Best Campgrounds near El Cajon, CA

This is a nice place to camp- we stayed one night. stopped at the laguna recreation area visitor center before hand to pick up a free permit. the road was recently paved so it’s easy to drive on, there’s a handful of spots just along side the road, as you go further in the road the views get better- we parked on the side of the road and then walked uphill about 8 minutes to a campsite we liked but there are definitely more where you just camp next to your car. there are more campsite further down the road when it goes back down in the valley but the views end there. we only saw 3-4 other cars the whole time.

Hello, and blessings! I came here with my family for a quick getaway. Campgrounds are clean but tight, we have a 32’ Rv with two slides. Took up most of our hang out room/ porch area. We had to park our second car in the overnight parking lot next to the campground. Costed 20 bucks. If traveling with a shorter rig you can park in front of your rig. Back in only. Water and power hookups only. Dude comes around in the mornings and will clean out your waste tanks for 25 bucks. Or you can dump yourself inside the campground dump station on the way out for 10 bucks. Atmosphere is great, however my neighbors were awesome. Steps away from the beach but was told by a few locals not to swim at the state beach because of sewage contamination from Tijuana in the water. But it’s still beautiful and doesn’t smell and will actually have you guessing if it’s really contaminated. I took the locals word for it. Rainy season is absolute no for water play. Summer, just don’t get the water in your eyes or mouth. But collect as many sand dollars on the beach after high tied as you can carry. Surf fish up to knee high but watch out for the jelly fish. Normal beach play, balls, kites or anything you like to set up on the sand. Ride bikes, eat good food and relax. Swimming is allowed about short walk north in the bay. I would definitely come back for a visit. I came Father’s Day weekend 2025.

The good things about this place is, relatively cheap compared to most RV places in the area around San Diego; decent bath/shower rooms + no coins; pool/hottub/gym/gameroom/laundry available; you can walk to some restaurants and a dollar tree Cons on this place would be terrible “dog park” there’s a bit of space but nowhere will you find actual grass for any of the many dogs that are here with their campers; every site is covered in gravel (just not my favorite); a lot of sites are fully exposed to sun throughout the hole day; very little to no privacy here

Great area--it's just close enough to some expensive campgrounds and a few connecting trails, so it's awesome to camp here for FREE. Pine Creek Road itself is paved, and the camping spots are packed dirt so it's easy to get around even in a FWD. Warning though: if you're nervous about driving on single lane mountain roads, this is not the place for you! Pine Creek Road is several miles long, with some sections that are on sheer cliff edges with very few turn-off spots to allow for passing.

Additional word of warning: the camping spots are not close together and there seemed to be very few of them. Even driving slowly, I counted only 6 or 7 sites total, separated by up to a mile. I saw only 1 other spot with campers, at least 2.5 miles from my site. Some of the sites are fairly large--could easily fit 2 cars and a couple tents--but others seemed to be just large enough to pull off the road and sleep in the car (no tent space). Some spots were tucked back from the road with lots of trees (I barely saw or heard any cars, even though I was probably only ~15ft from the road); but some were barely more than a shoulder with no trees for coverage. I stayed in the same spot two nights in a row, though I packed up during the day because I assumed I'd find another spot down the road. At least in the site I picked, there was very little trash from previous campers.

Suggestion for the permit: make sure you apply for the free permit a few days in advance especially if you plan to go on the weekend. List the place you're going as "Pine Creek dispersed camping," and keep a printed copy in your car. I didn't have trouble with any rangers, but it's better to be safe than fined. Very spotty service (Verizon), which makes navigation and planning difficult if you don't pre-download trail maps.