Observatory Campground

The pictures can be deceiving. It’s beautiful there, however, other than the picture showing flat ground, and wide space, this isn’t accurate.

This time of year, mosquitos and flies everywhere to the point where it really ruined the experience. No matter what sprays, lotions, candles or anything we tried, it was not working.

The campground itself is decent. Many of the campsites require you to park and walk your stuff down a path to get to your spot. So if you carry a lot of items, especially bulky items, this will definitely suck. Choose your spot wisely. I booked site 6 and it felt kind of shared. There’s a creek a few feet from the site so bugs were a huge problem until we lit the fire and the smoke cleared them out.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Observatory Campground and I have to say it was an incredible experience. The campground is conveniently located just two miles from the Palomar Observatory, making it a perfect spot for science enthusiasts and families alike. The campsite was well maintained and had all the necessary amenities including picnic tables, firewood, drinking water, and toilets. I appreciated the option to choose between tent sites and RV sites, and the fact that the campground was big rig friendly. The reservation process was straightforward, and the campsite was easily accessible by car. What's more, the reasonable fees made it an affordable option for a camping trip. I would definitely recommend a visit to Observatory Campground for anyone looking for an enjoyable and educational camping experience. Five stars all around!

This was our 2nd option as Fry Creek Campsite was closed. There was plenty of campsites at the location. However the majority had a “reserve” sign posted on them. No clue when they were reserved. Unfortunately there wasn’t any camp host available. Regardless, campsites were sparse and well kept . Bathrooms were also well maintained. Nice addition is the Observatory Trail. I would definitely come back in Spring when there isn’t any ice or snow left over from the Winter.

Stayed mid-week in late July 2021, not at all crowded. There is no camp host or ranger, kind of a free for all. Overall I guess I’d come back but here are the pros and cons:

Spaces Most spaces on the outside of the loop are woodsy and pretty private (stay away from inside the loop unless you want to be scorched and exposed). We stayed in #10 which is over a little bridge and well shaded BUT power lines running through it.

Water BRING WATER if possible! The tap water is brown and tastes like mud, even after running it through a Britta filter it’s still noticeably yellow and foul. Also showers were closed for maintenance in July 2021.

Noise Campers were mostly quiet and respectful, and not at all crowded mid-week in July. But plenty of street noise and sadly air traffic - planes and helicopters all night long. So don’t come for the peace and quiet!

Hikes The marked trail near the showers just goes 50yards out to the road. Best hikes are about 5 miles drive in Palomar State park (turn at the little store/restaurant) $10 day use fee but 3 good trail from Doane Pond parking lot (no dogs allowed on trails)

We just snagged the last open site and started setting up when two National Forest officers showed up and told us the campground is closed. They said it was due to an “emergency response to some tree disease” and they needed to do some cutting. Whoever heard of emergency tree-felling? Apparently even those with reservations (98% of the sites) will be turned back when they try to check in. Anybody have a clue about this? Seems absurd.

Very pretty setting in forested valley below the famous telescope (now closed to all visitors - even to walk around outside). 30 or so sites, nice variety, some cater to astronomers, handicapped, doubles. The only bad thing I was SO looking forward to a hot shower on my check out day. But the shower ripped off ALL my quarters and NO WATER AT ALL! 😡 No camp host around to talk to either. So CHECK before you pay!!!

We stayed at campsite #40 and it was far enough away from people but just close enough to the bathrooms. The water spout was right across from our site too so that was convenient. The only thing wrong with this particular site was the lack of shade during the day. Luckily we had an EZ up to give us some shade. We drove around to see the different sites and most of them provide a good amount of shade. You have to pay $1.50 for showers and most of them were decent. It’s a short hike (maybe 1.5 miles) and an even shorter drive to the observatory. They give free tours or you have the option to pay $10 to do a tour inside. Overall it was a great stay & we would go again just to another site with some more trees.

Stayed at Site 12 non reservable site.

