Camping Suggestions

I recommend Refugio or Gaviota, just north of Santa Barbara. They are smaller and more secluded than El Capitan. There is mostly RV camping, but I've seen tents there several times. And, these locations are close to Solvang for a fun day trip.

http://www.santabarbara.com/activities/beaches/

Mnt laguna is in the cleveland national forest and is really pretty. It is 8 E near sunrise highway.they also have a website.
Good luck and have fun!

Depending on how far you want to travel, I have a couple suggestions:
Yosemite Pines in Groveland. They have cabins as well as yurts and its about 5 minutes from Groveland where there are resturants and stores. The only down side is that it is 25 miles to the Yosemite gate and another 25 miles or so to Yosemite Valley. I took my daughter who was 15 months at the time and she had a blast.

Shaver Lake (Camp Edison) east of Fresno. There are resturants and stores close by and alot to do there. Boat rental and horse back riding and trails.

If you really want to get away from it all try Wishon Resevior. You're pretty far away from everything, but it is beautiful! We will definately go back, but I might wait until my little one is a little bigger, just to be safe. It was the most beautiful place we've been...there is nothing like eating breakfast and seeing deer right outside our trailer!

Places our family has enjoyed:
Woodsvalley Campground in Valley Center. It is a little "oakey" if that is the word, but we like it. It does get hot out there, they have a pool a really small pond for fishing with ducks and some animals. They have a place where you can play board games etc. Bathrooms and showers are great.
La Jolla Indidan Reservation-they have a little river that flows through that you can get innertubes to go down. Certain times of the year the flow is not great, i would check. Right nextdoor there is a small waterpark, maybe a block big, great to cool off in the summer. Bathrooms are ok, a lot of kids like to party on 4 day weekend here, so i would not not bring my family during that time!
Lake Dixon-Escondido-It gets hot here too, but they have shady grass pic nic areas, a little play aparatus. They do have canoes,paddleboats etc for fishing or fun. Bathrooms are fine.
Have fun! Great question, i look forward to getting some new ideas.

Big Bear is beautiful, right near lake, with nice walking and bike riding path. Discovery center is really cool, and your 9 year old will like panning for gold. THe town is only 1-2 miles away and there is a lot to do. Also, beach camping is really fun. I love Doheny Beach up in Orange County, also San Clemente, and South Carlsbad State beach. There is also a nice campground in Idylwild, with a river close by.

La Jolla Indian Reservation is fun with the kids because you tube down the water and stuff like that. We used to love it but we stopped going there a few years back because they don't designate spots, so no one is responsible for their trash and there can be a lot of large party groups who like to party all night, etc. It was annoying and we couldn't take our dogs so that is another reason we stopped. Since then we found this place, which has a pool and was nice.
http://www.campingfriend.com/OakKnollCampground/default.asp?
file=Facilities

http://www.lajollaindians.com/Campground/

We really like Hurkey Creek Camp ground (Riverside County.) It is near Idylwyld and we love it there. They have showers and a play ground. We took our one year old and she had a blast ( we have 15,10,9,7, and the baby). We can go in town, but also like to hike (trails) and Lake Hemet is across the street ( we have fished there, but NEVER caught a thing). We have also camped at Lake Henshaw, but that is more like a dust bowl and we enjoy the mountains up near Idylwyld more!
Enjoy!

El Capitan Ranch Park Campground is a wonderful clean campground with showers. We used to go there all the time when our kids were younger. It's a little bit more money per night but not much and well worth it, because it's somewhat clean. They used to have movie nights for the families and hayrides and music nights. It's a pretty big campground as well. It's on the other side of the freeway, meaning you have to walk a little bit to the beach but better than staying at El Capitan State Beach campground (just on the other side). T?he website is: http://www.hikercentral.com/campgrounds/101651.html

Another great camp ground near the beach is Refugio Beach. If you want info on mountain camping, I have tons more info on that as well. Let me know. Best to your family!

Lake Buena Vista is close, has playgrounds for kids, fishing, boating. Close to Taft.

