Palomar Mountain State Park – How to Plan the Perfect Family Camping Trip!I never grew up camping, so when my husband announced we were going on a camping trip, I didn’t exactly jump for joy. But I’ve heard over and over (yep, from hubby) that “Camping is great for kids” and “Camping makes great family memories” and “Camping builds character.” So who was I to stand in the way of progress? I quickly decided to leave baby Lucy (9 months) with my parents and to just take Ethan (5) and Noelle (3) on the trip. This was a stroke of genius. Otherwise, little Lucy would have been the main entrée at the mosquito fest. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Since we had never done this before, we decided to try camping for just one night. I can handle anything for one night, right? The locals are always raving that Palomar Mountain State Park is "sooo beautiful," and since it is only about 65 miles northeast of us, it seemed perfect. Here’s a video to show you some highlights for us, including what the campsite looks like and a few kid friendly trails...
Getting Started at Campsite #14The instigator of this camping extravaganza, my husband, set up everything for our big night. It’s easy to reserve your spot online on the California State Parks website. Apparently, the campsites fill quickly so the sooner you can reserve, the better. Somehow, my husband got us a spot in high season (we went in mid-July) even though we booked the spot just a few weeks ahead. We had campsite #14. We have friends that camped the same night we did, but they booked their campsite months in advance.
The cost was $30 per night for the campsite. There are discounts available for seniors and people with ADA status. The rate includes 1 vehicle and 8 people per campsite, although I must say our next door camping neighbors seemed to be packing a dozen relatives or more. You can make reservations from March 26 – November 29. When we went in July, it was hot in the daytime (high 80s) but perfect at night (in the 60s). We were fine with our sleeping bags and long-sleeved shirts and pants. Good thing, since I had envisioned myself freezing to death on top of some mountain. Don’t be surprised when you enter the state park if there is no one manning the entrance. For several hours in the afternoon, no one was at the park office. We wanted to buy a map for $1 but never found anyone to purchase it from. So, we just pulled into our campsite and put our online receipt paperwork on the dashboard. Seemed to work fine. Parking in the campgrounds is only for those who are paid to stay overnight. There are other parking lots for public day use which is $6 to enter the park.
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There are two campgrounds at Palomar Mountain State Park, the Doane Valley Campground and the Cedar Grove Group Campground. The group campground is designed for groups of 25 or 15 people.
We stayed at the Doane Valley Campground, which has outhouses near all the campsites with a flush toilet. The toilets were clean (thank you, park services!) and had toilet paper. But I'd still bring your own toilet paper just in case of a toilet paper emergency!
At the entrance of the campground is a larger bathroom with a few stalls, sinks and mirrors, and even showers. What luxuries! At each campground, there’s a cabinet to store your food. My advice? Don't bother. The one near our site was filled with ants. Big ones!
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| Our spot at campsite #14. |
What should you bring on an overnighter to Palomar Mountain?
- Tent
- Sleeping bags, pillows, teddy bear (for little or not so little ones!)
- Air mattresses
- Clothes, toiletries
- Bug spray, Afterbite
- Meals, snacks, and plenty of water
If there are mosquitoes out, don’t forget to put the bug spray on right away! A few minutes could cost you dearly. (Trust me: I'm a mosquito magnet!) Unfortunately, we brought the non-deet spray to Palomar Mountain to be more kid friendly, but I didn’t work as well. I got groups of bites on both shoulders, my forehead, thigh, and under my knee. Poor Noelle got 3 bites right on her face. Of course, having a pond near the campsite didn't help. Bug warfare! I’m itching just thinking about it.
Dinner was steak kabobs with red peppers and onions. Yummy! We grilled them beforehand at home because we thought it would take too long otherwise. We just reheated them over the fire which worked out great. We also brought pre-made mac and cheese for the kids, and--could you ever camp without them?-- S'mores. Truly the culinary highlight of the trip.
We slept relatively well. Our four man tent felt more like a two man tent, with all four of us lined up like little roasting sausages in a frying pan.
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| After all those S'mores, you'll sleep like a baby! |
The kids did great. I had trouble falling asleep – we had some noisy neighbors – and then by the time I got to sleep, I had to go to the bathroom. Unzip the tent, put on shoes, get the flashlight, walk to the outhouse. Yep, my least favorite part of camping. Ugh!
Breakfast at Palomar Mountain was raisin bread over the fire – wow! Delicious! It helped to make up for the lack of sleep the night before. We had chocolate milk from Costco (the kind you don’t have to refrigerate) and fruit.