Campground was pretty empty which was great. Sites can be a little close together in parts. Beautiful Pine and Cedar trees everywhere. Camp Host was awesome! There were a fair amount of bugs. :)

We had a magical weekend and really enjoyed our time there!!!

Been here a couple of times during memorial weekend . It’s at a higher elevation so if it’s cloudy be prepared for damp weather. Close to the observatory vi a short hike uphill.

Stayed the weekend of 6/29 with 6 people total. Booked site 9, originally wanted #10 because of all the reviews I’ve read but it was taken. Site 9 was very big, we fit 3 tents and still had more than enough room. The site was semi secluded, site 8 was right above ours and was separated by a little hill. Fortunately it was empty so we felt very secluded. Site 10 is right across a ditch and far enough couldn’t really hear noise. There were lots of trees but by morning the sun was right on top of the picnic table making it very warm. My biggest con was the amount of bugs. Usually we camp during the fall or spring so maybe it was the heat of summer but there were swarms of bugs everywhere. We all had mosquito bites on our faces all the way down to our feet. The bathrooms were clean, closest to us were pit toilets but if you walked a ways there were flush toilets and showers. Overall I’d come here again but in the fall or even winter to avoid the hundred of bugs that seemed to overtake the camp

I went here at the beginning of August. And the facilities were great $15 first come first serve sites with fire pits and places to barbecue. 50 cent showers, vault toilets and a water spigot. It was pretty hot and when I went on the hike I could not avoid the flies. Make sure to bring sunscreen and bug repellent 😊

Campground Review:

In full disclosure I booked this site 2 months in advance, which to me would mean my choice of sites. Not the case at all. Summer camping is very different than winter camping, maybe I'll remember that next year. I reserved the very last space available. An ADA compliant space. The recreation website clearly stated that I was able to book it if it was the last space. Honestly, I didn't know what that would mean exactly so when we arrived it was a bit of a surprise.

The entire section around the table and the fire ring is cement (Duh! Use your brain Britt, of course it is!) and the table had an over hang section for a wheel chair to pull up. None of those I was camping were actually in need of an ADA camp sight so we used the extra over hang to protect the coolers from the sun. Turned out to be an unexpected perk. Not to mention being able to walk around barefoot without getting dirt everywhere and not worrying about any sparks that escaped the fire.

The tent and everything else was on flat dirt like what I am used to when going camping at various camp sites so not much to report on that.

The spaces are fairly close together. At the next site over there was what appeared to be a youth group and we could all clearly see and hear the movie they were projecting onto a sheet. Not a bother for us, I'm just giving reference on how close the spaces are to one another.

There is some shade. I would say we were one of the lucky ones. We had shade until about 11:30am and then it was HOT. The weather was around 85 degrees but luckily my handy dandy ezUp protected us while we all hung out. Sites on the other side of the grounds were not so lucky. They got full sun as soon as it came out. Brutal when it's that hot.

There is a hike off of the campground. We took off at 7am to try and beat the heat since we were with our dogs and we wanted to get some exercise with them while it was still cool. About a 1/2-1 mile in our Frenchie was not having it so unfortunately we had to turn around because it was already heating up quite a bit. Our companions continued on the hike. Their advice: bring lots of water, and snack for the top, and good shoes. They reported that the top was totally worth it (you can drive there too) and that the hike itself was pretty rigorous. I'll have to take their word for it, we never did make it up there.

I did find a nice tree to read under for a bit and cool off. There's just something about camping, laying in the grass and reading that all go so well together.

While I am not a bird watcher, this campground is known for there multitude of birds. I saw some blue bird with a mohawk on the top of its head…still haven't looked it up to find out what kind of bird it was, but hey, I already said I'm not a big bird watcher. Just want all the bird people to know -- you'll be in bird heaven!

Update: my fellow ranger Ryan informed me that the bird is called a Stellar's Jay! Such a cool looking bird.

