TheCampingGuy.com Blog | Camping Tips

The deadly fires that quickly engulfed much of California in the month of October caused dozens of parks to close, many of which are state parks. Now, however, with the fires contained and the healing of California begun, most of those parks have finally opened again, making camping season possible, even after the tragedy of those fires.

Among the three parks that have remain closed are San Pasqual Battlefield State Park, in which the entire park burned and Palomar Mountain State Park, with over 65% of it’s land burned. Mount San Jacinto State Park, which remains closed, was not affected by the fires but stays closed due to the incredibly high risk of fire, from drought.

Happily, I have a list for you of the recent reopened parks in California. Stay safe and enjoy your returning camping trips to the California Parks.

Orange County
Doheny State Beach
Crystal Cove State Park
San Clemente State Beach

San Diego County
Cuyamaca Rancho State Park
San Elijo State Beach
San Mateo State Beach
San Onofre Campground
Silver Strand State Beach
South Carlsbad State Beach

Riverside County
Lake Perris SRA

San Bernardino County
Chino Hills State Park
Wildwood Canyon Park

Go Camping!! And be safe!

If you liked this article, subscribe to TheCampingGuy Blog and I’ll send you more!

Taken from a woman’s point of view, my friend April, who camps a lot wrote this piece for you. Enjoy!

Women may be domestic goddesses and they are just as capable of roughing it in the wilderness as men, but who says they want to? There is absolutely no shame in the need for a clean, quiet retreat in the outdoors where there is a choice—fishing or a fish restaurant. Which is why I bring you information on the cleanest, most convenient camping in America.

The most obvious place to visit is Big Bear, California. In Big Bear, The Honey Bear Lodge has an excellent reputation for convenience offering in-room spas, kitchenettes, and every level of cabin comfort at reasonable prices. There are basic rooms, rooms for couples, individual cabins for families and parties and even cabin homes! Honey Bear Lodge is also less than a half mile away from the eclectic shopping that Big Bear is known for and less than 5 miles away from Baldwin Lake Stables where you can take guided tours on horse back.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s that time of year when the air is crisp, the sky is clear and s’mores have a warm and inviting appeal. It’s also, however, considered the most stressful time of year. Now more than ever, it’s crucial to get away before the holidays start and there’s no better way to unwind than to enjoy mother nature’s vacation. But before you pack your snowsuit and camp gear, take a look at what The Camping Guy suggests when deciding on a campsite vacation.

There are two types of winter camping to choose from. 1) Snow Camping which is for those who love winter sports in plains and mountainous areas or 2) Desert Camping which is for campers who prefer a more dry setting for sight seeing and water activities. This year, The Camping Guy would like to give you some vacationing suggestions for each type of camping trip based on excellence in reputation and available outdoor activities.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Scouts and I just got back from Anza Borrego. We do this annually, in the spring when the wild flowers are in bloom. Sometimes we catch them in bloom and other times we miss them. This year we were lucky and made it in time!

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is California’s largest state park with 600,000 acres of very diverse terrain. You can hike, camp in developed campsites or primitive “backcountry” campsites or even horseback ride on their many trails. We love it for the hike to the Oasis and the Slot Canyon hike. More on that later. Here’s a picture of the sun setting on the hills, from our campsite.

The facilities in this campground are excellent. They have clean, new toilet facilities, with showers, sinks for cleaning your cookware and lots of campsites. But, you must book ahead, because it is a popular spot! Best time to tent camp is spring and fall. It was unseasonable hot when we went it got up to 100°F by noon on Saturday. So, we were pounding down lots of water to stay hydrated. We did the slot canyon hike in the morning and waited until almost 4 in the afternoon to do the Oasis hike.

When you’re there, you need to check out the Visitors Center! This is where you can get information on Ranger-led nature walks, guided hikes, Junior Ranger programs, etc. They have the remains of some prehistoric fossils, a large sea turtle and a Mammoth. I can’t image this whole area being underwater!

This Visitors Center is built into the side of dirt hill to keep it cool! There is also a nature hike that starts here and goes out into the desert showing all the plants that inhabit the area.

Here’s a picture of the prehistoric turtle shell they dug up in the desert!

Lastly, I had to show you this! This long tusk, over 6ft. long.

Here’s the link to the CA State Park site with more information on this wonderful park, maps and how to make reservations. Anza-Borrego

Put it on your “Top 10″ list of campsites to visit. Slot Canyon and Oasis Hike in next post.

Hi there! A number of you asked for reports on campgrounds that I have visited so I thought I would start to do this and will add more over time. If you have any favorite campgrounds or not so favorite, tell the rest of us by commenting on the Blog.

This weekend we went to San Mateo Park, in south Orange County. This park is inland from the world famous Tressels beach! This is a favorite local beach for surfers and hosts a number of professional surfing events throughout the year. But, back to the campground…which is about 1.5 miles from the beach, directly inland. There’s 160 campsites with toilets, showers, fire pits and flat easy ground for camping. We went with the Boy Scouts to do some skills training and check out our new tents before Camporee. We were in campsites 134-137 (see the map for details). The campsites are a bit dense packed, but our neighbors were friendly and not noisy. I discovered while walking around the campground that the bigger sites are at the end of the campground in the 150-155 area. So, if you are looking for more room, try to reserve those campsites.

Souts had a great time as you can see from the marshmallow-roasting picture. For campground map and information on reservations follow the More link.

Read the rest of this entry »