Tent Talk

  Check out our “Vlog” video from Jumbo Rocks. Special Thanks to The Perks , a small band out of Southern California, for the soundtrack, as well as Lowepro, who generously sent us their new Rover Pro 45L AW camera bag to use! Jumbo Rocks is aptly named, and is the biggest campground in Joshua Tree National Park . If you’re looking for a campground full of great sites, easy access to trails, and big huge boulders to climb when you step out of your tent, this is the place to be. Spot Jumbo Rocks? It may be a little difficult – Joshua Tree encompasses almost 800,000 acres, or over 1200 square miles. However, navigating the park is relatively easy. Most will enter from the north, at either the town of Joshua Tree or Twentynine Palms. For those traveling from Arizona or other areas of southeastern California, the best entrance is from the south, off I-10 near Chiraco Summit. Arizonians – don’t exit the 10 at Desert Center, unless you’d like a long, boring detour around the park to th...

Picacho State Recreation Area, or Picacho SRA, is a beautiful estuary that protects 8 miles of the California side of the Colorado River. The park has a rich history of mining and the old town of Picacho, but now is a haven for birds and birdwatchers, boaters and anglers, and – of course – campers. Picacho SRA might be most notable for its sheer remoteness. The quickest and most accessible route is from Interstate 8 in Yuma (from the east) or Winterhaven (from the west). Although only about 24 miles north of I-8, the trip can easily take over an hour, depending on how well your car handles the 18 miles of dirt road. The road is well-maintained and often graded, but can be rendered impassable during monsoon season from flooding. 2WD and low clearance vehicles should have no problems, and trailers and RV’s work as well when the road is in good condition. California State Parks reminds all visitors to travel prepared through the desert, as there can sometimes be a lengthy period of time b...

If you've been following us recently, you know our affection for Lake Cuyamaca State Park , and it was only a natural decision for us to go back and visit for a second time. As you may know, there are two campgrounds within the state park boundaries: Green Valley and Paso Picacho.  This post is about our experience at Paso Picacho Campground, the larger of the two campgrounds within the park. Green Valley, the smaller, southernmost campground, is not reviewed in this post. You can see the review of Green Valley  Here . Rancho Cuyamaca (Cuyamaca Rancho in native Spanish), a state park gem Paso Picacho is a large campsite, with 85 sites spread out over 5 loops: Manzanita (C1), Live Oak (C2), Ceder (C3), Coulter (C4), and Cypress (C5). Two group campgrounds are also available, as well as day use parking, an RV dump station, a day use picnic area, and a Cal Fire Station. The day use parking area is designed to be used for hikers accessing the four main trails that ...