Tent Talk

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 ...

Of all destinations in Southern California, Lake Cuyamaca State Park is far and away our favorite. The combination of the beautiful mountain scenery, the water falls at Green Valley, the miles upon miles of hiking trails, and the proximity to the iconic town of Julian all combine to make Cuyamaca one of the best all around weekend destinations. Only an hour away from San Diego and two hours away from Orange County, you owe it to yourself to make the trip to enjoy the park. This post is about my experience at Green Vally Campground, the smaller and southernmost of the two campgrounds within the park. You can read about the larger campsite, Piso Picacho, here.  The Green Valley campground is mainly popular for the creek and water falls within the campsite, but the camping itself can't be overlooked. There are 81 campsites, almost all shaded by big beautiful oak trees and defined by granite boulders. The terrain and trees do give a sense of privacy to most of the sites, but...