Camping Near the Biggest City in California — Under 90 Minutes

Phone rings at the desk, feller says "Buck, my sister's flying into LAX Friday and we want to sleep in a tent Saturday night, where do we go." I get some version of that call a dozen times a spring. LA's a big place and it's got more traffic than the Beartooth on Labor Day, but the country around it is honest-to-god good — chaparral hills, beach bluffs, pine forest above six thousand feet. You dont have to drive to the Sierra to sleep outside.

I spent two winters on detail down at a regional office in the '90s and my nephew still guides day hikes out of Sylmar, so I've kept up on the LA-area campgrounds pretty well. What follows is the shortlist I actually give people over the phone. Ninety minutes or less from downtown, no gate-code resorts, no places with a gift shop bigger than the campground itself.

Fair warning up front: most of these need reservations now. Used to be you could roll into Leo Carrillo on a Friday afternoon and grab a spot. Internet found it. Book ahead through Recreation.gov or parks.ca.gov depending on who runs the ground, and do it as soon as the window opens.

Beach camping near the coast (Malibu and Ventura County line)

If your idea of a weekend camping trip involves waking up to the Pacific, you've got two solid options and one that's a little rougher around the edges. All three sit along PCH between Malibu and Point Mugu, roughly 45 minutes to an hour from downtown depending on how the 10 is behaving.

Leo Carrillo State Park, up PCH past Zuma, is the one I send families to. Sycamore trees for shade, decent bathrooms, a tunnel under the highway that gets you to the beach without getting flattened. Sites are close together — this is not a wilderness experience — but the tidepools at low tide are worth the drive by themselves. It's run by California State Parks so you book through their site.

Point Mugu State Park has two seperate campgrounds: Sycamore Canyon (inland, oak-shaded, quieter) and Thornhill Broome (right on the sand, wind will beat your tent to death if you dont stake it well). I'd take Sycamore Canyon nine times out of ten. Thornhill's got the view but you'll wake up with grit in your teeth.

Malibu Creek State Park isn't beach — it's inland about six miles — but the drive from downtown is under an hour and the country is that classic golden-hills-and-oak-savannah look. M*A*S*H was filmed up in there. Good stargazing considering how close you are to the city, and the campground sits well back from the road.

Up into the Angeles National Forest

Now this is the country I'd send my own family to. Angeles Crest Highway — that's State Route 2 — climbs out of La Cañada Flintridge and inside of an hour you're at five, six thousand feet in pine forest. Whole different climate. In August when LA's ninety-five and hazy it can be seventy up here with a breeze. I dont know why more people don't do it.

Chilao Campground, about an hour up the 2 from the 210, is the workhorse. Big loops, Jeffrey pine, decent tables. First-come first-served for a lot of the sites which is getting rare these days. Bring water, they don't always have it running. Check with the Forest Service site or call the Los Angeles River Ranger District before you commit.

Buckhorn Campground is further up the mountain, closer to the ski areas, and it sits in cedar and fir at around 6,300 feet. This is my pick if you can get it. Cooler nights, actual forest smell, and the trailhead for Cooper Canyon Falls is right there. It's a walk-in-ish setup — you park and hump your gear maybe fifty yards — which keeps the RV crowd out.

Crystal Lake Recreation Area, up Highway 39 out of Azusa, is the other side of the San Gabriels. It's had a rough couple decades — fires, closures, road washouts — but the campground has been open the last several seasons. Feels remote in a way that seems impossible when you know downtown is fifty miles away. Sadie, my border collie, would love it up there, lots of squirrels to disapprove of.

Mount Baldy and the eastern edge

The Mount Baldy area sits at the far east end of the Angeles NF, up above Claremont. Under 90 minutes from downtown LA if you leave before rush hour, which is to say leave before six in the morning or after seven at night.

Manker Flats Campground is the one folks use as a base for climbing Mt. Baldy proper. It's small — thirty-some sites — and it books up fast on weekends. Elevation around 6,200 feet so plan for cold nights even in summer, and if you're used to sea-level sleeping bags you're going to want to check what you've got. If your bag is rated for fifty degree nights you're going to be miserable, so take a look at what you own before you drive up. (We keep some notes on ratings over on the sleeping bag page if you want to sanity-check yours.)

