Best Equestrian Camping near San Diego, CA

This Is a really fun family friendly campsite that is a short drive from San Diego. There are convenient market within a 10 minute drive of the site for extra supplies. The state park visitor center is just up the road, and that is a fun visit for people curious about the area, or for kids to be involved in junior ranger activities.

On our last visit to this side, we did a very fun day hike with our floor-year-old and six-year-old. We also participated in a junior ranger event that was put on at the campsite. The campsite some cells are very well-maintained. The majority of the other people staying at this site word families, and everybody was veryrespectful Of each other’s campsites, and the bathroom facilities are very well-maintained. :-)

All and All, one of our favorite sites for a quick get out of town, and get into nature sites in the San Diego area.

This is my favorite out of the two campgrounds in the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. While both have their positives, I personally love this one for its close proximity to the waterfalls that are a short trail from the campsites. Depending on what campsite you are in, you can walk to the trail and down to the falls which are perfect for swimming around when it is hot outside. I love this campground for a quick weekend getaway from San Diego that has minimal preparation. Every site is a drive up site, most have shade and there are plenty of bathrooms. Most sites also have a fire ring and picnic table to use as well. A perfect, lower cost campsite that is great for families and people who want an easy camping experience with some water involved!

I was looking for a place to camp that wasn't too far from San Diego and offered some hiking in the desert landscape. The grounds are quite large - there's 2 pools and rec centers.

One rec center is designed more for kids with a pool table, air hockey, shuffleboard, and games. The other, more main center has TV, shuffleboard, ping pong, and a built in cafe. You can also rent out sports equipment from the main center, including golf putters for the mini golf course, baseball bats and balls for the diamond, and a few lawn games. There is WiFi access from this building and it appears they even do movie nights plus a few more community-related events, which is nice considering most people who stay here appeared to be doing so long term and having those options keeps the boredom at bay.

Heck, someone even built a track for RC cars to race on, and there is a laundry center as well. Showers were nice and warm, and not coin operated - a rarity given the water droughts around CA.

Since you're in the desert, having pools to cool off in was something I appreciated the longer I was in the heat. I did a hike in the area (TAKE LOTS OF WATER AND WATCH FOR RATTLESNAKES) and a dip in the pool was a great way to finish it off.

I gave this place 4 out of 5 for the following:

The price tag. $41 for a tent site it too much, even for private campgrounds. I presume this is because even the most primitive sites still offer electric hook ups, and $40ish is usually what you pay for those features - I just wish for a place that offers 500+ spots that some should be available without the hookups and for a lower price.

The other reason is because some of the amenities need upkeep. It's great to be able to offer things like mini golf and to have the land for a baseball diamond, but both were well overdue for maintenance.

This is a San Diego County Park/Campground. It offers everything from tent/car camping to full hook-up for large RVs. The campground also has some nice amenities: good trail system, a splash pad (open in spring and summer months), a playground, some areas to have a group picnic, even a large event room. There are about 60 camping spaces, mostly partial hook-ups (electricity and water) and a few full hook-ups (electricity, water, and sewer) in the original campground. These sites, 1-60 offer a bit more shade than the newer campsites which are all full hook-up. The newer sites (61 and higher) are on a hill and offer some good views of Bonita Valley. 61 and higher all are all full hook-ups - but you can put a tent on 'em.

The campground is freeway close and only a few miles away from grocery stores and restaurants.

This campground has a nice feel. It is a good place to unwind and enjoy a campfire and the whole camping experience. Good place for kids. There are several campsites with horse stalls for the equestrian campers.

Sweetwater is perched near a Freeway/Toll Road (not a terribly busy one) and it is under the San Diego Airport glide path for incoming flights. So yeah, a little more city than some other campgrounds.

At this time sites cost between $26 and $36 (?) per night. That gets yo one motor vehicle. Additional vehicles are $4 per night. There is a $1 pet fee, per pet.

http://www.sdparks.org/content/sdparks/en/park-pages/SweetwaterSummit.html

Nice park, partial hookups, no sewer but has a dump station. Nice spot 2 explore San Diego.

Tucked away from the city lights of San Diego. Very nice camp ground with multiple trails climbing up Mt. Cuyamaca.

Nearby to San Diego, quick drive and you are there. Nice shady areas, plenty of hiking / biking trails around. Bathrooms are a plus.

Lovely campground, great signage and close to San Diego. We got here at 11pm and left at 8am to continue on our Questival journey. We were at site 50, if you want more shade then site 49 is the one!

