Best Equestrian Camping near Bonita, CA

This is a San Diego County Park/Campground. It offers everything from tent/car camping to full hook-up for large RVs. The campground also has some nice amenities: good trail system, a splash pad (open in spring and summer months), a playground, some areas to have a group picnic, even a large event room. There are about 60 camping spaces, mostly partial hook-ups (electricity and water) and a few full hook-ups (electricity, water, and sewer) in the original campground. These sites, 1-60 offer a bit more shade than the newer campsites which are all full hook-up. The newer sites (61 and higher) are on a hill and offer some good views of Bonita Valley. 61 and higher all are all full hook-ups - but you can put a tent on 'em.

The campground is freeway close and only a few miles away from grocery stores and restaurants.

This campground has a nice feel. It is a good place to unwind and enjoy a campfire and the whole camping experience. Good place for kids. There are several campsites with horse stalls for the equestrian campers.

Sweetwater is perched near a Freeway/Toll Road (not a terribly busy one) and it is under the San Diego Airport glide path for incoming flights. So yeah, a little more city than some other campgrounds.

At this time sites cost between $26 and $36 (?) per night. That gets yo one motor vehicle. Additional vehicles are $4 per night. There is a $1 pet fee, per pet.

http://www.sdparks.org/content/sdparks/en/park-pages/SweetwaterSummit.html

Nice basic county campground, everything is nice and new and clean. I think once the trees and bushes and things start to grow in, there will be a little bit of separation between the sites, but for now most sites are wide open. 

The playground area is really cool, all the structures are made of wood and are all natural. Decent showers, you buy tokens from the ranger. There are nice trails and walking paths right from the campground. We didn’t walk to the beach because the area was flooded when we were there, but it appears that you can easily walk to the beach from the campground, it’s about 1.5 miles away. 

Sites are all dry camping, no power or water at sites, and no dump station at campground. There are water spigots throughout the campground though to fill your jugs. There are yurts to rent, and some equestrian sites as well. The little loop off to the side is tents only. 

You can see the border wall from the campground, and Verizon thought I was in Mexico when we arrived, haha. Good cell service with ATT and Verizon (not sure if Verizon switched me to the international plan during our stay there).

The campground is east of Chula Vista in a county park near a reservoir. Full hookup in part, water and electric in others. Well managed and clean. Allows open fires in fire rings.

Two drawbacks to consider if you seek placidness: the park is under the final approach to SAN (Lindbergh Field) and you will hear jets coming down to land from roughly 6a to 11pm. Second concern is ants - not just ants, but strategic and determined ants (spray any points in contact with the ground and ask camp staff to treat your site with diatomaceous earth to deter the bugs. It’s a free service.

Sites are very clean, level, have fire rings and higher numbered sites have water, power, and sewer. There are showers, restrooms, an amphitheater, water playground and sites with horse pens. It’s mostly sunny, with shrubs and smaller trees.

Was able to score a site that fit our 28’ trailer- joke was on us... there was NO way it could’ve worked, not to mention there was not a single other trailer, only tents. Headed back to the ranger and they gave us an open disabled spot (we have a placard) in the horse camp. It was AMAZING. Large flat pad that had the sweet water river right behind. Lots of area for the kids to play and ride bikes on the paved loop around the sites. The walk to the waterfall “hike” was manageable and another day we hiked to the airplane monument (don’t get your hopes up lol) and that was a solid moderate hike. Also drove out to hike to stonewall mine Beautiful weather and the falls were super fun to see, and splash in the top most parts (take a left at the split in the trail just at the bottom of the dirt little hill from the entrance)

Campground Review

There are two sections to this campground - the area for just people and the area that is set up for campers with horses. The campground provides everything you need: fire pits, restrooms, showers, on-site firewood for purchase. $30 per night.

We went in September and it was pretty dusty and not very scenic. Might be more aesthetically pleasing during other months of the year though.

