Best Equestrian Camping near Lytle Creek, CA

Giant oval loop with camp sites all along both sides. Rv sites, tent sites and equestrian (horse) sites. Paved road is good for bike riding. Behind my Camp site was a few different hiking paths. Restroom buildings have water, toilets, and showers. It says to bring quarters for the showers but they were free. Each site is typical... Picnic bench, fire pit, and metal grill. No gathering fire wood, gotta buy it at local grocery or gas station. $20 a night. Lots of families with kids. Feels really safe here. Saw the park rangers driving around and the front has a gate guard who checks you in. Also only 10 minutes away from city.

Lovely campground in the Orange County foothills. Great hiking and equestrian trails. Excellent equestrian camping with a private corral right next to each campsite in the equestrian area.

Room for large rigs and good space for tents with flat pads.

My 3 dogs and I stay here often, as it's the lowest cost in Orange County and allows dogs. It has several restrooms, showers, equestrian areas, nature trails and picnicking for day use too.

Been here many times since it is local to me.

This place has changed a lot over the years, and not necessarily for the good, in my opinion.

What there is:

• Trailer camping
• Tent camping
• Fishing
• A playground
• Small water park
• Two lakes to fish at
• Trains, lots of them
• Bathrooms with showers
• Frisbee golf
• Picnic tables and shelters

What there is no longer:

• Paddle boats
• Horse riding stables
• Horses and cows
• Other interesting animals
• Water in the grass fields where the animals roamed
• Arenas

Beware of skunks and loud trains!

It is still a somewhat nice place to visit for a couple hours with the kids.

We have camped in a tent. The tents sites are adjacent to the lake.

Trailer camping isn't too bad, other than being adjacent to the busy railroad. Most sites have grass.

Casper is a great park located 15min from the city. It has three main camping areas that cater to campers, RVs and horses. There are a number of hiking trails around that range from a 1 to 12 miles. On Saturdays there’s a nature walk.

The park has a day-use area and 4 campgrounds: Ortega Flats(13 RV only sites), Live Oak Campground(tents and campers), Star Mesa Equestrian Campground, and Owl/Quail Group Campground. I reserved an electric site in the Ortega Flats Campground. I heard cars passing by all day and night. There were only port-a-potties by this campground but you could walk farther in the park for more decent toilets and showers.

The campsite was nice, shady with benches, a picnic table plus a fire pit. I had electric hookup but no water because of the drought. The rangers are friendly and patrol regularly which makes you feel safer. There is a cute playground for kids, a nature center where you can enjoy viewing through the telescope overlooking almost all of the 8,000 acres of the Caspers WP. If you like hiking or mountain biking this is a great park for you! The nearest shops are about 10-15 drive away.

[ PROS ]

• Part of OC Parks so getting a campsite is relatively easy compared to other online booking systems like ReserveAmerica. We’re usually able to book a site 2 weeks before we decide to  go.
• Rangers are so friendly and helpful. Honestly, really wonderful staff who love what they do.
• Because of invasive pests found in their park recently, outside firewood is permitted. But they sell them on site for $5 a bundle. That’s really good compared to other campground that cost upward of $7+ a bundle.
• FREE SHOWERS and clean restrooms. No tokens needed here. This is such a great amenity. Only downside is that they are a little far to get to. Caspers Wilderness Park has multiple campgrounds within the park, and each campground only has 1 shower facility (at least from what we could see).
• Fun fact: This park used to be covered by the Pacific Ocean so there are remnants of marine fossils along the riverbanks.
• LOTS OF HIKING TRAILS! If you love hiking, they have so many trails to choose from, from easy to strenuous. There is a trail for everyone. Also great for cyclists.
• Lots of wilderness sighting in the park -- snakes, deer,

[ CONS ]

• No fur friends allowed so leave your pets at home. Unless you own a horse! Lots of horse trails which also means you have to watch out for horse poop on the trail.
• They do not allow any alcohol at the park. No exceptions. It’s a family environment so no boozing here.
• The campsites are a little close together and noise travel.
• Lots of snakes (including rattle snakes) so be careful where you step.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - this weekend I tested Mountain House’s Homestyle Turkey Casserole. I’ve been a long time fan of Mountain House and their products, so I was really excited to try the casserole. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, so you bet I was stoked to bring a little bit of that holiday comfort food with me while camping. As always with all Mountain House products, this was so easy to make -- literally as easy as boiling water. Directions were simple as to be expected and the ingredients inside looked like real food. Once I add the water, the smell was phenomenal. Everything rehydrated perfectly and evenly. There were very nice large pieces of turkey, lots of harvest vegetables, and a heaping amount of stuffing. For two people, the serving size was generous and this was a very satisfying/filling dish. While my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this,  it’s not one of my favorite Mountain House meals.

Clean, quiet campground located in one of the OC Parks, with plenty of trails for hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian use. I stayed here on a weekday, and there were a few couple of vacant campsites in my area, so it was an extremely quiet visit. Bathrooms were clean and well stocked for my stay. I didn’t use the showers since I was only staying one night, but I heard they were free!

Rangers were very friendly and firewood was only $5 for a decent bundle that lasted me over 2 hours.

The city of Rancho Santa Margarita is right up the hill, so you can grab food and any necessities if needed.

My site backed to the creek, so I never had people walking through my campsite.

My dog & I slept in my van, but there was room for multiple tents, and a decent amount of shade in my spot.

My spot didn’t have its own water spigot, but there was one at a site across from me.

