The campground is beautiful and immaculately kept. It is in the shadow of the Lagunas and the views are spectacular. The bathrooms were perfect, they even had personal hygiene products! The showers were delightfully warm and clean. The campground hosts were so amazing! I cannot wait to go back in March read more

I was camping at Agua Caliente County Park and that place has 0 cell phone reception. Unfortunately, I had to attend a meeting via Teams. So I drove 5 miles to Vallecito County Park and they have a free "lot" where you can park and get cell phone reception. With T-Mobile I had full bars and 5 UC. Didn't have to pay to actually go inside the park. Got my meeting done and was able to go back to my campsite. Just a tip if you need cell service. read more

The best part of the Vallecito park is that you can get cell-with-internet access in this area. This is important if you need to set your fantasy football lineup while camping! These are primitive campsites, a far cry from Agua Caliente down the road where it's not uncommon to see a 90k Porche parked in a campsite. Here, it's basically openings in the sand between the shrubs and trees. Perfect for those people that don't want to be around large groups of campers. - Day use is $3, but you can park off the road for the internet. - There's a historical site located here with an old stage coach house. House isn't open during the pandemic. - There are also horse campsites here too.. - Old metal kids swing set, but they do get hot. read more

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We've been coming out here annually over Presidents Day weekend for about five years now. We used to go to Agua Caliente but it got too loud and crowded for us. The first time we drove through here to take a look, we weren't impressed but we quickly changed our minds. It's peaceful, beautiful and quiet. The views of the surrounding mountains are breathtaking. Rabbits, lizards and birds are all around and if you're lucky, you might spy a bighorn sheep or a rosy boa while you're out on a hike. The coyotes woke us up with their yipping and calling to each other. There are several hikes you can go on from the campground. One is a short loop across the street and two start from the horse corrals. We did the hike to Baileys cabin on our trip and the history of the place was amazing. What is even more interesting is the rebuilt adobe that is standing on the site of the Butterfield stage coach stop and the nearby graveyard. All this history is so interesting, I love it. There is drinkable water and clean flushing toilets snd a shower. Bring firewood and sunscreen and a sense of adventure. Enjoy! read more

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I love this place. It has a great view of the desert and mountains and the sunsets are amazing. We will definitely be back read more

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Our group of 30 loved this camp. Many of us explored nearby Petroglyphs as suggested by the Camp Host Dianelle (sp?). It was quiet and peaceful each night even though it was their busiest time, of year. Beautiful spring scenery, views of the Lagunas, Garnet Mountain and we were treated to a refreshing rain, while light snow dusted the peaks the next day. We had a total of 4 sites, our main event area had lots of room to have a pot-luck and campfire. My campsite had 4 cars and still plenty of room for our tents. And later when our time to leave had come, and I was the last to leave, Danielle helped me jump start my battery. (I had called AAA but they never came, and I learned from D. That camp hosts are trained to help with simple rescues.) I can't imagine a nicer place to camp out in the Anza Borrego. read more

This stage station was built in 1852 at a location known as the "Great Colorado" basin. We know it today at the Anza-Borrego Desert. The Landmark is located on Highway 78 and the Great Southern Overland stage route AKA S2. The other really close intersection is San Felipe Road. The Landmark is nestled between the Anza-Borrego and Cleveland Forest. The monument was reconstructed in 1934 during the Great Depression and other things used to be there but not too many remnants are visible. This route was important back during the Reconstruction Era (post-civil War) because it was the main artery connecting San Diego to Southern Arizona and El Paso and San Antonio Texas. Remember Interstate 8 did not exist yet and there was border and sovereignty issues with Mexico that climaxed 16 years prior known as the Alamo back in 1836. History lesson aside, at this present moment, Google labels this intersection as "Scissors Crossing." There is nothing here except a bus stop and landscape however if checking out historical sites across the land is your thing you can add this to the list. Notable points of interest are: 1. Directly east is the southern portions to the Anza-Borrego Desert 2. Lake Henshaw to the north 3. Pala Casino to the Northwest Beyond Lake Henshaw 4. Cleveland National Forest to the West 5. Los Coyotes Indian Reservation to the north 6. San Diego 7. Western portion of the Salton Sea to the east Pass the Anza-Borrego 8. Directly south about 2 hours is Tecate, Mexico. Safe travels read more

