it wasn’t a problem for us. But it could be a problem for others. So just a heads up. Bath house was clean showers looked good. They do you have poison ivy or poison oak in this park. I don’t remember which but they had signs up about it. We saw squirrels, bunnies, and LOTS of hawks and a few other birds during our stay. We had solid Verizon service anywhere in the park. The rangers drive though on and off all day then disappear in the late afternoon reappearing early morning. There are quite a few flys buzzing around and gnat like bugs. But it was no big deal. Great park!

Nice little county campground, park-like setting, with several loops and nice walking trails and a duckpond, a little free library, outdoor exercise equipment, and a playground in the day use area. 

RV sites are power and water (50, 30, 20 amp), and the dump station is free for campground guests only (not open to non-guests). There is mixed recycling here as well as a separate bin for empty green propane bottles. Pretty good cell reception, streaming was a bit spotty but the weBoost took care of that. Showers were ok, ok pressure and not very hot. You pay directly in the shower with quarters (no tokens) .$1 for 8 minutes. Heads up that some of the sites might be technically long enough for your rig, but the roads are narrow and bushy, and it may be tough to navigate into the site. We had site #27 and we had to shuffle back and forth and scraped on the bushes in order to back in in our 28ft vehicle.

Great county park. Quiet and well maintained. Pay showers. $29/ night. Pets welcome. Fire pits and picnic tables at each site. Tent camping available as well.

This place was great! Lots of kids running around having fun over the weekend. Much quieter on weekdays, so far. Decent price and close to everything. Was easy to get a reservation for multiple days when others were more full.

We came in January so we had the entire upper camping loop to ourselves. The rangers were very helpful. This Campground has partial hookups with electricity at sites but no water. Level well spaced sites. Firepit and picnic table. Nice clean grounds, restrooms and showers (pay).They also have tent sites and cabins. County Park with playground is adjacent . 

Beautiful scenery, great star gazing, at least on our upper loop. There's only a small light on restrooms. We saw F16s practicing overhead. Very cool.

Good Verizon reception.

Clean , quiet place lots of oak trees

Nice, small campground for a quick getaway

Nice little county campground. Clean and well maintained. Some excellent hikes nearby.

Like it

The facilities were clean and the rangers were around for questions. There was a group there with loud music the second night and no one there to stop it so it persisted throughout the night. The area around the camp ground is nice with a park and places to hike. Will go back for sure.

This camp ground is so well maintained. The area is tidy, the bathrooms are clean and well stocked and most importantly the Ranger enforces quiet time. I am not a fan of being woken up at 2 am by a drunk group of campers. The walking trails are clear and wide and there’s lots of room for kids to ride their bikes and scooters. The pond is pretty. We were able to get some great pictures of the dragonflies. They were huge! There are a lot of squirrels, so like every place you need to keep your camp site cleaned up and food stowed. The only things I would call out here are the camp sites are very close together. We’re in a 10x10 tent and we had a huge RV pretty much on top of us. Luckily they never came out of the RV, guessing because of the heat. Tent only sites are limited so you’re like going to be right next to or in between 5th wheels and RVs using partial hook ups. The other thing is depending on your spot you might be hard pressed to have an area clear of squirrel holes to put down your ground cover. Our tent was okay but our second shelter and games both had to go over a series of holes. Almost lost some ring toss rings down the holes. Last is the camp ground provided fire wood. We try to buy local wood to avoid invasive insects. In the case of Dos Picos they provide wood bundles for $5 on-site. Cheap and we don’t have to make room in the car, win/win. We’ll the wood is cut in pretty large chunks and riddled with knots. I would recommend a splitter and a small sledge. It took way too long to split our wood with our hatchet and in 93 degree heat, it pretty much sucked. I consider these things pretty minor issues for a weekend get away. We enjoyed the camp ground, thought all the rangers were great and would visit again for a quick trip.