We always went to Big Bear when our daugher was little - nice little town and some nice camping by the lake. that would be my first choice. There are also some campgrounds if you head south towards San Diego - we just went to Julian and next weekend are trying a new one near Julian called Oak Knoll. We typically take our camper trailer now with the kids - but these locations have places for both tent and campers. Have fun!

If you are willing to drive to get there, we love Lake Hume which is located between Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. It has a nice sized lake that you can swim across to a sandy beach if you are in decent shape (I swam pushing my husband and baby in a raft, it took about 1/2 hour to cross). It has a Christian camp on part of the lake that has a grocery store and a malt/hamburger shop if you don't feel like cooking. The campgrounds are for tents or RVs. They have flush toilets, but no showers. You can drive about 1/2 into Kings Canyon for showers. There are great hikes in both National Parks. Last year we saw three black bears! The biggest downside is that it is pretty popular and the Christian camp area can get rather crowded. The upside is that there is a lot to do. We took our son who was about 15 months last year and had a great time.

Hi L., we camp at Lopez Lake up Pismo Beach way every year. They have a huge water park for the kids, bathrooms within walking distance to each camp site and only a 10-15 minute drive into town. You can tent camp or they have hookups for a motorhome. It's fun. We've been camping there for the last 10 years and love it. Also, El Capitain above Santa Barbara is a nice campsite as well. You can tent camp there, they also have heated tents and cabins with a very small refrigerator and microwave in it. Look into those and see what you think. Have fun on your camping trip.

Pack-n-play/porta crib, a back pack carrier is WONDERFUL, not just for hiking but for feeding they sit in it and don't get dirt in EVERYTHING that goes in the mouth and contained while you are taking care of everything else. Be aware of any allergies. Benedryl (liquid or stick) can be handy, in case of bug bite/sting or similar.
Lytle Creek is a great place to go, you can hike to the falls as well, ask for a map or the local ranger station, not far before the camp grounds. A good hike to start off with. There is a "pond" at the base (where you hike to) nice and shady too. Lytle creek runs great and full crisp nice dip in the summer. Short stroll to a local ma-pop market and restaurant. About 7 miles to the fwy(15 i think). GREAT 1st time out with the baby. Have fun!!

They say this is a local list, but I am not sure how local...my suggestion is to try a weekend or even just an overnight at Dripping Springs Campground outside Temecula (8 miles east of the South End of Temecula.) If you take "South 79" (now called Temecula Parkway) and go east you will see it on the right side. It is just a little place, costs about $10 for the overnight permit (probably a bit more by now). You can bring a tent, RV, or just sleep in your car (we had a station wagon and did this route). There is a pretty creekbed to look for arrows in, you will see the remains of Indian Mortar & Pestle rocks, and lots of pretty scenery. Outhouse toilets, but running water faucets you can use. It is a nice easy introduction to camping. They do lock you in at night. We found this an easy way to introduce camping to our autistic child. He played in the tent but would have nothing to do with sleeping in it, so we were glad to have the station wagon. He was a little loud at night, but the campground is usually uncrowded, so nobody seemed to mind. We have also used it as a "cheap date" for my husband and me when we needed an overnight getaway and couldn't afford anything but the babysitter. We just sat talking around the fire, slept in the woods, and then went tooling around town the next day (to places we never usually go, like craft fairs), smelling like firepit. It was fun. B.

We love Doheney State Beach for camping. They have great camping sites, grass in the middle for kids to play, and it's right on the beach. They have toilets and showers. It can be busy, but it's not loud or annoying at all. It's right off the main road - near restaurants, etc., but there are trees so you feel like you're camping. The only issue is that I think you need 6 months to a year to reserve for weekends. You can go to www.reserveamerica.com and there are lots of campgrounds and camping info there. You can see what's available, where, when and how much. We went camping at Doheney a year or so ago and my best friend brought her baby and we had a great time. Good luck and have fun!

I'm not a huge camper myself, but my husband is. I like Mt. Laguna because it's close to civilization and there's a store and restaurant nearby. Lots of hiking and and bike trails. Very convenient with a baby.

