I will write this review in the form of tips:…read more Check in and Costs Check in is at 2 p.m., and show up early because there will be a line. Check out is at noon -- and people are prompt! Which is good, because the staff will be driving by and cleaning up ready for check in. Costs are very reasonable at about $40-$45 per night, and most sites allow up to 8 people and two cars (there is overflow parking available, about $5 for each additional car). The splash pad is open May 1 through Sept. 30 and costs $3 for the day (for those aged 1-17). You can buy a season pass for $30 per person if you plan to come more often. Bugs and Things Yes, there are a ton of ants, snails and birds here, and I heard coyotes in the campground at night. So plan accordingly. I was surprised by the number of people without campground discipline. Open drink and food containers for hours. Messy areas with trash floating in their campsites. Wide open tents. Make sure you are keeping your campsite clean. There were several tracks of ants marching through out site and also birds in the wings the entire 3-day trip for us, and we never had a problem with the insects or wildlife by keeping everything tidy and organized. Sites The campground is split into three main sections with just over 100 sites: the upper loops, with 1) one section of exposed full hookup sites and a 2) back section closer to the lake but with no lake view with full hookup sites that have a bit more vegetation, and the 3) lower loop with water and electric at most sites, which is more popular among tent campers, large groups and those with horses (there is an actual equestrian camping section in the campground. Each site has a fire ring with a grill attached along with a table. Site lengths for RVs appear to be mostly around 30' and 32' from what I have seen (but they do have some as small as 20' and as large as nearly 50'), with electric boxes (20/30/50 amps -- awesome!). And pets are allowed ($2 per)! Saw lots of well behaved pups throughout my stay. And I so appreciate that they allow tents at the hookup sites. It's always a treat to have access to water and electricity while tent camping. I found several of the lower loop sites to be far more spacious than the upper link but, still, you are crammed in and there is not a level of privacy to be expected. During my day and previous visit, the site is kept very clean by the staff and hosts. That's part of the reason I prioritized a stay. Some of the visitors however (just some) have absolutely no camping etiquette, unfortunately. Until those trees mature in the upper loop, you are going to want the lower loop if you want shade. Even then, bring a canopy, because the outer side sites, with the views, get HOT. Even on the cooler spring days. Bathroom Situation Upper and lower loop bathrooms all have showers, and you have to get the tokens at the check in kiosk (and get them before 6 p.m.). Overall, I found that the team on site keeps everything as clean as possible. But by late afternoon, it often happened in the lower loop that there was trash and some little puddles all over the floor and stalls out of toilet paper. I visited the upper loop restrooms a couple of times -- for those reasons -- and they were far more pristine and also more specious. Instead of single stalls, each bathroom has a restroom space and a shower space behind one locked door. You can fit a whole family in there, which is super helpful if you are a family and need to all get ready at once. Also, most everyone in the upper loop has an RV (lower loop is more popular with tent campers), so it makes sense that the upper loop bathrooms are cleaner overall. You can buy wood on site at the check in kiosk (buy it before 6 p.m.). About $6 per bundle, and you get about 7-6 nice pieces of wood of varying sizes. One bundle was ample enough for 5+hours of a nice fire. But, and this was surprising to me, you cannot burn a fire after 11 a.m. Location, Activities The campground is in Bonita, about 30 minutes away from San Diego's downtown and coast. Unfortunately, no ocean views here. I take it that many people come here wanting a more remote get away, while still being able to access what San Diego has to offer. On site, there is a whole park for kids, with a splash pad/water features that are open during the summer months. There is also a large grassy day area ideal for parties and picnics. You can also rent out the pavilion, which is near the amphitheater and in the upper loop. It has a kitchen and a large community room where there have been birthdays, showers and receptions. Then there is the nearby reservoir, which is popular for mild walks and fishing, but absolutely no swimming or water contact allowed. Other Apparently, they allow vendors on site -- for parties and other activities. For a cost, you can have a DJ, live music, pony rides, bounce houses. This all appears to be more geared toward summer activities.

Loved our stay here. Clean large campsite in upper area with nice valley view. Quiet with nice…read morevegetation that provided adequate privacy. Grocery stores and post office close by. Rangers friendly and helpful. Just don't park 2 vehicles in addition to RV and keep vehicles off dirt area. Also, allowed to burn wood purchased at campground. Yes, some bugs but not an issue. Love SD county campgrounds. Great price in nature feels like real camping for this RVer.

Beautiful lake! I love all the ducks and turtles that have made this lake their home…read more There's a nice path around this lake. Easily walkable and accessible to families with strollers. Super quiet and peaceful. It's perfect to take a stroll and enjoy nature while getting some vitamin d. There's a lot of benches and grassy areas too.

So sad to see that for over 2 years they have done nothing to clean the water…read more Look at this. The turtles are dying.

