Best Campgrounds near Pauma Valley, CA

4.5 stars! Camp Host Rick is an awesome host and was so helpful when we ran into reservation issues through recreation.gov we were in the oak loop site at site 15 which was a huge space that could’ve easily fit 3 medium sized tents! Super close to the water source and bathrooms.

Campground itself 4/5 Site 15 4.5/5 Closeness to activities 3/5 T-Mobile: hardly any service

It was relatively empty and we had half of the campground to ourselves. We stayed 3 days and 2 nights it was perfect. The grounds are kept really clean bathrooms were super clean and water wasn’t dirty! Great site!

If you are a smaller family with ONE vehicle, are sharing ONE tent, RV camping, or staying in one of their cabins, you may have a great time there. As far as the actual grounds go: They looked clean. The Oaks sites are all on a slope and next to the main road(if that matters to you). The restroom near the Oaks group site, is ONE toilet in a large room with two small showers. Beware of long lines at that restroom if you are tent camping. Let me help someone else out though, since the campground does not have this in writing. Here's a breakdown of some extra fees: If you decide to camp as a group or with your family, the listed cost covers ONE tent and ONE car, and up to four people, no more than that. The website states*TENT* site, not tentS site.(This is a word for word quote from manager Eddie.)*IF* the manager decides to let a larger group camp in the group tent spaces, there will probably be an extra charge imposed. As of March 2025 that fee was$25 per extra tent per night AND an extra$25 charge per vehicle. This is on top of the per night charge, and the extra fees per additional person(4 included, max of six allowed per site). As of April 2025, none of this information is on their website, nor has it ever specifically been listed in their T&Cs(both the Aug 2024 one and the“updated” one I re-read in March 2025), and they may not disclose specifics to you when making a reservation over the phone; no matter how many times you tell them your group size, and ask multiple questions regarding how many tents can fit, how many people per site are allowed, and if they have extra parking spaces for vehicles, these extra costs may not ever be mentioned. If you call to make a reservation, or call to clarify any information with the campground, keep written notes and a timestamp of your phone call, and screenshot your call history if need be. Because*IF* something were to come up, Eddie may state that he has his own timestamp of your conversation, except he may eventually say he cannot print that out or prove it.“If you can’t remember the conversation you had with me, then that’s your problem”(another direct quote). In my case, he stated that I spoke with him in October when making the initial reservation. However, I NEVER spoke with Eddie on the phone in any of my multiple conversations with the campground. He stated he had a timestamp of the call when he supposedly read his script with all the details. However this statement of his was not believed by myself or any of my group, since he could not prove it when asked. What actually happened in our situation: I have an email response to my initial inquiry from Eddie in July 2024. One of my team went directly to the campground in August to get detailed information and she texted me everything she was told, including costs per site, specifically listed“6 people 2 tents”, and the total cost per night with the extra people. I called about a week later to make the reservation. I spoke with Ginger on the phone when making my initial reservation, and have only spoken with Ginger or the other office gal any time I called with questions. We did need to reschedule due to a storm, which we were allowed to do at that time. I was the first in my scouting group to arrive on our scheduled weekend. Checked in, gave the gal a list of who was arriving, drove to my site and began setting up. Around the 4th family that arrived, I was told by her that the gal at the front wanted to see me. After walking to the office to see what she needed, I was at that moment informed of the extra charges. Baffled, I told her we were not prepared to pay that high of an amount(it would have been over$800) since I was never told of the extra costs, and asked what we could do to remedy it. She stated the manager was out, and he would be back soon. By the time Eddie came to our sites a couple of hours later, many more of my group had arrived and completed setting up their tents, etc. He walked up and said“well since you do not want to agree to the new terms, we will revert to the old T&Cs that states we do not allow groups to camp, and you are not allowed to camp here”. After much back and forth between Eddie and my group, he said we had to leave or he would call the sheriff. When asked, he did agree to refunded us the almost$1200+ we had already paid. Our group packed up our entire tenting set-up, and travelled down the road to Lake Skinner to enjoy a beautiful weekend, with wonderful accommodations, at half the cost. Due to this MAJOR miscommunication by the management, our large scouting troop was not able to try out the campground amenities, nor will any of our 100+ local families try to do so in the future. I wonder what the owners would think if they actually knew how unprofessional their management tried to“handle” the situation. Unfortunate for the campground to miss out on future business in this way.

Being reasonably close to our home base, we frequent this park with the family. Major grocery and shopping establishments are nearby, with Target directly across the street, In-n-Out, local parks, and the like. Our kids love the pool area, grandparents love the pickleball courts, and there are always fun activities to do throughout the year. Full-timers are friendly and inclusive of newcomers and passer-throughs. Dog parks are clean and located at either corner of the park. The entrance security kiosk is staffed 24/7, and they'll even help spot you while parking your rig. We cannot say enough good things about this place. 

Check their website for events and specials.