Best Cabin Camping near Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

A little something for every type of camping. Cabins, paved pull through & natural dirt & grass. Friendly staff to check us in gates close at 10:pm your provided with a security gate code to get back in if your out late.

Lots of families with children, fishing for catfish in the little lake which is shaded with trees and plenty of tables to picnic by the lake. Playground plus lots of grassy areas. We stayed in the natural area with hook-ups everything worked great.

Neighbors were nice, cute set ups with twinkle lights and people enjoying outdoor fire pits. Campers we’re playing music, laughter echoes through camp ground but nothing too loud and all quiet later.

We drove over to the Mission Inn (8 min drive) enjoyed lunch. Their is a pedestrian only shopping area with a Saturday farmer’s market plus lots of restaurants.

The campground sells firewood plus has a little store. Would stay again.

Spent Spring break here with the family. We read a lot of reviews on this park - many of them mixed. Overall, this park did not disappoint - too much.

Amenities are very good for young kids. Canopy Court area has easy and close access to the splash pad, the playground, a large grass area, and even the pool. The boat launch is very near by too but we had no use for that.

This park is clean! Like no park I have seen before. The staff are always moving around the grounds and “picking up” as they go. Quiet hours are strict - some may see that as a bad thing but I appreciate it. Even with 4 young kids, we like that the park slowed down right on time.

Only arguments - the spots are relatively tight. We reserved a spot for a rig with slide outs on both sides to accommodate our 39’er but it took some creative parking to get the rig into the spot in a way that we could actually open both sides. Once in, we had to make sure we pulled back far enough otherwise the very nice provided picnic table would of been right next to the front wheel. Water pressure is a bit low too but nothing terrible.

Location wise - awesome. We used the campground as a base camp to spend time in LA and San Diego as well as a day in Joshua Tree National Park. 1-2 hours from everything.

We will definitely be back.

This was our first time here. 

We made it clear, at the time we reserved, that we needed a 50 Amp hookup. It turns out that our reservation was for a 30 Amp site (#21). We again made it clear at the time of check-in that we needed a 50 Amp site, we were moved from #21 to #31 (the only 50 Amp site left in the park). It is a lakeside parallel parking site that is beautiful. The lake has a fountain in the middle that gets illuminated at night, very nice indeed. 

Now for the bad, although there was clearly a gate at the front entrance, we never saw it closed. The park provides security until 10 pm, after that, it seems that ANYONE can come and go. We heard from others that thefts had become common-place. 

The tiny store at the entrance closes at 5 pm every day. Luckily there are several stores only a couple of blocks away. 

Showers are not included in the price of your site rental, an average shower will cost between $1 and $2. You must purchase shower/laundry tokens from the tiny store. When we went to the store to purchase our tokens, we were told that they had to go empty the machines so that they had more tokens to sell. The laundry room was actually closed for the first 2 days we were there. 

The dump station in the park was locked (no sewer hookups). You had to wait until someone from the tiny store was able to get free long enough to open the locked dump station. 

The WiFi situation is horrendously bad, especially after about 9:20 pm. Apparently that is when their metering software kicks in. We went from watching our shows (NetFlix, etc) to the point that we couldn't even play a complete song over the connection. Still unhappy about the WiFi, an ominous warning came across my devices stating that there was suspicious/hacking activity on the WiFi network, disconnect immediately. 

**OMSB: When are RV parks going to learn that in today's world, good, safe, WiFi is essential, and should not be an afterthought? TO ALL RV PARKS: Upgrade your WiFi now, I (and probably many others) would happily pay another $5 to $10 per day for great WiFi service. **

There seemed to be an inordinate amount of trash around the entire place. There were multiple empty beer cans on our site when we arrived. The nice green lawn area that we walked our dogs on was littered with waste from other inconsiderate pet owners (please pick up after your pet). 

The place is a little pricey for what you actually get, Everything seems to cost more, as long as you get it before 5 pm. 

We have gotten much more, for much less. Overall the place was beautiful until you looked more closely. Unfortunately, it looks like people have stopped caring about maintaining this park.

[ PROS ]

• Crystal Cove State Park and Laguna Coast Wilderness Park are adjacent to each other, and a small pedestrian gate separates them.
• The best trail here stretches across the two parks -- No Name Ridge!! Amazing for EPIC SUNSETS!
• Some sites have MILLION DOLLAR BEACH VIEWS of the ocean.
• There are about 60 camp spots and a lot of them are RVs, but it’s nice because each row of 10 spots is elevated from the previous row (tiered campsites) so everyone gets a semi view
• Part of CA State Parks so showers are token operated. Clean and well maintained
• Walking distance to Crystal Cove Historic District, which has a couple places to eat right on the beach
• Crystal Cove Historic District also has some "preserved" beach cottages from the 20s, 30s, and 40s on the beach that are largely in ruins. It’s fun to explore and check out.
• Lots of fun things along the beach to look at like tide pools and rock formations beach
• Great Visitor's Center that is worth checking out. The Rangers are amazing and provided us with a super helpful information about the park, its trails, and the cottages.
• Each site comes with a picnic table, a water faucet/drain.
• The beach has less crowds/tourists/homeless compared to other beaches. It’s really quite and peaceful.

[ CONS ]

• No coal or wood fires :( Kind of a bummer since your evening ends early. You can bring propane pits yourself for fires though. Also, it can get extremely cold at night in the canyons, even if it’s in the high 80s during the day. Be prepared.
• They do not allow any alcohol at the park. No exceptions. Rangers patrol constantly and will approach you for random things if they see you breaking any campground rules.
• The hiking trails essentially have zero shade so it gets really hot. Bring a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen so you don’t roast. Also stay hydrated!
• The campgrounds is a little further from the beach than I expected from looking at photos online. There is no direct beach access so you’ll have to go to the day use area and pay for parking ($15 parking)
• You can get to the beach if you’re down to wade through 2-3 feet of still water that puddles under the highway underpass. It’s a little inconvenient if you’re with children or carrying a lot of beach equipment.
• Campsites are VERY close together so be prepared to meet your neighbors. It’s also very quiet as soon as the sun sets (since there is no campfires keeping people up) so everyone ends up going to bed around 8pm as to not disturb your VERY close neighbors.
• Be careful of rattlesnakes