Palomar Mountain State Park

I just love this place. Been coming here since i was a young lad. The views are breathtaking. Make sure you make the big view stop on the south grade. Its really big so you wont miss it.
The picnic opportunities are amazing here as well. There is a nice table up at the peak by the fire watch tower. Pit Bathrooms close by too. If you see someone by the tower you can ask for a tour and theu will.
Last time we went it was freezing cold butnot cold enough to snow (well the next morning it was covered in a blanket of snow) so it was so close that we actually pulled over and made some hot chocolate lol. Yeah we roll like that!
Camping spots are open year around even in snow. Fire restrictions apply.
If you come up through the east grade (lake henshaw side) you also get a very nice view point of the lake. So come up on the south grade and down on the east grade.
Make sure you have good brakes because they might smoke going down hill. Come down on lower gear but dont drag your transmission. Google it!
Well ill keep adding to this review im sure.

Camped in group site in October. A tree limb broke off in the middle of the night and narrowly crushed one of our Boy Scout troop family members. Dead trees everywhere in this park. That same night we heard several trees and/​or large limbs come crashing down. This was very scary. Beware, don’t pitch tent under any trees in this park. Look for stars above. State ranger seemed non chanlant about issue and did not seem too concerned that something immediate was not being done to protect safety of the campers. Hopefully some heavy snows will fall these dead trees naturally.

Drove up Sunday morning for some hiking. The trails were easy to locate and follow. It ranged from easy to moderate. The best part about this hike besides the panoramic view of north county, was the solitude of the mountains. I felt as if I had the whole park to myself. Great way to start the work week!
I would definitely come back and go camping for a few days.

My coworkers and I did bike repeats up Palomar Mountain on our road bikes as training for the Death Ride. It was my first time stepping foot into Palomar Mountain. We stayed mostly on South Grade and East Grade.
The scenery was beautiful and the view from the top was jaw-​dropping. It was a tough mountain to climb but also very inspirational for me. I am sure there is a lot more to see.
For those interested in a cyclists perspective of Palomar Mountain, I stitched together some GoPro footage of the ride:

Great Place to Camp! Campsites are clean, Camp hosts are friendly. This is a great place to hike, they have many marked and kept trails. A real plus was the friendly Jr. Ranger that has a night outing for the kids. She set up a informative movie and did questions and answers just like the old days. Great family camp!
There is a market and Restaurant about 3 miles from camp.

Best hiking around truly amazing. The camping ok but a few things to know with this campground.
–hard to book a site in the summer so plan ahead.
–sites are small and right on top of each other so if there is one loud group its very noisy for all the campers. This place seems to attract large groups so its usually quite loud there
–the park rangers are either not around or unable to enforce the quiet after 10pm rule
–Site have poor tent pads so know it may be extra work to find a flat spot.
–Fly’s, mosquito’s and bees… lots of bees.
On the plus side, amazing hiking right next to the camp ground.
–A good restaurant fairly close so if you don’t feel like making breakfast you can go there instead.
–Some flush toilets and showers.
Overall very good though I would recommend bringing earplugs.

This state park is awesome!
Getting there is relatively simple. You take 76 to S6 (aka South Grade). Staying on S6 dead ends at the Observatory, or take a left onto State Park Rd (right before the little store and restaurant) to get to the State Park (Observatory is not in the State Park). **Do not attempt to take Nate Harrison Grade** up or down the mountain. Use either S6 or S7 (S7 is a further out of the way towards Lake Henshaw but is a more gradual clumb up the mountain). S6 is a nice climb up the mountain. Not too scary or anything, but there are some sharp turns and be careful because there are a lot of bicyclists and motorcycles taking hairpin turns! There are some turn outs where you can stop and take pictures at some nice vista points.
Before you climb the mountain, there is gas/​restaurants in Valley Center.
After about 3 miles on State Park Rd, you’ll come to a kiosk. In the off season, they only open on the weekends (Not sure exactly what the off season is, but I know the season starts in April, and runs through… Sept or Oct maybe?). This is where you’ll pay either your $ 8 day-​use fee or $ 30 camping fee. If they are not open, there is a self pay area right next to it.
The day use parking area has a couple trail heads. The nature trail head (with a numbered pamphlet that tells you a little bit about each stop) and the Cedar trail head. The camping area has other trail heads. The map will help you connect the trail to your desired length.
The area is a mixture of shaded and not shaded at all. The meadow area gets very hot very quick. It was only 70 degrees, but we were burning up! The forested areas provide some nice relief. There are a lot of bugs so bring bug spray. Look for deer, they are abundant!
The weir historic site is a nice hike, but the weir isn’t all that interesting so don’t hike it for some great reward at the end.
The trails were not crowded at all when we went (late March Saturday). However, the campground was full by 9am. They start taking reservations for campgrounds in April, before that it is first come, first serve. So if you want a campground, either make a reservation or prepare to get there VERY early.

