Lake Jennings Campground

We were here Friday PM - Sunday AM.
Staff at the check-in station were very nice and helpful. Stayed at spot 19. Is a pull thru. Grounds are maintained very well. Was surrounded by trees, so I felt like we were almost alone. There is a playground near the site with kids playing on it all day. Don't have a view of the lake, but there is a small preserve with a pond that you do have a view of. There was some traffic going buy till late at night. Overall, it was a fairly peaceful weekend while we were at the camp. Had things to do in the area, so I was not there during the day too much.

We have RV’d to San Diego several times and resigned ourselves to noisy expensive parks. Until now! 1/2 hour from airport, downtown and feels like you’re in the country. Quiet, private sites with very little traffic in campground. Beautiful lake views, nice trails although some were closed for construction. Staff very friendly and helpful. We ended up having to extend our stay due to nasty weather up north and we were well accommodated.
Only down side is the lake’s restricted use. No swimming, boat use restricted to weekends. It is a drinking water source reservoir, so I get it. Just would have loved to kayak on the few sunny days that happened to be weekdays.
This will be our comeback spot for sure!

A local water utility company managed campground; you can fish in the lake but not swim. We had some new tent camping equipment we wanted to give a test run and were happy to find this so close to San Diego. It's not hard to find a lake view site here. There are several kinds of sites: Drive-thru for RVs, then there will be sites along the road for tent or smaller Rvs, and then spots where you can park a vehicle near the road and pack your tent gear 50-60 feet to a site closer to the lake. That's what we did and the beauty of the location could not be beaten! It's not really that far, however, it's not a flat 50-60 feet. There's water at every site or shared between 2 sites. The sites are not 'on top of each other' but close. However, we didn't feel infringed upon due to the orientation. No site will be secluded.

There's hiking, the campground is pleasantly situated for walks, dog walks, and biking. Amenities for kids.

While the campground is well maintained; staff and camp hosts are a constant presence. They are pleasant, helpful, and kind. It's hard to describe a disturbance we encountered at about 3 AM, but even then, someone arrived to deal with the situation. Bravo! As far as the campground and sites, it's quite apparent regular maintenance takes place. If someone has left the site with ruts, they come to make a repair.

The restrooms/showers are adequate, but I hope the water district has plans to update them. The shower water could be a little warmer, more pressure, poor drainage in the showers, and they certainly need paint. Note that it's hard to give a negative comment because of the many other attributes, so in general, an update. However, they work, and the toilets are kept clean! And the showers are free! So these comments are suggestions, not complaints. However, it is a first-class facility overall, with second-class comfort stations.

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.