roadtripper8847063

This is an absolutely amazing location with so many different sites to choose from. However, because we rely on internet to work, we had such a tough time and ending up needing to leave after 4 nights. There is Verizon LTE in the town of Lone Pine plus you can get on the town's free Wifi along Main Street, but even with our booster and trying loads of sites and angles on the booster, we just couldn't get a reliable signal.
We were also a little surprised by all the mosquitoes! This area sits at about 4500' elevation, with a rushing stream (no stagnant water that we saw)...seemed so strange to get harassed by mosquitoes anytime we stepped outside the RV (in mid April). Also surprised at the amount of broken glass, almost anywhere you looked.
Movie road and the off-shoots are all sandy roads, passable to almost any vehicle (we have a 33' Class A). Some off-shoots are rockier than others, so it's best to send a car first to scout for a spot.
Don't let any of that stop you from visiting! We went into town to use internet, we used bug spray as needed, and we enjoyed some of the most incredible views we've ever had boondocking

First come, first serve park with friendly host. Called a couple times before arrival and someone always answered. Only a handful of people here in early May. I was told things don't really pick up until the 4th of July. I saw a water spigot in the day use area...not sure if there are some scattered in the camping area. No dump station. Totally workable AT&T for streaming and video meetings but we were also using our Mimo to help boost. Much warmer and much less wind than we had over at the coast, so that was a welcome surprise.

Yes it's busy, yes the Coaster and Amtrak trains go by frequently blaring their horns (which are awesome options to get to the heart of San Diego, btw) but this is still one of our favorite spots. It's beautiful on the bluffs and you can access one of the very few dog beaches right from the campground (at the southern end) -- it's a fairly small area but you could also opt to cross the bridge and all of that long stretch of beach is also dog friendly.
We also LOVE Cardiff. The Seaside Market is spendy but has excellent produce, a great beer and wine selection, and a fantastic deli and seafood counter. I love shopping at the Rancho Coastal thrift store which supports the humane society. VG Donuts is right there and Best Pizza and Brew -- two great spots. And we've been to the Cardiff vet, all right there within walking distance to the campground. In the huge sprawling area that is San Diego County, we love to be able to walk and bike to the places we love. Biking to Encinitas is easy and fun, with beautiful ocean views and so many good eateries there.
Back to the campground -- we have found that we prefer the southern end when possible, to be close to the dog beach, the middle section tends to be the loudest and busiest, and the northern section is much more quiet. There are several 'back row' sites with decent views of the ocean if you're not right behind the bathroom building like we were in site 133 -- site 132 would have had much better views.
Catch the sunset, bike to breweries, and just slow down and enjoy the chill surfer vibe of this small beachside community.
When we were here in late January, the camp store was closed. The laundry room was also totally deconstructed -- not sure if that was for renovations or if it's always closed in the winter season. Nearest laundry we found was in Encinitas, Jolly Clean Giant, didn't love that you had to use a laundry card to pay (no coins) which they were actually out of, but a woman working there let me borrow hers.

Not a quiet place to stay but we were in a full hookup site closer to the river and with windows closed/air conditioning on, the noise was really a non-issue for us. We enjoyed views of the river and all the shade trees. There are a few different loops so dog-walking our little guy was nice. One of the biggest downsides is that this campground is off the Interstate, so to go anywhere you have to get on I-84 westbound (and find the nearest exit if you want to go east, which adds about 10 minutes to your trip) and likewise when you return heading eastbound to the campground you have to bypass it because there is no exit, and the next opportunity to get back heading west to the correct exit adds another 10 minutes. And there's no option to leave by bicycle. So, some slight annoyances that we haven't encountered in other parks. That said, it's one of the more affordable options in the CRG.
I'd really give this spot a 3.5 stars but rounded up because we'd stay here again (and you can't give half stars)

If you’re looking for a dense forest camping experience then this is a lovely place to stay but for us, we just couldn’t eek out much solar. Nothing hit the rooftop panels and the ground deploy had dappled light just a few hours a day. Generators are allowed but we don’t have one. Dump station was closed during our stay. The road through the campground was narrow and winding, definitely wouldn’t want to do it in anything bigger than our truck and 25’ trailer. There are water spigots scattered through the campground but no option to fill your onboard tank. We did have enough cell service for work and video meetings on AT&T plus our Mimo. Without sunlight it stayed dark and damp in the trailer even though it wasn’t overly humid outside... and in mid April it was still a bit too cool to keep windows open all day.