Awesome place to camp. I cannot wait to go back. The Observatory was pretty cool and the nighttime view of the stars is amazing. Some great hikes and views. Hard to believe a secluded place like that exists in San Diego!

I stayed at the Doane Valley Campground two nights. The rangers were lovely people. The campers were a mixed bunch. The campground is closely packed, so if it is full, you feel like your neighbors are screaming and partying right outside your tent, or you have children running through your campsite. That was my first night. My second night, the campground was only ¹⁄₃ full and the campers were respectful, reasonable people, and it was a lovely experience.
Bring your own toilet paper, the bathrooms ran out repeatedly.

This was my family’s first camping adventure, back in 2010. As a place to introduce my kids to camping, this was near-​perfect.
We camped two night, during the first week of August. The campground wasn’t more than half full. Incredibly peaceful and relaxing. There were moments we thought we had the place all to ourselves.
A short, informative nature trail will interest children of all ages. Other hiking trails in the area are more challenging The fishing pond at that time was overrun with tule reeds. I sure hope they have been dredged out by now, because they make fishing nearly impossible. But sometimes it doesn’t really matter whether you catch fish or not. The pleasures of this place are witnessing mule deer grazing in the meadow, or watching wild turkey strolling nonchalantly through the campsites. Most of the trees within the campground are towering oaks; the canopy of shade lasts the entire day.
Leave your cellphone at home; you won’t have coverage. Besides … you’re supposed to leave the world behind.

My fiancé and I went camping Monday Night through Thursday at the Doanne Valley campground at the site area 1 – 8. Great time! Only one other camper there that left hours after we arrived. Perfect timing to be completely alone!!!
It was a beautiful area that was very well kept. The bathrooms were very clean and the camp site provided us a great size food cabinet that locks, a fire pit, a grill, table personal water faucets and great room for our tent. All sites are like this with private car parking spaces right next to your site which was great!
The rangers and maintenance men were so friendly and knowledgable. So much deer roaming, it was beautiful. Just be careful coming during autumn/​winter, it gets really cold!!! But lucky timing for us to be alone. We will be back during the week and off season to be alone again :)

Camp sites are a gem. So close to north San Diego County with a Michigan like atmosphere, tall trees, forests, lots of great trails.
If you go fishing at Doane pond, bring extra hooks and bobbers as so much vegetation and reeds, it’s easy to lose both until you master the art of flinging line up to shore before reaching vegetation.
Wood fires allowed. Can buy from camp host at camp site. No electricity in bathrooms so forget charging anything by traditional way. I asked camp hostess and she said «there is no electricity anywhere in the camp sites».
Recommend bringing what you need and skipping store except for daily essentials like ice. It cost a whopping $ 12.56 for 6 C batteries. Small bundle of wood, about 5 pieces, costs $ 7.50.
Overall, great location and facilities. Definitely going back!

This is a great place to go hiking or camping. There are several hiking trails which vary from very easy to medium difficulty.
Campsites include concrete picnic tables and benches, fire pits, lockable boxes for food, and water spouts. The campsites are pretty close to each other, so you won’t get a lot of privacy or quiet if you have neighbors. The restrooms are relatively clean, but you’ll need to bring your own soap. Showers are semi-​private and cost 25 cents for two minutes, so make sure to bring your quarters.
Dogs (on leash) are allowed, but are not allowed on some trails.
Day use $ 8

Spent the weekend camping in the Doane Valley Campground. Each campsite has a fire pit with a very small grill built into part of the fire pit (our grill was warped and basically unusable), plus a freestanding charcoal grill (ours was in good shape), a food bin (to keep the critters out), and a picnic bench. The bathrooms are pretty basic flush toilets, plus there are pay showers.
It can be tricky to find the campground. I used Google Maps to locate Doane Pond (which is at the entrance to the camping area) and then used the iPhone navigation program to send me there. This worked well. Other people in our group tried plugging in «Palomar Mountain State Park» into their GPS units, with mixed results.
Pros:
–Beautiful wooded area; no need for an EZ Up because the trees are so dense
–Flush toilets
–Excellent hiking
–Fishing in Doane Pond is a 5 minute walk
–Palomar observatory close by
Cons:
–Campsites are close to one another
–Very hilly; can be hard to find a flat spot to put a tent and it’s a bit of a hike to get to/​from bathroom
–Lots of flies (but no mosquitoes in May)
–No cell service in camp (or is this a «pro»?)

Palomar mountain is somewhat atypical for SD. Because if the altitude there is a lot of cover and it’s pretty green compared to trails like Iron Mountain or Mt Woodson. There are a good number of trails going around Doane Pond, easy ones through meadows and ones with a creek. The observatory is close by so stop by if you get a chance. One of my favorite places in SD to see spring arrive!

