Best Equestrian Camping near Lemon Cove, CA

We didn't camp here, rather we used this as the start/finish point for our 2-day hike to the summit of Mt. Langley. It was a convenient place to park, because you drive right up to the trailhead, and there are trash cans, bear boxes, and vault toilets. We stashed some extra toiletries in the bear boxes, rather than risk leaving them in the car. Toilets were pretty clean. Unfortunately, the potable water spigots were already turned off. The national forest website said they are off in the winter, but I didn't expect that already in early September. This is an equestrian campground, so there was some horse dung on the trails around the campground.

We chose this campground to be an easy "getting back to camping" campground since it was supposed to be developed and even have showers.

Cons: The central restrooms/showers have been non-operational for over a year based on the maintenance log of the porta potty. While the porta potty was well maintained, there were no hand wash stations or anything to make up for the loss of sinks and showers. The tap outside the building didn't work and neither did the water fountain.

The host was not there for check-in. Thankfully, we ran into a very kind maintenance worker that gave us the predator rundown for the area and told us how to get to our site. The host eventually showed up, but was not there for at least 5 sets of campers who were trying to check in.

Nearly every campsite has a major hill, so most will not have a good flat area for a tent. Site 61 is flat and a couple of others have flatter grounds, but many will have you sleeping on an angle.

Cons Site 61: The previous group was very disrespectful of the site and left glass shards everywhere. We had to sweep it away from our tent site and kept finding more as we were using our site. It was especially a problem since we brought our dog, so eventually we just laid tarps out to let her walk on instead of the dirt for her safety.

No shade at all. While most other sites had trees or an aluminum awning to provide some sort of shade, Site 61 had nothing. Thankfully, we planned for that, but definitely worth mentioning for other campers. Most sites on the inside of the loop had good tree coverage, so if that's what you're looking for definitely book one of the inner loop sites like 63.

For those looking to be fully removed from the world, you should know this campsite is RIGHT off the highway, so there is traffic and some headlights if drivers have their brights on. That didn't bother us, but we've lived off of major streets for years, so we tune it out pretty well.

Pros: There was running water, but you had to find it near other campsites. (Closest one to ours was near Site 63, which was very convenient)

Pros Scenery: The stargazing is beautiful. There is some limited light pollution emanating from the other side of the foothills, but because you are surrounded by foothills you get some good, dark surroundings to really appreciate the stars. Similarly, the sunrise and sunset were slightly late/early because the sun was contending with the surrounding hills. When the sun was rising over the hills, there was a beautiful glow to them.

Pros Site 61: You have absolutely no neighbors, which gives you more privacy and the ability to face out in any direction and enjoy the scenery.

Predators: Coyotes, rattlesnakes, meat bees (bring cheap canned meat to set out during the day and they will leave you alone for the most part)

Cool Wildlife: Various birds, though I was never able to get a good enough look to identify them. There were also bats at night that really helped with the bug problem and created a cool ambience while stargazing. My husband loved listening to them hunt!

Overall: We enjoyed the site, but were extremely grateful that we are redundancy packers. If we didn't have our extras, we probably would not have had a good time since it was 100+ degrees every day we were there and the grounds weren't totally as advertised. (Toilets, showers, etc)

We recently backpacked to the summit of MT Whitney. On the way to the summit there are several options for overnight camping. Lone Pine Lake is your first option, about 2.8 miles from the trailhead at Whitney Portal. This is a beautiful little lake, surrounded by pines and imposing granite walls. This is the last place you can camp without a Whitney zone overnight permit. Outpost camp is your next option at mile 3.8. Flat and shady with meandering streams and a waterfall, this is a beautiful place to stop for the night. Trail Camp is located at mile 6.3. Surrounded by tall, jagged granite peaks, and edged by a beautiful alpine lake, Trail Camp is awe inspiring. Trail Camp is about 12,000 ft elevation, so be prepared to camp at high altitude. If you can swing it, taking your time to ascend slowly, and camping along the way for at least a couple of nights will make your MT Whitney experience truly unforgettable.