Situated 4,200 feet above sea level in a forest of pines and oaks along the northern extremity of the Laguna Mountain Range, this 929-acre park is one of the few San Diego county parks to get snowfall each year.

Forests of oak, pine, and cedar surround peaceful mountain meadows and provide an undisturbed setting for nearly 11 miles of scenic hiking and equestrian trails. Mule deer and wild turkey are frequently seen throughout the park, and rare residents include bobcats and mountain lions.

Though its forest may seem timeless, each season brings dramatic changes: from winter snowfall to spring wildflowers, there is always something new to experience at Heise.

In addition to trails, you can take advantage of cabins, trailer sites, individual tent sites, and a group-tent camping area, along with several playgrounds, restrooms with coin-operated showers and ample picnic spaces. Rangers-lead activities every weekend, and the park office with a small museum is open during the day or by appointment. This park makes a gorgeous setting for weddings and special events!

William Heise County Park

In February we had the place to ourselves. Temperature dropped to 43'. Best hook up site #24. Best tent site #65. A few pretty good trails to get the heart pumping. We took the Cedar Trail on the left side of the fork. The water at the spigots spewed dark brown water. Bring your own water source. Definitely cougar country so kept pups close to us. Clean bathrooms and wild stormy skies.

Quiet and Cold winter camping 

William Heise campground is a great spot if you live in San Diego and want to get away for a weekend. It has miles of trails and with a little altitude it makes for a good place to train. The sites are roomy and fairly spread out. In other words, you don't feel like you are on top of your neighbors. There are clean bathrooms and showers. 

Great spot for quick camping outside San Diego

Went with a group of 8 others and took my dog. Mostly quiet, beautiful trees. It can get a little warm during the day but the sites were fairly shaded. We mountain biked around the lake for a day of adventure. Fire pits have to be used with fire danger, but overall great sites.

Great times

Stayed in site #73 this past weekend. I wouldn't recommend that spot. It is too close to #74\. They are both large spots but the actually fire pits are too close to eachother. Luckily there was a nice family staying next to us so we hardly noticed them. Had they been too loud it could have ruined the trip. Also this spot had very little shade in the afternoon when the sun was the hottest.

The bathrooms were shut down for maintenance in that loop so they offered portable toilets which got full quick. The hand washing station ran out of water the second day and was never refilled so you had to go back to your site to wash your hands. The running water coming from the spigot was orange and frothy and had a sign saying not to use it for drinking.

The hiking trail that was near by was the best part. Tons of wildflowers everywhere and beautiful views.

I probably won't come back to this campground next time I got camping. There are campgrounds closer to San Diego that are have bigger sites.

Fire pits too close to eachother

We loved our campsite here! Site 65 was up a small hill from the sites below it and surrounded by trees and brush, so there was a good amount of privacy and a lot of room. There was a water spout on our site, which was convenient.

The bathrooms were a bit of a walk from our site, but the seclusion was worth it. The showers were good temperature and water pressure and the bathrooms were clean.

It did get pretty windy in the middle of the night in late spring, a howling wind, so bring earplugs if you are a light sleeper.

We really enjoyed the hiking trails at this site, beautiful mountain vistas and chaparral.

With Julian being so close, it is easy to go to town for shopping/supplies or restaurants. This campground is a great getaway just a quick drive out of San Diego to connected to nature. I would definitely return.

Lovely Trails and Roomy Campsites

The drive up here from San Diego is quick and picturesque. You'll pass through a couple quaint and historic little mountain towns, but Julian is the best stop. Make sure to grab some pie and hard cider before you leave, apples grow everywhere in Julian. As for the campgrounds, they are located at an elevation of 4,200 ft and feature rolling hills with deer and wild turkeys! We were able to see both, as well as a pack of 20 raccoons when we were about to go to sleep. Most sites have trees, but you can't tie anything to them FYI. Bathrooms and showers were close and very clean...bring quarters for the showers.

Great campgrounds, a little hot for summer!

We went camping over Memorial Day weekend. It was packed with lots of families but was still relaxing. Restrooms and showers were clean. This is a nice spot with hiking options close by. 

Nice

This is a favorite for us. We have camped here with many other families and it’s great. we can hike, play football/soccer in the meadow and join in when they have activities at the amphitheater. The only down fall if there has to be one is that the rangers are strict on when fires have to be out by. They are also strict on quiet hours at night which has always been nice.
 It’s also close to Julian so it’s easy to pop in for some pie :)

perfect getaway

we had a great trip! besides the heat wave. it was quiet and peaceful. we had site 98 and loved it. it's a pretty large site not far from the restrooms. definitely going back!

birthday trip

quiet and relaxing with great hiking spots and views. 
Campsite-102

Julian, Ca

Very clean and enjoyable campground. We have stayed here several times. Nice moderate hiking trails and a fun playground for the kids. Firewood sold on site during time that campfires are allowed. 
Site 56 can accommodate a small RV but there are no hookups at this site. Also has two very nice tent pads. 