Since there weren't any reviews yet for this site, we first checked out Forest Road 300: That site was full of parked vehicles of cyclists enjoying the area, and the road going further into the forest was definitely unpassable to most vehicles -- so we turned around and came to this site, Forest Road 260.
Google does not have this road on it's maps, but the GPS coordinates will guide you to the correct spot.
[It's about 10 minutes west of Bend and incredibly convenient.
There is a dump station in town at the Shell station on Galveston -- free to use with the purchase of 10 gallons of fuel, otherwise dump is $10. There isn't a separate spigot for fresh water but they said the water at the dump area spigot was potable and we were able to hook up our own hose.]
Back to the campsite:
There are three definite sites as you first pull in, and the road is accessible to pretty much any vehicle. We took the 3rd site down the road, on the right hand side. If all of these sites are taken, it would be a bit difficult to turn around, but there are some less obvious sites that could potentially work to back into and turn. Scouting ahead of time would be a good idea.
After our site, the road goes downhill (short but slightly steep) and while we were there, there was a Class A parked in a site at the base of the hill.
The road then turns left and there are several more sites. We didn't go the full length of the road, but we saw at least 6 camping areas along Forest Road 260 and there are likely several more.

A ranger drove down the road twice during our week stay -- presumably to take note of who was staying and for how long (there is a 14 day limit).

We had decent enough cell service for video meetings and regular internet usage. We did use a booster. The signal wasn't terribly strong but it was fine for working from the RV all day (we have AT&T and Verizon and both signals were about the same)

There was a fair amount of garbage around our camping area (which is the reason for the 4 stars, well, that and the fact that this area is incredibly dusty! It just covers your shoes as you walk around and inevitably comes inside too) but we collected the garbage that we could and were able to take it to the Cascade Lakes Welcome Center -- this is a ranger station that also has maps of the Forest Roads which indicate were there is dispersed camping allowed!
For the larger garbage at our site (vacuum cleaner, old VCR, and roofing materials -- what is wrong with people!) we filed a report with the rangers so they could send a vehicle to come get it.

All in all this isn't an incredibly scenic spot but it's in the forest, the air is fresh, it was quiet even though there were a handful of other campers using this road and loads of cyclists enjoying Skyliners Rd (the main road into town). It's a close drive to get into Bend, and if you go further west up Skyliners Road it will take you to Tumalo Falls which is well worth the visit (free parking if you have a National Parks pass, otherwise I think it was $5). After checking out Tumalo Falls (which is visible from the parking lot and then a short hike to be standing at the top of the falls) you can hike the trail about a mile in to see another waterfall (Double Falls). This area is really beautiful but can definitely get busy -- best visited on a weekday if possible.

We have a video posted on YouTube of our week-stay in Bend, showing this campsite and some of the great things to do in the area.

The park itself is a little odd. I guess the owners were away for a number of days, but when we arrived there is no obvious place to check in...no one ever answered the door at the most obvious building towards the back of the park. A guest let me know which RV the host was in, so I checked in with her. We dry camped here. The dry camp area had a ton of junk laying around, and broken glass. There is a goat tied up back there. He's really cool but I felt pretty bad for him being tied up all the time. In our 10 days there, we did see him get walked once.
There was also a boil alert in effect for the town's water. The host failed to mention this, so we filled our 100 gallon tank with this water before setting up in the dry camp...so even after the alert was over, we unfortunately had this water in our tank. Kinda irresponsible for them not to let campers know. A fellow camper was who told us, and I called the water utility to confirm it. I let several other new arrivals know, because they hadn't been told either. Kind of a fluke thing to happen while we were there, but still. The water in Big Bend National Park was unaffected so we ended up filling our 5 gallon jug at Panther Junction a couple times.

