Crystal Cove State Park

I have never felt welcome in Orange County. Not for one moment. OC is the birthplace of punk rock music, and there are some great Vietnamese restaurants, but I'll voluntarily stay on my side of the curtain. I do like Crystal Cove, however. One cannot wonder what this place must have looked like before someone got the bright idea to litter the landscape with a golf course and faux-talian mansion monstrosities. Fortunately this little strip of the Orange Coast and a few thousand acres of behind the beach are protected and a great campground with million dollar sunset views is available to the general public. There are sites with all of the amenities (showers, water, tables) down by the beach, and a couple of dozen sites with fewer features if you are willing to hike 3 to four miles into the backcountry with all of your gear, water and food. There will be nobody camping in the backcountry, so if you are looking for solitary experience you are going to find it here at this time of the year at night (during the day the trails are swarming with people). Several trails go into the backcountry and if you decide to walk along the park boundaries it is about 11 miles. It took us a little over two hours to make the loop, and was stunning. It is not really a trail, it is more like a fire road. It is evident that they maintain this place very well. There is a lot of costal sage, and oaks at the bottom of the canyon. Red tailed hawks, turkey vultures, robins, and beautiful black ravens are abundant in the park. This time of the year, the canyons were green and lush and there were plenty of wildflowers. The rodent population seemed pretty healthy as well. You cannot access the beach from the campground. It requires a short walk up PCH. There are no campfires or bbqs allowed anywhere in the park. A Trader Joes is located less than a mile away and there are plenty of dining options in the area. This park is one of Orange County's crown jewels.

Mt. Lowe

Before the Station Fire, Mt. Lowe was one of the most beautiful areas in the local mountains. Those were the days. It was like a little corner of the Sierras about a half hour from Downtown Los Angeles. There are a number of trails leading to the top of Mt. Lowe. If you are interested in the scenic route, begin at the Cobb Estate/Lower Sam Merrill, continue on the Castle Canyon trail to Inspiration Point, then to the Campground and finally the summit. In the alternative, go up Angeles Crest Highway, turn right on Mt. Wilson Road and park your car at Mt. Lowe Saddle 2.1 miles up. This is the way to go if you are not an avid hiker or are with small children. From the saddle, walk through the beautiful CCC Era Stone Tunnel and take the East Trail to the Mt. Lowe summit. It is a suitable trail for children and dogs are permitted. The area used to be home to some nice oaks but since they burned, a bunch of Poodle Dog Brush and chaparral have popped up. The rock formations with the burned trees sticking out and the backdrop of the blue sky and the green meadow below are sublime. Wildflowers with beautiful shades of red are abundant at this time of the year. From the top of Mt. Lowe, there are some nice views of the Los Angeles Basin and Mt. San Antonio and San Gorgonio to the east. You will probably see Raven or Red-Tailed Hawk.

Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park

This is a big park with a couple of camping options and a hundred miles of trail. There are some huge old growth trees and some scenery that you will never forget. But you already knew that. I suggest the Damnation Creek Trail located at mile marker 16 off Hwy 101 four miles south of the Mill Creek Campground. It is an old Yurok trail that will take you approximately two miles down a moderately steep path to the beach where you will pass some of the most magnificent old growth trees you will ever see. It must have been too steep to remove the lumber, so these giants lives were thankfully spared. The way that the sunlight shines through the fog and filters through the trees here will leave you speechless. There are some amazing colors in this forest! The beach is equally awesome. The Hobbs Wall trail to the Mill Creek Trail is another nice trail that is accessible from Mill Creek Campground located within the park. The trail will take you to some nice sections of the park. It is about 8 miles up and back with plenty of water that you could drink after filtering. My wife and I did not see one other human soul on this trail. Mill Creek Campground is relatively uncrowded, covered in second growth trees and has some of the most awesome campsites I have ever encountered anywhere. Bear, deer, raven, banana slug, and stellar jay will be on the trail. Campsite #90 is especially nice.

It is a wonderful place to camp when you are exploring this park.

Patrick's Point State Park

Patrick's Point State Park This park is one of the crown jewels of California's State Park System. It is a seldom used place open year round overlooking Agate and Trinidad State Beaches with jaw-dropping views of the North Coast. The mixed forest within the park is filled with crows, jays, ravens, mountain lion, brown bear, chipmunk, deer, elk and other creatures. Keep your food locked in the bear box and take all the soap and candy out of your car or face the consequences. The Rim Trail is just a few miles long and will take you along a beautiful path where the forest meets the ocean and a couple of paths lead down to the water. The campsites here are huge and private and you are going to have a couple of areas to choose from. The Agate Beach Trail is currently closed, however. At the time of our visit, the fog had burned off by around 2PM offering some astounding scenery from the Rim Trail and the top of Ceremony Rock. Light pollution is relatively low here on the point and looking at the stars here with the sound of the ocean in the background makes life worth celebrating. All campsites in this and every other California State Park are $35.00 a night. A generous two (2) dollar discount is available for seniors. If you hike or bike into the campground, the cost is $5.00 per person.

Chilao Campground

I came here afterwork yesterday and occupied campsite #39 in Manzanita Loop. There were a total of three other parties in the entire campground and the experience could not have been anymore magnificent. My godson who is three had his very first camping experience was absolutely delighted with Chilao. He climbed around the boulders, explored the vicinity of our space, ate s'mores, hot dogs, sat around the fire, watched the stars, and collected pine cones and rocks. He could not have been any happier. We will both surely never forget this fantastic little trip. We saw blue jays, crows, squirrels, chipmunks, and a couple of red tailed hawks. The forest has come back since the Station Fire and looks much better than it did the last time I was here approximately two years ago when it looked like Downtown Grozny. It was a fine night to go to Chilao. The temperature was in the 60's all night and the moon and stars were just breathtaking. Instead of the sleeping in the tent, I put my air mattress in the middle of a clearing so I could get a better look at the stars and planets. I turned on a little Frank Zappa and had some cold ice water and crashed. I woke up at 4AM and took a leisurely two hour stroll in the moonlight. The burned trees in the moonlight reminded me of skeletons and the purple flowers of the poodle dog brush glowed like they were under a blacklight. The forest looked hopeful and like a war zone simultaneously. An owl's call and some crickets were the only sounds in the canyon. I went to some intense boulders on one end of the canyon south of the park and climbed to the top of the stack and carefully observed what was going on around me. Life can be exceedingly disappointing when you look at the big picture, but very grand indeed because of times like this. Campsite-$12 Food-$25 Gas-$10 Firewood-Free Memories-Priceless