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Our Girl Scout troop and I recently stayed at Vallecito County Park and had an amazing time. It's the perfect location showing an amazing landmark of Stage Coach history, experience of real rustic camping with bright stars and quiet nights, and the convinces of cellular service. BUT the BEST part of it was our Park Host (Diane/Diana) who was not only friendly, had a wealth of shared knowledge of where to hike, bonded with the kids, BUT was a huge support when my car wouldn't start to leave the park (my car loved it too and didn't want to leave) For a real tent/camping experience, this is the place! read more

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Camping for real here. Ring to make a fire and a table. I liked walking around looking at an old building cemetery there. We came at the hottest time. The Woman told us when we came. Who took care of the place. My family only stated one night out of our 2 we had booked. Flies and winds were crazy. read more

We did not have the same experience as the previous and first Yelper for this campground. Vallecito was relatively quiet and offered more privacy than Agua Caliente campground up the road. We camped at site #7, which was near the end of a little curve, so only one of our neighbors was truly close to us. Behind our site was a bit of marshland, so at night, you fall asleep to the sound of frogs and owls and wake up to peeping desert birds and cooing doves. It is also a historic site, as it also has the Vallecito Stage Coach stop on its grounds, along with a small pioneer cemetary. Is the campground haunted? My boyfriend did not even tell me the rumors about that until after we left - I would have been freaked out the entire time! But I saw nothing, no ghost riders or women in white. There is a portion of the campground that has a playground. If you don't like kids, simply don't choose sites near that area! Another bonus of this place: the RVs and tent-camping are separate, so you don't have to SEE the giant RVs or hear their engines, generators, etc. Camping isn't supposed to be like staying in a hotel - you DO have to share the space with others. Just look at the campsite map before you choose a space and you'll be just fine, watching the stars come out at night in a clear desert sky. read more

Vallecito County Park - The historic Vallecito Stage Coach stop - Parks Near Me - Julian, California

Historical park in Anza Borrego Desert. Many people say it is haunted by a ghost lady in white. In the olden days, when people used to travel through the desert on stage coaches, this was a stopping point for horses to get water and there was a inn here. A lady who was headed west to get married fell ill during her journey, and died here. They buried her in her wedding dress. Legend had it that she still haunts this spot. read more

Great quiet campground. Very clean restrooms. Showers. Don't go to nearby Agua Caliente Campgound. Unless you love crowds while camping. read more

Vallecito County Park - Campsite 38 - Parks Near Me - Julian, California

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Our first over night camping experience was awesome!! The sites are pretty secluded, yet you don't feel completely alone. The bathrooms are immaculate! The ranger whom manages the grounds does a wonderful job and you can tell she takes pride in her position. We ran across no problems which was very comforting for our premiere adventure in camping. I will be recommending this site and WILL be returning! read more

Quiet and clean deser campground. I like this place because it's quiet. No partying crowds here. It's for campers who like a mellow place that isn't full of generators, barking dogs and people staying up late. It's a great jumping off spot for exploring south end of Borrego; Blair Valley, Vallecito Wash, Mountain Palms, Canyon Sin Nombre. There are easy family/horse/bike-friendly trails from camp if you only have a motor home. Water spigots provide campsites water and bathroom and shower are simple but clean, Camp host Diane is professional, and keeps everything clean, orderly, and safe. She is a knowledgeable, caring host and the reason we prefer Vallecito over boondocking or other campgrounds. Can't wait to get back out to camp as soon as the park opens back up. read more

