Several months ago, I got some great recommendations for hiking near Alpine, now would like some info on camping (within 30 minutes or so of Alpine). Just car camping, me and my dog, two nights during the week. Don't need showers, etc., but don't want to have to hike/pack in. Looks like Cleveland National Forest has a lot of campgrounds, but would like advice on ones that people have enjoyed. Also need reco's in addition, in the event that the government shutdown continues. Thanks.
Lake Morena is a nice campground right around 25-30 minutes from Alpine. It has showers and I believe full hookups on all sites. Maybe more than you're looking for, but it's a county park, so won't be shut down.
Given what happened last weekend, I'm about 95% certain there will be a burn ban. It's dry - very little rain all year.
If you continue East on the 8, you can get to Sunrise Highway, and then to Mount Laguna campground. It is typically pretty quiet during the week and it can be really beautiful out there. There are a couple of other sites as well, like Burnt Rancheria.
I'm actually going to be camping at Cuyamaca this weekend, this is where I usually camp and really enjoy it. There is some nice hiking there, many trail heads begin at the campgrounds. And even though there is some fire damage in the area, there are still great trails. Camping grounds are 25 minutes away from the brewery.
what derek said! thats my favorite campground, particularly the red berry loop!! its a short walk to the pacific crest trail and to some of my favorite star gazing in southern california!
Stop at Alpine and pick up your suds, and head out to Lake Cuyamaca for some fishin' and drinkin'. I don't think you're technically supposed to drink at the lake, but that's never stopped me before.
I second Paso Picacho, with a slight edge over Green Valley. It's also a short distance from Julian as well.
Thanks, everyone. At this point, I'm leaning towards Green Valley. For anyone that's interested, I just came across this site, which has great photos of every campsite at many, many campgrounds: http://www.campsitephotos.com/
