Okay, campers! We need your help! SO and I are planning a camping trip this summer, with both of our families. We will probably need to take two cars so we don't want to go to far (we live in LA). Neither of us have been camping in years so we are a little perplexed about where we should go.

We're a planning for a Fri-Mon in mid July. We want there to be some kind of water that we can swim in, either the ocean or a river or lake. Of course, warm showers are a must and clean bathrooms. And alcohol has to be permitted. I guess it is banned at some (all?) state parks.

Any ideas out there? A private campground is fine, as long as it isn't to RV's out. We are just taking tents. Are we crazy?

Thanks for any input!

yes, you are crazy - camping is the holiday in Cats ;-)

I camped at Dohney State Beach - right on the water - you want to try to get a camp group now? Oh wait... you are saying that alcohol is banned? Has it always been that way? We drank.. ?

My son went beach camping every year with his grandparents at San Elijo State Beach and loved it as well...

Big Bear lake comes to mind as one possibility. Also, I think most of the state parks don't ban alcohol in the campgrounds, but it's quite possible it's not allowed in the day-use sections of many of the state or county beaches. One of the campgrounds on the beaches north of Santa Barbara might work, though they tend to get fully booked well in advance.

Mom, I know we're crazy!!! But we don't need a whole group sight, when I say families, I just mean us and whichever kids want to go, so we just need one site. Is it still too late for that?

We were thinking around Santa Barbara or maybe Ojai but don't even know how to find a site. The last time I went we just drove until we found an opening.

It's probably way too late for the beach sites, but there should be lakeside sites available.
For sites on federal land: www.recreation.gov
For sites on CA state land: www.reserveamerica.com
Just plug in your dates to see what's available.
Some sites are on county land, so you can also check Ventura and Santa Barbara County Parks Dept. websites.

When you are looking at lakeside campgrounds, be sure to determine whether you can swim in the lake. In Ojai, Lake Casitas is very nice and shady, but the lake is a reservoir, so no swimming. Same with Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County. Fishing and boating is allowed, though and there are swimming pools and recreation areas.

I don't know anywhere where alcohol is prohibited. If that were the case, we would have stopped camping years ago.

I know of no state parks where alcohol is banned either. State beaches, yes, but not state parks. And I think even at the state beaches they have an exception for those who are camping overnight.

San Elijo State Beach in Cardiff by the Sea
Silver Strand in Coronado
San Onofre in San Clemente

www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=647

www.beachcalifornia.com/elijo.html

You are really late to try to get weekend reservations at any state park in California.

Yes...we got lucky and got two days at a late date but generally the beach sites are taken as soon as they open up --- what is it 8-9 months prior to the date?

MomDD, you were definitely lucky. I think most of the campgrounds leave about a half-dozen or so sites unreserved for first-come, first-served patrons. I don't know anyone who has lucked out on a mid-summer weekend and actually gotten one, though. I wouldn't risk driving from campground to campground on a Friday afternoon with 2 carloads of cranky teenagers, only to get shot down.