I just read this as I got off the state park camping website. It is reserveamerica.com

Our favorite camping is San Clemente SB and Doheney SB. malibu creek is a nice campground too. Juliand and the Lake Cuyamaca area have lots of camping-around 4500 feet so not too cold. I grew up going camping at Lake Silverwood.

We didn't camp till our kids were older so no advice there, sorry. but I've seen lots of pack an play in tents!

We enjoyed San Simeon State Park, Wawona in Yosemite (right along a creek), and Emerald Bay in Arrowhead. My daughter was 5 months for the first, the other two respectively a year later each. Our experience was that stops along the way to get out of the seat and move are very important, especially for an infant. And, olive oil gets off pine sap!
enjoy

Hi L.,

Have you try O'Neill Regional Park? It is a very nice campground, not that busy, yet there are a lot of things to do in the area. The campground is called Arroyo Campground. Check out their website: www.ocparks.com
If you decided to book here and would like lots of shade, make sure you pick the spots that are inside the loop.

You might also try Doheny State Beach, but this campground is always busy and you have to book it 6 months in the advance because it is right on the beach and very popular and crowded.

Another good option is Lake Elsinore. Very quiet and peaceful. If you go down the lake, make sure you have an umbrella or sun shade because it gets really hot in the summer. We usually hit the water early in the morning and spend the rest of the afternoon at the outlet shopping.

Have fun!

Hi L.,
We are also big campers and have a 16 month old Son. We've taken him to Leo Carillo a few times, but during off season. Prior to having our Son we used to frequent Hobo a lot and it's so neat to hear someone else mention it because many people don't know about it. Love it, but certainly not child/baby friendly. Another one of our favorite spots is El Capitan State Beach just North of Santa Barbara. It's beautiful! Tons of trees, a creek and beach accessible. We've spent many summers camping there and plan to take our Son for the 1st time this summer. It's a short drive(10-15 minutes) from stores, eateries, etc...Hope this helps! K.

Ps - You can check them out on reserveamerica.com

here are a couple lake based camping areas - lake casitas (fairly close to ojai.) lake cachuma is northeast of santa barbara, kind of close to los olivos. also, lake nacimiento, and el capitan is definitely within good driving distance. we stayed in one of the cabins at the back of the property. it was pretty nice - a one bedroom with a loft, and a nice patio that looked at the canyon behind it. good luck...i'll be doing this search in a few years. :)

Hi. I'm a happy camper too. I recommend Mono Village Campground at Twin Lakes near Bridgeport. Our neighbors go every year and they invited us last year. It is awesome!!! Definately worth the drive. It's breathtakingly beautiful, not too crowded, there's a restaurant a snack bar, a covenience store, the water's clean. It feels like a campground from the good old days. I recommend trailer camping because there are a lot of bears. There are cabins to rent there too. There are a lot of great places to camp on the way there and back as well. We stopped at June Lake on the way home from Twin Lakes last summer. It was beautiful too. At Gull Lake near June lake I witnessed a golden eagle catching trout while I was on the water in my kayak. Ocean Kayaks have excellent balance so one is easy enough to share with the kids. I had both my sons ages 3 and 7 on it with me most of the time. Happy Camping!

We're also an outdoor/camping family! I also have a ton of experience -- everything from a month backcountry to car camping.

Last summer, I spent a week with my then 3 year old in Big Bear. We had a great time! The campground is really nice, family friendly, and running water (which is nice with a little one). It was close enough to Big Bear that we could get town, but not in the middle of town. Bring bikes! There is a nice visitor center not far, and a fun bike path.

We went in the middle of the week, and it was not too crowded. The weekend it was full, but I think it will be full anywhere!

The other thing to remember is that car camping means full on luxury. Bring a blow up mattress, folding chairs, two burner stove -- all the stuff you don't bring when you backpack.

We've also done Leo Carrillo (crowded, but awesome b/c it's so close to the beach), Joshua Tree (great, but too hot in summer and no water) and Yosemite (probably too late to get a campsite). I've heard good things about Sequoia as well.

My general feeling is that if you love it, your kids will love it. Have a great time!

