Hurkey Creek Park

We arrived to be greeted by friendly staff. She acted like she had been waiting for us. . 😊. Staff all through the park were knowledgeable and eager to help with any questions we had   The grounds are well maintained. Not perfect but pretty close. There is a playground for kids. Showers, flushing toilets even have 2 ply toilet paper. 

Be prepared to pay if you are visiting for the day. It’s a small $6 fee per adult and half that for kids. $2 for pets. With BBQ pits and plenty of picnic tables with shade, it’s well worth it.

Beautiful area with nice creek running by. Lots of trails nearby and close to Idyllwild CA. Free entry into a few other attractions with camping, Idyllwild Nature Center is one.

We stayed here Wednesday - Saturday. During the weekday, we had the campground pretty much to ourselves. It's a lovely campground, and our spot wasn't too far away from the restrooms or the creek. Once Friday afternoon hit though, it did fill up to what felt like near full capacity. 

At night you can hear the creek animals croaking and chirping, and a great view of the stars. The weather was also great, didn't get too cold for us. The creek was a short walk away, the doggo loved the little adventure.

The restrooms are clean enough, I've seen much worse state park restrooms and this one were always fairly clean.

Our spot was surrounded by trees, which gave a lovely atmosphere, but wouldn't recommend it if you're trying to run off solar. It was a nice spot to be kinda distant from neighbors as well, compared to other spots in the area.

The nearest major grocery store is half an hour away, and feels kinda long with the windy road, but there are some smaller local markets within 10 minutes of the campsite. Definitely more expensive, but maybe easier on the gas. 

Our T-Mobile phones had no service at all in the whole campground, and we only seemed to get service at the nearest town or Lake Hemet. But our Verizon hotspot provided pretty consistent internet the whole trip, not the fastest but surprisingly not slow enough to interrupt streaming. 

All in all we enjoyed this campground and plan on returning one day.

Super lowkey and lots of space. Our spit was a not leveled and we had zero signal. The creek was pretty and it was quiet and safe. It cost us $32 (me, my boyfriend, and doggy)

Sunrise was fabulous. There is a little creek and a small beach area especially behind spaces 92, 93. You will get great creek sounds at space 130. No Tmobile service, not one bit! It was fairly cold early January esp in the morning. They have bathrooms and showers.

Very clean campground with flushing toilets and showers. Close to lake hemet for fishing.

There are a couple of fields and eating areas where groups can gather and play field games or have cookouts. There are also hiking trails near-by you can go on. It's a little warm in the summer but definitely doable!

Nice campground with clean flush toilets. A lot of the sites are on a slant so definitely do your research to find a spot that’s level. Sites were very close together with no privacy. Quiet hours enforced and fire wood for sale on site. Overall it was a good time but we won’t be back unless we secure a really good spot (we drove around and determined sites in the 90’s looked best).

A lovely campground located a mile away from Hemet lake. The creek is fun for the little ones to play.. hiking and relaxing area.. the views are great and it's never to over crowded. Showers and toilets available. You can hear owls and coyotes at night.. I love it here!!!

Really relaxed, flat camp ground. Lots of sites but most are spread out. The north sites are up against the creek. Great hosts, and friendly atmosphere. Be sure to bring something for cover, some sites are sparsely covered, and you’ll bake in the summer sun!

Love this campground. There’s a lot of space. It’s quite and a large area for kids to play and have fun.

Great forest area, this site is right by Lake Hemet, about a 1 min drive (seriously) but some sites still have burned out area nearby. Bathrooms and showers are fairly good. I was surprised at the very nice paper towel dispensers. Burned out area was behind the far back sites (we stayed at site 108 and it was fine) but not in the actual camp area. Fun area and worth it. Lake Hemet is absolutely gorgeous. TIP: If you want to fish go to the market (the only one right off the road by the lake and Hurkey Creek) and buy your fishing license if you don’t already have it. You can also pay your day use fee there but FYI if you ask to use the state park side, it’s much less out of your wallet.

Loved this campground, nice playground, trails to walk and bike

Quiet campground with nice sites for tents or RVs. Dogs allowed. Hiking and fishing. Near Idyllwild for day trips. No dump or full hook ups

Spots were relatively large. We had a decent sized group and many BBQ's. We all fit and had a great time. We fished in the late during the late. Quick trip to get to it by car.

