San Diego, CA RV Parks

[Chief409]

Thought I'd mention a park we had a very good experience with. Chula Vista RV Resort. It is located on the east side of San Diego Bay, very nicely kept, friendly staff, fairly new and it's close to everything in the area. Some pull through sites, back in sites with the rear facing the Bay, but reserve well in advance for one of these. Google Chula Vista RV Resort.

A link to the discussion (with pictures) from our trip: viewtopic.php?f=37&t=4004&p=36191&hilit ... +RV#p36191

Here is a link to the latest newsletter from the Resort: http://campaign.constantcontact.com/ren ... tR7w%3D%3D

Has anyone else stayed here? Experiences with other San Diego RV Parks?

[The-Bear]

I like "mine" very much -- but it's up in the mountains of East SD County -- an hour and a half's drive from downtown SD. http://www.pinezanita.com
We have a 1 yr. lease on a site at the Pinezanita RV & Trailer Park just 3 miles from the little ex-mining (and now 100% tourist) town of Julian. In addition to monthly rental sites, Pinezanita has very nice transient campsites available with 30 amp power and water hookups, but no sewer. The monthly sites have full hookups, but the transient sites only water and power. Pinezanita does have two RV dump stations however which are free for customers.

Pinezanita is in the mountains and heavily forested with a couple of species of old-growth oak groves and pine trees as well as planted aspens, cottonwoods and others.

Pinezanita has no activities or recreation rooms, but it does have a pond usually stocked with fish and many organized groups often book adjacent campsites and host their own events. They have a small store with camping items, canned foods and seasonally a few fresh items such as milk and butter. But Julian is just minutes away as well as the excellent Don's Market and the famous Julian Pie Co. in nearby Santa Ysabel.

The California Wolf Center is about 1/4 mile away off Hwy 79 and they have weekend tours. Lake Cuyamaca is about 4 miles away on Hwy 79 and offers shore and boat fishing, boat rentals and has a nice little Austrian restaurant.

If you're looking for a fancy RV Resort with organized activities, game rooms, dining room, swimming pool and mowed lawns, Pinezanita is NOT for you -- try nearby membership KQ Ranch Resort -- but if you're looking for a safe, clean, shady quiet family-owned and operated RV campground under big trees -- I highly recommend Pinezanita.

A large RV Resort corporation (Sunland Resorts I think is their name) owns and operates several of the well-manicured type RV resorts in the SD area. They have one next to busy Interstate-8 in Mission Valley which is quite central to SD (and next door to the best GM diesel service dealer I'm aware of in SD -- Bob Stall Chevrolet), one in Escondido, and two on the outskirts of El Cajon also on Interstate-8. I've never stayed at any of these because they're just not my type -- and relatively expensive.

Campland By the Bay is probably the most famous RV Resort in SD. It's on Mission Bay and owned and operated by the same company as the famous Newport Dunes RV Resort up the coast in Newport Beach. This place is most definitely NOT my cup-of-tea -- even if I could afford it -- which I can't.

We used to enjoy San Mateo CG (within San Onofre State Park) up the coast, just below San Clemente (where President Nixon had his Western White House compound), but with the State's budget problems they just raised the rate there to $60/night with water and power hookups. And San Mateo CG is an acquired taste. You have to enjoy the sounds of the AmTrak and Coastal train whistles through the night (the tracks are ON the beach). The tracks are nearly 1/4 mile from the campground, but the sound sure carries up the valley. And if the train whistles don't keep you up all night, then the Marines at Camp Pendleton most surely will.

San Mateo CG is actually on Camp Pendleton land -- the state leases it from the Marines. The Marines often run along the creek-bed at sunrise yelling out -- and you can hear their small-arms fire all day long. Neither of these activities bother me -- but full amphibious operations involving a dozen circling helicopters can get VERY old -- at least they did when we stayed here in our Pop-Up tent-trailer.

If you have other questions about SD just ask -- my wife has lived here nearly all her life and I spent my High School years here and then came back around 13 years ago.

P.S. I just read that you're retired U.S.N. The Marines operate two military campgrounds up by Camp Pendleton. One is within the base on the sand. It looks like dry camping from the freeway but you sure can't complain about the location -- you camp on the sand with the Pacific Ocean as your front yard.

The Marines also operate a more "civilized" campground -- looks like it might have hookups -- next to the beach just below San Clemente State Park.

You might have access to one or both of these.

[Traveler II]

We stayed at Chula Vista RV Resort five to six years ago, and you're right it's a great place. We were there for a month and at the time we had a heat pump and we used it to take the chill off. They charged extra for the electricity and I was surprised how much our electric bill was. Next time I will use propane.

We have family moving to Monterey this summer so our plans for next winter is to head to California and explore. That would be a great place to go. If I remember right they offer a coupon, stay so many nights and get a free night.

[Chief409]

We stayed at Chula Vista RV Resort five to six years ago, and you're right it's a great place. We were there for a month and at the time we had a heat pump and we used it to take the chill off. They charged extra for the electricity and I was surprised how much our electric bill was. Next time I will use propane.

We have family moving to Monterey this summer so our plans for next winter is to head to California and explore. That would be a great place to go. If I remember right they offer a coupon, stay so many nights and get a free night.

They're metering the electricity for stays of 2 weeks or more @ $10 per week currently. High, but Sacramento has the state in such a mess that city's and counties are starting to tax anything, including the air I think, to stay afloat!

It's getting as bad as Europe was twenty years ago.

http://www.chulavistarv.com/