Coming to this location for a family hike was a great decision. We have had a very trial ridden…read morepast three weeks and we needed some time to get away for a special hike. When you approach this area, you can easily be misdirected to the county regional park. To avoid this before you go up the hill to the entrance of the county regional park make a right into the driveway that shows the Sweetwater Reservoir. Once you get in there, you will go along a long dirt road to a parking lot that is eventually located next to the Reservoir fishing area. It is a beautiful trail and it's wonderful to be able to walk around the water and see ducks and birds and other wildlife as well as beautiful plants like Manzanita and chaparral. It is a wonderful trail hike, with beautiful and refreshing wind and sunshine. They have Porta potties that are super clean and well-maintained. I would say the porta potties are about a half a mile apart. They also have a bench with an overlook platform along the trail, and everything that we encountered seem to be very clean and well maintained. We will definitely visit this place again and it is definitely a wonderful place to hike. We were able to get out and started to explore the trail and after about 15 minutes, we realized that there was a Ranger honking at us with his siren coming around the bend. He made his way up to us in his truck and indicated that he would be closing the gate to the park in the next five minutes. We told him that we were told by the Park Ranger at the SD County Park check in booth that this trail closes at 8 PM tonight. He then said that we were not the only family to tell him that but that the Sweetwater Reservoir Trail Park actually closes at 5 PM because it's not a part of the SD County Regional Parks; they close at 8p. We rushed back to our vehicle, which was about a mile and a half away and we were able to get in and leave. We were very lucky that this Park Ranger decided to wait for us because we would've been locked into four or five gates and not able to actually get out of the park, even to get an Uber. This was great to understand and know so that when we go next time, we'll go a lot earlier before 5 PM.

I was in the Bonita community earlier this summer and wanted to do a medium length hike, A search…read moreresult came back with this trail at the Sweetwater Summit Regional Park. The staff member at the guard station indicated that I could use the day lot to park my vehicle since I was only hiking and not camping on the grounds. The path was pretty well maintained, but it also doubled as a horseback riding trail so occasionally one would have to dodge the mounds of dung left behind. Sweetwater Reservoir was off to the north of the trail. That body of water gave a nice scenic backdrop. The trek was up and down the foothills before looping back towards the start for a total of just over five miles. I expected to see more mountain bikers because the contours and breaks were conducive for that type of cycling without being too strenuous. There was no shade except for a hut at the peak of the hike. Sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, and plenty of water were a must during the daytime. I would rate this hike as moderate because there were a couple of spots where the ascent did make one breathe much harder than usual. My overall rating for this trek was between three and four stars.

We had such a great time! Jorge was so helpful in getting us sorted and set on the jet skis. Very…read morekind and understanding. 10/10 would recommend trying at least once!

My friend and I each rented our own jet ski for $130, plus the $10 damage fee. When we got there,…read morethe customer service already wasn't great but we didn't think much of it. The manager explained the rules, showed us where we were allowed to ride, and told us the jet ski would automatically slow down if we got too close to shore, other people, or outside of the designated area. Which we both understood and followed the instructions. My friend went out first and I followed a few seconds later. Immediately I noticed my jet ski would only go about 5 mph, even after I got into the area where we were supposed to be able to speed up. It also had a check engine light on the entire time. What made this even more frustrating was that I was around three other jet skis that were all able to accelerate normally while I was stuck going 5 mph. I obviously wasn't within 200 feet (it automatically slows down if you're within 200 feet of someone else) but we were close enough that I should have been able to accelerate as well. My friend's jet ski was working perfectly the entire time. Our rental was only one hour, and about 10 minutes of that was spent getting to the riding area and another 10 minutes getting back to the dock. So we really only had around 40 minutes to enjoy the jet skis. I spent basically that entire time going 5 mph. I only got up to around 10-20 mph for maybe two minutes total. It was honestly the slowest jet ski ride of my life. I can swim faster than that.My friend tried calling them while we were out there to figure out what was wrong, but nobody answered. She even called their other location and they ended up hanging up on her. So I was stuck with a jet ski that clearly wasn't working properly for almost the ENTIRE RENTAL TIME.When I got back, I asked to speak with someone because I was extremely upset. Instead of trying to understand what happened, the manager told me that he had already told us there was a possibility the jet ski had a "safety feature" that wouldn't allow it to go above a certain speed. That was never told to me. Why would he lie to my face like that????? Why would anyone pay $130 to rent a jet ski knowing they could randomly be given one with a "safety feature" that limits it to 5 mph? And why would you rent one out with a checkengine light on? He then told me I was going slowly because I didn't go around the green buoy. I told him that I DID and that I followed the route we were shown. He literally responded, "Okay, fine, let's say that you did." Still wouldn't explain why I would be going 5 mph the whole time. He pulled up my route and continued arguing back and forth with me instead of actually listening to what I was saying. The other employee with the eyebrow piercing was also talking over both my friend and me, which made everything even more frustrating. Completely useless conversation with both of them. After all of that, the manager offered me 10% off my next visit. Why would I want to come back after this experience? I even received an automated text the next day offering 10% off, so apparently that wasn't even a real attempt to compensate me.I left crying because I was so upset and felt completely unheard.I understand that mechanical issues can happen. What I don't understand is paying $130 for a rental that I couldn't properly use, being unable to get help while I was out on the water, and then being blamed for the problem and lied to instead of having someone simply acknowledge that something was wrong and try to make it right.I've worked in customer service for six years, and I genuinely couldn't imagine treating a customer this way after seeing how upset they were. The only employee who was actually kind and helpful was the younger white gentleman who helped us get off. Terrible behavior from both the manager and younger female. And by seeing the owners replies to other people that had a similar problem, I can see why a manager would be hired like that in the first place. Not a good look to keep going back and forth with customers who are clearly frustrated, as well as lie about what was told to me before getting on the jet ski. Fix the check engine light as well as your attitude towards customers.