Palomar is pretty easy to find, although printed directions are a great help because the GPS doesn’t take you all the way there!
We stayed at campground 8 & 9 which was perfect for a bigger group of people, plenty of room for tents, games and fires! There is a water tap on site, restrooms are close, showers are a 5 minute walk and available for a couple quarters.
We did the hike to the Palomar Observatory which was mediocre level I would say, nothing too crazy but pretty.
Be prepared for mosquitos and no phone reception… that’s camping ;)

This was my first time camping, and I wanted to make sure I was prepared. After watching the Man vs Wild marathon and practicing eating bugs in my back yard, I was ready to go.
We stayed at Doane Campgrounds, we thought it might be early in the year where it was colder and thus, not that many people, but nope, the campground was 95% full.
Reading some review of different campgrounds, one of the things I was looking to try to avoid was:
1) camping next to place with kids crying/​screaming all day.
2) large group of drunk people, playing music and partying it up all night
3) lots of bugs and getting attacked by bears
Saddly for us, we happened to be camped next to a group of 8 people that wanted to drink, play music and talk/​party late into the night. There is a 10pm — 6am «quiet hours», but they didn’t care, other campers did yell at them to be quiet at around 11pm, but didn’t help much… Some of the campsites are grouped really closely, so they happened to be almost right on top of us. At around 11:30ish, after being fully drunk, they did happen to roam around in the dark for a while, which was great for us, since it was finally a brief period of some quiet and a chance to look up at the stars. We actually thought of packing up all their stuff and hiding everything, so when they stumbled back, we could pretend they were at the wrong site… but they didn’t have an episode like that on the Discovery Channel, so we didn’t think it would work.
Each site does have its own fire pit, picnic table, running water and small cabinet. You do have to bring your own wood, as they don’t let you «gather wood» from the ground. There is also a real bathroom and showers in the area.
Overall the place is nice, and would go back, but learning from experience of how close the sites are together, I’ll probably just spend a bit more and buy out 2 – 3 campsites that are grouped together, to avoid the chance of camping next to people that took a wrong turn and ended up camping instead of a night club.

Due to a bullsh*t financial emergency trumped up by former State Parks director Ruth Coleman, the future of Palomar Mountain State Park was in doubt for a while there. But following the replacement of Ms. Coleman and her cronies with competent leadership, the campgrounds at Palomar Mountain State Park are now open again. Go now … before the next financial emergency arises!
The unique micro-​climate atop Palomar Mountain makes this park one of the few areas in Southern California with a Sierra-​like atmosphere.
Like most California State Parks, the rangers can be a bit overbearing and unfriendly, and some seem more taken with their Law Enforcement powers than with their interpretive skills or caretaking duties. But then, those are the zero-​dark-​thirty times we live in.
Day use fees are $ 8.00 per vehicle, cash or check only. Which is fine as far as it goes. But California State Parks should be deeply embarrassed that our neighbors to the north in Oregon see fit to offers free camping and day-​use in their state parks to all U.S. veterans with a service-​connected disability, and to active duty U.S. military members on leave. (In California, only honorably discharged «war veterans» with a 50 percent or more service-​connected disability, or former prisoners of war, or recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, get any break on park entry fees. And that’s a ridiculously high bar if you ask this humble veteran’s advocate.)
Also, please leave your dog (s) at home. This isn’t the place for them.
And due to the grave threat of the Goldspotted Oak Borer spreading throughout San Diego County, please leave your oak firewood at home too!

Follow the Baptist, Fry Creek, Lower Doane and French Valley trails to be led through forests and flat-​lands, and the chance to climb on stumps, jump through creeks, see deer run, inhale the fresh smell of mountain air, and free your soul. For real.
Ah. If faeries and talking lions dwelled on this mountain, I wouldn’t be surprised. This place is like magic.

This is a great place to camp and so close to San Diego. Under an hour from home base (Poway), past two major Indian casinos, we were up high in the mountains enjoying gorgeous mountain scenery and fresh air. The weather was gorgeous; bright and sunny but not too hot (although it was freezing in the morning).
Besides the great campsite replete with water spigot (at each site), full service restrooms including soap! coin operated showers (to promote water conservation), Palomar State Park has some beautiful trails running besides burbling creeks. The vegetation and animal life here is so different from San Diego scrub land, it is a refreshing change and makes you feel like you’ve truly driven out of your way for vacation.
The Doane campsite is adjacent to a pond that is stocked with fish for those interested. All in all a great place to camp out. There are some big negatives for those afraid of experiencing the outdoor life:
1) high enough elevation to get pretty darn cold
2) poison oak is all over and even all over some of the campsites –beware of this or you will spend a miserable few weeks after your trip.
3) mosquitoes, mosquitoes, mosquitoes –but I did not get one single bite due to liberal use of Off. My little boy on the other hand… He had so many bites, it looked like a rash. He was doused too, but I guess he tasted sweeter?
It was a fun trip.