As California's largest State Park, Anza-Borrego is another spot everyone should have on their…read morebucket list. They have some great trails, camping, star gazing, and a bunch of giant statues that are fun to check out. The visitor's center was fun with a friendly staff. Don't forget to ask about the Junior Ranger Program. We saw two coyotes outside the visitor's center. We did the Palm Canyon Trail. It was an easy and short trail that was perfect for kids. We walked past 4-5 bighorn sheep. That was very cool. Keep in mind there are certain areas that can only be reached if your vehicle has AWD. The town of Borrego Springs is nice with a couple restaurants, shops, and places to stay. Looking back, it would have been nice to spend the night to stargaze. Don't forget to hiking smart: sun protection and plenty of water. Stay on the trials. Leave no trace. And have fun.

Spectacular desert views just a short drive from San Diego or Los Angeles yet it feels like you're…read moreon another continent. Try a late March trip to see the desert floor ablaze in springtime flower colors, or the "secret" Dinosaur Trail, or searching for ancient Pictographs in the Blair Valley section of Coyote Canyon. Anza Borrego never disappoints for those seeking adventure right here in Southern California!

I got a chance to camp here and it was a pretty good spot…read more Headed up in July and temps down below the camp area were about 10-12 degrees warmer, it was 85 with a nice breeze. Some of the spots are great and have nice shade trees, etc. Others are kind of sparse and definitely no protection from the sun. There are some very large spots and most of the spots are spacious. Some are for larger RVs. Some are walk in only, you park your car close but not in your spot. There is a trail (3.5 miles round trip) out to a little pond of water and it is a nice easy trail, mostly flat. There were no fires allowed right now, high fire danger, unless you had a stove that had an on/off button to control the flame. I did see some flames at night, that did look like fires that were not allowed but the staff was going around on their golf carts, so I assume they checked it out. The Staff keeps the place pretty clean. The restrooms were in good condition. Definitely some great views of the mountains and surrounding areas. The night time views are pretty good, you can see the milky way. Check out my photos for example. Location fantastic. Price is reasonable. Weather was good. Not too much to do, but Idyllwild is not too far away.

This was our first trip here from the very beginning and check in was easy just pulled up to a…read morewindow they already had our tags available. The sites are spacious and clean with a lot of shade.The restrooms were maintained ,clean, in the showers were hot. You can't have wood there because the fire danger but they offered propane exchange which is awesome. My family was having so much fun we wanted to extend our stay but the park was booked.Dave and the young lady in kiosk went above and beyond in order to find a place for us so that our family could continue making their memories. They offer a movie in the park for the kids ,Nice hiking ,mountain biking opportunities and all around great experience from beginning to end. My son had lost his cell phone while riding his bike and someone turned it into the front office, so even the other patrons there were amazing.

We had our very first trip up to Lake Hemet Labor Day weekend 2026! Let me say this .... WE HAD A…read moreGREAT EXPERIENCE!! And we will definitely be going back! And it all started at the gate as we entered the park. We were greeted and received by theeeee most kindest, most polite, professional young lady ever! That was such a blessing because we really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into :/ Sienna ..... you were an absolute delight!! And we can't thank you enough for answering our 50 thousand questions lol And yet! You did it with grace, and with so much patience. We will FOREVER be thankful to you, and I hope and pray that you will be a part of the Lake Hemet team for a very very long time! Because they definitely have a "Gem" on their team!

