Paso Picacho Picnic and Campgrounds

This place is amazing. You get to pick the site you want to camp at. The bathroom and showers also have hot water.

This was my second trip and I likely wont go back until all of the restrooms are operational. Although we were in an RV its nice to access the showers and clean restrooms as needed. One of the only restrooms was located across the way from us and had a line 2 – 5 deep most of the 2 days with only one stall in use. It was the dirties bathroom I’ve ever seen and the showers were under construction as well. Check out your neighbors before choosing your spot for sure. Lots of partiers and campfire smoke billowing! Bring wood its $ 8 for a bale that will last 30 mins to an hr.

I have been camping at Paso for years! The campsites are always clean, bathrooms always stocked and the rangers are always so nice! I love that I can have a campfire going from sundown to sun up if I really wanted.
We try to stay in a different spot every time we camp and every site has something that I truly love. Can’t wait for the next trip up!

Great camping and hiking area close to home. I love that this one is open all year but part of the year is walk up’s only. There are plenty of hiking trails and restrooms around the campgrounds. The restrooms and showers seem to be cleaned daily. Yes, there’s a little dirt, but you are camping. My least favorite part was the few bugs in the shower but nothing too bad. I think some campsites are better than others but I think that would be anywhere. Everyone has their favorites.
On my latest trip we saw a deer, birds, squirrels, and a fox or two. The squirrels and birds will get into your food or trash if you leave them out so be sure to put them away if you don’t want them to eat your food and make a mess.

Great campsite! It’s huge, but spread out nicely so you still have the opportunity to enjoy the landscape. We reserved the VERY LAST available campsite, which was in the middle of the campground. I expected to be completely surrounded by others, but instead we were mostly surrounded by trees and bushes. We actually watched a hawk hanging out in one of the trees bordering our site. We did have one neighbor, and that one campsite was awkwardly close. But hey, it could have been much worse!
Also, we got there an hour and a half before check-​in time, and were allowed to check in with no problems. This place is great for families and large groups. The lake is nearby and there are a few hikes that start in the campsite (and the popular Stonewall Peak hike is right across the street!).
Green Valley Campsite is the other one in Cuyamaca State Park, and I believe that one has a creek going through it with some great swimming holes. We thought about trying to switch, but it was kind of chilly to swim during our trip. We did find out that they have 5 handicap spots that they keep open until 5pm. So if you don’t have a reservation but you’re trying to camp, show up right at 5pm, when they open up the handicap sites!

My family and I spent the holiday weekend at Paso Picacho campground. We had thought we made a reservation at Green Valley Falls having stayed there before. Oooops. Upon our arrival we were redirected to Paso Picacho. The campground is nice and clean. Some spots are on a slight hill and can be small and so be sure to check if you plan to set up multiple tents. We were fortunate to get spot 52 which can easily hold 3+ tents. The site is flat and there are a lot of trees and decent shade. If you have a large party take spot 50 as well its right next «door». Beware, its cold up there at night. We were not ready for the high 30 degree late May nights. Maybe this was a freak weekend. Bathrooms are within walking distance of all sites. The camp hosts are easy to find and had good information and plenty of firewood. Lots of kids at this camp ground and not a ton of privacy between spots so be prepared to get to know your neighbors. My only complaint would be that its a bit noisy depending on when you want to turn in. Can hear kids and campfire games beyond 11pm. Not too terrible though after all it is suppose to be a FUN trip! Watch the squirrels. They will help themselves to what ever you have on your table or around your camp when you’re not looking. If at all possible keep your food in the car or in a zipped tent. Cuyamaca lake is just down the road for fishing and has a store for forgotten items. Its a bit pricey to replace things like camp stove fuel but not too bad.

