Title: How to score a great campsite...
Content: Here are some limited campsites which are first come first serve, hope you get lucky. Also, we just published it to a massive local audience!
Gatekeeping does suck BUT demand has increased while the budget for the Angeles National Forest maintenance has steadily decreased over time. This isn't just the ANF but the [USFS as a whole](https://www.reddit.com/r/socalhiking/comments/15q43ed/so_much_trash_on_san_gabriel_river/jw24tnn/).
In fact, they are now allowing [outside companies to charge a usage fee in different trailheads in the ANF](https://www.reddit.com/r/socalhiking/comments/1d9wtte/new_parking_fees_lunacy/), I imagine in part to try to keep their operational costs lower. This is a HUGE deal because now you don't get to just use one pass at all locations.
True, however I just happened to find their first suggestion “Monte Cristo” the other day with my daughter on the way to Chilao. I thought it would be my secret spot - so I was a little bitter.
Chilao usually has spots open and we found one of the last spots at Monte Cristo by pure chance… I do appreciate mentioning the other spots. And there are some good ones they left out. It just means that poeple will have to go out wed/thurs if they want a spot for the family over the weekend.
I hope they can open up buckhorn again. That spot was amazing.
I used this service to get a campsite in Yosemite. It was on the very edge of the park so your mileage may vary. After using the service my feedback is as long as you have two or three weeks in advance you'll get a campsite if you're persistent. Might not be a prime location but something is a lot better than nothing!
The reality is that the people who get these really hard to get campsites (such as being right in Yosemite valley at the center) get it by luck or through shear persistence and not bots. It's just one of those situations that there are so many people looking for campsites that people get lucky.
Now here's the big secret about campnab.... If you're looking for a really hard to get sight you'll get the notification but it will always be booked the moment you click on the link even if you click it one second after receiving the notification (because of the above).... But what most people don't realize is that a lot of times the person who got lucky ends up not booking because it doesn't work for their dates.
Start refreshing on the booking site at 10 minutes after receiving the notification that the campsite was available.... There's a good chance you'll see it pop up when it times out from their cart.
At least that's the tip the owner gave me and he is fantastic at customer service.
Excerpt:
> In other words, you want to go camping. But there’s one catch: You did not plan six months in advance to secure a camping spot in one of California’s highly sought-after parks. Lucky for procrastinators like yourself, L.A. County has an abundance of first-come, first-served campsites that offer a range of experiences for every level of camper. That’s because unlike many of our state and federal parks, Angeles National Forest doesn’t use a reservation system for most of its campgrounds.
> That means if you leave from the city early Friday afternoon you can likely score a weekend campsite, regardless of whether you want to drive, hike or bike in. (That is, unless it’s a crowded holiday weekend. Then your fate lies with Mother Nature and your friend who has never worked a 9 to 5.) It just takes a little bit of strategizing.
> Below is a comprehensive guide for how and where you can escape to the mountains around L.A., including my recommendations for the best campsites to visit, organized by skill level. Choose your fighter and let’s go.
This article seems like it was written by someone that just went camping in LA for the first time and got lucky finding a spot. I've been camping in Angeles Forest for nearly two decades, and I can tell you from experience you're not going to find a good campground spot if you leave on a Friday afternoon. I've never once seen a desirable spot available if arriving Thursday-Sunday. Since Covid, people are literally arriving on Tuesday or Wednesday for a weekend camping trip at the good first-come first-serve campgrounds. It's ridiculous.
If you show up on a Friday afternoon, you're probably going to end up settling for Chilao or Horse Flats, which are pretty barren compared to the prettier campgrounds further up the mountain.
My family is new(ish) to the city and have been wanting to meet other families that camp. Does anyone know of any groups to join to meet families with that common interest?
Do you have kids? Find a good scout troop.
Not all of them are great, but there's definitely some really good ones.
My family has gone camping at Zion, Grand Canyon, multiple beaches, trans-Catalina, and just this weekend rock climbing at Joshua Tree with my kid's scout troop. Next weekend we're doing bike packing with them. We're trying to get a spot at Yosemite in the next year.
Most of the families are pretty cool, and we've made a handful of good friends that we go out and do stuff like this together with without the other scouts.
There’s still 2 great group spots open for the fourth. Easy to find on recreation.gov. Little more pricey but you get way more room for activities and you aren’t with a ton of other people so it can be quieter depending on who is at the other sites.
Title: How to score a great campsite... Content: Here are some limited campsites which are first come first serve, hope you get lucky. Also, we just published it to a massive local audience!
Yeah… thanks a lot
Gatekeeping sucks. Sharing increases demand, which increases more campsites (long term)
I haven't seen any new campgrounds popping up, like ever
People definitely try to make new camp sites in LA, but then the cops eventually clear them out.