Then we had the ultimate camper meal – hot dogs. We brought lots of snacks like pretzels, dried fruit, bars, and apples. Food wise, we did fine. No starvation diets here.
From Trails, to Observatories, to Milkshakes!
In the summer, we thought it would be best to hike in the late afternoon after it cooled off a bit, at night with flashlights, and in the morning.
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| Sunset on the Silvercrest Trail. |
So we did our first hike about 5 pm at the Palomar Mountain Silvercrest Trail. This was a beautiful trail that began from the parking lot of the Silvercrest Day Use area which also has a nice restroom.
It’s a narrow dirt trail that slopes gently up and down. Our 3 & 5 year olds had no problems following it, although we were glad the kids had picked up sticks to help them clear the branches. Useful and a source of great kiddie excitement!
You have a beautiful view of the mountains from the Silvercrest trail. Then it runs parallel to the main road but there are a lot of trees and bushes, so you don’t see any cars until the very end of the trail.
Afterwards, we drove to Doane Pond at Palomar Mountain and walked around the small pond. We saw a dad fishing with his son, but we didn’t last long ourselves-- too many mosquitoes buzzing by the pond and around our bodies – we were outta there!
At our campground, there was a trailhead for the French Valley Trail (around campground #24). We camped with friends who have four young children. The men and half the kids took flashlights and ventured along that trail in the dark. They had a blast! They didn’t travel too far on the trail, maybe about 15 minutes worth, and then turned back.
The next morning, we took the Palomar Mountain French Valley Trail which led to a beautiful meadow. There’s this massive and totally cool tree that you can climb on. I’m not a climber, so I took the pictures! This trail was perfect – there was shade and sun, plenty of pretty trees, leading to a picturesque meadow. All the kids ran and had lots of energy at the beginning. Then about 30 minutes into it, we decided we better turn around.
If you have young kids, you can imagine what happened next. “Daddy, hold me!” The kids got pooped and so did we, but it was still lots of fun and well worth it.
Don’t forget to bring water though. We had a bottle for everyone and still ran out at the end.
Since we were already on Palomar Mountain, we figured it would be worthwhile to go to the Palomar Observatory. And in the summertime, that is a great place to get out of the sun during the heat of the day. Plus, it’s only a few miles from the Palomar Mountain State Park campsite.
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| Farmer Boys has the best milkshakes! |
On our way to Palomar Mountain, we drove by a Farmer Boys fast food restaurant. The sign boasted “World’s Best Hamburgers” so we decided to swing by the drive-thru.
Since we weren't ready for lunch, we decided to splurge on shakes. We got an ice cold Cookies ‘N Cream milkshake for the kids to split. James and I split the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup milkshake. They were out of this world!
One warning: They took a long time to make. Jeepers, we thought, what was taking so long? We were the only customers in the drive thru in the middle of the afternoon! Then we realized they were scooping ice cream by hand. How often does that happen? No wonder they were so fresh and delicious!
By the time we left, we'd become such Farmer Boys fans that we decided to stop there again on the way back home. This time we tried the burgers. Little Noelle insisted on a Cookies ‘N Cream shake, and since it was hot (and hey, we were on vacation!) we let her.
Ethan picked a cheeseburger. His verdict? Good, "but not as good as In-n-Out." Agreed. James and I split “The Farmer’s Burger” -- their legendary 1/2 lb flame-broiled burger with cheese, bacon and fresh avocado. It was delicious, but not necessarily because of the superior burger. It was more the bacon and avocado!
Our burger was $4.99 and Ethan’s cheeseburger was $3.19. The shakes are $2.99 for the regular and $3.99 for the large. The first time, we ordered regulars. Now that we're big fans, we order the larges.
And since we simply HAD to have dessert, we decided to try a coffee shake...good but not nearly as good as the Reese’s or the Cookies ‘N Cream.
The Farmer Boys we stopped at was on 1333 E. Valley Parkway in Escondido. There’s another location in Escondido and you can visit their website at www.farmerboys.com for a store locator.
Planning Your Camping Trip
As I mentioned, campsites are $30 per night for the campsite. Discounts are available for seniors and people with ADA status. The rate includes 1 vehicle and 8 people per campsite. The park is located off Highway 76. From 76, go up Highway S6, and take a left on Highway S7 at the fork near the mountaintop.
For more maps, current weather, trails, and more information on Palomar Mountain State Park, click here.
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