I have some reservations about writing this review because my experience at this campground was wonderful. I enjoyed four peaceful days there, and, surprisingly, there were never more than three campers present. The other visitors were all gray-haired, which contributed to the serenity--there were no barking dogs, loud generators, music, or screaming kids. I spoke with some long-time campers who advised against visiting during holiday weekends and summer; they warned that it can turn chaotic. Marion Mountain, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, exudes character and has a relaxed atmosphere that is not geared for partying, although some attempt to make it so. This campground strictly allows only tent camping and very small teardrop trailers or camper vans; RVs and fifth-wheelers are not permitted. The upper loop (sites 1-5) is great for van or tent camping, but parking is limited to one car/van per site, with no extra parking available. This restriction minimizes the flow of day hikers and keeps the campground tranquil. The inside loop features flatter ground for pitching tents, but it does come with close campsites, reducing privacy since the road rings around sites six through ten, which require a short walk to access. On the lower loop, the outside sites are sloped, and you also need to walk to them. The interior sites here are flat but closely packed, creating a cramped environment. I rated this campground one star for weekends and holidays, but it earns five stars on weekdays and in the shoulder seasons. I would absolutely return, but definitely not on weekends! If I want to hear screaming kids and barking dogs, I can just visit my grandkids. If you value a peaceful camping experience, choose your timing wisely! read more

Marion Mountain Campground - Campgrounds Near Me - Idyllwild-Pine Cove, California

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We love this campground. Very quiet mountain camping. Very small, mainly for tents and small trailers. The sunset views are amazing. Only 15-20 minutes into the town of Idylwild. It's become a yearly spot for us and friends. read more

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No electricity. No reception / cell coverage. No showers or sinks. There's two (possibly three) water spigots that you can get water from between the 24-some campgrounds. Each site has a numbered park bench & fire pit. Great view and hiking opportunities! Now that we've established what level or camping we're talking about, I'd give Marion a solid 4 stars & a definite return possibility. Notes mostly for us to remember but it might help when you're booking too. Campground 19&20 share parking but there's enough area to book both and set up all of the tents further into your spot. 20 has a large rock, away from most sites & a large fallen tree which is great for climbing and pictures; lol. 19 has the start of a hill and lots of large rocks. Its a great spot to hike. 22 is good, there's plenty of trees for shade. We've booked it twice and the only thing that bothers me is the exposed metal pipes which are right by the park bench; seem like a hazard waiting to happen. Could also just me griping as I'm still healing from a sprain. You share the parking with two other spots but you get the spot on the far right. I feel it gives you more boundary space for the kids to run around. Spigot near 3 is the most ideal as the other one near 22 is in the middle of 3 sites. Be sure to bring a bucket or container to hold water so you don't have to stumble through someone's campsite once it gets dark! 6 has a nice grouping of rocks to climb & a great view of the mountains. Its close to both a water spigot as well as the large stalls which I dubbed the nice port-a-potties. Its twice as large as the ones up the road from 22 & large enough you don't feel claustrophobic. It also barely smells; I have to call it out because the large one is top notch! That being said, we were walking and a down wind was strong of poo poos. Just know which direction your campsite is. :o All in all great if you remember your necessities and aren't afraid of a little dirt for a weekend+ getaway. read more

Marion Mountain Campground - Pinecone craft potential galore; lol - Campgrounds Near Me - Idyllwild-Pine Cove, California

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1. LOCATION is great. Highest elevation drive up campground on San Jacinto. In mixed forest of pine and oak. Easy access to Marion Mountain Trail which connects to the PCT as well as other local trails. 2. BATHROOMS are pit toilets. No biggie but they are FILTHY and there were mice turds, spiders and flies and ants everywhere. For an example of how a pit toilet can be go to the Stone Creek campground down the hill. They're immaculate. Or Palomar Mountain. Also very clean. Honestly I'd rather have no bathrooms and have to use a our luggable loo then deal with the lack of sanitary facilities. 3. RANGERS were very nice. I met the supervisor and we talked shop. Especially about the bear warnings. We had two groups in separate sites and they accommodated us moving locations to be next to each other without issue. 4. BUGS WERE OUT OF CONTROL. This is info only as you can't blame the campground per se but we were there 7/9 to 7/12 and all day was a barrage of bugs. First mosquitos then flies then back to mosquitos. So bad the last day I had 30 flies around me constantly while packing up. 5. WATER is only on Fri Sat Sun. If you're there other today's you have to go down to Fern Basin about 1/2 mile down the road or catch the ranger if he happens to be doing a water quality sample collection like I did :). We probably won't go back here unless the bathrooms are kept clean. There just isn't enough of a reason for us to choose it over the Stone Creek campground which is only a little lower and is 100x cleaner and tidier although slightly less space per sight and without some of the views. read more

