March 28th-29th: Anza Borrego Desert State Park
Best time to visit this park is during the Spring time when the desert
blooms with wild flowers. We visited the north end of the park and stayed at the Borrego Palm Canyon Campground. The Borrego Palm Canyon is actually an Oasis that is feb by a waterfall, which can only be accessed by a moderate hike.
Being surrounded by mountains on all sides, it got darker an hour earlier than the actual sunset time. It's very much a desert and extreme temperatures are very much prevailent here. Though the only trees are the California Fan Palms, the camp-sites have covered picnic benches. The museum at the visitor center is very informative on the desert eco-system.
Campground: Well-maintianed
Activities: Check out wild flowers, desert hiking, enjoy the stars!
Click here for Anza-Borrego pictures
April 18th-19th: El-Capitan State Beach
El-Capitan State Beach is located about 20 miles north of Santa B
arbara. Though located off the beach, there is no view of the beach from the campground. The campsites are big, spread out and have a lot of shade from the Oaks. The beach is not really the best for ease of access for water/ beach activites. Also, since it was still Spring, and due to the proximitity to the coast, the night was very cold.
Campground: Well-maintained (there was hot water in the restrooms!)
Activities: Walk by the beach
May 16-18: Yosemite National Park
We wanted to beat the crowds and get the best weather and hence made the trip the weekend before the Memorial day long weekend. We stayed at the House-keeping camp as always. This time though, we did a 7 mile round trip hike on the Half Dome Trail that took us 8 hours. We
started at the Half Dome trailhead and went all the way till the ranger station at Little Yosemite Valley. On the way up, we took the Mist trail, going up the steep and slippery steps carved out of the granite of the Vernal falls and the never-ending switchbacks of the Nevada falls. On the way back, we took the not-so-steep-but-taking-forever John Muir Trail. I think the best part of the trip was relaxing in front of the campfire, after the refreshing hot shower in the evening.
Campground: 5-star camping with hot-shower, private enclosed patio to the housing units and electric outlets
Activites: Walking, hiking, star-gazing, spending time with nature
June 6th-7th: San Elijo State Beach Camping
Located at an hour's drive from our home, the campground was located on a bluff overlooking the Pacific, with direct beach access. The campsites were very small and kind of one on top of the other with very little shade. But being a few steps from the beach and excellent summer weather, we had a very enjoyable time.
Campground: Not all campsites are overlooking the ocean, so look at the map when you choose. Also, the restrooms were not impeccable, but with the amount of people and the fact that it was on the beach, they were managable. The train tracks are pretty close to the campground, so you will hear the trains going all the way till mid-night and start again at 6:30 in the morning.
Activities: Beach fun!
Aug 8th-9th: Lake Casitas Camping
Lake Casitas is in Ventura County and apart from the lake, has a lot of avtivities to offer. There are a lot of campgrounds as well as day-use picnicking areas available. We camped at Camground C
which is not too far from the entrance of the park and also close to the water-adventure park. Though the map shows Campground C to be close to the "Lake", don't count on seeing any water since the edge of lake shrinks to almost Campground A. The tickets to the water-adventure get sold out pretty soon, especially in the summer, so plan on buying your tickets in advance from the office BEFORE you go. The other option is to wait till 4:30 PM (Park is open from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM) and risk the uncertainity of making the extra tickets they may or may not sell.
Campground: Our campsite had a lot of shade, but was located very close to the road. The campground did not have showers and restrooms were very dirty. Fortuately they open up the restrooms attached to the Water-adventure park after 7:00 PM and they have good restroom and shower facilities. Since the water-park was a 10 minute walk from our campsite, we didn't have too much of trouble.
Activities: Water-adventure park (especially liked by the kids), boating, fishing, bicycling. This lake does not allow swimming since the lake is actually a reservoir for drinking water for Ventura County
September 12th-13th: Oak-glen/ Beaumont
We visited the Riley Apple Orchard in Oak Glen. They have fruit picking which included apples,
pears, strawberries, rassberries, corn and pumpkins. They also had a re-creation of the Civil-war era going on this weekend, so we got a glimpse into what life was like during that time.
We stayed at the Bogart Park campground and were the only ones at the campground! It was like a private camping experience except for the bear that visited our camp-site and emptied our trash (saw the paw-prints in the morning) and the lost animal that kept calling out (don't know if it was a deer or heyna - hadn't heard either before and none of us wanted to venture and find out at 4 AM!!)
Campground: Not the best that we have been to. No showers in the restrooms.
