Oak Grove Campground

Very nice campground!

Access is easy since the campground is right off Hwy 79 and the campground has adequate room for maneuvering into the sites. We didn't have any problem backing our 23' travel trailer into Site #40.

Most of the sites are well spaced so you don't feel like you're right on top of your neighbors and the chaparral around many sites provides fairly good privacy. Some sites are open to the sky and some are under trees so if you have solar, choose your site wisely.

We stayed at Site 40 which felt fairly private and we were able to get a decent amount of solar even though it was December. The campground was nearly empty with only 2-3 other sites occupied. Surprisingly, the camp host never came by to say hi.

The campground was well cared for with no litter or debris anywhere - it was clean as a whistle! The bathrooms were in great shape too.

Even though the campground is right off Hwy 79, there is limited cell coverage. Maybe some of the campsites closer to the highway were better but we opted for quiet rather than coverage.

The campground felt very safe.

The ranger station is right across Hwy 79 from the campground and there is a fantastic hike that starts behind the ranger station. Its a strenuous uphill route that is great if you're looking for a good workout (which we were!).

There are off-road trails just north of the campground on Hwy 79 where we went for a nice trail drive and had lunch in the wilderness.

Overall, we had a great time at Oak Grove.

We just got our trailer and this was our first dry camping experience with it. Its in a really beautiful location, but there isn't too much to do right there. We ended up driving towards Julian and there are lots of cute stops along the way, including some cideries. The sites are not all geared towards rvs and trailers so if you aren't tent camping, make sure you check that the pad is long enough. Our pad was definitely long enough, however the trailer opened up to the side opposite the fire pit and table. It was no big deal, but something to think about. Sites 5 and 23 seem to be good set ups for rvs; we didn't check out the other loop so there may be some better sites on that side. Our site also had a few red ant hills, and we didn't notice them on those other 2 sites. There is no dump onsite so plan ahead with that, but there are a lot of hose bibs around the campground. We paid 19 dollars a night through recreation.gov . They only allow reservations for some sites. It was fairly empty over the weekend and there were plenty of first come sites available where it would only cost 12 dollars a night. It could be because of how hot it was though on why it was empty during the weekend. There were a few reserved signs that never had anyone show up. Overall, its a nice campground that isn't too far from home. We would probably stay again, although we're not in a rush to return as we have so many other places we want to explore.

Sweet little park right off the road (noise was not an issue for me) with lots a nice, well tended sites that are secluded and private. Lots of natural foliage.The Camp Host has been there forever, and is an awesome person, friendly and helpful. Clean washrooms, available water close to sites, nice dog walking areas. Very well stocked grocery Store, petrol and propane about 10 mins East.

This campground is amazing! If you’re group camping they have an awesome setup! We tent camped and stayed in a single site that was very secluded and private. The restrooms needed a good cleaning, these are flushing toilets not vault pits. There’s cows behind the campground so you will hear a random moo. There are lots of bunnies and birds of prey to be seen. This is a pretty basic campground though, there are water faucets everywhere and are easily accessible. This is a quick trip for some fun camping, I highly recommended coming here.

If you like dry camping, this might be a campground you should check out. None of the 81 sites have electricity or sewer hookups, but there are water faucets spread around so that you're never more than 100 feet from one. Most of the sites are for single vehicles, but there are a few large enough for multiple vehicles, and you'll pay double for these.

Oak Grove is located in the high desert, so there is not a lot of rain throughout the year. There is sufficient plant life to give most sites a modicum of privacy. However, many of the oak trees have been destroyed by beetle infestation. Not every site will have shade.

The host keeps the numerous vault restrooms very clean, and he makes the rounds to greet new campers (at least when it's not busy).

I stayed two nights and listened to the coyotes coming in from nearby Palomar Mountain and the surrounding hills. They were quite noisy for perhaps 30 minutes, causing all the dogs in the area to go crazy. The daytime temperatures during my stay (November 22 and 23) were between 87 and 90 degrees. At night, temperatures got down into the mid-50s.

INSECT SCREENS was the operative phrase of the day at Oak Grove while I was there. From sunrise to sunset, the flies were all over the camp. It was so bad that cooking outside was an impossibility during daylight. Bring along an insect-screened enclosure if you can, or you'll regret it. Now to be fair, the camp host did say that he had never seen such a heavy fly infestation at the camp in the six years he had been there. At any rate, when the sun went down and the temperature dropped, all the flies went home for the night leaving campers free to start their campfires for the evening's marshmallow and weenie roast.

Oak Grove campground sits right off of hwy. 79, and there was traffic most of the day and night--some of it quite loud. It's in the Cleveland National Forest and maintained by the US Forestry Service. Put your cell phones away because there is no cellular service.