Clean and Enjoyable 

The rangers and camp host were awesome, very friendly and informative. Leashed dogs are allowed on all the trails which is always a plus. We did the desert view to Glens peak, nature trail, and the oak trail. Glens peak has an amazing view from the Salton Sea to the Pacific Ocean on a clear day.They have water bottle fill ups at the trail head too! All were beautiful. June/July are definitely bug season so be ready with your essential oils haha. Bathrooms and showers were clean and actually pretty nice for camp. Don’t bring your own firewood- they have it for sale at $5 a bundle and even have free kindling already split for you. Overall this place is one of my favorites. A quiet and beautiful place to be in nature. 

We love this place!

Sweet campground with pines trees and a mountain feel. Table and fire pit at each site. 

Hiking available walking distance from camp, trails leading out of camp. Family friendly environment. Can get busy in the summer, so be sure to leave it just as beautiful or better than before you arrived.

Forest and Mountains just a couple hours from the city

William Heise is one of the hidden camping Gems in San Diego. It's located about 5 miles from the rustic town of Julian. There's over 100 camping spots ranging from RV to tent. There are a number of trails that leave from the campground. Try the Desert View trail that gives you a great view of the surrounding area; its only 2.25miles.  There's also a Wolf Sanctuary outside of Julian that's worth a visit. Enjoy!

Cell Service: Roaming

Wonderful Gem in San Diego County

 My family and I camped at William Heise Park for two nights in mid-June 2020. The campground is pretty and has a nice secluded, mountain feel about it (even though it’s close to Julian). We were surprised by how dispersed the campsite loops were and how deep the campground went into forest. There is also surprisingly good cell phone coverage throughout the grounds. We stayed at site 90, which was at the very back of the tent-only section at the end. Due to all of the oak trees, most sites have good shade. We didn’t see wild turkeys or mule deer during our stay, but there were plenty of birds and a few squirrels. There were also a LOT of flies- especially crane flies. The bathrooms and showers were usually full of them, but they also made a significant presence at the campsite. Even at about 50% capacity the tent-only section felt felt busy with lots of families and small children. The loops closer to the entrance seemed quieter. However, it was nice to be near the trailhead for several trails and there’s also a water bottle refilling station right there. The terrain is beautiful all around. We definitely want to stay again.

Beautiful, mountain campground 

Came here while visiting family from out of state. Beats anything I've seen in Texas!

Great place to go for your first time camping. Not so private if it’s not though. The sites for tents were relatively close to each other. Bathrooms were easily available and staff was very nice. 

Gorgeous!!

Julian is a great destination, and having a nice campground so close is really nice. We had a few spots between our group, and they were all good for our tents. Some were shadier than others (one spot was pretty exposed), and the facilities were nice.

  

We also happened to be camping when an astronomy group was there so it was cool to look through their telescopes and enjoy the starry skies!

Great spot near Julian

I was in spot 36, which was right by the dumpster \[convenient but loud ... no need to slam the lid\]. The trees were a bit sparse so the road was visible and folks out for a wander and I could see each other. The camping spot around the bend was actually above mine with no shielded view and while their generator was quiet their conversations and presence were heard and felt. 

  

I would camp there again but would reserve earlier for a better selection of camping spots.

pleasant, a bit noisy, spots close together

William Heise has several beautiful trails, each very different from the other, offering great views and tons of wildlife and plant life. 

Great family campground 

Lovely place. Feels much further away than it actually was, which is great when you’re traveling with young kids! Awesome playground only a short walk from our trailer camp spot (#16 which had a huge tree that made parking a little tricky) that had a great little secluded table/fire ring spot! Good hikes as well!

Trailer camping

Camped for two nights at sites 67 and 68. Site 68 was our favorite, with lots of shade and LOTS of room to spread out. 

Originally, we'd booked the adjoining campsite 99, but the morning we were leaving, a ranger called to tell us it had been double booked and that people were already in our second site and could we take site 67 across the way, instead? That was fine, though not ideal. 67 is very exposed for camping. Very little shade in that one, but great if you want to do star gazing.

Our initial experience entering the park was not a good one. The entrance has a sign that says if you have a reservation, then proceed to your site. So we started to do that, but then got chewed out by a ranger who clearly did not enjoy her job that we were supposed to check in with her first. We were like, "But the sign said…" She snapped at us that the sign was for after hours. Yet, the sign did not SAY this. 