Oakzanita is 4000 ft elevation up in the San Diego Mountains. Sites are mainly off roads that are narrow and may be hard to maneuver. Many sites are without sewer however on certain days a honey wagon may be available for $25.00. Park is about 40 minutes from Jillian. Park is okay but nothing to write home about.

Great weekend camping close to San Diego. Clean, plenty of bathrooms and showers, water, and drive in parcels. Even though there are a lot of camp sites it feels private. It can get really loud with groups of campers but it is worth it. Every camp site has a fire ring. There is a big store 5 miles away if you forget anything. Falls are close by and family friendly. Loved the experience!

This is a great campground all year long. You feel like you are in the middle of nowhere even though there is a small mountain town 20 minutes away and east county San Diego is only 40 away. Great for campers who like to hike. Lots of sites to choose from. Plenty of animal and bird watching. Star gazing is amazing as well. I have camped here in fall, spring and summer. I have never been disappointed.

Didn’t know that this type of camping (actual woods) existed this close to San Diego. Located under stonewall peak south of Julian; this campground is close to Lake Cuyamaca, hiking and plenty of mountain biking. Flushable toilets and showers were clean. Our site had a running water spigot. There are reservations on recreation.gov but we just showed up and paid via the iron ranger (envelope drop box). Any site on on the board at the entrance station was fair game when we arrived. The rangers update the board daily depending on the online reservations. Will definitely stay again in the future! Our site was #41.

So far my family’s favorite campground in San Diego. Sites 1-60 are mostly partial sites but offer the most shade and are closest the the main playground and splash pad. A lot of the sites are pull through as well. Most of the campground is flat so it is great to walk/ ride bikes and there multiple hiking trails. Only drawback is they don’t sell firewood from what I saw at the campsite but the 7-eleven up the road has bundles for $7. Bathrooms were clean the whole weekend and showers are $1 for 16 minutes. Also, we didn’t have any bug problems besides for ants which was great. Only drawback is it sits ontop of a highway so you’ll hear that a little during the quiet parts of the day.Definitely a nice cheap weekend getaway to checkout for around $70 for the whole weekend. We’ll definitely be back

I have to say this is one of my least favorite Thousand Trails campgrounds so far. Pio Pico has a lot of potential to be a fun destination but I feel it is extremely neglected. Pools and hot tubs are closed. Bathrooms and amenities appear pretty run down. You see the typical "Pardon our dust" signs so hopefully things are fixed quickly. Being so near to one of the most expensive cities in the US you'd think it would be upgraded to 50 Amp power as well. Cell service is non-existent, though they of course can't control that. I will say the staff is all very friendly.

If you're coming here to visit San Diego it is quite the trek into the city, to the beach, or to anything of note. We spent 3 weeks here, which was way too long with nothing to do in the area. Unless you're ok driving a total of 2 hours to something interesting and back it's a fairly boring campground to stay in.

Space E-11 Vehicle Type: 38' 5th Wheel Stay: 3 Weeks

This campground is very close to downtown and beaches in San Diego. I paid $36 a night for electricity and water hookups plus my pet. The showers in the south loop aren’t great, definitely bring your shower shoes. The north loop has nice showers. There are coyotes so be careful with your pets. I stayed in site 4, the older side of the campground and the campsites are pretty close together. There were a couple of questionable people at the other end of the campground so I kept my eye out, but overall it was a good experience. The south loop campground has trees and a lot of shady spots (thank goodness as I couldn’t pull my awning out). The north loop campground is for the larger RV’s and there is no shade there. I didn’t have any ant problems as I put diatomaceous earth around my RV, but my neighbors in tents had ant issues. Staff are really friendly. Showers operate with tokens you have to buy from the front gate. 2 tokens = 4 minute shower. I bought 8 tokens for $2 so that’s pretty good in comparison to other state parks

This is two different campgrounds. The front (closest to entry road) kinda sucks. Lots of noise. Sites are small, open and up against an industrial fence.  Everything to the back (after site 7 on the right and 18 on the left) is great. Sites with trees, road noise is blocked, closer to the trailhead and just generally nicer.

This campground is about 11 miles out of Temecula (1 bar of service still with Verizon) and only about 50 minutes from coastal North San Diego. The sites are all a little different but in general have some form of a table, grill, firepit. Bathrooms are standard pit toilets, but they were clean and the camp hosts in March of 2021 were on top of things.