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One of the most amazing features of camping on Marion camp grounds are the sunsets. Some sites you must rsvp way before the season opens. The trails are expectacular with lush green endless views. No showers so you need to bring your own wash. The bathrooms have NO LIGHTS so at night bring a light, candles or a lamp otherwise it's black. The trails are steep and semi Shady but the trails are soft on the feet yet the air is in my humble opinion extremely thin. The views are all worth it. From the entire Idyllwild, San Jacinto mountain, Marion is my favorite to explore. read more

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I did not stay at the campground. This review is mainly on the hike Marion Mountain Trail to San Jacinto Peak. We did go into the campgrounds though. The camp sites looked nice and they have 2 restrooms, no showers though. Marion Mountain Trail to San Jacinto Peak hiked Sunday November 2, 2014 Parking: there is a dirt parking lot right across from the trail head. I drive a Mazda 6, so I was having some difficulty getting in and out of the lot. The ground is really uneven, I couldn't drive out the same way I drove in. My back tires were spinning out, so I had to go through another spot to get back to the pavement. The campground is only a quarter of a mile away and we used the restrooms before we hit the trail. Trail Head: There is a good sign stating the start of Marion Mountain Trail. You can also access this trail at the campgrounds because you have to swing that way to stay on the trail. We went up the trail head next to the dirt lot and came back down through the campground and took the paved road back to the car. The Trail: As stated before the trail first veers left towards the campground, you can spot a water tank thing to the left, you keep going up from there. As you keep going up, you pass a few things, a meadow of low plants, I'm not too sure what kind of plants they were but because it's fall they were a pretty yellow. Then you come across giant boulders on the left in which you get a clearing to see all the trees and the valley. Gorgeous views. The 1st trail Marion crisscrosses with is Seven Pines, just keep going straight. Next sign you will pass is the PCT aka Fuller Ridge Trail, go pass that as well. Next thing you will come upon is the Little Round Valley Campsite. They actually have a port-a-potty here. Definitely no toilet paper, but a cool area to look around. At Little Round Valley, a man told us it took him about an hour to get to the peak from there. We estimated it took us 1 hour and 40 min, we were slow hikers, especially with the snow and trail conditions. It says it's 1.3 miles to the peak from there. Next trail sign you cross is the 0.3 mile sign to the Peak. You know you're pretty much to the peak once you see the little house. If you have time take a look inside the house, it's pretty cool with 4 bunk beds, and extra food and water available for anyone to take left my previous hikers who brought too much supplies. From the house, you scale boulders and rocks to the peak, there's not a real direct trail or marked trail for that matter from the house. It took us 8 hours to reach the summit. Because we did this hike daylight savings weekend, and with the shorter days, we hiked the last 3 hours in the dark with head lamps. I would recommend doing this hike during the summer when days are longer. The views were definitely amazing though day after a storm with snow covered trails. Do your research before hitting the trails and be prepared! Everywhere online it says this trail is 12 miles round trip, we were at the peak the trail was 18 miles. I'm not too sure which is correct, it took us 13 hours to complete with lots of breaks in between. Loved this hike! It was absolutely beautiful! read more

