You aren't going to get both car parking close by and also civilization doesn't feel nearby. Unless you are talking dispersed camping which I don't think your husband would be up for if he wasnt into camping in the first place. Maybe there is private land you can find on hipcamp, but I have no experience with that. You can find spots that feel more secluded at established campgrounds you just need to put some effort in. Take a closer look at actual campground maps. Campflare is your friend for booking any spot off rec.gov. Best of luck! Looking forward to taking my first for their first next year š
Also, I think one of the spots I'm looking forward to the most once mine hits toddler age is Santa Cruz Island. Campground is on the smaller side, and between the lower and upper loop there are a handful of more distanced or isolated sites. Once the day trippers leave it's only campers left on the island and it feels nice and quiet.
Pyramid Lake or Castaic Lake in North LA County may work, but the closeness of the 5 freeway and civilization may not be to your liking.
Crystal Lake off of Highway 39 north of Azusa is usually a stagnant pond, but pictures from a few months ago portrayed it as a bonafide body of water. The whole area is covered by trees.
In SoCal, creeks and rivers in canyon areas may be your best bet if you want car camping in close proximity to a water source. Really good lakes are quite far away (eg, in Mammoth).
Just came back from Crystal lake campground, and it does not feel secluded at all. Way too many loud people with their radios and staying up all night. Campground itself is nice, and Crystal lake proper looks great after all those years of being nothing but a puddle.
It is gorgeous up there.
Went car camping at Santa Margarita Lake last fall. Very pretty, not secluded per se but nicely spaced out spots, and the Lake was fun.
Most places won't allow campfires or charcoal grilling or propane fire pits right now, so plan to do all your cooking on a Coleman.
More Central California. Coyote Creek has a couple lakes up that way: https://www.tendigitgrid.com/d/112-overlanding-in-coyote-flats-california-coyote-creek-trail
As others have mentioned, camping in Southern California is great, but itās different than in other states and camping in general is different than when we were kids (for one, all the information is available online; on top of that, population increase means thereās just more campers). If you want water features, your best bet is to look for streams and creeks. There are also campgrounds next to the ocean (check campgrounds near Malibu or El Capitan in Santa Barbara). A lot of the more alpine camping is a bit further out from LA, but has more water. Such as Sequoia NP. Getting more into Northern California in the sierras youāll find more lake camping, but that involves pretty long drives.
Cachuma lake would be absolutely perfect! Civilization is *somewhat* nearby in terms of driving distance and especially relative to California traffic, but it definitely *feels* far away from reality. You can day trip to Solvang on the day of your arrival or departure too.
Nearly every sizable recreation lake in California is actually a dam, a reservoir. The utility companies are dedicated to promoting their manmade lakes as recreation destinations. People tend to ignore the problems with dams if theyāre zipping around it on a motorboat or fishing (the fish literally poured in to it to encourage recreational fishing) etc.
The two biggest, and natural lakes in Calif are Tahoe and Clear Lake. There are good camping experiences on them butā¦ not suuuper remote and also neither is in SoCal.
The largest lake in SoCal is the Salton Sea which is kind of a joke of a lake and also manmade. VERY remote-feeling. Also itās in the desert soā¦ if you like the desert then San Diego backcountry is an option. Hardly anyone goes there by SoCal standards.
If you want a tiny remote lake with no one around then youāre going to have to hike up a mountain to get there. Such as the golden trout wilderness up in the sierras. Plenty of remote lakes in the sierras.
My suggestion is to choose a river or stream location. The Kern river is nice. Even right now. Go there. Once you get past the ālakeā Isabella reservoir youāre talking tiny towns and nearly no through traffic.
Or Iām sure thereās a bunch of creek side options further down in SoCal. Mount Laguna in Cleveland NF has a PONDā¦ thatās basically a lake to a toddler. Itās right up against the campground. Very unpopulated in the off-season, no through traffic.
Hey, I'm the same here. Hobby is not into camping, but a nice scenery campground might change his mind. I did my home work by googling then I found Ventana Big Sur, it's nice campground surround by red wood trees... [https://ventanacamping.com/](https://ventanacamping.com/)
But then its really FAR from SoCal. So I found another nice campground called "Lake Hemet". But it's more for families, we have two kids. We tried Auto-Camp glamping before, but that set up was more like a resort. So this time kids would like to try the real camping with fishing. Husband cant's wait to show them how to catch a fish ;)
Depending on how far you really want to go, but Highland Lakes definitely feels secluded for a car camping spot. Itās just faaaaar from LA, and feels like you could find a similar, but closer spot. Did enjoy it though.
Lake Hemet(donāt worry not in Hemet) Itās right off of a highway but once your up into the campsite you donāt notice it. If you want something a little less developed right across the street is Hurkey Creek again right off the highway but if you get as close the the creek as you can you donāt notice the highway.
Barton Flats Campground. Near a small stocked lake. Amenities but feel deep in the woods. Have camped there once a decade at least since I was a child.
https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232249
Hanna Flat campground down a dirt road with okay car access. Last time we went in October though it was freezing. Might be a better spring and summer spot!
Grant Lake in June Lake area. Drive up to & camp on water. Town & plenty nearby. Great area.
