Best Glamping near Arcadia, CA

Great time “glamping”. Close to home with all the amenities!

Great clean campground, beautiful views, short walk down to the beach! Lots of hiking trils around, or take the walk across the beach to the shake shack! Definitely recommend for a local glamping trip!

We spent 4 nights here. The park is renovated and clean. Best laundry room I’ve seen in our travels. Sites are gravel with a concrete pad and picnic table. Each corner has a super bright street light. Thank goodness for blackout shades. The lake was closed due to algae bloom. They have a great area of vintage trailers that can be rented, as well as some super nice yurts. The restaurant was only open one of the nights we were there. Not impressive. We were the only diners there. We explored the area. As it was winter, there wasn’t much to do.

Much like most California Beach Campgrounds, it is very crowded with little privacy. The beach is great but it is basically a glorified parking lot

Luckily Booked last minute on reserve California (the worst web thing ever) on site 49. Looks like there is a oven view from every site. Close to beach and shopping.

Parked van sideways to get more privacy and went to shower and came back to a ticket. I didn’t read the camp rules, figured you could park any way you want in your site like all the other state park in Southern California.

It’s pretty crazy to be camping among the million dollar homes but thankful we can. It’s a beautifully maintained spot on the cliff overlooking the ocean. So much nicer than many of the Southern California beach spots in that there is a bit more space and it's much nicer than a parking lot. Plus the fantastic benefit of miles of hiking trails right from the back of the campground and the ocean and beach right in front. Something for all. And if you want to go have a posh meal or shopping that’s just a minute away too.

Be sure to go take a look at the Crystal Cove cottages while here, it’s a pretty special spot. Try and hit up the Shake Shack too!

Only downside is not being able to have a fire but we just used our propane portable fire pit. Spots in the back have hookups and spots in the front are tent. The tent spots are a bit nicer and would fit small trailers.

First of all this campground is not a campground if you want to get away from people because there is a lot of people passing by looking at you. You can’t really be isolated or have privacy even though it is a campground. People come here to hike into the trails to the waterfall. Which I can say the waterfall is nice. But other than that I wouldn’t recommend coming here to camp. Maybe day use only but not overnight camping. I didn’t camp here but someone else had there tents up and it was overcrowded with people heading to the waterfall.

Cool drive to get to the campground. You drive up and down these hilly roads up the mountain to get there. Once there, there's a parking lot that fits about 20 cars. There's about 100 yd hike to the campsites. There's a road that leads to the campsite but it's been blocked off. Only the campsite managers use that road so it's not accessible by RV, just tents. A campsite manager stays in a little trailer overnight so if there's any problems there's somebody there you can go to and ask for help. There's about six campsites and their first come first serve, no reservations. I went during the week and was the only one camping. This place is heavily used for day camping and hiking. There's not a lot of privacy because there's always lots of people passing by who are hiking and biking. You can stay overnight which I did and everything was fine but there's not a lot of privacy. The next day as I was leaving there was another guy sitting up his tent. I bet on the weekends they can fill up pretty fast. It's in Bear country so they provide food storage for each campsite also trash containers too. Each side has a picnic bench and a fire pit. The fire ban has been lifted so you can have a fire. Each fire pit had wood left at it so you didn't have to go searching for campfirewood. Bathrooms included male and female toilets but no showers or water. There's a creek that runs through the campground which makes it very pretty. I saw two to three cabins along the outskirts of the campground that I assume were for rentals. There was one family at one of the cabins the night I stayed. About a 20 minute hike and you can end up at a waterfall which is very pretty. But there are several trails to take for hiking and biking and I saw lots of people doing that. Overall a good campsite four stars. Would have been five stars if they had showers and running water. I didn't see any bears although there was an animal outside my tent at one point in the night I could hear him nosing around. So it's important to keep all of your food and anything with any kind of smell in the bear boxes

As other(s) indicated before - the campsites I saw were right next to the trail leading up to the falls.  Beautiful area, trail and falls (especially right now - May 2023) but I definitely wouldn't want to camp here.

I've camped here a few times over the last few years, and it's not a bad place to stay.  Shade is plentiful, and benches and bear boxes available for each of the 6 sites.  Few bugs around, so no need to hose yourself down with repellent.   

As mentioned by others, there will be a constant stream of hikers walking by, but for the most part they aren't loud or obnoxious.  At night they lock the gates so its really only you, other campers (usually not more than one or two on the weekdays), and the camp host.  Its vault toilets and BYO water, but as long as you're expecting that its all good.

WARNING: Make sure to leave your car doors unlocked, and nothing of value inside.  You'd rather have someone root through your car and walk away empty handed than have a window broken and items stolen.  I've had my car broken into once, and have seen broken glass in the parking lot every time I've stayed here.

This campground is a very short drive from Pasadena, CA, and in fact there are some rustic homes adjacent to the campground. Parking is about 150 yards away, down a hill, so be prepared to haul your gear. The campground is situated at a popular trailhead, and there is lots of good hiking nearby. But, this is also a high-traffic area on spring and summer weekends. A lovely creek runs south-west along the edge of the campground.

There are approximately 4-6 sites, they are somewhat haphazardly spaced on a relatively flat area with good shade. There is little or no cover between sites. There is one restroom on-site which also serves the day-hikers. It is not maintained well, and often smells bad.

Millard would be a great spot to camp for the night if you don't have the time to drive out of the city.

Great location - especially for southern CA where so much of the camping/backpacking is scrubby and in the sun, etc. Most of this trail is under cover, beautiful and well maintained. The sites are right along the creek and very peaceful. You do have to hike out your own water or filter from the stream. Warning it's downhill almost exclusively on the way in and therefore... almost entirely uphill on the way out and the last bit is significant climb out. Dont let that stop you it's well worth the visit.

I've been to this campground several times. It's one of my favorites. I go in March/April so the stream has plenty of water to drink. It is a challenging hike if you have a heavy pack. However, there is a utility road you can take that would make it 100% easier. No water facet but there is a toilet. I have woke in the morning to deer on several occasions. I will come back here.

The coordinates listed are incorrect. They led us through Angeles National Forest. It told us to park our car in the middle of the highway with no other roads or turn offs around. There were a TON of cars racing through down the roads. We even witnessed the immediate aftermath of some people racing who ended up getting in a pretty bad wreck. Be careful just driving on that road.

Perfect stopping point for backpacking. Went here in May and we were the only 2 here. Plenty of water flowing and tree cover from the sun.