This is a nice campground. The reason I give it 4 stars as opposed to 5 stars is the lack of things to do around the campground. A few hiking trails would be awesome. There is a trail across the street from the park that is really well done, but it is probably only about a tenth of a mile loop. I would have loved to see a nature trail with a numbered guide that had information about the local plants, history, etc. Would be fun to have some ranger led programs or a group campfire area at night! There are of course things to do if you're willing to drive. Agua Caliente is only 4 miles down the road and has trails, hot spring pools, and so on. It's also near Anza Borrego State Park which has trails (some only accessed by 4x4's) and about 30 minutes from Julian where there's plenty to see/do. But once we set up our stuff, we don't really want to get in the car and drive away. So while the proximity to all this stuff is nice, it's not exactly ideal. There is a small playground for kids. 3 swings, monkey bars, and a slide. It's all made of metal, so I imagine it gets scorching hot in the desert sun. We went on Memorial Day weekend, as it was the only park pretty much anywhere that had spots left. There were some crowds, but it was very quiet! I HIGHLY recommend Site #7 if you're able to snag it! While it is smaller than some like Site #8, it is very private. You're surrounded on 3 sides by trees and have no one directly across from you. It is partially shaded. We had several walk by and tell us what a great spot we had. Plenty of flat spots for the tent and space for the car. Picnic table and fire ring of course. There are flush toilets here - yay! However, due to water shortage, they locked the bathrooms at night and we had to use port-a-potties - not yay. Flush toilets were a big reason why I chose this campground. Bummer. The Vallecito Stage Coach Station was not open when we went. There was no park official/ranger nearby to ask to open it. Memorial Day weekend and you'd think they'd have it open, but sadly no. However, it's still cool to walk around it. I didn't really like that there seemed to be very little presence by anyone in charge here. If something had happened, I'm not sure who we would have alerted. I never saw a park ranger once. There is no place to check in at, you just pull up to your site and hope no one else took it! The star gazing was nice here. It's a very peaceful place. Just not much to do around! read more

Went back again in November with my gf, we were on tent spot #4, there was 1 other rv site at the far end and the rest of the campground was empty until the coyotes came through at 2-3am and about 15 yards from the tent.... During this time the water was not for drinking, but the park rangers brought us a couple gallons of store bought water. The hot showers are a huge plus!! I plan to go back again soon!! read more

This is a fairly quiet campground because the popular site is agua caliente down the road. It has good hiking/walking trails, clean bathroom facilities, and friendly staff. I heard that there are caves to explore not too far away but did not check them out so can't speak on that. I would recommend this place for families or people who enjoy a quieter spot when they go camping. read more

This is a fabulous, quiet place to camp. Diana, the volunteer camp host/manager , was terrific. She was very friendly and knowledgeable about the area. She looks after the park like it is her own,. The whole place was extremely clean and well taken care of. The only downside (and the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars), and it cannot be blamed on anyone or anything other than nature, is that during a short seasonal window in late fall (which is of course, when we were there) flies can be a tad overwhelming during the heat of the day. Highly recommended and we will be back. read more

This is a great spot for family camping. We had a lot of fun. Not to many people there and very quiet. It was a nice change from some of the busier campgrounds. Pretty far from where we live, but worth the trip! read more

Place was empty and quiet. My 2 little kids had the run of the place. We enjoyed running around once the sun went down with glow sticks. Made the mistake in staying here first, before staying 2 days in Agua Calliente. Pulling up to Agua I was thinking to my self "WTF is this, eh this doesn't look that fun". Agua did turn out to be fun, although I enjoyed the quiet of Vallecito better. Already booked Vallecito again, this time will just visit Agua Calliente, use the pool and come back to the calm in Vallecito. One plus on Vallecito, I get 20 Mbps on my hotspot, so I can watch Directv Now! read more

While looking for another place to camp in the San Diego desert without going to Borrego Springs or back to Agua Caliente, I stumbled across this site on the SD County website. Located about 100 miles from San Diego, this campground is nestled between the Laguna mountains and the mountains just west of Borrego Springs, it is in a nice desert area that is near some great hikes and tends to be far less crowded than you would get in Borrego or Agua Caliente. That being said, next time, I think I'll either drive the extra five miles and stay in Agua Caliente, or stay near Barnes Canyon about 12 miles further west. It's not that the campsite was dirty or run down, far from it. The sites were very tidy and there is actual hot running water in the bathroom. I even had full cell reception (much to the chagrin of my fiancee). The biggest reason I'll never stay here again is that the sites are SMALL. We were right on top of other campers, with basically no shelter between spaces. To make matters worse, this place is VERY kid friendly. I don't have anything against kids, but if you want peace and quiet, you will not get it here. We dealt with screaming until 9 PM and it started right up again at 6 AM. So if you've got kids and want to explore.some beautiful and relatively unknown parts of the San Diego desert, this is the place for you. If you want peace and quiet, go somewhere else because you won't find it here. read more

