Camping in Los Angeles question/ help LA natives.

[John Linck]

We will be visiting Los Angeles in mid-February and are looking for campgrounds. Certainly the state beaches are on our list though they get pretty pricey. I wonder about the Angeles National Forest. Would you leave your rig unattended in a forest campground during the day to see local sites? Is theft/safety a concern? I see some of the forest campgrounds have only 3-4 sites and others are 30-40 sites. I think I would choose the larger hoping more folks would be around to keep and eye out.

Any recommendations and advice?

Thanks for your help, john
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[Ron Merritt]

This guy liked it:

To Simplify...Quiet

[Bob Miller]

Hi Ron
I live in the greater L.A.area and campsites and low prices are mutually exclusive terms. Some thoughts are: Look up "Regional Parks" for the 4 counties in the SoCal area, (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino) they are much less expensive and many have overnight camp sites. A real nice one is "Caspers Regional Park" very near San Juan Capistrano. If you do want a beach site, reserve now, especially if your stay includes any weekend days.


The forest parks are less expensive, but it is cold and it snows up there and many are closed for the winter season, until usually April. AND.... most of them are some distance from Los Angeles proper, and the gas and time needed to use them will obviate the differences in costs.


And, when you get into L.A. freeway traffic at rush hour, you will know that you aren't in Wisconsin any more.


But let us know where you want to visit and some suggestions may be forthcoming

[stevebaz]

February is a tough time for camping in our national forest as the elevation changes greatly as does the temperature. For the most part your camping from a 1000 feet to 5,000 feet in the LA area. Further out in the San Bernardino forest you go up to snow country at 9500 feet. Lower areas around 1000 feet can have quite a bit of vagrant / migrant people wandering in and about. Leaving your property exposed in a mostly empty campground at these lower elevations is almost inviting issues. Going further up the mountains there are much favorable areas and no issues with undesirables. There are quite a few regional park and state park campgrounds which we have never had issues at and don't worry about our cars or trailers. We also don't invite problems by leaving shiny bobbles out to attract people who can't resist temptations. There are allot of private and very expensive resorts to stay at which will be allot closer to tourist areas. Get a basis on what area you want to stay in and how far your daily travels you expect to go. The lower third of the state is now almost one big city if you exclude the outlying desert areas. Demands for camping space is quite tough and you have to plan ahead as much as you can.

[FRED SMAILES]

Hey John, not an LA native but have stayed around there a bit.
The valley is a big place, not in the way you and I think distance wise but in the amount of time it takes to get from place to place.
If you were to give us an idea of your planned activities, you may get better responses.
If your planning to do Disneyland as an example, don't plan on staying
out of town,, you'll spend a fortune and a day just getting to the Disney parking lot.
IMO
Fred

[Fredomatic]

John
As a native myself I can say that the beach camping is great. There are lots of different campgrounds north and south of LA proper but they book out early. You can often swoop in on a site the day of as many people dont show even thought they reserve ahead. The mountain camping is good if the roads are dry and open. I like the angeles crest (hwy 2). No issues with reservations or crowded camp grounds although some close down in the winter. Regarding theft, there is always a possibility. Lock your doors, hitch and wheels if possible if you plan to leave your trailer alone. Thievery isn't crazy but you should protect as anything can happen.
Be well!
Fred

[kbingel]

John, would you let me know how it goes? We plan on being there sometime early April. Mostly to visit my son who lives there now....so I do not need to be IN LA and wouldn't mind if he tries to get to us, but would like to be nearer rather than far. A beach would be nice...but whatever. I can't make reservations at this point because we really want to be free to stay as long or short as we want on the way out there....while on our 10 week jaunt. So if you stay someplace great, or not so great, an update would be nice. Hope it all goes well!!!

Karen

[trainjunkie]

I'm originally from So Cal, and still live here part of the year in fall/winter but I never camp here so I have no recommendations to share.

However, just a heads-up on Dockweiler RV Park on the beach in Playa del Rey, California. I drove by there last week and the park appeared to be closed for renovations.

I don't know what they are doing or for how long, and the web site says nothing about it, which is typical here with LA County run facilities.

Welcome to Dockweiler RV Park

If you are considering a stay there, you might want to call them before you book to find out what is going on there and for how long.

[FRED SMAILES]

Originally Posted by kbingel

John, would you let me know how it goes? We plan on being there sometime early April. Mostly to visit my son who lives there now....so I do not need to be IN LA and wouldn't mind if he tries to get to us, but would like to be nearer rather than far. A beach would be nice...but whatever. I can't make reservations at this point because we really want to be free to stay as long or short as we want on the way out there....while on our 10 week jaunt. So if you stay someplace great, or not so great, an update would be nice. Hope it all goes well!!!

Karen

Hey Karen, we are staying at Paradise by the Sea RV Park in Oceanside for a couple of months this year and have done so for several years. Its an urban rv park with no permanent occupants, maximum stay is three months.
The park is almost perfect, 300 yards from the beach, incredible clean, great staff and amenities.
Only down is the train tracks run by the pk but they dont bother us.
It would depend on where in LA your son is but we really enjoy it here.
We are here till april 6, it gets pretty busy in the spring so check it out soon.
Fred
Pic is us here last year