Tent Talk

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...

Hermit Gulch campground is a campground 1.5 miles away from downtown Avalon on Catalina Island. The campsite lies a short distance before Wrigley Botanical Gardens on the Avalon Canyon Road, and is managed by the Santa Catalina Island Company . Below is the "Vlog" from our recent trip to Catalina and Hermit Gulch. It doesn't provide too much insight into the campground itself, but if you're looking for things to do and to get a feel for the island atmosphere, check it out! If you've never been to Catalina, here's a crash course on the main attractions of Avalon, a few of which were included in the above video. Downtown Avalon's Crescent Avenue is where all of the shopping and dining is centered, and with street performing newly legalized, there is always something happening. Green Pier is home to the glass bottom boat and submarine, as well as opportunities for parasailing, diving and boating. Further north, the Casino and Descanso Beach are popular to...

Dogwood campground is a beautiful mountain campground located about 10 minutes from downtown Lake Arrowhead and 5 minuets away from Rimforest. From CA SR 18, turn off on Daley Canyon Road, where the turn off for Dogwood is immediately on the right. It is difficult to find at night since the intersection isn't lighted, so as a rule of thumb, if you hit the high school to the east or the town of Rimforest to the west, you've gone too far. The drive up from Los Angeles is pretty painless, especially since SR 18 is a two lane highway for most of the trip up the mountain. The views from the Rim of the World Highway are spectacular, on a clear night you can see the lights of the entire Los Angeles basin. Although the area around Lake Arrowhead is pretty developed for a mountain area, keep in mind that the roads are still mountain roads, and with Friday night traffic they can be difficult for someone with little prior experience. View from the Rim of the World Highway (SR 18) ...