Product Review:

RōM Pack: A 3-in-1 system, the RōM Pack is a backpack you can fully transform into either a wearable poncho with a hood or a blanket that’s soft on one side and water resistant on the other.

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - on this camp trip I tested the RōM Pack.

This was my pack for the trip. Why bring any other luggage for a weekend camping? I packed all my clothes, dog toys, sunscreen and hit the road! The great thing about this bag is that the Inner Pack comes out so I was able to keep my clothes packed away when I went out on my adventures. As you can read from above, I did not have a wet trip…quite the opposite so I did not need the poncho feature for this particular excursion. However, the fact that it turns into a blanket became quite handy when I went to read in the grass. I was able to lay it out and use the outside pouch as my pillow.

There are 2 water bottle holders on the bag which also came in handy on our, I'll be it short, walk. There are also 2 little zippers on the backpack that were very useful for my small, easily lost, items such as ear buds, jewelry etc.

I think this pack makes a great weekend outdoors pack. It's perfect for grabbing some summer hiking clothes, your best fur pal and hitting the trails. You'll be ready for any element and you'll be able to stop for a picnic at a moments notice without having to have all of your belongings strewn about. They will remain tucked away in the Inner Pack while you convert the backpack into a poncho if you get caught in the rain, or a blanket if you feel like you need to take a break and eat your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The great thing is that the side that you sit on is incredibly soft and the other side on the ground doesn't collect all the dirt, leaves, or whatever else might be on a ground in a campground.

I don't know that I'll be back to this campground any time soon - so many campgrounds, so little time to see and camp at all of them!

Choose time of year carefully, and campsite. We had never been and ended up in full sun which made the experience a HOT and buggy. Some sites were much better, 34,35 especially.

A friend brought me here to take a break from San Diego. The stars the wild sounds was just perfect. The drive there was beautiful. It a nice break from the city.

Palomar Mountain Observatory Campground is one of the prettiest spots I've seen to camp close to San Diego in Southern California. When coming from the south it's 7 miles up the twistiest-turniest road into a forest of oak, fir and pine. The campground itself is a loop with sites that are pull in, back-in and park and hike.

The sites are 50/50 well shaded and open air for some of the best star-gazing SoCal can offer. The inner loop is mostly open air but still has shade and trees surrounding the sites. #27 a first come-first serve site in particular was epic with a perfectly clear sky above the camp but also a huge oak tree for shade if you want it.

The campground has three bathrooms. Two set of pit toilets and one with flushing toilets and showers (peak season only). There are also some pre-set concrete slabs for telescopes or cameras. There are two listed hikes that leave the campground. Both are listed as "Easy to Moderate" but in my opinion are closer to moderate (but short) or at the very least, a challenging middle ground.

The hike to Palomar Mountain is 2.2+ miles with 700 ft of elevation. That doesn't account for all the ups and downs which really makes the elevation change feel more like eleventy billion feet. The path itself is well maintained with hairpin turns and a viewpoint over the valley. At the top you'll find the Palomar Observatory. The doors are open most days from 9am-3pm, and it's worth the hike.

Heading across the road the other hike is a loop around Fry Creek Campground. It's shorter at 1.7 miles but prettier and just as up and down as the first. You should really just do both. Take two days to make it leisurely. Seriously.

Campsites at Palomar have a grill, a fire pit with a grate and a picnic table. When we were there they did not have firewood for sale. About a mile away is a general store that does. We just picked up wood from the trail and some leftovers from other campsites. It really just depends on how much effort you want to put into it.

Our only complaint was the campground host. None of the bathrooms had been cleaned and one was covered in what looked like blood from a bloody nose gone wrong. About once a day she'd walk the loop chain-smoking cigarettes with two dogs who would bark incessantly. She'd ask each campsite if they were the "reservation holder" since she hadn't updated them in over a week. Then she'd explain she was sick so she couldn't change the signs or clean. Then she'd light another cigarette and yell at the dog for barking.

Host aside, Palomar Mountain is a great facility, and I'm stoked to go back for some summer camping.