I guess Im the odd person out here because I wasn’t too impressed with this place. Before you laugh at my review as most people think it’s «funny», or give me a mean reply like one person did, Im not a camping enthusiast. This review is mostly about the specific cabin i stayed in. I rented the Manzinita cabin thinking it might be better than tent camping but in all honesty, tent camping would have maybe been better. The price is ridiculous ($ 70 a night) for what you get. A glorified shed. Here is my breakdown:
Pros:
1. Very quiet campgrounds (at least when we were there)
2. Adequate staff
3. Flushing toilets that are clean
4. Showers
5. A couple trail heads that are close
Cons:
1. Bathrooms have no hand soap or paper towels. At first I didn’t mind but I got annoyed by the end of my trip that this sort of amenity is not included.
2. Showers were acceptable but one night I had a shower that had very little water pressure. The next night I had a shower with good water pressure but not very hot.
3. Not much to do in the area with kids. No play ground and the roads in the campground aren’t set up too well for children who want to ride bikes because there are a lot of hills and blind spots. Need to really watch out for cars.
4. The manzanita cabin is a little far from the bathrooms which isn’t too cool when I had to pee at 2:30 in the morning.
5. The Manzanita cabin didn’t have a water spigot near it yet most of the other sites had their own. We had to lug all the dishes to the nearest one which wasn’t that close.
6. The Manzanita site had a lot of dirt. I know what you’re thinking, it’s camping but this dirt was like fine moon dust so if the wind kicked up, so did the dirt. I noticed other sites didn’t have that sort of dirt.
7. We also had a few huge fire ants hills right in the middle of our camp. Again, I know it’s camping but my kids kept getting bit.
8. No convient store. You can buy firewood but that’s it. Even though Julian is only 15 minutes away it would be nice to have some sort of camping store.
Overall, I wasn’t impressed with this place. The cabins were a real disappointment too. I realized they were going to be sparse but it really is just a shed. Its not insulated very well. The door to ours didn’t even seal properly and for $ 70 a night? Not worth it in my opinion.
Also, I didn’t think the manzanita cabin is a very pretty spot. There are a lot of brush and trees which is okay but I felt like it was too «wild». I know that sounds a little ridicules since they cant control that sort of thing but there are these beautiful mountains near and its covered up by all the dead, burnt trees and ugly brush. Some sites have better views but Manzanita does not. William Heiss is a much better campground.

The little old lady at the entrance stole our money!
When I explained to her that 6 cars will be coming, she made me write down everyone’s license plate and pay for all their parking passes. When the last two cars arrived, she made them pay for two extra parking passes that I had already paid for! Even when our group mentioned that I had already bought their parking pass, she still made them pay for more parking passes. Very poorly run. She was also very rude. We were very disappointed with the customer service, and we will not be coming back.
Seriously, don’t go here! The rude staff at the front kiosk will steal your money!

Love the campground. Beautiful scenery and wildlife lots of trees. But we the ranger told us we were too loud during the day (sound carries it open space) but at night they didn’t control anyone’s noise. They approached the situation poorly. It ruined our trip.

Great campsite for the outdoorsman who likes to car camp. And easy 45 min drive from San Diego.
Bathrooms are fairly clean and they have ample wood for purchase onsite. Make sure you scope out sites before reserving some are spacious and private while others are completely open.
This place would get 4 stars accept for 2 down falls: the sites are incredibly dusty… Like everything you own including your entire body will be filthy and dry after a few hours. Secondly they allow campers to bring large speakers and blare music as loud as they want until about 10:30 pm. On my last trip I felt like I was in a night club as we were forced to listen to loud house music thanks to the giant group beside us. Really… No one should be bringing huge speakers a to a quiet camp site. It’s really inconsiderate and I’m surprised the rangers allow this.

Beautiful campground with clean sites, warm showers, and clean bathrooms. There are so many hikes for people of all ages. The volunteers and rangers hosted a nature walk on Saturday morning and there was a reptile show Saturday evening at green valley camp 6 miles away. Both things were free, great for kids, and we learned a lot. During our stay we saw woodpeckers, squirrels, wild turkey, and a fox.
There’s not a lot of shade, so bring your own in summer. There’s no place in the camp or nearby to cool off or splash around, but we had a water gun fight and had some fun. Campers were loud past 10pm, and the rangers didn’t regulate this on 4^th of July weekend. A member of our group had a dead car battery and the ranger came by quick with his battery box and helped us out! Thank goodness because it would have taken AAA quite a bit to arrive.
The drive is also far from commercial gas stations so make sure you gas up before you get on the ⁷⁶⁄₇₈ fwy.

Unbelievably rude staff at front kiosk and even ruder park rangers. They woke us up at 830 in the morning and told us we had to leave immediately because some of the other campers were upset because we played 2 songs on the guitar after 10pm. The ranger came over noticeably upset with his female friend in his truck and was going to give us a ticket until he found out one of us was a law enforcement officer else where… He told us to go to bed, so we packed up our table immediately and went to sleep only to be very rudely and heartlessly pounded on our door (new ranger this time) and woke us up. We were there for a 4 person bachelor party, two of us not even drinking and just enjoying a happy night together only to be ruined without warning. Yes we should have been more considerate but there were not many people around us and we could still hear plenty going on around us at other camps.

Our favorite local camp ground. We camped here May 2 – 4, 2014. Feels like you’re getting away but with out the long drive. We have been coming here since 2002. Great bathrooms that have hot showers for a quarter and amazing hiking trails. Cuyamaca lake is five minutes away and Julian Apple pie is only 20. We have never had a bad time here.

