Lake Campground

Lake Campground in the Angeles National Forest consists of 5 reservable car camping sites, and 3-4 others that are first come, first served. Sites have a table and fire pit, but no tent pads, and there are pit toilet latrines, and potable water spigots. Bear proof boxes are provided at each site for food. 

The view of the nearby mountains is good but the real attraction is nearby Lake Jackson, where you can fish, though I'm not sure if your camping fee includes the day-use permit required. Angeles National Forest is divided into several camps near each other, so I'd recommend this one for anglers. 

There are trails around the lake (a relatively easy, if hilly, walk) and also up the mountain proper (a real hike). Weather permitting, you can use deadwood in the site for your campfire. 

Wildlife included acorn woodpeckers, and one of their cache trees was in our site, so we got to spend a lot of time observing them, as well as the Stellar's Jays, who were very curious about what we were cooking.

Pros: Large campsites

          Clean-ish toilets

          Lake within walking distance

Cons: Right near highway, noisy

           Lots of flies during the day

           tent sites are very flat          

Last minute trip and decided to check out Lake Campground. There are 8 sites placed on this hilly area, with a vault toilet in the center of the campground. It is located right next to the highway, so it can be pretty noisy during the day as its a popular route for motorcyclists. The campground itself was fairly clean, and all the sites were very large and spaced well away from each other. The sites weren't very flat, so options to set your tent up were very limited. Some sites had some shade, others almost none. There were tons of flies, very active during the daytime, but went away during the evening. The vault toilets were the cleanest I'd seen (For vault toilets) and the staff came through the campgrounds several times a day.

Jackson Lake is a short walk from the campgrounds. It has a nice day use picnic area with coal grills, picnic benches, and four vault toilets (in pretty poor condition). The lake was pretty small and had a stagnant smell to it. Lots of people were fishing, and a few people waded into the waters. I saw people in rafts / kayaks later in the day. The area was covered in fleas so careful with pets.

The campsites are along a busy road. Lots of noise and lights during the night. The lake was absolutely disgusting. Dead fish all along the shore and floating in the water. Gross and stagnant, overrun with mosquitos.

The Area was beautiful, but it was also close to the road, so at night, it was fantastic, but in the day, you could hear the cars going by.

My review for this site is going to be almost identical to my other reviews in the area. We've stayed in Angeles National Forest a few times and I would really recommend only camping in the Spring and early Summer. It gets extremely hot in August & September.

Pros:

• The scenery is gorgeous. The tall pines we all love.
• There is a ton of hiking near by and lots to do.
• Dog friendly.
• Quiet
• Perfect temperatures in spring and early summer.
• Water on site.
• Abundant Wildlife coming through camp.

Cons:

• Don't fish the local pond, Jackson Lake. It's full of litter & the fish looked unhealthy.
• Right on the highway (but it's not highly traveled at night).
• You do have to drive to hike.
• Extremely hot in August & September.
• Abundant Wildlife coming through camp. This has included bears sniffing out tent in the middle of the night & coyotes coming through... Personally I think it's awesome, but I know it's not everyone's cup of tea.

If I'm going to choose between this grounds & others on this side of Angeles, I'd go with this one. There aren't as many sites and they're all rather large.

With the desire of getting out of Orange County, Lake Campground was a perfect destination that was not far and yet it put you in touch with solitude. Lake Campground have small but roomy sites that gives the area a wonderful feeling . quiet, and well shaded . the terrain in some spots made it difficult to stage tents chairs etc with out giving a slanted feeling.tough on the shins. But it was a very nice and comfortable area. The water spicket was close as well as the restrooms. There are no showers but I highly recommend investing in a pop up shower tent and shower bag. Lake Campground is a short walking distance to Jackson Lake which is good for fishing for kids and splashing in the water . My family will be visiting again soon.