Gear Review - Mountain Khakis

I won a Mountain Khakis gift card as part of the Dyrt's 2016 campground review contest, and I bought a pair of the Women's Canyon Cord Skinny Pants. I LOVE these pants. I wear them to the office, I wear them casually, and I wear them in the outdoors. For reference, I'm wearing them in the slacklining photo in this review. Most outdoor clothing companies don't offer their cord pants in petite sizes, but now I finally own a pair that fits. These pants are extremely durable. I've worn them while doing gymnastic and when off-width climbing, and there are no rips and the fabric has barely worn down.

My wife and our two dogs (small chi mixes) stayed at this campground over Veterans Day weekend. There are two halves, one for RV’s, horses, and a few tent sites and the other half is all tents. In the center are the restrooms/showers, a few parking spots, and camp host’s RV. The sites are pretty small and very close together but even on a busy holiday weekend where nearby Agua Caliente was full, here were plenty of sites available. Camp host was very active driving around welcoming everybody and was helpful with any questions you might have. Tons of coyotes! They’re tricky and smart, so stay sharp at night on walks with furry ones.

There are fire rings and tables at every site with water sources every few sites. The stage coach station is a historical landmark and sits in the center near the facilities. Pretty cool small cemetery and children’s playground available as well. It was definitely a safe, accessible, and incredibly clean campground. Lots of flies between late morning/afternoon but I’m sure citronella and a cooler period would have solved that problem. We would stay again!

Spent a nice relaxing week at Sweetwater Summit Regional Park. And I had a very nice stay. Had a nice spacious site for my 26’ Class A, and it happened to be next to the showers. Score! Very well maintained, with a mix of RV’s, and tent campers. The family in front of me were tent campers, a couple with two little girls. They also have a bunch of horse corrals, for the trails in the area. Plenty of grass for the kids to play in, and my dog loved it, too. He hasn’t walked on nice fresh grass in a while, and he was a happy boy! The shower is a pay shower, 2 quarters for 4 minutes. The weather was perfect, with a nice breeze blowing every day I was here. It never hit 80 degrees, and we’re in July! Plenty of OTA stations, and I also set up my Dish Playmaker for the first time. Super easy! They also have free WiFi, and it’s pretty fast WiFi at that. That was a real plus, since most RV parks have slim to none available. So I downloaded a few movies, and shows off Netflix, and AppleTV, for when I have no internet, and don’t feel like watching regular TV before bed at night. The Dish will come in handy for those out of the way places that have no OTA, internet, or possibly cell service. I will definitely stay here again, any time of year. It’s nice and quiet, they have a North loop, and a South loop. The North loop has cement pads, and sewers. I was in the South loop, which didn’t have sewers. They have, what some would say, are strict rules, but that makes this place very family friendly, really nice and quiet, and all the Rangers were helpful, and very pleasant.

I’m not sure you’ll find a campground like this anywhere else in California for $29/night with partial hookups. It was quiet and peaceful. Bathrooms could have used some attention. Not a fan of no toilet seats on the toilets.

We visited during the questival race, campground was easy to find and easily accessible. Get away without going too far. Love it!

We stayed one night with an trailer and a tent, it was clean, nice and well maintained. Not much to do in terms of nature settings, but if you're looking for something cheap for full hookups close to town, it's a great spot. Looked like there was fun parks for kids, we did not use them, however overall experience was clean and well maintained.

went here for the first time 2 years ago and since than we've been there 2 times. The camping is good and the amenities are really clean. The bathrooms and the showers are clean and there's WIFI near them. The only draw back is that you have to pay for the showers but with $1.50 per person you can take a good quick shower.

Little loop around side of campground. Nice view of the reservoir 👌

Took the family to the playground up here. Nice little place. Looked like it had a splash pad but it wasn't operating when we went.