Well like you I have done all sorts of camping and although not conceived at a campground was certainly pregnant on a couple of backpacking trips and have camped with infants. The easiest campground we went to when our boys were infants was Chilao in the Angeles Crest National Forest. It is an hour to an hour and a half from pretty much anywhere in LA (closer if you're in the Pasadena or Altadena area). It has drop toilets no showers (we always use a sun shower as there are plenty of tree's to hang it from - we also take it full as there is no water during droughts). Newcombs Ranch is a bar/restaurant less than a mile from the campground on the Hwy so you can actually stop there for meals if you don't want to lug a whole bunch of food up there. There however is no river or lake but it is really pretty and loads of hikes (picture Lassie country). I've never been cold camping there and there is a pretty interesting visitors center for the kids to explore (providing the government cut backs haven't been too harsh again - last year the electricity was cut off so it was only open during day time when natural light could be used).
Another place we went was to Two Harbors on Catalina Island. There are cabins available or you can pitch a tent. You are right on the ocean and a quarter mile walk from the "town" of Two Harbors. The rangers will cart your gear from the boat to the campsite which makes it so much easier than in the past when we had to lug it all ourselves.
If you want pampered camping then North of Santa Barbara is a great spot called El Capitan. It has expensive although incredibly nice cabins or they have tent options. There is a pool, hot tub, hot showers and a restaurant. It is walking distance to the beach (older kids may want to take their bikes) and there is a hiking trail also. There are also vineyards relatively close by if you get some adult time or want a picnic away from the campground. There is no shade and it gets damp in the morning being close to the ocean.
I'm more the rustic type camper so El Capitan is not really my spot just a convenient half way point to meet my Mother in Law to drop our oldest son off to her during Summer for a week. My other favorite campgrounds are further North off the 14 near Lone Pine which although by lakes and rivers are cold at night. My advice stick to the local mountains, especially with an infant. Just the knowledge we were so close to home made each of our first trip with the boys as babies less stressful. Just don't forget your backpack to carry the little one in.
Happy camping

Joshua Tree is great!! About an hour or two away I think.

RENT, don't buy, a motorhome. You may be the wilderness chick but your kids may not quite see things the same way and now you have to think more as a collective family group and less exclusively focused on you.

Go to AAA before any vacation, pick up the local travel books to where your heading and see what sites are in those given areas and base your vacation around that. I've vacationed in Yosemite where it was in the 90s in Fresno and 2 days later we got caught in a blizzard (this was a September). Sometimes kids get unexpectedly sick. An RV makes it easier on everyone at that age and you will return more relaxed than tent camping.

Biking might be worth considering. Your 9 year old would love it and I think with a baby carrier you and your infant would as well, as long as the terrain is fairly easy.

We go to carpinteria state beach (just south of santa barbara) every summer. It is in a tiny little artsy beach town I think you would really enjoy. It is civilized camping. In tents but there are toilets and showers in each area. It is popular and sometimes tough to get a reservation. The week before labor day weekend is great if your kids aren't back in school. If you can't go this summer put in on your list for next. You can check out reserveamerica.com for other similar locations and to book your reservations. I camped at carpinteria with my girls when they were 3 mos. and 8 mos respectively. It is very soothing and calming by the ocean. Happy camping!

Up out of Porterville is a beautiful area along the Tule Rive called Camp Nelson, specifically Belknap Creek Campground. You will need either a tent or a camper.... no motor homes or trailers as there is no parking to accomodate the big vehicles or extra axles. Also, no hook ups. The only light you will have is what you bring. There is a little camp store and a restaurant and inn close by, but trust me, you will want to camp here. You will be in the midst of the redwoods and right on the stream and it is incredible. There are some privately owned cabins, but I don't know too much about them, if they are rentable. Our family has always camped, from the time I was a little girl.

