Dripping Springs Campground

I was so excited to check this campground out. When my hubby and I arrived we automatically were happy. The campground was very clean, well ran, all sites were marked open or reserved with the arrival and departure date on it, bathrooms are the cleanest vault toilets we have ever seen (and we camp all over), there is a fire station located close to the campground which was good to know in case of fires. The host is very nice and helpful. If you have any questions or concerns he is happy to help! There is running water for dishes and campfires as well as horse corrals for your horse. Pull through sites for trailers. Everyone that was staying on the equestrian loop was amazing. Site 31 did have a problem with ants.

We really enjoyed how the campground looked and the spots however the camp sight was littered with fire ants where one of our guests and a dog got bit unfortunately. Also I must say the bathrooms were pretty horrendous with the amount of spiders inside.

We booked campsite 7 & 18 which are both double sites. It was perfect for our big group of 20 people (including kids). Both sites were literally across from each other.

Campite 7 is probably the best site in the campground. A lot of space and shade! Camp 18 was also a spacious but has limited shade.

A bonus for this campsite is there's a hiking trail in the end of campground. You'll notice a lot of foot traffic as hikers are walking through to get to the trail.

The weather going in May was perfect. During the day it low 80s, warm in the sun and chilly in the shade. At night was low 50s which a sweater and long sleeve was only needed. All campsites have a bench, fire pit, and shares a spigot. There are vaulted bathrooms and have toilet paper. The host cleans it out every day.

Would definitely come back! Especially knowing about the double sites being close to each other.

Nothing too crazy/special about the campground, it has your basic needs and just minutes away from the city.

This campground is at the trailhead of a popular trail and gets crowded during the weekends. I do not recommend camping here if you’re looking for peace and quiet, the site are right next to the road and you’ll hear a LOT of noises from hikers all morning.

This is two different campgrounds. The front (closest to entry road) kinda sucks. Lots of noise. Sites are small, open and up against an industrial fence.  Everything to the back (after site 7 on the right and 18 on the left) is great. Sites with trees, road noise is blocked, closer to the trailhead and just generally nicer.

This campground is about 11 miles out of Temecula (1 bar of service still with Verizon) and only about 50 minutes from coastal North San Diego. The sites are all a little different but in general have some form of a table, grill, firepit. Bathrooms are standard pit toilets, but they were clean and the camp hosts in March of 2021 were on top of things.

There is a well trafficked trailhead at the back of the campground so on weekends during the day there is a lot of traffic from locals who are just there to hike. We came in on a Sunday and just caught the end of this. The trail itself is a big loop (10 miles) that connects to another loop and another. Almost 20 miles of hiking if you want it. We did an out and back. Trail was nice but it does get narrow often and very few people were wearing masks or even had them which sucked for trying to social distance. The views were fantastic.

Don't bother setting an alarm here. There are roosters nearby that will crow which will wake the dogs and then about a dozen other types of birds will join in at dawn. Crows will chatter. Bluebirds will chip. California Quails will...I don't know...quail?

A definite recommend if you're trying to get away without getting to far away.

The Agua Tibia Wilderness is gorgeous, but this front country campground is so-so. The sites are pretty close together (like some are only 10-15 feet apart), and you can pretty much see everybody who's there. It's also very close to a couple different trailheads, and some noisy dudes showed up at like 6 AM to get going and woke everybody up. That said, very clean bathrooms.

The campground itself is good..sites all have a table, fire ring and grill but there’s nothing really to do in the surrounding area except for one hiking trail..it would of been nice if the creek wasn’t dried up..we had campsite #29 which seems to be one of the better ones along with #33 and #8

We stayed here for 1 night in March. It was great. We had dogs with us and they loved it to. We wanted to explore the wineries in Temecula, then be close to some hikes on our way back to LA. We set up shop at the campground Saturday and then drive to the wineries in Temecula. After the wineries we went back to the site and hung out. In the morning we packed up and headed back to LA Stopping near Lake Elsinore for a hike and lunch. The site was clean and had a bathroom. There were a few campgrounds to choose from which was nice. We reserved one but since there were open spots we able to select a different one.

First time tent campers. We reserved spot #8. This site was large, flat, had nice shade from large trees, but also offered lots of sunshine. It really was one if the biggest and, to me, best sites, compared to others there. One of the water faucets with potable water was on the outskirts of our space, not at all bothersome. The toilets and dumpster were conveniently close, but not too close to be noticed. The campground was easy to find, and kept very clean. The camp host came by on his cart with his dog to make sure we had everything we needed. We brought our own wood in for the fire. The location here is great, because it is located away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but easy and close to get back in. We arrived on a Friday, enjoyed some wineries on Saturday, and went home Sunday. There is a popular trailhead inside the campground. I will definitely come back.

If you need to escape the hustle and bustle of the greater Temecula area then this little gem of a campground should be on your radar. The sites are cute and back up to old Oak growth and chaparral forest, and there are not very many but there always seems to be one or two available especially during the week. Their is not usually a creek (only in the really rainy years) but you can hike up the main trail at the back of the campground and down the dry creek bed. During the summer the trail can be quite hot and is best to do in the early morning. The location is also excellent if you wanted to camp and also your the local wineries of theTemecula valley.

Make sure to reserve, spots fill up in the summer. Awesome hike and great campfire, camp host was nice and helpful. Site number 8 is great, also 7 (double site) and 29. Equestrian sites up the hill. Saw a few rabbits and lizards, not too loud, it’s peaceful and good distance between some sites. Heads up, site 3 is so small that I genuinely don’t know how anyone ever uses it. Even a one man tent would have to squeeze in. Most other sites have plenty of room though. Had a good time here. FYI: You can get firewood at Vail Lake RV Resort, right at the gate. $8 a bundle. Camp host let us know when we got in to Dripping Springs that some people had problems finding firewood. Another tip is to gather some kindling from the trails.

I did an overnight stay at this campground in mid April. It's close proximity to Temecula makes it easy to get to. Also, because it is small there were no issues with noise or traffic. It's proximity to the Dripping Springs hiking trails makes it a great starting point for long hikes. Also, there is a great little stream running through the edge of the campground that is perfect for little kids to be able to play in.

Good location to get out of Temecula for a quiet night. There is hiking and horse trails, but no other draw. The downside is the standard Forest Service pit toilets.

Dripping Springs is a great campground for those looking to hike, mountain bike and take your dogs with you. Each site has a fire ring and table - toilets were clean (pit toilets) and the grounds maintained.

The campground itself has rather small spaces that are relatively close together but that doesn't really matter that much to me. It was more about the ability to bring dogs, take them on trails to get their exercise and find some other activities close by.

Right off of the campground is an insane hiking loop. While we were staying all these military looking people with gnarly backpacks (in other words - people who looked like they knew how to be outdoors and survive) kept running past our camp site. I finally figured out that the short walk I had done out and back was just a short bit of a 26 mile (if memory serves correctly) loop that these guys were using for training. Best part - the trail is completely dog friendly! It is rather surprising how many campgrounds that are dog friendly do not allow dogs on the trails…whats the point then? I digress…

Just down the road is the Vail RV park which is a crazy place to go wander around - I know I know, its not technically part of dripping springs BUT the mountain biking there is incredible and its just down the road! I say it gets to be included because if you're looking for a place to camp where you can go mountain biking, gravel riding, even motor biking (I think I even saw some ATV's) then you would still stay in the smaller Dripping Springs rather than head to the giant theme park style Vail RV park (especially if you're tent camping).

All in all the only reason I gave the campground 4/5 stars would be that I literally saw a site that I'm not even sure a tent could set up on…it was that small.