So far my family’s favorite campground in San Diego. Sites 1-60 are mostly partial sites but offer the most shade and are closest the the main playground and splash pad. A lot of the sites are pull through as well. Most of the campground is flat so it is great to walk/ ride bikes and there multiple hiking trails. Only drawback is they don’t sell firewood from what I saw at the campsite but the 7-eleven up the road has bundles for $7. Bathrooms were clean the whole weekend and showers are $1 for 16 minutes. Also, we didn’t have any bug problems besides for ants which was great. Only drawback is it sits ontop of a highway so you’ll hear that a little during the quiet parts of the day.Definitely a nice cheap weekend getaway to checkout for around $70 for the whole weekend. We’ll definitely be back

Cool little spot with some good sites with shade. They sell firewood at the front gate for $5 which isn’t bad. One bundle didn’t burn well at all and the second one was really good. There were a lot of ants on the ground. Little baby ones but quite a few. Overall the views were very nice and great hikes around the sites

We were escaping the heat wave in Los Angeles (115° upon our departure)... arrived and was glad to be welcomed by 85° with a continuous breeze. Site 17 is at the end of the south loop adjacent to a driveway leading to what it appears a private property.

Great base camp to explore downtown SD.

Lots of growing tumbleweeds, several sites over run by ants. Was disappointed how little work had been done in the last month or so to clean up

After being on the road for 3 months of federal camping it was great to have a heated shower and unlimited electricity 😀 we paid 33$ per night and it included water and power but no dump spot.

The view from campsite 4 is excellent.

The neighbor spots are pretty close but empty during the week.

Verizon is very fast.

There are a ton of ants but if you sprinkle diatomaceous earth around all the touch points or tents it keeps them out.

It is quiet and well kept, even has security checking around periodically.

There is a 7 min drive to get out to anywhere.

Awesome place to camp although I haven’t yet. We’ve only come here for hikes and to bring a picnic but it’s one of our favorite spots!

We stayed here in mid September 2020. We stayed at site number 2 south loop, which had really good shade and views. Nice campground overall. The downside when we were there was that the smoke from valley fire was bad, but the campground itself was nice. Also there were ants along tree roots so careful where you pitch your tent. Rangers and campground staff were actively watering new trees and plantings to continue promoting growth and shade. There was a nice playground and water fountain play area for kids.

Nice camp ground. Get there early it is busy. Nice showers and water.

This campground is very close to downtown and beaches in San Diego. I paid $36 a night for electricity and water hookups plus my pet. The showers in the south loop aren’t great, definitely bring your shower shoes. The north loop has nice showers. There are coyotes so be careful with your pets. I stayed in site 4, the older side of the campground and the campsites are pretty close together. There were a couple of questionable people at the other end of the campground so I kept my eye out, but overall it was a good experience. The south loop campground has trees and a lot of shady spots (thank goodness as I couldn’t pull my awning out). The north loop campground is for the larger RV’s and there is no shade there. I didn’t have any ant problems as I put diatomaceous earth around my RV, but my neighbors in tents had ant issues. Staff are really friendly. Showers operate with tokens you have to buy from the front gate. 2 tokens = 4 minute shower. I bought 8 tokens for $2 so that’s pretty good in comparison to other state parks

Would’ve been a 5 star if there were more space, amenities, and awful amount of ants even though we pulled out no food the entire time we were here. The spaces are way too close I can hear in individuals tents. Although it feels like a safe place id rather not stay here again, there was a woman and man doing he***** and I walked in on the woman… for the amount of patrollers especially in the morning that shouldn’t of been present… I hate giving bad reviews but the drugs were the cherry on top…. There is way too many families here for a place to be able to not catch that….

No garbage cans but everything else was to be expected

Fabulous campground. Well tAken care of by county rangers. 25 minutes to everywhere in SD.

Just purchased a used motor home. Sweetwater was super close to the house, and felt isolated from the city. Looking forward to camping here regularly. Can’t wait for May so that my kids can use the splash pad.