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Just recently stayed here and had a great time. It was extreme fire danger so fires were not allowed. That definitely put a damper on things as it was pretty chilly at night with no fire to huddle around. But we understand safety comes first and glad to see the park is taking precautions. With that aside the campground was beautiful. Sights are little sloppy and can be tough to find a nice level spot. It's a smaller campground so was not to busy or loud. Some sites the camp sites are set away from the campsite parking spot so could be little of a walk to actual campsite but nothing to really complain about. Sites 6-8 had great views and are perfect for people who like to get multiple sites with friends. Some great hiking trails just a short walk from the campground. Not as many boulders to climb as other campgrounds nearby such as boulder basin. Overall very nice campground with great hiking opportunities and beautiful sunset views. read more

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My girlfriend and I camped at Marion Mountain for a weekend 11/7-11/9/2014. We had never camped in the area before and were a little unsure if it would be too dry or cold because of the altitude (6,000ft). Fortunately this campground turned out to be awesome! We made a reservation online for site 17 but when we arrived there was a big group next to us so we took site 16, which is a walk in only site. Site 16 was terrific since it is up on a hill and away from all of the other campsites. Highly recommend trying to get this spot when you arrive. Definitely recommend doing the Marion Mountain trail (or part of it). We hiked about 2 miles of it, which was extremely strenuous, but got to a gorgeous lookout point to have lunch at. Marion Mountain Campground will certainly be our go-to spot within a few hours drive of L.A. read more

This review is for parking only for the hike to San Jacinto Peak. This is a secluded campground located in a nice, wooded setting. There are restrooms and running water available. The parking areas are small. Especially disturbing are the large ruts and holes in the ground that make it quite difficult to traverse without harming the undersurface of the car. Even going extremely slow over them, either the front or the bottom of the car had a tendency to scrape. The hike itself was great, but be very careful driving over all of the irregularities in the road. tip - adventure pass required read more

Great campground! Beautiful views! Each site had its own special touch... big boulders and big trees and great shade! The mice/rat droppings near bathroom mentioned in previous post were actually bat droppings... they all cluster each night in a corner in bathroom building... unless ranger came and cleaned every day there is no way to stop( definitely not enough funding) but we need the bats! They help keep the bugs down which were kinda bad... Stayed for 2 nights... would definitely go back! Beautiful sunsets!! read more

This was our first time camping in the area and Marion Mountain was a great fit. We camped this past weekend (Oct.) so it wasn't too packed. The camp sites are pretty far apart, we were at #24 and had tons of room. The place where we put our tent up was down a little ways from the parking spot and made it seem more private. There is a hiking trail there also that you can hike, we just walked up maybe 10 minutes or so and saw a beautiful sunset. The bathrooms were clean and its pet friendly. read more

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We camped here for Father's Day weekend. We had site 2 which is in the side of the hill above the road entering the site. It was challenging finding a fairly level site to fit our tent (3 room). We ended up having to set up tent right next to the picnic table at a slight slope. Site 3 had several flat spaces and the guys next to us had at least 7 little tents set up with no problem. Sites 8 and 9 looked like the truly best sites for the campground. I liked our site though, despite the road. We did have to hike up and down the hill to bring our stuff to the flat area. And the road isn't busy (just camp ground traffic) so we felt pretty secluded. View was amazing. Bathrooms.... ummm.... definitely primitive site. Vault toilets, lots of flies and dark (bring your flashlight!) Great campsite, I would come back and reserve site 8 as top choice. read more

Beautiful campground with amazing views in a full on forest. A great place to get some relaxing in at.

Really enjoyed this campground! The distance to "Downtown Idyllwild" was only about 7ish miles. The campsite it's self was way more spread out than a lot of campgrounds i've been too. I hate it when you're stacked on top of the next campsite but this one gave us our privacy. Walking distance to many trail heads. We were in #16 which was far back from the parking spot more into the wooded area. It was kind of close to the bathrooms but still hidden I loved it. Ps you need BUG SPRAY! or citronella or both! read more

Nice place to go camping... The only problem is it's really packed on some weekends. I think the whole idea of camping us to get away from it all but here it seems like I'm getting away to a small town. Also there are people who play their music pound without the consideration of others or thinking that people may be trying to get away from that. Over this place in general is scenic and decent. read more