The climb up to San Antonio Falls from Manker is a nice leg-stretcher, and the trail up to the Baldy summit is a serious day — nine miles round trip, four thousand feet of gain. Not a beginner outing. More on that kind of thing over on the hiking section.

South and east — the reservoirs and the coast toward San Diego

Head south or east from LA and you get a different flavor. Less pine, more chaparral and open water. These are more RV-friendly than I'd usually recommend, but the tent sections are fine if you pick right.

Doheny State Beach down in Dana Point is about an hour and fifteen minutes south on a good day. Walkable to town, which some folks like and some folks (me) find defeats the purpose. But if you've got kids who need an ice cream option, it's hard to beat.

San Onofre State Beach — the Bluffs section specifically — is my pick on this side. Right around 75 minutes down the 5. You're camping on a bluff over the Pacific, trails down to the sand, and the sites at Bluffs are more spread out than Doheny. Just know you're within earshot of the freeway and, well, a nuclear plant that's being decommissioned. It's a weird spot but I like it.

Lake Perris State Recreation Area, out past Riverside, is about 75 minutes east. Big man-made lake, swimming, fishing, boat rentals. Hot as blazes in July and August. I'd go in April or October. The campground is well laid out and the tent loops are seperated from the RV pads.

The shortlist — what I'd book first

If you called me tonight and said "Buck, we're doing weekend camping in six weeks, pick one," here's the order I'd go in. First one that's available, take it.

• Buckhorn (Angeles NF, off Hwy 2 above La Cañada) — best forest experience close to LA
• Leo Carrillo State Park (Malibu, on PCH) — best for first-timers and families
• Sycamore Canyon at Point Mugu SP (Ventura County line) — quiet, shaded, near the beach without being on it
• Chilao (Angeles NF, Hwy 2) — big, flexible, some first-come sites still
• Malibu Creek State Park (Calabasas) — good middle ground, oak country
• Manker Flats (Mt. Baldy) — if you want elevation and a real hike out the door
• San Onofre Bluffs (San Clemente area) — ocean bluff camping if the north spots are full
• Crystal Lake (Hwy 39, San Gabriels) — the sleeper pick, feels remote

A few things people get wrong out here

Fire restrictions in southern California aren't a suggestion. The Angeles NF puts out fire orders every summer and they change through the season — sometimes no wood fires but stoves are OK, sometimes no open flame of any kind. Check the ranger district before you leave, don't rely on what a buddy told you last August. A canister stove is almost always allowed when wood fires arent, which is one reason I tell folks to own a decent stove even if they usually cook over coals.

Bears in the San Gabriels are real — black bears, not grizzlies, but they'll wreck a cooler for a leftover sandwich. Manker Flats and Buckhorn both have bear boxes, use them. Coastal spots don't have bears but they've got raccoons that might as well be, and I've seen them open zippers. Don't leave food in your tent, ever.

Water: Some of the Angeles campgrounds have potable water and some don't, and it changes year to year depending on infrastructure. I bring five gallons per person for a weekend and figure any spigot I find is a bonus. It's cheap insurance.

Weather can turn on you fast up on the crest. I've seen snow at Buckhorn in May. If your tent is a big-box-store special from ten years ago you might want to give it a good look before you commit — a leaky fly at six thousand feet in a thunderstorm is a bad night. The tent page has some notes on what to look at.

Reservation windows for California State Parks open six months out. Recreation.gov varies by campground, usually six months for popular ones. Popular summer weekends at Leo Carrillo go in about ninety seconds after the window opens, so set an alarm.

Honest take

If you live in LA and you havn't spent a night at Buckhorn or Chilao you're missing something that's basically in your backyard. The coastal spots are great and I recommend them but every Angeleno already knows about Leo Carrillo. It's the mountain campgrounds up the 2 that surprise people. Book Buckhorn if you can get it, Chilao if you can't, and pack a sleeping bag warmer than you think you need. For general park info I usually point folks at our parks section or the trails list, and for the state park specifics the CA State Parks site is the horse's mouth. Anyway. Go sleep outside.