Activities: Trails mostly used by horse-back riders from the area
Best time to visit this park is during the Spring time when the desert
blooms with wild flowers. We visited the north end of the park and stayed at the Borrego Palm Canyon Campground. The Borrego Palm Canyon is actually an Oasis that is feb by a waterfall, which can only be accessed by a moderate hike.Being surrounded by mountains on all sides, it got darker an hour earlier than the actual sunset time. It's very much a desert and extreme temperatures are very much prevailent here. Though the only trees are the California Fan Palms, the camp-sites have covered picnic benches. The museum at the visitor center is very informative on the desert eco-system.
Campground: Well-maintianed
Activities: Check out wild flowers, desert hiking, enjoy the stars!
Click here for Anza-Borrego pictures
April 18th-19th: El-Capitan State Beach
El-Capitan State Beach is located about 20 miles north of Santa B
arbara. Though located off the beach, there is no view of the beach from the campground. The campsites are big, spread out and have a lot of shade from the Oaks. The beach is not really the best for ease of access for water/ beach activites. Also, since it was still Spring, and due to the proximitity to the coast, the night was very cold.Campground: Well-maintained (there was hot water in the restrooms!)
Activities: Walk by the beach
May 16-18: Yosemite National Park
We wanted to beat the crowds and get the best weather and hence made the trip the weekend before the Memorial day long weekend. We stayed at the House-keeping camp as always. This time though, we did a 7 mile round trip hike on the Half Dome Trail that took us 8 hours. We
started at the Half Dome trailhead and went all the way till the ranger station at Little Yosemite Valley. On the way up, we took the Mist trail, going up the steep and slippery steps carved out of the granite of the Vernal falls and the never-ending switchbacks of the Nevada falls. On the way back, we took the not-so-steep-but-taking-forever John Muir Trail. I think the best part of the trip was relaxing in front of the campfire, after the refreshing hot shower in the evening.Campground: 5-star camping with hot-shower, private enclosed patio to the housing units and electric outlets
Activites: Walking, hiking, star-gazing, spending time with nature
June 6th-7th: San Elijo State Beach Camping
Located at an hour's drive from our home, the campground was located on a bluff overlooking the Pacific, with direct beach access. The campsites were very small and kind of one on top of the other with very little shade. But being a few steps from the beach and excellent summer weather, we had a very enjoyable time.
Campground: Not all campsites are overlooking the ocean, so look at the map when you choose. Also, the restrooms were not impeccable, but with the amount of people and the fact that it was on the beach, they were managable. The train tracks are pretty close to the campground, so you will hear the trains going all the way till mid-night and start again at 6:30 in the morning.
Activities: Beach fun!
Aug 8th-9th: Lake Casitas Camping
Lake Casitas is in Ventura County and apart from the lake, has a lot of avtivities to offer. There are a lot of campgrounds as well as day-use picnicking areas available. We camped at Camground C
which is not too far from the entrance of the park and also close to the water-adventure park. Though the map shows Campground C to be close to the "Lake", don't count on seeing any water since the edge of lake shrinks to almost Campground A. The tickets to the water-adventure get sold out pretty soon, especially in the summer, so plan on buying your tickets in advance from the office BEFORE you go. The other option is to wait till 4:30 PM (Park is open from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM) and risk the uncertainity of making the extra tickets they may or may not sell.Campground: Our campsite had a lot of shade, but was located very close to the road. The campground did not have showers and restrooms were very dirty. Fortuately they open up the restrooms attached to the Water-adventure park after 7:00 PM and they have good restroom and shower facilities. Since the water-park was a 10 minute walk from our campsite, we didn't have too much of trouble.
Activities: Water-adventure park (especially liked by the kids), boating, fishing, bicycling. This lake does not allow swimming since the lake is actually a reservoir for drinking water for Ventura County
September 12th-13th: Oak-glen/ Beaumont
We visited the Riley Apple Orchard in Oak Glen. They have fruit picking which included apples,
pears, strawberries, rassberries, corn and pumpkins. They also had a re-creation of the Civil-war era going on this weekend, so we got a glimpse into what life was like during that time.We stayed at the Bogart Park campground and were the only ones at the campground! It was like a private camping experience except for the bear that visited our camp-site and emptied our trash (saw the paw-prints in the morning) and the lost animal that kept calling out (don't know if it was a deer or heyna - hadn't heard either before and none of us wanted to venture and find out at 4 AM!!)
Campground: Not the best that we have been to. No showers in the restrooms.
Activities: Trails mostly used by horse-back riders from the area
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