Beautiful spot, bonus that they are currently not elevating the fire danger level and therefore allow campfires. A little pricey and the lady at the front is a bit of a hard ass, but that’s alright. Only went here because I didn’t have time to get an overnight wilderness visitor/​remote camping permit. Wasn’t too crowded, but it was 30 degrees that night, so YMMV.

I just came back from a 1 night stay at Paso Picacho. This campground is perfect if you’re traveling in a small group. We had the Cedar Cabin site, which I highly recommend! It’s a very spacious site, so you’ll have plenty of room to spread out. It’s also in a nice, secluded section of the campground, backing into a beautiful field w/​mountain views, so you don’t feel like you’re surrounded on all sides by other campers. The restroom is a super short walk, maybe 100 – 150 feet away, just across the road.
Expert Tips:
— Book early, especially if you’re considering a weekend in the summer. They fill up 2 – 3 months in advance (especially the cabins, as there are only a few).
— Why the cabins are amazing: you can fit up to 8 people at your site, so you can easily accommodate 4 in the cabin, and 1 – 2 tents on-​site, all at no extra cost.
— Bring your own soap, or at minimum, hand sanitizer. I was disappointed to discover that the restrooms did not have fresh soap available — just running water, and no paper towels. I’m not sure if all the restrooms were like this, but I found it to be a little unsanitary.
— Firewood and Ice are available for purchase at the campground, but there is no campground «store» and it’s pretty isolated from other things, so make sure you have what you need!
— The Stonewall Peak hike starts right across the street from the campground, and this is a GORGEOUS hike! Highly, highly recommend it. It’s 4 miles roundtrip, and very easy (for any San Diego hikers, this one is much easier than Cowles Mountain and Iron Mountain). The switchbacks are long, so rather than ascending really fast in a steep manner, you walk on flat ground for most of it, with a very gradual incline.
— Only 2 cars are allowed to park at your site. 1 can park complimentary, but any additional will have to pay an $ 8 fee. (If you have 3 or more cars, you park the extra vehicles in their Day Use lot at the entrance)
— Noise wasn’t an issue, we felt campers were respectful and not too loud.
— While cooking, we had a couple of aggressive yellow jackets buzzing around our picnic table (apparently they like meat). It was kind of annoying since they fly around pretty erratically and are difficult to get rid of. We only saw 2 or 3 at a time, so it wasn’t a huge problem, but they were very drawn to the bacon we brought!
— Drive into Julian the next day and get some of their famous apple pie, cider donuts, or cinnamon ice cream! It’s about 20 – 25 min. up the road from the campground and well worth the stop.
Overall, my friends and I all had an incredible weekend and I would definitely return! They also allow dogs, so I might bring mine next time.

This past weekend was amazing! Camping with a group of 6 was easy, fun and relaxing.
This beautiful camp site is about 1 mile east of San Diego, tucked away amongst windy roads and beautiful lush landscape. Fresh air, pine tress and the sounds of woodpeckers surround your every move inviting you to experience a ‘home away from home” camping excursion.
We arrived at Paso Picacho late friday night around 8:30pm. We paid our $ 30 in the box because the rangers were not available at that time. We found our camp site #57 and set up for a night of star gazing and cocktails. After falling asleep around 10 pm we all nestled into out individual tents and was serenaded by the late night critters.
The next day the group and I went hiking at Green Valley, about ¼ of a mile down the hill and went on a search for a waterfall. The Hike was pretty simple, and lasted about 45 mins. The giant slippery rocks were everywhere, accompanied by children and adults splashing around in the water. We ate our lunch and hit the water for some afternoon fun, splashing around with some locals and tourist alike.
Great camp site for beginners, young crowds and families. The camp sites are big enough for guaranteed privacy. Bathrooms are clean and have hot water. Firewood is for sale $ 6 a bundle, camp «quiet time» is 10pm, bring soap and toilet paper. Squirrels are not scared and will climb inside your vehicles. Hiking trails are easy and plentiful.

