Where to camp this Memorial Day...?

[davidB]

my girlfriend wants to go camping this Memorial Day, but quite a few great places were booked months ago. There's campgrounds everywhere, but we're looking for places that have stuff to do in the area. (i.e. hiking, horseback riding, scenery or something)

any inside info?

currently we're debating whether we need showers or not so i guess we're up for just about anything provided the location is good

HELP US OUT

[allison]

Is Hurkey or Big Laguna booked? Cuyamaca?

[sdyeti]

The San Bernardino Nat'l Forest/San Gorgonio Wilderness...

hike from Camp Angelus to Limber Pine. It's not too far, is very scenic, and over Memorial Day wkend, we had the whole place to ourselves. There is also a running stream to filter from.

To make it multi-day, we went further up the ridge and traversed toward San Gorgonio.

It was a really fun trip.

edit: just re-read that you want other things to do. probably disregard my post as the only other things to do are commune with nature, play cards, and explore

[Edog]

Oneil has all of those things & the mall is only about 15 minutes away!

[Shannon]

Don't know how far you want to travel, but you might want to check out the Morro Bay state park. I know I'll sound prejudice because we live up here, but it really is a beautiful area to camp. There's tons of hiking, kayaking, golf, surfing and literally less than a mile from from the Quarry trailhead for mountain biking and Montana de Oro is only a 10 minute drive. Also, Paso Robles is about 30 minutes away if you guys are interested in wine tasting.

http://www.slostateparks.com/default.asp

[dstepper]

Originally Posted by davidB

my girlfriend wants to go camping this Memorial Day, but quite a few great places were booked months ago. There's campgrounds everywhere, but we're looking for places that have stuff to do in the area. (i.e. hiking, horseback riding, scenery or something)

any inside info?

currently we're debating whether we need showers or not so i guess we're up for just about anything provided the location is good

HELP US OUT

Simple go to Utah. Zion National Park is a must see. Bonus close to Gooseberry Mesa...primitive camping everywhere. Or camp in Zion.

Dean

[allison]

If you want a nicer campground in Utah hit up the KOA in Panguitch. There may be snow on Brianhead, but there's still Cedar Breaks, Zion, Bryce Canyon. Nice restrooms, wifi, etc.

[smokedtitan]

Go to Yosemite or Seqoia National Park

[allison]

Originally Posted by smokedtitan

Go to Yosemite or Seqoia National Park

Those are most likely the places he is referring to as being booked

[dstepper]

Originally Posted by allison

Those are most likely the places he is referring to as being booked

Yep and the high elevation stuff will be under snow.

Dean

[Piranha]

I'll be camping at Shaw's Cove myself.

[Stray_Bullit]

I can't help you on this one. I retired from camping. It's too much work for me. I'd rather stay at a 5 star hotel and live in the lap of luxury! Hours upon hours of sitting at the pool drinking "summer" drinks and getting way too tan!

Ahhhhhhhhh........

[Permagrin]

camping on a holiday? you guys are into torture, aren't you? Since you want to do "stuff" in the area of the campground, I guess suggesting primitive camping is out of the question...?

[northshore]

Try Pismo Beach if you are looking for that sandy beach/ocean romantic type of weekend.

[stinkyrider]

I'm with Permagrin, camping anywhere on memorial day weekend in SoCal is insanity. It's going to be insanely crowded anywhere you go and it's likely to be impossible to reserve a campsite.

I've often had to chase off squaters that just show up and start setting up camp on my site without any kind of reservation or permit. It usually turns into a shouting match and to the verge of physical violence until the ranger shows up and boots the A-hole off the site.

It's a huge hassle and more headache than it's worth for me, at least.
If you must camp, I recommend yucaipa regional park. It's not There's plenty to do around there and it's not rustic in the very least. Good luck booking a spot though.

http://www.co.san-bernardino.ca.us/parks/yucaipa.htm

[jeffj]

Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day are the three worst, most crowded times to go camping. Everything that may be popular would be much better if it were merely crowded, but it will be very overcrowded on these weekends. Unless you're into "crowds", I think it's better to either seek more off the beaten path type destinations on those weekends or just stay home.

It's bad enough if you have reservations, but without, it will be that much more difficult to pull off a trip that's 'worth it'.

Also works better to arrive a day earlier than the crowds and/or stay a day later to avoid nasty traffic. Just not my idea of fun.

The one exception to the reservation cluster-f that is camping in SoCal is to check with private campgrounds. They often have openings or cancellations and checking in with them often can pay dividends. Govt campgrounds may also have cancellations. You just have to keep going through the websites to check for them.

Without knowing what you guys may be 'into', it's difficult to make a specific recommendation.

[speckledtrout]

Originally Posted by jeffj

Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day are the three worst, most crowded times to go camping. Everything that may be popular would be much better if it were merely crowded, but it will be very overcrowded on these weekends. Unless you're into "crowds", I think it's better to either seek more off the beaten path type destinations on those weekends or just stay home.

It's bad enough if you have reservations, but without, it will be that much more difficult to pull off a trip that's 'worth it'.

Also works better to arrive a day earlier than the crowds and/or stay a day later to avoid nasty traffic. Just not my idea of fun.

The one exception to the reservation cluster-f that is camping in SoCal is to check with private campgrounds. They often have openings or cancellations and checking in with them often can pay dividends. Govt campgrounds may also have cancellations. You just have to keep going through the websites to check for them.

Without knowing what you guys may be 'into', it's difficult to make a specific recommendation.

these are all things i told david on Sunday. you can see how well he listens to me, though. the next day he posted a thread asking for recommendations on campgrounds.

[davidB]

yeah after looking into all this, we're not sure if it's going to happen. We're looking into something in the lower half of California, so Utah and that much traveling is out of the question.

that whole hassle thing just mentioned is what was turning us off. Besides the fact I know there's a bunch of things to bring that we don't currently have, it's still a good possibility that we *might* go, so i'm looking into all the places mentioned here. Thanks guys

[Permagrin]

In addition to jeffj's comment, stay away Yosemite and Sequoia if you can during these peak holiday's as well. I went to Yosemite on the 4th of July about 4 years ago and that's when I made the decision to never camp/ hike on a holiday going forward. The line to get into the park was 1 1/2 hours and backed up for 5 miles, no parking, the roads were crammed with cars, good luck finding a trail where you could enjoy nature and everyone was short tempered. It really dampened the experience drastically to the point of wishing I had stayed home and I never think like that when I get to go to Yosemite but there was just no way to get away from the crowds.