Lake Jennings Park Campground

This place is truly a hidden gem. Just 30 minutes from San Diego, with friendly staff and partial or full hookups. We were in a preferred lake view site #96 which had water and electric hookups. There was a play area that had ladder golf, tetherball, and ping pong. Have extra guess? Have them reserve a Tipi that has a max of 6 people. We had thee bars on our Version service and the campground WIFI is one of the best I have seen camping. Lake Jennings has some supplies available as well such as ice, propane, firewood, etc. at reasonable prices. Bathrooms and showers are clean. There is a dump station in the campground, and I suggest checking out the best way to get into the dump station before taking your rig. There are several roads around the dump station but only one that takes you in straight without having to make a sharp turn and possibly having to back up.
The lake is drinking water for the local town and therefore no swimming allowed but they do stock the lake with fish. Just a long walk or short drive to the other side of the Lake and you can go fishing or boating.
I would not suggest checking in early. The road in is very narrow and if you arrive before the noon checkout time you may find yourself falling into the lake while trying to squeeze by another on coming RV or trailer.

This was a very nice campground just 30 minutes from downtown San Diego, right down I8. We had one of the sites along the ridge, with awesome views of the canyon below. Full hookups, very good Verizon and TMobile service. We stayed on site 15, I did need a couple of boards to level, but it was so worth that minor effort for the nightly views.

There were walking and hiking trails directly from the campground, which was nice for our daily walks. We saw bald eagles numerous times, as they nest right at the park. Bathhouses were clean, though we never used the showers so we can't comment on those. A nice playground for the kids, and a lending library to share books. Everyone was friendly and easy to work with there. We will definitely stay there again when we want to visit San Diego.

If you’re new to towing a large RV, you’re probably not going to enjoy getting to your campsite. The mile-long road leading to the campground is a narrow two-lane road with curves and an eventual climb of a few hundred feet before you reach the check-in kiosk, and the paved roads inside the campground are equally narrow. But if you take your time you should be okay. If you have a towable RV and happen to get our site - site 78 - you’re probably not going to be able to make the turn into the site from the entrance road. You’ll have to do what we did: drive past it, loop through the campground, and then enter the site from Trout Lane.

Aside from the challenge big rigs can have getting into their site, this campground is pretty cool. It’s on a hillside above Lake Jennings, where you’re allow to boat or fish but not to swim (and dogs are not allowed near the lake because it provides drinkable water for the region). On the west side of the campground, you can gaze down on the city of Lakeside, while the horizons to the north and east of the campground are interrupted by larger hills. The sites are arranged such that your neighbor is either in front of you or behind you, or across the road from you, and most sites are at least partially enclosed by trees and shrubs. Each site has a gravel surface, a fire ring with a retractable grill top, and a picnic table. Our site was fairly level, and we had a lot of patio space.

You can purchase ice and firewood from the check-in kiosk at the entrance of the campground, where you’ll also find a small picnic area, some horseshoe pits, a communal fire area, a sandy bocce ball area with a tetherball pole, a DIY bike repair station, and a building where you can rent rowboats and kayaks from. There are three bathhouses, one at each end of the campground and one located across the street from site 78, and the dump station is located next to that bathhouse along Trout Lane. There is a large playground for small children on the west end of the campground shaded by a large canopy, and near the playground is the access point to three hiking trails. We walked the dogs along the trail that encircles the campground, though in the evenings we would usually let the do their business near the campground entrance. Walking along the mile-long entrance road is also permitted and makes for a nice morning stroll: you will often see large raptors nesting in the trees or a blue heron along the shore, and if you’re lucky you may get a glimpse of the bald eagle we saw on two occasions.

This campground seems to be popular with the locals, so it tends to fill up on the weekends and it can be a little noisy on Friday night, but it’s pretty quiet during the week.

In terms of cell service, the best speed I got on my Verizon Jetpack with MIMO antenna during our stay was about 25Mbps down and 20Mbps up. Most of the time we had no trouble streaming video, but during the day I would see enough lag while interacting with my virtual workstation at work that I needed to switch over to my phone’s AT&T hotspot. The one speed test I did with my AT&T phone showed 32Mbps down and 21 up.

We would stay here again if we were in the area: the price and location make it worth the 30 minute drive to San Diego.

We were looking for something close to home for our inaugural camp trip. We chose a “preferred view site” with partial hook up. Our primary goal was to try out all of our systems: electrical, water, propane and leveling. This was a perfect location to figure it out. As stated before, many sites have inclines however with minimal troubleshooting for two rookies, we were able to level our rig. Overall, a wonderful campsite close to home with nice views and a peaceful vibe.

This was our first experience with our RV and I can't imagine a better first impression. Did not use the restrooms or the showers but given how well everything else seemed, I would expect them to be top-of-the-line as well. we paid a couple of bucks extra for a view site and I would recommend it. the sites are not perfectly level and our rudimentary leveling system did not get us perfect. Hardly even worth mentioning but if you're still using blocks, like us, I would recommend the upgrading. The sites are crazy hard to get in the summer and even now with kids back in school they are pretty much full every weekend. And you will know why once you visit.
And pizza delivery.

This is a great campground near San Diego tucked away in the hills. Like the previous reviewer said, good for all types of campers! The tent sites have some of the better views overlooking the lake, but some are pretty far from the restrooms. Really good privacy and space between RV sites. We were able to get a decent number of OTA channels on our TV. ATT cell data was just ok for streaming. The lake is regularly stocked so bring your fishing poles, but no swimming allowed.

We were pleasantly surprised with the entire camp and our campsite (#55). We had plenty of room for activities and were nestled in a real nice area so we had privacy, as well.

Great places to walk and everyone was friendly and courteous. There were great hiking trails and campsite pathways providing a quick way to get to shower houses. The views of the lake and hills were beautiful.

There are several large Teepee’s on the site to rent and camp in—which was neat to see! This camp is perfect for all types of campers.

There was a decent amount of space separating sites from one another. I enjoyed seeing other families and kids riding their bikes all around. Reminded me of camping when I was a kid. :)

The only issue we encountered was not being able to connect to the Wifi. We didn’t ask for any help, but if we did, I’m sure it would have been resolved. It wasn’t a big issue and certainly wouldn’t stop us from visiting again.

This place was great. Being a San Diego native I was surprised I hadn’t stayed here before. I was in a partial-hookup site in the southern section overlooking the lake. The other side of the road had breathtaking views of most of east county. During my stay there were some COVID protocols in place where are you were not allowed to have visitors or anyone staying in your campsite who were not from the same household.

As far as prices go, I booked during a holiday which I guess means you have to book a minimum of three nights on the weekend. There is an $8 processing fee, a $5 admin fee and a $5 Covid surcharge. My particular site was $46 a night.

A lot of kids and families but everybody was respectful and it was quiet after 9pm. Fire pits have to be out by 11pm.

All in all, great stay and I will be back!

We stayed in site #82. Though not overlooking the lake, it was still nice. We had lots of trees, view of the city below, and neighbors are nicely spaced out. Dirt curved pull thru with a fire ring and a table. You can order wood and staff brings it to your site. You can rent paddle boats and other kinds. There’s also the option to go night fishing. I would have rated it 5 stars if it wasn’t for the big power lines located centrally in the campground. Half the campground are way too close to them. Verizon Cell coverage was ok, but very poor WiFi.