When we finally got to the point to check in, we said we were the site who'd been called this morning because the park had double-booked the site. The ranger snapped back, "WE didn't overbook your site. The BOOKING SYSTEM did." Um, is the booking system that makes park reservations ON the park website not part of the park?? Why does this matter to this ranger? Was SHE the one bumped from her reserved site?

Her unprofessional attitude soured our first exposure to this park. (Seriously, if you don't want to work there, don't. But don't take it out on the campers.)

The ranger continued to give us a lecture on how we may not have more than 2 tents per site and went into a mathematical breakdown of this. "You may have two tents in 67 and one tent in 68 or two tents in 68 and one tent in 67, but you cannot have three tents in 67 or three tents in 68," as though we were complete morons.

After all of this, our observation is the sites have plenty of room for three tents. We had four solo people. I don't quite understand this two-tent-per site rule. Makes zero sense when there is room and you are well below the 6-person maximum per site.

Also, there are no swimming pools at the sites. She also told us this, in case you are planning on somehow bringing a pool camping.

Once we got to the sites, it was great. Lots of flat areas for pitching tents well away from the fire pit. Trees and bushes between sites for privacy. 68 had the area water spigots (one on each side of a fat post), so we did get to say hello to visitors getting water now and then. Parking is a few steps away from the sites.

67 and 68 are a bit of a slightly uphill trek to the bathrooms, where there are clean toilets and clean showers. It was $1.25 in quarters for 10 minutes of shower time. Only complaint from our group was you could not control the heat of the shower. I heard some people complaining about moths in the bathrooms at night, but to me, this is totally normal for a campground bathroom. There was no mirror at the sink though. (There was a power outlet by the bathroom sink, should you need to use a hair dryer after you shower. There was also a park bench right outside the showers.

Watch for snakes. We didn't see any, but fire officials came one night to remove an injured rattlesnake, so they are around. (Walk with heavy feet and most of the time, they'll just move out of your way if you do spot one and watch if you step into the bushes to let someone by on the hiking trails. Also watch for poison oak on trails.)

Thursday night was nice and quiet. Friday night, not so much, but MOST people piped down by around 11pm or 11:30pm.

A couple of trail loops start at the campground. The one toward the end of the campground has a few options, including a shorter and flatter nature trail. We took the steeper, longer loop from that same spot up to Glens Lookout, where on a clear day, you can see from the Salton Sea over to Escondido along the coast. The trail was a bit rocky, but fine if you are used to hiking. Another trail series started from closer to the checkin kiosk. We did find a mountain lion print on our hike, which was kind of cool.

There are horseshoe pits in the campground, if you want to bring horseshoes. Julian is an easy 10 minutes or less away, if you have a hankering for shops or pie. All of us, with different cell phone carriers, had decent reception at the campground.

I'd read a review that said to steer clear from camping near the trash bins. I'd second this because people do tend to slam the lids on those, which could be jarring if you are camped right by them.

Overall, this is a great campground, minus a star for some of the staff. (Other staff members were lovely and gave a completely different experience.)

Great Campsites, But Can Get Noisy on Weekends

The camping sites are nice and spacious with plenty of area between sites. Lots of pretty views anywhere you camp and lots of shade and brush. Check out a trail while at the campground. Feels so secluded with the views of the surrounding hills.

Beautiful place

This place is a hidden gem. Quiet and beautiful setting. Sometimes kids and families get loud but over a nice spot to be. They are very serious about their rules here. Quiet time strictly enforced at 10pm and no fires after 11pm. 

We stayed in spot 34 close to bathrooms, has partial shade, picnic table and fire pit. Also has hooks ups for campers. It’s a Great spot with decent privacy. Good flat spot for a tents also. 

Lots of good hiking trails close by and only a few mins from downtown Julian and 10 mins from Julian Station. Love this spot and will definitely visit again.

Quiet escape from San Diego

This is our second trip here. We have thoroughly enjoyed both trips. It is quiet and clean. The vast majority of people here are friendly and respectful. We have only stayed in the sites with hookups. There seems to be a bit more noise and hustle n bustle in the tent only areas. 

There is good hiking close by. This site is decent size, we have a 10 pop-up, which was hard to back into this site. A more experienced human might not have struggled as much but It be hard to get a 20 ft plus trailer into this particular site.

Has fire pit and picnic table, as well as, a nice tent pad. 

A close getaway from San Diego

Nice area, campsites we’re clean, rangers were nice. They have areas that are full hookup, partial hookup, no hookup, tent only areas, and group camping. They also have day use parking for $3. Didn’t go on the trails as the ranger informed us they have ticks as mule deer are in the area. Other common animals are wild turkey, gray fox, bobcats, raccoons, steller’s jay, hawks, golden eagles and the occasional mountain lion. Definitely was a nice stay and will be going back 