I was fortunate that all of the campers around me were quiet and considerate. I know that it doesn’t always work out that way, and having obnoxious neighbors can really ruin your experience.

Campground Review

We come to this campground throughout the year, and its one of our favorite spots for summer camping when we're short on time. It's an hours drive from LA and because the campground is at elevation it stays cooler during the hot months. This is my third review for this campground, and one thing I will say that I've noticed over time is that as the popularity of the campground has increased, so has the noise. We've been kept awake by other campsites on three different occasions now. Part of the issue is that rangers aren't regularly monitoring in order to enforce the quiet hours. We usually only see rangers come around in the morning. With that said, we still like Horse Flats because there is usually a spot or two open if we arrive on a Saturday. Also, the sites are relatively well spread out compared to other SoCal camping options. And it's dog friendly, which is a must for us.

Things to know before coming

• bring all your water with you. There is no running water at this campground
• purchase firewood before driving up the mountain. I've unfortunately seen too many campers collecting wood around the campground to use for fires. Don't do it! Different woods burn differently and also carry differently in smoke, and the Angeles National Forest is often at elevated fire danger levels
• the drive from the base of the mountain to this campground is about 45 minutes. make sure you have enough gas and have a map / driving directions ready, because there is no cell phone service

Things to do nearby

• bouldering, just a short hike away. See more info on routes here
• hike the Pacific Crest Trail to historic Glenwood Cabin. Here is the route I mapped out if you want to pick up the trail near Bandido campground. And here is more info on the cabin
• take a scenic chair lift and play disc golf at Mt Waterman, a 10 minute drive away. More info here
• Hike Rosenita Saddle to Mt Hillyer, see route here

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products to review for some of my camping trips. On this trip, we tested out two meals from Mountain House. (See my review of other meal options in my Meander Lake campground review). After cooking these pre-made camping meals, I may never go back! On this trip we had the Noodle with Chicken for dinner and Granola with Milk and Blueberries for breakfast. They were seriously DELICIOUS. Better than anything I can cook with my backcountry kitchen set-up. Here's what I love about these meals:

• super great taste
• quick to make. These meals are ready in 10 minutes or less, some are ready as soon as you add water. After a long day of climbing or hiking, or when you're waking up in the morning, it's so nice to have food ready so quickly
• easy to make. Just add water (boiling, usually). This also means that all we need to pack is a Jetboil, which is so much more convenient than packing a stove, pots, cooking oil, ingredients, cutting boards, etc.
• lightweight, and you can choose among packaging options for more compactness

All in all, I'd say these meals are a game changer for short trips or backcountry camping , when you want to pack minimally. If you're doing a week of camping with easy access to your car, then these meals aren't necessarily your cheapest option for the whole week, but it's totally worth the money in terms of taste and convenience (so you can spend more time on other outdoor activities!).

There are only two things I'd like to see change to further improve Mountain House meals. First, there are no vegan options, and very few vegetarian options. Second, I find the serving amounts to be unhelpful in their current format, because the calories per serving are so low. For example, with the Noodle with Chicken, the pouch says "2.5 services", but there are only 220 calories per serving. If this were your sole meal item for dinner, I'd say that more like 1 serving, especially if you're consuming these meals after a day of rock climbing or hiking. So if I meal plan with Mountain House pouches, you have to calculate servings based on the calories, rendering the "servings" as advertised uninformative.

Best place ever!! Tent camping, RV camping, they have a restaurant and bar, best burgers in all of southern California!! They also have a small store, there's showers, restrooms and a swimming pool! Tent camping along Santa Ana River, you can also fish and hike. So amazing and beautiful, awesome memories made!!

We stayed here for the weekend, the only issue is the gates around the lake and the fact that you can no longer cook off in the spring. The other issue is how many ground squirrels there were! I ended up with two in my tent and one in my van! Very unsettling. There is also a great lack of shade. The camp is fairly clean, but some of the prices are pretty high

Water and electric only on camp sites. No dump site there. There's nice shade on probably half the sites, the other ones have little or none. Nice views of the lake but it's fenced off and access to the lake and park close in the evening. There is a small older bathroom there a flush toilet and a shower

Really good site. Showers, pit toilet, running water, but it's 10$ a night. Hardly any shade unless you get a good site. However they have glamping tents and even own personal hotsprings for a ridiculous fee. I didn't stay there. There is supposed to be blm land around there but everyone keeps it a secret on how to get to where you need to go. The hotsprings is clothing optional, so if you don't mind naked people, or you wanna strip down yourself, you should go check it out 💯💯. Went in early April and it was already really warm in the area

Easy access to the hot springs and no services to speak of. Basically a patch of dirt you can occupy for $10 a night. Loved it.

Rough ride in but totally worth it

The hike to the springs is pretty rough but also worth it when you get there. No hot showers

Super fun place to visit with the hot springs trail. Went in January with snowfall, hardly any campers and nature all around! Two nights are perfect.

• Easy going campground with all the necessary amenities for camping and a great spot for our large group of 18 adults & 10 kids to gather and camp out together. You will have to drive 6 miles of mountainous dirt roads to reach the property, but it takes you away from all signs of the city and surrounds you in nature when you get there, making a very nice camping experience.  The spring pools at our site were so relaxing to have all to ourselves and well worth it to reserve for our party! The deep creek hot springs were absolutely fabulous, as they were situated next to a cold creek where we could do therapeutic hot cold plunges. The hike to the hot springs was fairly tough, but we found it easily with the trail starting right on the property! Definitely recommend camping here, just make sure you download directions prior so you don't end up at the wrong place and run into a crazy guy at a shack next door!