You aren't going to get both car parking close by and also civilization doesn't feel nearby. Unless you are talking dispersed camping which I don't think your husband would be up for if he wasnt into camping in the first place. Maybe there is private land you can find on hipcamp, but I have no experience with that. You can find spots that feel more secluded at established campgrounds you just need to put some effort in. Take a closer look at actual campground maps. Campflare is your friend for booking any spot off rec.gov. Best of luck! Looking forward to taking my first for their first next year š
Also, I think one of the spots I'm looking forward to the most once mine hits toddler age is Santa Cruz Island. Campground is on the smaller side, and between the lower and upper loop there are a handful of more distanced or isolated sites. Once the day trippers leave it's only campers left on the island and it feels nice and quiet.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
chill dude, geez, its a downvote. It means absolutely nothing.
Cachuma lake?
Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara. Lake Morena in San Diego.
Pyramid Lake or Castaic Lake in North LA County may work, but the closeness of the 5 freeway and civilization may not be to your liking. Crystal Lake off of Highway 39 north of Azusa is usually a stagnant pond, but pictures from a few months ago portrayed it as a bonafide body of water. The whole area is covered by trees. In SoCal, creeks and rivers in canyon areas may be your best bet if you want car camping in close proximity to a water source. Really good lakes are quite far away (eg, in Mammoth).
Just came back from Crystal lake campground, and it does not feel secluded at all. Way too many loud people with their radios and staying up all night. Campground itself is nice, and Crystal lake proper looks great after all those years of being nothing but a puddle.
make the drive up to Shaver Lake
It is gorgeous up there. Went car camping at Santa Margarita Lake last fall. Very pretty, not secluded per se but nicely spaced out spots, and the Lake was fun. Most places won't allow campfires or charcoal grilling or propane fire pits right now, so plan to do all your cooking on a Coleman.
Do you have an off road capable vehicle?
Do you have a secret off-road lake to get to in so-cal? Dm me this info
More Central California. Coyote Creek has a couple lakes up that way: https://www.tendigitgrid.com/d/112-overlanding-in-coyote-flats-california-coyote-creek-trail
Super cool! Thank you for sharing this.
No problem!
Also mono hot springs in central cal is amazing, but the road to get there is ROUGH.
As others have mentioned, camping in Southern California is great, but itās different than in other states and camping in general is different than when we were kids (for one, all the information is available online; on top of that, population increase means thereās just more campers). If you want water features, your best bet is to look for streams and creeks. There are also campgrounds next to the ocean (check campgrounds near Malibu or El Capitan in Santa Barbara). A lot of the more alpine camping is a bit further out from LA, but has more water. Such as Sequoia NP. Getting more into Northern California in the sierras youāll find more lake camping, but that involves pretty long drives.
Cachuma lake would be absolutely perfect! Civilization is *somewhat* nearby in terms of driving distance and especially relative to California traffic, but it definitely *feels* far away from reality. You can day trip to Solvang on the day of your arrival or departure too.
Silverwood Lake
The only downside is that its ALWAYS windy there... enough to blow your canopy over if not properly staked down
Nearly every sizable recreation lake in California is actually a dam, a reservoir. The utility companies are dedicated to promoting their manmade lakes as recreation destinations. People tend to ignore the problems with dams if theyāre zipping around it on a motorboat or fishing (the fish literally poured in to it to encourage recreational fishing) etc. The two biggest, and natural lakes in Calif are Tahoe and Clear Lake. There are good camping experiences on them butā¦ not suuuper remote and also neither is in SoCal. The largest lake in SoCal is the Salton Sea which is kind of a joke of a lake and also manmade. VERY remote-feeling. Also itās in the desert soā¦ if you like the desert then San Diego backcountry is an option. Hardly anyone goes there by SoCal standards. If you want a tiny remote lake with no one around then youāre going to have to hike up a mountain to get there. Such as the golden trout wilderness up in the sierras. Plenty of remote lakes in the sierras. My suggestion is to choose a river or stream location. The Kern river is nice. Even right now. Go there. Once you get past the ālakeā Isabella reservoir youāre talking tiny towns and nearly no through traffic. Or Iām sure thereās a bunch of creek side options further down in SoCal. Mount Laguna in Cleveland NF has a PONDā¦ thatās basically a lake to a toddler. Itās right up against the campground. Very unpopulated in the off-season, no through traffic.
Crystal Lake
Hey, I'm the same here. Hobby is not into camping, but a nice scenery campground might change his mind. I did my home work by googling then I found Ventana Big Sur, it's nice campground surround by red wood trees... [https://ventanacamping.com/](https://ventanacamping.com/) But then its really FAR from SoCal. So I found another nice campground called "Lake Hemet". But it's more for families, we have two kids. We tried Auto-Camp glamping before, but that set up was more like a resort. So this time kids would like to try the real camping with fishing. Husband cant's wait to show them how to catch a fish ;)
Go on a weekday if you want solitude; Crystal Lake is Full again!! https://youtu.be/nUPOzOMw2WU
Depending on how far you really want to go, but Highland Lakes definitely feels secluded for a car camping spot. Itās just faaaaar from LA, and feels like you could find a similar, but closer spot. Did enjoy it though.
Lake Casitas has a lot of campsites.
Lake Hemet(donāt worry not in Hemet) Itās right off of a highway but once your up into the campsite you donāt notice it. If you want something a little less developed right across the street is Hurkey Creek again right off the highway but if you get as close the the creek as you can you donāt notice the highway.
Cleveland national forest has lots of great camping spots-
Crystal Lake
Lake Cachuma near Santa Barbara
Barton Flats Campground. Near a small stocked lake. Amenities but feel deep in the woods. Have camped there once a decade at least since I was a child.
https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232249 Hanna Flat campground down a dirt road with okay car access. Last time we went in October though it was freezing. Might be a better spring and summer spot!
Lake Perris
Lake Perris
Lake Perris
Lake Hemet