California desert trip in February

Jill · 10-27-2016, 07:10 PM

Well I should be working but given that I'm 34 work days away from retirement, planning our first significant (longer than a weekend) trailer trip is a lot more interesting. I'm going to share the route and stops I've come up with. We are hoping to do a lot of hiking with our dogs and just enjoy being out. If you have any comments/recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

- Lindy's Landing Visalia - this is an overnight to break up the long trip down Hwy 99

- Joshua Tree Black Rock Campground probably stay here 4 or 5 nights

- San Jacinto Idyllwild campground. We will skip this if it's snowy or there's a threat of snow/ice. Otherwise, 2 nights probably

- Anza Borrego - probably 4 or 5 nights

- William Heise campground. Again since this is at 4200 ft elevation if snow or ice we will skip this

- San Elijo on the coast north of San Diego - 5 nights. Would stay longer if they weren't booked solid every weekend!

- Head back home with a stop or 2 along the way to break up the trip.

Total trip should be 2 or 3 weeks. We are so looking forward to this!

Vermilye · 10-27-2016, 09:21 PM

One state park that I found interesting that may be along your way is Red Rock Canyon State Park near Ricardo, CA. Dry camping with beautiful formations behind the campsites. Some photos.

Jill · 10-27-2016, 09:48 PM

Wow that park is gorgeous! Much like the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon Utah. I had no idea we had formations like that in California. And it's only 20 minutes off Hwy 99. A stop at Red Rock Canyon has definitely been added to the agenda - thank you!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vermilye

One state park that I found interesting that may be along your way is Red Rock Canyon State Park near Ricardo, CA. Dry camping with beautiful formations behind the campsites. Some photos.

Rossue · 10-27-2016, 09:54 PM

Red Rock Canyon is nice; we'll stay overnight if getting a late start for Lone Pine. San Elijo was my first home when moving to N. San Diego Cnty to attend SDSU. Carlsbad State Beach also nice, but probably similarly impacted. There is a county campground in Julian you might research. Othewise gimme a shout and I'll get you a spot at Montana de Oro on your way back home.

Rossue · 10-27-2016, 10:11 PM

Red Rock Canyon more like 1.5 hours off the 99.

float5 · 10-27-2016, 10:22 PM

The Scripps aquarium at La Jolla is impressive, not the building but the marine life and location. Of course, it might be quite different now but I see that it is still there and tickets are not inexpensive. $18.50 or maybe for you only $15.50! Happy Retirement!

Jill · 10-27-2016, 10:26 PM

My daughter graduated from SDSU in May and now works in San Diego - and why we added a stop on the coast near her. After San Elijo we'll probably head inland towards home so we can avoid LA traffic. I don't think we're ready for that just yet! So thank you for the Montana de Oro offer but we'll definitely take you up on that when we are more experienced at this towing thing!

William Heise park is in Julian so probably the one you're thinking of. IT looks quite picturesque so I sure hope the weather will cooperate for a visit there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rossue

Red Rock Canyon is nice; we'll stay overnight if getting a late start for Lone Pine. San Elijo was my first home when moving to N. San Diego Cnty to attend SDSU. Carlsbad State Beach also nice, but probably similarly impacted. There is a county campground in Julian you might research. Othewise gimme a shout and I'll get you a spot at Montana de Oro on your way back home.

Jill · 10-27-2016, 10:28 PM

We've visited San Diego frequently over the last few years visiting our daughter, but have never even thought about the aquarium. We're always looking for new things to do so it's on the to do list now thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by float5

The Scripps aquarium at La Jolla is impressive, not the building but the marine life and location. Of course, it might be quite different now but I see that it is still there and tickets are not inexpensive. $18.50 or maybe for you only $15.50! Happy Retirement!

NellieFlower · 11-12-2016, 07:18 AM

Thanks for telling us about Red Rock Canyon State Park. We just spent a night there on our way home from Flagstaff. It was besutiful espevially the morning sunrise.

ruscal · 02-16-2017, 09:21 PM

We just returned from a 3 day visit to San Elijo State Park. I spotted your 21 while on a bike ride through the park. I wondered who belonged to the trailer, and if the owners were forum members. Not wanting to invade your privacy I kept pedaling.
We were camped up near the north end cliffside in a Bambi Airstream towed by a '67 Chevy C10. Our first time out with this trailer. We have been here many times with the Scamp in the past. Cardiff is close to home for us, so a frequent destination. We wish you a safe and fun journey back home.
Russ

Jill · 02-16-2017, 11:54 PM

Hi Russ, yes that was/is us! And we noticed your Bambi in our walks through the campground. We love our spot right on the bluff. How cool it is for you that you get to camp here more often!

We have had the best time throughout this trip and will be sad to leave San Elijo tomorrow and start heading home. I'll followup with a trip report after we get back.

Jill · 02-24-2017, 10:55 PM

I promised to follow up with a trip report so here goes.

Joshua Tree: We used the Black Rock Canyon campground as our base and would do this again. Nice views from the campground, great hiking trails accessible from the campground, and decent bathrooms with water (no showers). Joshua Tree is such a beautiful park. Our favorite hikes within the main part of the park were Hidden View and Jumbo Rocks.

Anza Borrego: We booked 5 nights here with hookups and didn't want to leave but were lucky enough to get one of the camp host sites for 2 nights over the weekend to extend our stay to 7 nights. Even most non-hookup sites are quite beautiful with views and cool palapas. Next time I would do 10 nights or even 2 weeks. Favorite hikes were the Oasis trail, The Slot, and the nature trails near Tamarisk Grove. Oh, and the Pictograph trail.

Everyone at both the above parks (rangers and campers included) were so happy and friendly. It was such a great escape from the real world to see everyone get along!

We didn't go to Idyllwild due to wintry conditions and skipped Julian for similar reasons. Next time we'll visit these places as day trips rather than plan to camp there.

San Elijo (San Diego): We stayed here our last 6 nights in a site right on the bluff. We didn't get around much here as we spent a lot of time visiting with our daughter and her friends. And of course there was that beautiful ocean full of surfers to watch!

What a great trip we had. We didn't get to a lot of the places we thought we would (ex. Red Rock Canyon, Idyllwild) but there's always next year right?

ruscal · 02-25-2017, 09:51 PM

Hi Jill,
Glad you got back safe and sound from your fun trip. After looking at your itinerary I wondered if you were the people with an Escape that I briefly spoke to in Palm Canyon Anza Borrego. We were there in our Scamp pulled by a Jeep Wrangler on January 16 thru 19. That would be funny to run into you guys twice in a month.
Russ

Jill · 02-26-2017, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ruscal

Hi Jill,
Glad you got back safe and sound from your fun trip. After looking at your itinerary I wondered if you were the people with an Escape that I briefly spoke to in Palm Canyon Anza Borrego. We were there in our Scamp pulled by a Jeep Wrangler on January 16 thru 19. That would be funny to run into you guys twice in a month.
Russ

No, that wasn't us. We started our trip on Jan 30

You sure get around though! Look out for us next year if you're in the same area as we plan to repeat the trip around the same time.

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