I rented the eagle crest premium camping cabin from Wednesday until Saturday. There's WiFi, private…read morebathroom, air conditioning, and TVs with the premium cabins. There is a portable Ac in the living room and a window ac in the bedroom. My child slept upstairs in the loft bedroom. The main issue is that you can't run both the portable and bedroom ac at the same time because it pops the breaker. The window ac is very noisy and makes a rattling sound. Don't even try to use the toaster and ac at the same time. It was 90s during the day and still very warm at night. It was an inconvenience not being able to run both AC units at night. They provided towels, toilet paper, soap and pans but no hair dryer. The groceries at the market are extremely expensive. Best to buy all your food at the stater brothers down the mountain to the campsite or go to the grocery store in Idyllwild. I rented the pontoon boat for fishing and that was my favorite part. It was so relaxing to cruise on the lake and enjoy the beautiful Mountain View. We caught a very large cat fish with the night crawlers. I recommend coming in the spring or fall to avoid the extreme heat during the day and bring all your food with you to save money. Come during the week for a more peaceful experience once Friday night hits, lots of families are arriving. Theres cafe in the market that has pretty good food but they have odd hours during the week. Idyllwild is a 15 minute drive with fun quirky shops and good restaurants to explore.

Clean park and bathroom, nice place to stop by if visiting Idyllwild. We stopped here to hang out…read moreand play before checking into an Airbnb.

Cute little community park in the mountains. Very well maintained with lots of spaces for kids to…read morehave some fun. I stumbled across this playground while driving through Idyllwild Town. We were waiting for our hotel room to be ready. In the mean time, I had brought a picnic lunch for us to enjoy under the pine trees. So peaceful and serene. My daughter loved the swings and monkey bars. The only thing I didn't like were the portable potty. Would have been nice to have real restrooms. Great park though for picnics with your little ones.

Excellent maintained trail at the trailhead, there is a rough 2 mile drive to get to the trailhead…read moreI would suggest a high clearance vehicle or four-wheel-drive. Stunning views of three different lakes and surrounding mountains and valleys from the summit. Well worth the hike approximately 7 miles out and back with a 1350 foot elevation gain

Use my directions to locate the correct dirt road to turn off on. Your GPS might lead you down the…read morewrong roads ( which happened to us). I was looking for a hike that didn't require a wilderness hiking permit and found the Cahuilla Mountain Trail. The hike is 2.5 miles each way, but it seems longer because of the heat and the elevation gain. There are several different eco-zones here from chaparral to high desert to pines. Many cool rocks along the way. Some portions of the trail are overgrown and tight. Directions - Take Hwy 371 till you reach Cary road. Go 3.7 miles, the road eventually turns into Tripp Flats road. Look for the sign on the left hand side of the road indicating the trail road ( I took a picture of it ). From the turn off to the small dirt parking lot is about 2 miles up a small winding dirt road. Don't worry, you don't need a 4x4. The trick is to look for something that looks big enough to park a few cars. What tricked me was there wasn't a trail head sign ( though another review I read said to look for it ). Apparently there was a fire and the sign is gone now. So park in this dirt lot and look to the south. You should see an entrance with a metal gate. BTW, If you pass the parking lot by accident and hit to a fork in the road you'll need to turn back, you've gone too far.. - Several rattlesnakes on the trail..

A quick turn off from the switchbacking Pines to Palms Hwy, the Cahuilla Tewanet Vista Point is a…read morewell maintained, informative experience of the life of the Cahuilla Indians. Once you've parked in their parking lot there's a paved path toward an outlook deck. There are many interactive and educational signs that teach you about the wildlife and the surrounding landscape. The views here are amazing, and it's usually less crowded than the viewpoint a few miles down the road. They also have a short nature walk here but you have to keep your eyes open for the sign, it's easily missed. - Tip If you're carsick or prone to it, this is a great place to pull over and recover. The winding roads on this highway are brutal.

We hiked near Palm Desert for a week and this was by far the best experience we had (although…read moreJoshua Tree was pretty great, too). This Vista Point had fantastic scenery and a wonderful path, not so hard to hike but full of things to see. We could not have had a better day - Palm Desert up to the Coachella Vally Vista Point, then to Cahuilla Tewanet and over the mountains on CA 74 and north on the "Pines to Palms Highway" past the Pacific Crest Trail.

The "Star" of Palomar Mountain State Park is the California Institute of Technology's Hale…read moreTelescope at the Palomar Mountain Observatory, but there is also a rare bit (for San Diego) of Alpine terrain to explore with hiking trails in the trees and meadows with pounds and lakes. The views are always spectacular, and adventure awaits for those willing to get out and explore. Plan ahead for camping, the campgrounds fill up fast on weekends when the weather is nice.