Dos Picos is nice if you live close by and want to feel like you’re “getting away”. Nothing spectacular but it’s camping and it’s CLOSE! Just a couple miles from store or your house if you live in Ramona or Poway lol. Fishing pond is nice to look at, haven’t caught anything yet tho. I feel like the few times we’ve been, we have not had a site that was terribly close to another which is appreciated. There is also an event gazebo you can rent and a really nice playground.

The missus and I decided to do a midweek overnight escape and chose Dos Picos Park due to its close proximity.

Great little campground with partial (electricity & water) hookups. Don't know if the tent only sites have these. On-site dumping available, if you need it. Ok(ish) flushing restrooms and showers available. Better than a pit toilet!! Plenty of shaded spots with some mature trees around the campground. Firepits and picnic tables on each site. Trails all around to hike as well as a catch and release pond on grounds. Rangers were pretty adamant about quiet time starting at 10 pm. Rangers were super friendly, too.

One little gotcha, for me at least. There's no smoking of any product nor e-cig use allowed on the grounds. I personally look forward to enjoying a cigar around the campfire at the end of the day. Bummer but not a deal breaker.

This campsite was cool, came here October 4, 2013. Also a great experience! Came here with Land Arts class for the weekend and we had a blast! Camping here was as my professor Yoshi calls it, "spoiled camping". We had reception and were close to the nearest town!and Showers available!

Crazy busy on the weekends, but almost empty during the week. The sites are somewhat tight for 5th wheels and longer trailers, but can be fit it. The pads are pretty level, but all asphalt. The electric service is 50/30, so you can run A/C...which you absolutely need in Ramona during the summer through early fall. Nearby hiking and golf, as well as a short drive to Poway/Rancho Bernardo where any service, shopping, etc you may need is available.

This was my first camping experience! :) I enjoyed this campground. We stopped at the ranger office at the entrance and the check-in was very quick, restrooms were clean and overall there was a good atmosphere. We had a nice stay :)

I just recently bought a 2004 pop up trailer and this place was so beautiful! We were at site 48 which was secluded and close to the bathrooms. It’s partial hook ups (electricity and water). The dump station was clean and easy to get to, there was a hose to clean up or spray anything down. We did a night hike (we went when it was at lease 90-100 degrees) to the pond and found a huge bullfrog! I would go again!!

Dos Picos is a nice campground that's hidden in the hills of Ramona. It's a great place to base camp if you want to hike Mt. Woodson and Iron Mountain. Each is within a 5 - 10 min drive from the campground. There's also a nice public gold course nearby too. 

The campsite are varied. Some have nice shade and some don't. There's a little lake that allows fishing. 

Cell Coverage: Good

I really like this campground! The bathrooms are very clean and well maintained! The campground features a creek that runs through the tent sites towards the back! There were so many frogs and tadpoles! The creek eventually flows into a pond located on the other end of the campground. The pond is actually pretty large! Lots of space to walk around and explore. There is quite a bit of poison oak in the area, however you are in an old oak tree grove so it’s inevitable. Every other site was occupied in order to maintain new physical distancing requirements, the added privacy is great. Site 59 has to be one of the best tent sites, right on the creek with bathrooms close by. Lots of families so it was a little loud at some points of the day with all the kids running around, but not too much of an annoyance. Overall, I enjoyed my stay here. It is far enough from the main highway that you feel like you’re out in the woods. I would stay here again!

This park is County operated. You have to drive to the RV dump to dump. It’s close but you don’t have the convenience to dump at your site. There are park rangers available. It’s a good place for kids to run around. Ramona is close to: shop, eat, etc.

I have only tent camped here and enjoyed the quite and clean site. I like that it is not far from civilization but feels very remote. My kids caught their first fish in the little pond.

I have only tent camped here and really enjoyed the clean and quiet spot not too far from civilization but feels like in the middle of nowhere. My kids caught their first fish in the little pond :)

surprisingly nice campground. it’s small but quite spacious. they have spots for tents and lodges. I can’t wait to go back actually.

Dos Picos is a small park in Ramona. It’s attached to a very nice day use area with space for parties/weddings. Top area campsite have no shade. Facilities are clean. Only a couple long spots.