In terms of camping with an infant. A nice sized playpen is the best for during the day with lots of new interesting fun stuff to play with while you are there because the campsites are too dusty to crawl around in. At night up there the weather varies... usually the sun is warm in the day time, but not typically over the 80's. At night it will drop with the sun, down to the 50s, maybe 40's???, so nice warm sleeping bags and sweats and sox (layers until you figure out your personal thermometer). Bring along one of those high chairs that clip to a table if you have one..... that will make feeding easier as well as when you are sitting there at the picnic table playing card games in the afternoon baby can sit with you and be a part of the fun! Mosquito repellant is a must for everybody in the early evening especially. A baby carrier for some light hikes! Whatever baby is going to sleep in, probably you want to practice in before the trip. So, yes, when camping with a baby you do take half the house. But the pictures will be totally worth it.

San Clemente or San Mateo would be very easy camping. Our son was 1 1/2 when we took him there last year. They have water, shower facilities (bring quarters), the beach is a 5 minute drive away- where we spent the day, there are nearby places to eat, and if you forget anything (which we did) there is a Walmart closeby.

I don't know if I have any suggestions for you as far as location. I like Pt. Mugu and have had many wonderful, memorable experiences there. However, I do remember once when the winds were really bad and made our trip miserable. I think weather can be hit or miss. One poster suggested Doheny. That might work for you because it's close to civilization allowing you to eat out. I like it and it's popular, but with kids I'm not a fan. This is because the water is usually contaminated and my kids love playing in the water. I prefer Carpenteria or El Capitan (for beach camping). Carpenteria is close to civilization as well. I love Mammoth in the summer as well, but depending on when you go it could be hot during the day and cold at night (and it's quite a drive). I've heard good things about a campground near Ojai with water features and very kid friendly. I haven't camped there though.

Overall, there's lots of places we enjoy with different features. We go camping about once a month (because we now have an RV that allows us more flexibility) and have experienced numerous locations at different times of year.

When we had an infant/toddler and we tented it, we put a pack-n-play in the tent and used it outside as well. We also really liked this gated yard system. It's 6-panels that attach together making a closed in yard. It contained our children when we were busy setting up/breaking down/etc. but allowed them more freedom to move about and play in the dirt/sand. They're around $100 new.

I recommend a book called "California Camping" by Tom Stienstra published by Foghorn Outdoors. It has been the most useful tool we've used to locate camping locations in California. It's not specific to camping with children, but provides enough information to make good decisions.

Good luck and have fun!!!

I have been camping a few times with my sorority sister and her husband and a few friends at Dana Point - we didnt freeze at night, and had access to camp on the beach - volleyball court, horseshoe games area and grills also shoers & bahtrooms are nearby but you can also drive out of the area to nearby eating areas - check with Dana point sometimes they have a festival nearby that is walking distance & this camp ground can be kid friendly

Hi L.,

you can try to look for parks here

http://campster.net/list.aspx?q=california

BR,

We don't do a lot of camping in SoCal, but we loved our camping trip last summer to the Redwood forest if you aren't afraid of a little road trip. We stayed at a KOA in Willits (it is close to a small town). This KOA has tent sites and rustic cabins. They have a swimming pool, mini golf, petting zoo, playground, bike rentals, various silly family events, and a renowned frisbee golf coarse! The KOA's are great when camping with babies because they have a washer/dryer and a snack store. The weather was warm, but not too warm. We wore sweatshirts at night. Perfect camping weather, in fact. No lake or water source. We had a blast there.

We also camped at the Richardson State Park in the Redwoods. The sites are right in the middle of HUGE redwood trees and on the Eel river. The weather is PERFECT in the summer and the water in the river is refreshingly cold. Great for tubes or just swimming.

If you really want to stay in So Cal it is hard to find campsites that are not crowded. We love beach camping in Encinitas and Carlsbad, but it is super hard to get reservations.

Have fun!

Our Cub Scout Pack is camping up at Camp Serrano in Big Bear!

Very nice.. North of the lake and near lots of trails and Discovery Center. The Discovery center offers lots of things for kids to do... a Map and compass class was the best for my 9 year old! (free) There is a community zoo not too far away and there are restaurants on the south of the shore, just 10 minutes away. (McDonalds too)

Their campsite offers Showers, RV parking and tent camping. In our San Bernardino Mountains, they have propane controlled only fires right now. Usually in the Summer they do allow open flame when not in fire season. Watch for updates.... have fun!!

M.