Guajome Regional Park

For the price of full hook up ($35) in a location so close to the beach, I call it a win. It was beautiful with a pond and walking paths. There were many dogs and we saw horses on the paths too. The bathrooms / showers were clean and didn’t stink. Always had toilet paper. Showers take specific coins and you have to get them from the office before 5pm so if you arrive late, keep that in mind. Spots are good size and paved paths are well lit at night. Good for going to the restroom at night but bright if you have a spot near the walkways. Otherwise the camp is pretty dark at night

Loved this little simple county campground (pronounced gwa-HO-me, not gwa-Jome). We arrived with no reservations in early December and had no problems getting a spot for a few nights. The campground was about 3/4 full, and so quiet. Other than the road noise.

There are lots of trails for hiking here, and outdoor activities such as outdoor gym equipment, horseshoes, and checkers tables. The little lake with ducks and geese is really nice. Staff is friendly.

Showers are $0.25 for 2 minutes and you buy tokens from the rangers.

Checkin is 2pm, the earliest they allow is 1:30.

Good cell reception for att and Verizon.

There's a little free library which we love to see.

Sites are full hookup (even though the brochure says e+w only, I think the sewer connections are new). There's a dump station but there's a sign that says closed, ranger said that's only closed for the public, not for campers.

$33/night (so cheap!) Plus $1/night per dog. If you show up and pay in person you don't have to pay the $5 reservation fee.

They take all kinds of recycling!

Loved it here!

Closed

Pros:This was a great place for a quick trip. It was a short 90 min drive, sites were close but not on top of each other. We had site 27 which was partially shaded. It was close to the trials but a slight up hill walk to the bathrooms and showers. We had space. Lots of nature trails (beware of poison oak), ducks and geese. Cons: can still hear traffic on the highway at night. Aside from that will definitely come back.

There werent many details about the site I chose. The spot was mostly sloped and next to a dumpster with practically full sun, small shade by a tree. Bathrooms were clean and showers with 2min/token. Walking trails all around.

Great time camping with kids Firepits and lake view

We stayed at Guajome County Park in March in site #6. It had a nice picnic table and firepit and the Park Ranger gave us some wood that was left by another camper. Our site was elevated over the sites below giving us additional privacy. 

Even though it was mid-week, there were still quite a few families enjoying the park and going for walks. They have some very nice nature trails for walking. Would definitely return.

Small campground on the edge of a local park. It was nice to feel a little getaway, but you can't escape seeing family's enjoying the park around you. I found the campground ranger to be a touch short and rude whenever I talked with him. He wasn't causing any problems. He just wasn't friendly. I won't camp here again.

This campground feels more like rolling hills with designated areas to park than a real campground.  It's great for little kids to run around though.  There are nice trails here that give you a mixture of open fields and "woods" and it's pretty much like a stroll rather than a hike.  There's a very pretty pond/lagoon and it's a great place for a dog walk.  Lots of wildflowers in the spring!

Strength of Guajome is that it’s easy access (as long as you reserve well ahead of time) and everything is literally right outside the park. It’s in the city, so camping here shouldn’t come with a big expectation of really getting away from people. It’s right off Highway 76, so you can hear some of the traffic, but not too bad, you’ll probably be surprised how quiet it can still be sometimes. Campsites are pretty close together, but added bonus is that campfires are allowed (fire rings) as long as fire danger isn’t high. Bathrooms are pretty good.

This is very close to home but a nice quick getaway. It is surprisingly close to everything but yet you feel like you are hours away. There are trails, trees, a little lake. For how close it is, it does always have quite a few campers. Not my go to place but a nice spur of the moment getaway.

We live about 20 minutes away. This place is a great quick getaway for the weekend or when we have a few days off during the week. Easy trails and plenty of trees. Animal friendly. We camp in a travel trailer, they have hooks ups for water and electricity, no sewer at the sites, but they do have a dump near the entrance. Some people make a big deal about the highway, its not that bad.

The campground was nice and quiet, yet close to all. There were plenty of trails for walking dogs. Spaces had nice separation between them.

This is such a great campground! We wanted to take a trip to Legoaland and this was the only park available and nearby. It takes about 25 minutes to get to Legoland.

This park really is made for RVs, so tent camping is a little awkward, but doable. We pitched our tent on the parking spot. Most of the sites are on a bit of a slope so that will be the case for most spots.

But we loved how clean the bathrooms were and easy to walk to. We also loved the plugs and water spigot at each site.

