Time to Go Camping!

Long days, fine weather, and that restlessness you feel when you haven’t slept out under the stars for a while. Yes, it’s camping season, and we’ve got three great national forest campgrounds in mind, each within a couple of hours of DTLA. Bonus: They’re all first-come, first-served—just arrive early if you’re weekending.

Week: 06.08.2017
Regions: Southern CA

Pretty View Campground

Chula Vista Campground in Los Padres National Forest

Chula vista means “pretty view,” and whoever named Chula Vista Campground in the Los Padres National Forest was right on the mark. The views extend all around and even upward to the heavens. Situated at 8,300 feet near the summit of Mount Pinos, Chula Vista is the best stargazing
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Park it in Nevada

Nevada National and State Parks

Ready to go big this summer? We’re talking road-tripping the most mountainous region in the Lower 48: Nevada! This place is made for adventurers who prefer their pit stops to be national and state parks. Nevada is a wide-open land with a gem of a park—mountainous Great Basin Nati
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High in the Angeles

Buckhorn Campground in the Angeles National Forest

Yes, Angeleno—you can camp in beauty and solitude without having to leave LA County! Buckhorn Campground, high in the Angeles National Forest just 36 miles up the Angeles Crest Highway, is just over an hour’s drive from downtown LA. But what a different world. Buckhorn is perched
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Holcomb We Haven't Camped Here?

Holcomb Valley Campground Near Big Bear Lake

Holcomb Valley is just a few miles north of Big Bear Lake, but this broad expanse of meadows and ponderosa pines feels far removed from all the lakeside hubbub. It’s the perfect peaceful camping spot: You can play at the lake all you like and return for a night under the stars. H
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    The light display atop Angel Island State Park’s Mount Livermore has long been a cheerful twinkle visible from many cities throughout the Bay Area on holiday season nights. Get into the festive spirit by hiking the 2-mile (one-way) trail from Ayala Cove up to the "Angel Lights."

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  1. Field of Light at Sensorio in Paso Robles

    Light This Way

    Hidden in the bucolic hills of Paso Robles lies one of the greatest light shows on earth. The lighted art exhibition, Sensorio, is as if the rainbow magic of the aurora borealis was plucked from the sky and planted in the fields. DECEMBER BONUS: Enjoy a holiday market, see The Nutcracker, and visit Santa at Sensorio.

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  4. Hikers sitting on a large rock slab next to Three Sisters Falls in Cleveland National Forest Southern California near Julian

    Three Sisters

    Good things come in threes at this hike to a lovely trio-tiered waterfall in Cleveland National Forest. The 4.25-mile out-and-back hike rambles among rolling hills, with rocky mountain views as switchbacks take you down to a lush canyon and the falls.

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