Second time camping here with my own family, my parents, my sister and her family, and my cousins. It was great! It’s a nice little getaway into the woods but not too far from the city (about 1 – 1 ½ hour from Chula Vista). There are a few switchbacks driving but not too bad.
We reserved two cabins at Cedar and Coulter. They were very close to each other and to the bathrooms/​showers and Fire Road trailhead. It was perfect for what we were looking for. If you’re staying in just one of these cabins, it’s a little too close to the other cabin to feel comfortable and have privacy. My dad was able to put up a hammock in between the two cabin sites.
The cabins each have a wooden bunk bed and wood-​burning stove (we didn’t use). We also set up tents. You can only have 8 people and two cars per site. Extra cars are $ 8 per night and will have to park in day-​use parking. We stayed Sun-​Tues and we only saw a couple of other families at the campgrounds.
First night I slept in tent. Extremely windy, hard to sleep.
Second night in cabin on bottom bunk. Very quiet. No wind. Much better.
I get cold easily and I thought it was very cold. I didn’t have a sleeping bag, and now I see why I need one. I used like 4 blankets!
Lots of little squirrels, red ants, birds. My husband saw a coyote come through the campsite in the middle of the night and drink water from our bucket.
Some of us hiked Stonewall Peak Trail (trailhead is across the campground). My 3 yo and I started the hike and did about 20 min. Some reviews said it was family-​friendly. My sis who finished the hike and reached the top said probably not for little little children. My 10 yo made it to the top. It took them about two hours round trip for the 2 mile hike. Nice views from the top is what they said.
We also drove down to Green Valley Falls picnic area (the next campground south) and took the trail to the falls. Such a serene little corner of nature. Quick little dirt trail hike down to the place with babbling freezing cold stream and warm giant boulders for sunning yourselves. Wonderful for family even little ones. Bathrooms were not easy to find, though so be prepared.
At our campground, showers are 25 cents for 2 min. There are three shower rooms, but only one was available. Bathrooms (3) are clean and well-​maintained and all were available. They have 2 electrical outlets in each. All in all, great campsite and cabins. My family want to make it a yearly thing!

What a great area to go camping! It was the perfect distance from the San Diego area (~1 hour) — just enough to make you feel like you’re on a trip, but close enough to go frequently. The drive up the mountain is a bit windy… I must admit that I was a bit scared — but then again, I’m a giant scaredy-​cat. I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem for most people.
We went with a relative group of 9, but 2 others joined us for the second night. The site says there is a limit of 8, but when we called, the person told us that the number is not strictly enforced but only in place to keep down noise.
We were in CAMPSITE 55, which turned out to be great. There were a few rocks here and there, but we managed to fit 3 medium sized tents in comfortably. It seemed as though some campsites were much smaller than others, and we were definitely one of the larger ones. It’s also very close to the BATHROOMS (which were surprisingly clean and large) and 2 faucets, which was convenient as well. There was plenty of shade and even a giant log to hang out on.
We went on the STONEWALL PEAK HIKE. Everyone told us it’d be easy peasy. Alright, let’s be honest. I’m not the greatest hiker in the world, and while it definitely wasn’t difficult, I was a little tired towards the end. But don’t worry, there were kids who looked as young as 8 running around kicking my butt. There was even a woman who had crutches! I fail. But the view from the top is gorgeous and definitely worth your while. On the way down the mountain, we dropped by Green Valley (the other campsite) to try the trail to the WATERFALL. Tip: Keep your parking ticket from Paso Picacho — they let you use it @ Green Valley as well. The trip to the waterfall was short and very easy. The waterfall is a bit underwhelming, but it was a nice place to relax. If you go up the trail past the main pools, there are a few more areas that are quieter and nice to hang out in.
Overall, I had a great experience. The rangers and volunteers were very helpful and nice, and everything was easy to find. Yes, there tend to be some loud people who go camping, but that happens everywhere and the rangers definitely did enforce quiet after a certain point. I’ll definitely be going back frequently.
P. S.: MY ONE COMPLAINT: WHERE ARE THE TURKEYS!!!

Very nice campground with clean, well-​kept facilities. We stayed in an RV, and although there are no hook-​ups here, there is water and a dump station and there are many flat spots.
We stayed in early July and the creeks and streams surrounding the campground were pretty dried up. Lots of beautiful flowers and wildlife though, a great place for bird watching.

Last weekend was spent on my second annual «unprepared for the snow» snow camping trip here at Paso Picacho. With late snowfall in the year we thought it would be melted since it had been high 60’s all week. We were way wrong! (to our credit, last year we camped in January)
Most of the campground was covered in 6 inches of snow. Saturday a lot melted with 70 degree weather in the day and resulted in a slushy campground on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.
Tips for actually being prepared for snow camping, a.k.a. what I’ll bring next year for snow camping:
More wood. — They do sell some on site as well, just in case.
An extra pair of warm shoes and more socks. — I melted mine on the fire ring trying to warm my toes after getting soaked hiking Stonewall Peak. The trail was awesome but the snow was melting and super slushy on the hike. Mini rivers and huge puddles lined the trail.
More blankets/​warmer sleeping bag. — I woke up at 530 freeeeezing.
A shovel. — we had to dig out the fire ring using a frying pan! ha!
A sled. — The park was so empty there was sledding right near our area!
Ear Plugs. — Voices carried through the park easily and there was almost no one even here due to the snow.
Bonus: Cleanest bathrooms I’ve ever seen at campgrounds. Plus showers, if you have quarters.
I look forward to checking it out in the spring once all the snow has melted!