One downside was the streetlights -- they kept them on all night and they were VERY bright right next to our tent. Not a fan.

And don't forget about the huge awesome playground! The kids loved it!

Nice, clean, county park. Big spots for RVs with water and electric hookups. Dump station on site.

Spots are not huge, but big enough, and if you have an RV it can feel plenty private.

The park is very popular amongst locals and has a huge, awesome, covered playground for children.

Flush toilets available and a nice nature walk around a lake. The park was a great/affordable base camp for nearby Legoland amusement park. Also easy (drive) access to Target, Grocery Stores and the Beach.

Campground is about 10 miles inland from the coast.  There is a bike trail from the campground all the way to the beach.  This is a San Diego County park with nice walking and mountain biking paths.  There is also a small lake. The park staff was friendly and helpful. While there were many RVs, it was not noisy or crowded.  Lots of shade trees between spots.

Campground Review: Nice County Park Near Legoland with Lots Going On

We picked this spot since it was the closest camping to Legoland that wasn't a million dollars or completely booked up 6 months in advance. It's part of the San Diego County park system, and has both a nice, large camping area with well maintained, clean facilities as well as a popular day-use area on the lake. We booked one of the last spots available about two weeks before we arrived and paid about $30 per night (including a $5 online booking fee) for an RV spot with water and electricity. There are a total of 33 decently-sized RV and tent sites nestled between trees, a large modern playground, numerous hiking trails and a plant/nature walk right next to the campground. There were several rangers available during the day for questions and lots of maintenance folks working on upkeep. If you look at the attached "Guajome Regional Park Campsite Availability" map you can see which sites have full shade, which ones have partial, etc., though in general all the sites were fairly nice.

Pros:

• Reasonable price
• Lots to do including hikes, lake, and playground
• Well maintained and well staffed

Cons:

• Rattlesnakes! I would have easily given this campground a 5-star-rating, but there were several signs warning about rattlesnakes. Admittedly, I have a full-on phobia of rattlesnakes, and we never saw one. But when I asked one of the Rangers about them, he said "don't worry, the last one I saw was four days ago at the playground." Ahhhgh.

Overall:

Totally great campground about a 1/2 hour (12 mile) drive from Legoland. Would definitely stay here again.

Gear Review: Snapbuds

Overview: As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test and review from time to time. This summer we've been trying out snapbuds, an "earbud detangling system" that work with our apple earpod headphones. The basic idea is that every time you set your earphones down or put them in your pocket or bag for a while, the wires come out tangled. Snapbuds are a series of magnets that you snap onto the earphone cords and then when you coil them, the wires stay in a loop until you need them again. Here's a snazzy video from their kickstarter campaign that gives a good idea of how they can be used.

Setup: Each package comes with 10 folding snapbuds and 2 anchors that go up next to the earphone speakers, which means that depending on how you set them up you could use these on two separate sets of earphones. It also has a paper ruler/template that guides you through where to attach each of the buds. Set up was pretty easy. We (including my 11-year-old son) were able to attach and remove the snap buds several times within a couple of minutes to try out different configurations.

Tips: Two things we learned:

1. make sure you keep the magnets labeled "upper" and "lower" separate, since once you remove the red rubber band that holds them together it's almost impossible to tell them apart.

2. if you have any painter's or removable tape, use that to hold down the paper ruler template and the earphone wires during setup. You can also use rocks, sticks, whatever, but the tape makes the whole process easier.

Pros: Set up was easy and fun, and while all the literature says that the plastic buds are "permanently" attached, we (with fingernails) were able to remove and switch up our configuration as needed, which was nice.

I LOVE the customization option where you can put your company logo or favorite team on the buds.

Cons: After a month of testing on day trips and longer road trips, we found that using the snapbuds didn't actually save us any time. The process of coiling the cords with the magnets and then uncoiling them (with some that may have gotten tangled in backpacks) took about the same amount of time as just untangling them without the magnets. So while the snapbuds website says that on average people spend "from 3 to 5 hours a year untangling" earbuds, I don't think we're the right test market. Our average time to prep and then untangle in both scenarios (with and without the snapbuds) was around 10 seconds per use.

I have a 19ft Jayflight trailer. The spots are level and I had no trouble backing into one. They are spaced well and you are not camped right on top of your neighbor. The price is reasonable and the hook ups are nice to have. The staff in the office was helpful and nice. I would stay here again if I was in this area.