This little place was a very nice surprise. We booked here on really short notice as the popular camping spots were full, this was the best place ever! Very clean, very well kept. The camp hosts were super friendly. This is a very quiet place, we camped on the rv side and it was very private. It's mostly for adults, there is really not much for kids to do but it was just me and my hubby so it was just perfect. The Vallecito stage station from 1800 something is there, open to see, there's also a tiny historical cemetery on the grounds, very cute. There are hot showers, bathrooms are kept really clean. Cell phone/internet reception. I was so glad we ended up here, can't wait to come back. read more

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A mostly nice campground with a few exceptions: Recently the county or park switched from no generators to allowing generators from 8AM to 10PM. Now instead of hearing the quiet of the desert, you get to hear your neighbor's generator so they can watch their big screen TV. I camp with an RV, but I (like other RVers) use solar, but there's always some holdouts to generators. While we were there the night was chilly. I went to take a shower, and after pumping $2 into the machine, nothing but cold water ever came out. I later learned that others found this out also after using all their quarters. You'd think a sign or something on the door stating that the shower didn't work would be there, but nothing. Otherwise, there are some nice hiking trails around. Lots of water spigots throughout the park. Interesting historical sites within the park. A bit pricy for what you get (or don't get). read more

This is a decent campground. The best part about this place is that it stays pretty empty. There is one trail on the north side that I explored a little. There's not much else here but it's a great starting point to explore Anza-Borrego. It's a short drive from The Mud Caves (Arroyo Tapiado), Oriflamme Canyon, Box Canyon, Carrizo Badlands...You could also pay to park and swim at Agua Caliente. You can check in at noon. Quiet hours start at 10pm and fires must be out by 11pm. Pretty standard for county parks. read more

This place is horrible. We went camping to get away from people and the city but the camp sites are tiny and right on top of each other. We are also night owls so "quiet hours" that start at 10 and fire out at 11 doesn't work for us. We weren't partying or anything but since we were right on top of another group, our talking disturbed them at night. But apparently children screaming and yelling at 6 am is ok. No hard alcohol which was annoying as we planned on making bloody marys. The place is clean and has bathrooms and showers. The rangers are also very helpful and friendly. Dogs have to be leashed at all times. There's a small store for essentials down the road. Little to no shade in most sites. Overall too many rules and not enough space to give you the "getting away" feel. read more

Shhhh! Don't tell anyone but this place is a gem. Clean, quiet, and best of all, not crowded. Few kids, thank goodness, which helps immensely in regards to the serene atmosphere. I completely disagree with the previous reviewer. If you want cell service there is a clearly marked spot outside the park for it and it is CLEARLY marked that entrance to the park requires a fee, which is perfectly fine and helps to support the park system and shouldn't be a means of contention for anyone. Unless that person wants everything for free without giving anything back. This is the place to go if you want desert beauty and stillness, not if you have a pack of kids and want to keep them entertained as there is very little for small kids to do there. read more

Hot water, not much RVs, helpful host and ranger, cellphone reception and nice hiking trails around make this place great for tent camping. On one section there is also a little play ground for the ones who want to bring their kids out. read more

I was always hesitant to camp here because it was always empty each time I drove though it, but glad I finally gave it a chance because I was pleasantly surprised. Our group were pretty much the only ones there except for one or two other campers, so it was very quiet. Very clean and taken care of by camp host Denny, and he even opened up the adobe for us to tour which was a nice surprise! Nice easy hiking trail to an old cabin that Denny told us about, so glad we did it! I would definitely camp here again, probably the most quiet county park I have stayed in. I give this 5 stars based on it being a county park, yes other campsites may be larger etc, but you should know what to expect for a county park, and this one was very nice. Lots of side trip options too. I would never stay in Agua Caliente, crazy busy and too loud, so this is a very nice option if you want quiet. Sites are small but that is standard for any county park, so it's what you should expect. The water wasn't running for us due to a problem with the chlorine, but the host was very apologetic about that and the ranger offered to give us water. It was no problem for us, these things can happen so we understood. I will definitely be back! read more