Tent Talk

Los Prietos Campground is one of the many campgrounds that lay along the Santa Ynez river in the Santa Ynez National Recreation Area, due north of the town of Santa Barbara. Other campgrounds within the recreation area include the smaller Fremont Campground, Paradise Campground, and the upper and lower Oso and Camuesa campgrounds. At the time of our visit in mid July 2011, the Oso and Camuesa campgrounds were closed as a result of heavy rain that destroyed the bridges leading to them. Unfortunately, with the budget shortfalls affecting both the state and federal parks systems, these roads had no timetable of reopening, but are likely repaired at the time of this post. The campground is open April 1st through October 30th. There are a total of 37 campsites with fire rings, barbecue, and a picnic table at each site. Most sites can be reserved on Reserve America , but there are a select few available on a first come, first served basis. For reservations, you are required to book at leas...

Mt. San Jacinto State Park encompasses the mountain of San Jacinto and surrounds the mountain town of Idyllwild. Better known as the mountain that towers over Palm Springs or the mountain that you take the tram to, Mt. San Jacinto has a summit of  10,834 feet and is protected by both the San Bernadino National Forrest and the Mt. San Jacinto State Park. There are over 10 campsites throughout the area, some within the state park and some within the national forrest. For this trip, we stayed at the Stone Creek Campground, one of the two developed campsites within the state park.  Stone Creek Campsite. An example of the surrounding Mt. San Jacinto Wilderness is on the right. Stone Creek campground is a relatively small 50 site campground about 6 miles away from downtown Idyllwild off of SR 243. The easiest way to reach the campground is to take Interstate 10 to Banning, where you will exit on SR 243 going South. The 243 is a very small and windy road, and it scales the nort...