Gatekeeping does suck BUT demand has increased while the budget for the Angeles National Forest maintenance has steadily decreased over time. This isn't just the ANF but the [USFS as a whole](https://www.reddit.com/r/socalhiking/comments/15q43ed/so_much_trash_on_san_gabriel_river/jw24tnn/). In fact, they are now allowing [outside companies to charge a usage fee in different trailheads in the ANF](https://www.reddit.com/r/socalhiking/comments/1d9wtte/new_parking_fees_lunacy/), I imagine in part to try to keep their operational costs lower. This is a HUGE deal because now you don't get to just use one pass at all locations.
True, however I just happened to find their first suggestion “Monte Cristo” the other day with my daughter on the way to Chilao. I thought it would be my secret spot - so I was a little bitter. Chilao usually has spots open and we found one of the last spots at Monte Cristo by pure chance… I do appreciate mentioning the other spots. And there are some good ones they left out. It just means that poeple will have to go out wed/thurs if they want a spot for the family over the weekend. I hope they can open up buckhorn again. That spot was amazing.
Whole article could have been “campnab.com”. That’s all you need. Scored a Zion NP campsite that has a 6month wait a week out from our trip.
I used this service to get a campsite in Yosemite. It was on the very edge of the park so your mileage may vary. After using the service my feedback is as long as you have two or three weeks in advance you'll get a campsite if you're persistent. Might not be a prime location but something is a lot better than nothing! The reality is that the people who get these really hard to get campsites (such as being right in Yosemite valley at the center) get it by luck or through shear persistence and not bots. It's just one of those situations that there are so many people looking for campsites that people get lucky. Now here's the big secret about campnab.... If you're looking for a really hard to get sight you'll get the notification but it will always be booked the moment you click on the link even if you click it one second after receiving the notification (because of the above).... But what most people don't realize is that a lot of times the person who got lucky ends up not booking because it doesn't work for their dates. Start refreshing on the booking site at 10 minutes after receiving the notification that the campsite was available.... There's a good chance you'll see it pop up when it times out from their cart. At least that's the tip the owner gave me and he is fantastic at customer service.
I have been trying to get a campsite since last year on the coast and was wondering if using that site was worth it going to do it now.
Excerpt: > In other words, you want to go camping. But there’s one catch: You did not plan six months in advance to secure a camping spot in one of California’s highly sought-after parks. Lucky for procrastinators like yourself, L.A. County has an abundance of first-come, first-served campsites that offer a range of experiences for every level of camper. That’s because unlike many of our state and federal parks, Angeles National Forest doesn’t use a reservation system for most of its campgrounds. > That means if you leave from the city early Friday afternoon you can likely score a weekend campsite, regardless of whether you want to drive, hike or bike in. (That is, unless it’s a crowded holiday weekend. Then your fate lies with Mother Nature and your friend who has never worked a 9 to 5.) It just takes a little bit of strategizing. > Below is a comprehensive guide for how and where you can escape to the mountains around L.A., including my recommendations for the best campsites to visit, organized by skill level. Choose your fighter and let’s go.
This article seems like it was written by someone that just went camping in LA for the first time and got lucky finding a spot. I've been camping in Angeles Forest for nearly two decades, and I can tell you from experience you're not going to find a good campground spot if you leave on a Friday afternoon. I've never once seen a desirable spot available if arriving Thursday-Sunday. Since Covid, people are literally arriving on Tuesday or Wednesday for a weekend camping trip at the good first-come first-serve campgrounds. It's ridiculous. If you show up on a Friday afternoon, you're probably going to end up settling for Chilao or Horse Flats, which are pretty barren compared to the prettier campgrounds further up the mountain.
I was just up in Wrightwood a couple weeks ago. Tons of available campsites even on Saturday. Maybe not the best campsites but they’re there.
Is that because the direct road from LA to Wrightwood has been closed?
No it’s open again and was that weekend. Maybe word hasn’t spread?
Table mountain?
In the area around it there’s like 12 different campgrounds many of which have FCFS.
I got so fed up with trying to get reservations for campsites anywhere around LA that I finally bought my own.
>That means if you leave from the city early Friday afternoon you can likely score a weekend campsite, Lol early Friday afternoon
My family is new(ish) to the city and have been wanting to meet other families that camp. Does anyone know of any groups to join to meet families with that common interest?
Do you have kids? Find a good scout troop. Not all of them are great, but there's definitely some really good ones. My family has gone camping at Zion, Grand Canyon, multiple beaches, trans-Catalina, and just this weekend rock climbing at Joshua Tree with my kid's scout troop. Next weekend we're doing bike packing with them. We're trying to get a spot at Yosemite in the next year. Most of the families are pretty cool, and we've made a handful of good friends that we go out and do stuff like this together with without the other scouts.
You can camp in front of any of the many 99¢ Only stores, at least until they become Dollar Tree.
Neat, saving this for future reference
There’s still 2 great group spots open for the fourth. Easy to find on recreation.gov. Little more pricey but you get way more room for activities and you aren’t with a ton of other people so it can be quieter depending on who is at the other sites.
Urban camping is the craze right now. So hot.
The real answer is disperses or primitive camping. Who wants to camp next to a bunch of farting humans.