We spent the Memorial Day weekend attending a Scottish festival at Orange County Fairgrounds. Camped in the overflow parking amidst land yachts and other tenters. After way too much partying with the Scots and drum and bagpipe competitions, we needed a day to decompress before getting home. Living in Idyllwild, Hurkey Creek is less than 10 miles away. I called them ahead of time and checked to see if they had any spaces. “Oh! Please come in, everyone left this morning”

We chose a spot near the now dry creek, tossed our cots and sleeping bags out and we just sat in the silence. The spot was on a hike and bike trailhead but few people came through and, we only saw one other couple camping the entire stay. Evening was warm enough to sleep outside. Although fires are allowed, we didn’t feel the need.

The campground is part of the Riverside County Parks system and, being an older park, it could use some tlc. Showers are coin operated and will blow you out of the stall if you aren’t ready. Tip-put your dry stuff as far away from the stall as possible. The overspray will soak everything in its path!

Staff and volunteers are fabulous and very accommodating. They don’t hang you up with rules and regulations and treat you like adults. I purchased a Year day-use pass so we can just go to the park and chill for the day if we need to.

Great visit and we’ll definitely be back!

Hurkey Creek is great, just a two hour drive from San Diego and you're in the mountains. The elevation is around 4,000 and it gets pretty chilly at night. FYI, the creek is dry, but Lake Hemet is a quick walk down the way. The campground is large, with 130 campsites and several group camp areas. We hiked around and explored and wished we brought our mountain bikes, lots of good riding around the area.

We camped at site 100, then found out we actually set up in 99...the sites aren't exactly clearly marked. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring, although they are rather close. There are restrooms with soap and hand towels, bonus. There are showers as well, which is nice when you're a tent camper. Quiet and serene are how I would describe the grounds, lots of birds and squirrels, a little coyote came to check us out too.

This is one of our family's favorite campgrounds because it's a quick drive from San Diego (and OC) and it gives us our "mountain fix" when we don't have time to drive to the Sierra Mountains. Hurkey is a large campground, 130 sites plus group areas, spread out under the Ponderosa Pines, oaks and cottonwood trees. The seasonal creek provides lots of fun for the kids and a cool place to soak feet on the hot days. The sites are well positioned to each other with the sites on the outer loops providing the largest space. There always seems to be groups of family and friends camping side-by-side here. Decent flush bathrooms and showers available. Large play structure for children at edge of camp. Some car noise can be heard from the Hwy but it's not too bad.

From the campground there are hiking trails (including the PCT) and mountain biking trails (some of the best!) but they are not well marked. For trail information and maps head a couple miles up the road to The Hub Cylcery. Lake Hemet is across the hwy for fishing and boating. No swimming allowed. No paddle boards allowed. Free access to lake is via Lake Hemet Road, not through the private camp at Lake Hemet.

THINGS to consider when camping at Hurkey Creek: Due to severe wild fire risk at times this campground will not allow wood fires (only propane). Check web site or call to confirm before heading up. Rattle snakes can be seen in this area in warmer months. This campground can get hot in the summer but there is good shade in many of the sites. If you check the weather for this campground look up weather in Mountain Center, not Idyllwild which is approx one thousand feet higher.

Hurkey Creek is a gated campground with a nice family vibe. There are plenty of tent and RV sites (over 100 sites) and the grounds are well kept and clean. The sites are relatively close together as one might expect from a typical campground, but the many tall trees interspersed provide a bit of privacy as well as shade. We only stayed one night but the grounds were only about 1/3 full and the atsmopehere was quiet. The staff at the gate were extremely friendly. Bathrooms and showers were available. We don't have any kids, but there is a playground on the premises that seemed like a popular family picnic/play area. Recommended for a nice family campground experience that is located just outside of Idyllwild.

Hurkey Creek Park is located on the other side of Lake Hemet. Campsites are well shaded in some areas and if you reserve a spot at the back of the park you will have an amazing view of The San Jacinito mountain range. Clean bathrooms with showers, well maintained grounds, a private children's area and very nice front desk staff. Seemed much quieter than Lake Hemet campground and not as crowded.