We prefer backpacking but we are on a road trip this time. We stayed here for one night on a Wednesday. The entire campground was populated by 3 other groups. We didn't even bother making reservations since it is still only mid June and mid week. It was so quiet here. We stayed in campsite 6 which overlooks the valley and saw the sunset. Beautiful views from the first 8 or so campgrounds. The drive up was much better than what the previous reviewer said. I was expecting something much worse. The road up is completely paved. There is running water here but only vault toilets. My only complaint is that our neighbours from campground 7 arrived after dark. instead of sleeping they decided to tell boogie man stories past 1030pm at night. Loud enough so we couldn't sleep. I asked them to quiet down a bit which they did immediately. Nice people. read more

The campsite is situated among pine trees and large granite rocks. The campsites are spread out nicely to provide privacy. I would recommend staying at any of the campsites on the outside loop. They all seemed to have different, unique features with nice views. The sites in the middle were just normal level campsites next to each other. Some of those "interior loop" sites were either next to the water spigot or bathroom. We stayed in campsite #19. We found a level spot to pitch our tent away from the table and fire pit (no fires were allowed at the time of our visit). It was more open and not as shaded as others. The site had several tree stumps that acted like foot rests. We moved our chairs often to either find shade when warm or sun when cold. We walked around the sites and thought site #20 and #8 to be especially good. read more

The campsites are big and beautiful. A fire pit and picnic table are provided per campsite. We stayed on sites 6 & 7. I noticed the first 8 campsites are slopy, but provide a beautiful view of the valley and sunset. During rainy season, these campsites can get dangerous because they are on the edge of the hill side. However, these campgrounds are great during the Summer because the sites are shaded by many surrounding trees, along with a beautiful view. If u camp during the Summer, I recommend u bring a hose along with swim suits to rinse yourself off sweats after a good long hike, hence, there is no shower. The toilets could have been a bit more clean. read more

This is a review of the facilities at the National Forest Service Campground . We will likely not return and go to the state campground down the way and have access to the same trails . This is due to 1) Bathroom facilities were filthy . Mouse droppings were collected outside in the walkway and area was not tended to . For those of you who don't know , this is a health hazard . The actual toilet facilities were vault toilets which we are used to camping . However , the area in the actual toilet room was filthy , splattered with feces , an urine was on the floor. We were there for 3 nights and it was never tended to . However , the State Park just down the hill (we have a day use pass ) was pristine ! As it should be . Hand sanitizer even .. Kudos to Cal State ! 2)Ok the other thing was they turned of the water during the week at the Marion camping site . People it was high 80's at altitude . This is a "normal"practice . So, we had to drive down to Fern basin to collect water daily for cooking . Why are we paying to camp? I can yellow post camp if I want nothing . Not impressed at all . The site is great . But, you have to tend to it . Ridiculous. The mountain is wonderful but that is not what I am reviewing here . If you bring your own toilet and your own water during the week (water turned on during the weekend I would give this a 4). The sites are nice ! We had 15. Loved it . For summer I recommend that side for shade. Winter skip 1,2 as they are right on the road - the rest are great . read more

This is an awesome place to stay. Its way up the mountain and there is nothing but nature around you. There are also trails that start here, so you can wake up early and do a small hike. If you want a great hike, do the Deer Valley Trail (7 miles). It has a great view and is only a few miles away from this camp site. If you want to have your own area not close to other people, get a camp area on the outside. read more

Lovely boulders! Tall pines! Sensational views (from particular sites)! We will be returning to these grounds as long as we can reserve sites: 8,9,10,20,24. The sites weren't as private as I expected after reading reviews, but it was definitely not parking lot camping. A perfect place to start your hike up to San Jacinto peak. My one BIG grip was NO water available. I had called the ranger station before we left to ask if fires were permitted--that would have been a good time to inform us to bring water, but nothing. I did receive an email notifying us of the water situation, but it was sent the day of our return. So, bring water if you venture forth this summer. read more

Great camp site. I was a little nervous when we get there that we wouldnt be able to find a place to put our tent but my hubby did and it was wonderful. Beautiful sunsets and views, quiet and very peaceful! The toilets could have been a little cleaner and they ran out of toilet paper but we brought our own so it was fine. Great place to camp. read more