A beautiful state park and such amazing campgrounds. There are a few campground options, but during…read moremy recent visit, we stayed at the Doane Valley Campground. It was very easy to book ahead online and pay for our daily parking pass once we checked-in. The campsite itself is tucked into the forest, very high up on Palomar Mountain. We found it easy to park our one SUV at our campsite and pitch our tents. The sites do have water, tables, and food boxes. The bathrooms were kept quite nice and tidy. We were all very impressed with the simple but clean and well maintained facilities. We did do a dog friendly hike that starts in the Doane Valley Campground and it's about 4 miles round trip. We had a lovely hike with a decent amount of incline along with beautiful weather. They also have a lovely stop/view area at the beginning of the campgrounds with picnic tables. Palomar mountain is great for camping, hiking, a nice Sunday cruise up the mountain for the beauty, etc. Cell phone service is spotty up there so make sure to either download your map ahead of time or use satellite service.

Jess Martin Park is on highway 79 in Julian California. This is a really nice county park has base…read moreball fields skate park some exercise equipment. Has shade in some spots. Has bathrooms. Had wash station. BBQ gril. Perfect for picnics gathering. Birthday parties. Take a dog for a walk. Has handicap parking and accessibility. Would I recommend this county park yes highly would. I go every chance I can since I live in Julian and it's our local park. Thank you

My family and I drove up to Julian for a day trip but we knew we needed to let the kids get their…read moreenergy out and we stopped here to explore the playground. The playground equipment seemed newer and the kids loved it. What I loved was that it is completely fenced so I didn't have to be on top of my toddlers and they could explore a bit more on their own. We had a ton of fun climbing up everything and sliding down and using the swings. No one else was there for the majority of the time we were. One other family came for a short period of time and it seemed they were killing time before a photoshoot. Outside of the playground there is some picnicking areas and some sports areas as well. It seems like there can be a good use of space to do many different activities. There is a bathroom there however it is like a camping bathroom with a sink on the outside and nothing more than an outhouse on the inside. I opted to skip it and wait until we got to Julian to use a more modern bathroom. Overall, it was a great stop on the way to Julian for the kids and we will likely stop there again on future trips.

I really love this lake. We came to do an adventure hike today. We stopped at the store for our new…read moreparking pass for the year. Our walk was lovely and we encountered so many really cool things today. I took a bunch of pictures of nature. I still haven't seen a bald eagle. I was pretty sure there was a dead body in the trash dumpster but after lifting the lid it was just trash that stunk to high heavens. The dead racoon carcass was a crazy sighting! Poor baby, I wonder what ate it? We saw Cormorants, granite spiney lizards, carpenter bees, murders of crows... a whole bunch going on. There are so many things to see here on the trails, you should come check it out for yourself!

Great place and well kept, people are nice, fellow campers respectful. Beautiful location, very…read morecrowded place too, sites are close together. Dogs welcome. Well stocked RV Masters store down the hill if you have any issues. If you are bringing a trailer or RV and expect to have full hookups, please be warned. The location of the sewer hookup on many sites is at the back end of the site that is uphill from your dump outlet and no way you can actually use it even with hose supports. The water hookup is also in some cases a shared 4 bib in the adjacent camp so you will be tripping over your hose. So be prepared to dry camp so your trip isn't stressful. Meaning fill your water and drain your tanks. Electrical worked fine for us. But the outlets are 30a so if you have a 50a rig, bring your adapter. The fire rings can be moved if you need them in another place to not have smoke in your rv so that nice. There is a store and the bathrooms are real toilets not pit, cleaned and kept stocked and they have showers if you need. They have 2 RV dump stations that are free when you stay but only 1 has working water for flushing. Overall , we would camp again with the expectation of dry camping, but the prices should reflect the inability to actually have "full hookups".