hey guys its that time of the year again to go camping, im looking for a nice place not too far from socal, maybe 45-2hour drive out. Nice wilderness park, lots of green, maybe a lake, hiking, fishing, what not and most importantly.. cheap!! let me know if you guys have any favorite sites or suggestions with links tooo. thanks!

 

Woodsy:

Big Bear, Lake Skinner, hemet aka Diamond Valley, Lake Silverwood <-- a favorite of mine.

Now for coastal (not green heavy )

San Onofre, San Clemente

 

I've stayed in Angeles National Forest many times, pretty close to LA (enter above La Canada) and sites like Buckhorn are pretty nice. Lots of rivers/streams throughout, not sure about lakes.

Angeles National Forest Campgrounds

Joshua Tree is fantastic too in SoCal, and sites mentioned above in the Central Coast-North (Big Sur etc) are tough to beat.

Good luck, moved back east many years ago, but some of my best memories are in places like these.

 

North Lake and Souyh Lake just outside of Bishop Ca, Believe it is a State Park.

 

hey roland, which part in the angeles national forest did you stay? and where do i get reservations done at? this place looks perfect

 

Well actually camping is year around....
First you need to define Socal.... because from Palmdale to Lone Pine about 2 hours and half hours....

Well camping is already cheap when compare to other type of vacation.... it just the matter ifyou have the proper gears....

So little research and check out National Forest Service website US Forest Service - Caring for the land and serving people. or the National Park Service website U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your America and the California State Parks website California State Parks

Awesome place to camp and it National Forest....

About two three weeks ago...I did the whole South to North lake loop trail.... 55 miles...


For most federal campsites reservations....Also being summer and for the last two years people have been camping more and more for their summer most place are booked 5 months ahead...
Federal recreation, camping and tour reservation information - Recreation.gov

 

We've stayed at Buckhorn & Chilao and one other I can't remember closer to Kratka Ridge. I've stayed at Buckhorn the most, probably 15x. We've explored all over the forest, and it is an impressive place. Many of the campsites can't be reserved, however there were very few times (even during peak summer months/holidays) where we couldn't find a site, but that was many years ago.

Here's good info on many of the campsites and their reservation policies;note the bear discussion. We never had bear issues, but something to be aware of.

Angeles National Forest - Developed Campgrounds

Hope you get some time to get up there, it's a fantastic local resource.

 

In Texas, I use google to locate the picnic area along the highway, and the rest stops. If rest stops, I pull into the truck section because they are usually further away from the highway noise. And, there are less traffic coming and going compared to the car section of the rest stop. Stop in the dark spot away from the 18 wheelers because some of them keep their engines running all night long. Locate a walmart if rest stops or picnic area is not convenient..