So the pros (and why we would consider staying here again): close to the park entrance, cheapest place to stay, and the market across the street has a ton of organic produce and products. And being in the dry camp area, we had so much more room than anyone in the hookup sites (they were really packed in over there, like, crazy). From our spot we also had an awesome unobstructed view of the incredible stars.

Just posted our vlog to YouTube of our time here

We unhooked our toad from our 33' motorhome and did just fine on the steep, and tight curved road up to the campground. The entire road is paved, so that's nice. The toughest part of the drive is on a one-way stretch, so at least you aren't trying to pass oncoming vehicles on the tight curves. Water is available at the camp host site, which is positioned at the base of the mountains, before you do the big climb up to the campground. This is where we unhooked and where there is a spigot available. Like others have said there is a gate that will lock at 6pm, with no way to open it. You are able to leave the campground at any time (there are just tire spikes to prevent you from entering there).
When you get to the top, there is a self-pay kiosk, and you can either go to the right and search in that campground loop or go left which also has campsites but this area is one-way and will eventually take you out of the campground if you don't find a site...so you'll have to do the tight curvy drive all over again (luckily I learned this with the toad and not the motorhome).
We were in site 35 which fit our rig just fine but weren't able to get fully level. Very much nose down, which is a bit disconcerting on such a steep road! Site 32 looked pretty nice, much more level and basically the first option on the right once you take that road to the left from the pay kiosk. There are trash bins at every site which is a nice touch. We did the Pine Tree Trail Loop hike and enjoyed that. Awesome views the whole time.

We unhooked our toad from our 33' motorhome and did just fine on the steep, and tight curved road up to the campground. The entire road is paved, so that's nice. The toughest part of the drive is on a one-way stretch, so at least you aren't trying to pass oncoming vehicles on the tight curves. Water is available at the camp host site, which is positioned at the base of the mountains, before you do the big climb up to the campground. This is where we unhooked and where there is a spigot available. Like others have said there is a gate that will lock at 6pm, with no way to open it. You are able to leave the campground at any time (there are just tire spikes to prevent you from entering there).
When you get to the top, there is a self-pay kiosk, and you can either go to the right and search in that campground loop or go left which also has campsites but this area is one-way and will eventually take you out of the campground if you don't find a site...so you'll have to do the tight curvy drive all over again (luckily I learned this with the toad and not the motorhome).
We were in site 35 which fit our rig just fine but weren't able to get fully level. Very much nose down, which is a bit disconcerting on such a steep road! Site 32 looked pretty nice, much more level and basically the first option on the right once you take that road to the left from the pay kiosk. There are trash bins at every site which is a nice touch. We did the Pine Tree Trail Loop hike and enjoyed that. Awesome views the whole time.

We unhooked our toad from our 33' motorhome and did just fine on the steep, and tight curved road up to the campground. The entire road is paved, so that's nice. The toughest part of the drive is on a one-way stretch, so at least you aren't trying to pass oncoming vehicles on the tight curves. Water is available at the camp host site, which is positioned at the base of the mountains, before you do the big climb up to the campground. This is where we unhooked and where there is a spigot available. Like others have said there is a gate that will lock at 6pm, with no way to open it. You are able to leave the campground at any time (there are just tire spikes to prevent you from entering there).
When you get to the top, there is a self-pay kiosk, and you can either go to the right and search in that campground loop or go left which also has campsites but this area is one-way and will eventually take you out of the campground if you don't find a site...so you'll have to do the tight curvy drive all over again (luckily I learned this with the toad and not the motorhome).
We were in site 35 which fit our rig just fine but weren't able to get fully level. Very much nose down, which is a bit disconcerting on such a steep road! Site 32 looked pretty nice, much more level and basically the first option on the right once you take that road to the left from the pay kiosk. There are trash bins at every site which is a nice touch. We did the Pine Tree Trail Loop hike and enjoyed that. Awesome views the whole time.