There is a well trafficked trailhead at the back of the campground so on weekends during the day there is a lot of traffic from locals who are just there to hike. We came in on a Sunday and just caught the end of this. The trail itself is a big loop (10 miles) that connects to another loop and another. Almost 20 miles of hiking if you want it. We did an out and back. Trail was nice but it does get narrow often and very few people were wearing masks or even had them which sucked for trying to social distance. The views were fantastic.

Don't bother setting an alarm here. There are roosters nearby that will crow which will wake the dogs and then about a dozen other types of birds will join in at dawn. Crows will chatter. Bluebirds will chip. California Quails will...I don't know...quail?

A definite recommend if you're trying to get away without getting to far away.

I at Oakzanita a little after noon, got my space, and was all set up in an hour. The drive getting here is wicked, if you’ve never been here before. In my scooter club, the San Diego Pharaohs, we’ve ridden up here in the mountains plenty, so I knew what I was in for. Lots of windy roads in. If you want seclusion, and quiet, then this is the place. The best thing about being here in the Cuyamacas, is it’s beauty! I love it up in the mountains. Some amenities were closed, but at least the pool was open for 2 hours 4 times a day, you can play mini golf, but bring your own putter and balls. Before I came up, my friend was bringing me something, and for the 5th time I said don’t forget a couple golf balls. Well, he forgot. The showers are working in the men’s and women’s rooms, the honey wagon will come around and empty your tanks, plus they have a dump station, since it’s just water and electric hookups. Two bad things, no internet, and no laundry. Before I left my last stop, I didn’t do laundry, and figured I can do it here. The guy at the gate even said there was a laundry. He neglected to say it was out of order. So I hopped on my Vespa, and off to Alpine I went. It only goes 55, so I said, what the hell, let’s hop on the freeway. Got to the laundry, and right next store to it was a pizza place, so I got a sausage sub. Delicioso! Now the laundry was done, and I didn’t want to climb the 2,000 feet up the highway on the scooter with a load of laundry, so I took the long way back. After about 20 minutes I come upon a sign, ‘Unpaved Road Next 6 Miles’. And that was a very long, very bumpy, and very dusty, 6 miles. It took me almost an hour to get back. Hey, it’s all part of the adventure. Another good thing, my cell service, Consumer Cellular, was exceptional!!! Full bars, so I could Netflix, and YouTube! Unfortunately, I used up all my data with 12 days until next months plan kicks in. I would venture up this way again.

Mount Laguna Campground is 60 minutes east of San Diego and 5500+ feet of elevation. It is a big, big campground that is wooded and adjacent a large meadow, recreational area and lake (when not dried out, drought sucks). Despite it's size, the campground is split up into several loops that make it feel much more intimate in size.

I strongly recommend the sites inside the campground to the East (#005, 006, 008, 010, 012). This loop is a little smaller and quieter than the other loops and the campsites face back to the corner of the meadow where endangered butterflies sometimes float around and the sites are huge. These sites have more tree covering than the ones immediately next to them, are close to the bathroom (but not too close) and you can easily access the meadow trailhead.

There are vault toilets that can be hit or miss depending on heat. We bring wet wipes and antibacterial soap. There is a ton of hiking, mountain bike and even horseback riding in the recreational area. The size of the lake is somewhat dependent on rain and drought. We've seen it full and completely dry.

At the local rec store you can buy a hiking trail map for about $2. You can download it for free from the internet too, but theirs is printed on a waterproof paper and really nice quality print.

Tips:

1. There is often downed wood piled up in the meadow loop near the bathroom for use in campfires. It's first come first serve, and bringing a hatchet or handsaw makes a world of difference on your pocket book.

2. Whatever the temperature is listed at on the weather sites subtract 10-15 degrees at night. The temperatures are based on the minor town at a lower elevation.

3. In the morning if you walk out of camp to Sunrise HWY, turn left a 1/4 mile you find an overlook with a great view of the sunset and views out to the Salton Sea.

4. Walk 1/2 mile and get on the trail to Garnett Peak.

5. In the town of Mount Laguna is one convenience store with just about everything you'll need last minute, but expect to pay a convenience surcharge.

6. There is a gear & rec store in town too that is a must visit. Fair prices and just an overwhelming experience. They are very hiker friendly if passing through on the nearby PCT.

7. There are a lot of nearby peaks and day hikes.

8. Julian has great pie.

9. The fire pits are brand new in 2016. Jury is still out. Kind of liked the old ones.