Lake Morena County Park

This is a pretty campground about an hour east of San Diego. One of the great things about this park is that very few people seem to know about it, so it is pretty easy to snag a spot even at short notice.

There are a few sites with electric and water hookups ,and they are also the sites with the best lake views, especially sites 11 though 15. Some of the sites are not very level,so you will probably needs leveling blocks. The sites are well spaced so you shouldn't feel too crowded here. There are also a few cabins to rent here too.

You can hike around part of the lake from the campground. The small town next to the park has a couple of general stores, the one nearest to the park has a great selection of craft beers. But best bring your groceries in with you.

We came here after our first choice, a national forest site was closed due to the government shut down. Turns out it is quite a nice place. Lots of site that are very well placed and shaded. Roads are paved, sites are gravel with picnic tables and fire rings. Lots of grass between sites. It was quiet when we were there, but it was winter. Bathrooms are not heated. There is a nice loop hike that incorporates part of the PCT. Good ATT service, non existent Verizon service.

The campground itself is set back away from the lake, however some sites have a real nice view. Those spots are mostly the RV sites and the sites with low numbers. Amenities are clean and well kept, however the sites are close together for the price. Water is shared every other site. We fished at the lake and caught some stocked trout. Fishing requires a ca fishing license, lake fishing license, boat launch fee, boat inspection for quagga mussels, and a day use parking fee... something to consider if you want to fish here, they seem to nickel and dime you just for wanting to use the lake that you are paying to camp by.

My wife and I are newbies in the world of travel trailers. We’ve both tent camped our entire lives. We did a couple trips in our pop up tent trailer, but after hanging out with friends and family that have trailers, we had to jump in head first. We purchased a 2004 Keystone Sprinter. The reason I include this is because we explained to the rangers that we were new, and they were able to offer some additional guidance. I’m not normally one that enjoys the company of Rangers at my site, but these guys were extremely friendly and professional. I’ve met too many Rangers that used their attitudes to make up for the short shorts they have to wear. From the moment we arrived it was clear these gents were here to assist. They did tell us the gate gets busy around check in. They don’t allow you to check in until 2:00. We showed up at 4:30 and they told us we just missed being part of the line of campers waiting to enter the park. They found our name and my reservation right away, answered all our questions, and gave us clear, easy to understand directions to our site.

We got lucky and snagged a canceled spot the day before Independence Day. The campground was 100% booked. We spoke to a couple that booked their site two weeks prior, and they said there were only a few spots left when they confirmed their reservation. There are full hook up sites, partial hook up, and tent sites. The road is all one way loops that you have to take from start to finish. We were near the front of a loop and we made a few trips having to drive the entirety of the loop to get out of the campground. The roads are wide, well marked, and maintained.

It seemed that every site had at least one tree. I think site number two had a gigantic oak tree that gave shade to a large area. It does get warm here, and if you have a tiny tree, you will need to have shade with you if you’re going to be hanging out at camp all day. We are going to try and book site 13 on our next trip as it has a beautiful view of Lake Morena. None of the sites are close the lake.

They allow dogs as long as they are leashed. They have several pet relief stands that have bags to clean up after our four legged friends. There are also several dumpsters around the campground that make it easy to dispose of campsite trash, and surprise “gifts” of our four legged friends when out on a stroll.

We were allowed to have a fire which was a nice surprise. Lake Morena is high desert and several places in the So-Cal area will not allow wood fires due to fire risk. Park rules dictates quiet time after 10:00pm, and all fires are out at 11:00pm. A group across the street from our site had their fire extinguished by the Rangers at 11:05pm. Propane fire rings also have to be turned off at 11:00pm.

We used two different bathrooms while we were away from our site. Both restrooms were well lit, and clean. It was nice they have dividers in the urinals. My wife mentioned the women’s bathroom was clean and well stocked with toilet paper.

There are several hiking trails that all start somewhere in the park. We passed three different trail heads from our site to the lake. My wife and I enjoyed a 2.5 mile hike / stroll during the heat of the day. It started off to just be a walk to stretch our legs, but the trails sucked is in, and off we went. We found a cool spot that had a wide variety of insects. There were grasshoppers, butterflies, bees, and a load of other winged, or spring legged little bugs. Nothing that alarmed us, and it was cool walking with hopping grasshoppers. Once we walked through the brush and got to the lakeshore, we were hit with a cool summer breeze. The temperature down by the water was cooler than back at camp. There are several miles of shore line you can meander through. If you’re really dedicated to packing in fishing gear, you can find some neat spots along the edge of the water.

We spent the afternoon fishing at an easy spot right next to our truck. Our poles were spread out between 10-20 yards away from the truck. Lake Morena stocks catfish during the summer, and trout during the winter. There is also a population of largemouth bass, crappie, perch, and bluegill. 25 fish limit for all pan fish. 5 fish limit for bass, trout and catfish. Lake Morena like most lakes I’ve fished in So-Cal have a problem with too many carp. There are no limit on carp. They encouraged us to not throw them back. We fished from 3:00-7:00 and I caught three half pound channel catfish. All were released safely. During this time of year the lake closes at 7:30 sharp. Boats have to be in by 7:00.

Our site was large enough for our 26’ Sprinter, two tents, tables, chairs, etc. It was easy backing up the trailer because the sites were large and well marked. Our spot was dirt, and it appears most spots are dirt. So bring your mats if you don’t want a layer of dust inside where you’re going to be sleeping. We were fortunate enough to have a site with full hook ups. Not knowing exactly how that worked we asked help from one of our neighbors. Brian/Bryan was a nice guy, knowledgeable, and eager to help us. He guided me through emptying the black and grey tanks. (He also helped us the day prior setting up the sunshade on our trailer. Thanks Brian or Bryan!!!). The electrical had full circuit breakers and the water was easy to hook up to. There was also ample spacing between the sites. Some having more space than others, but defiantly didn’t feel like we were stacked on top of other campers.

Whether you want to hike, fish, boat, explore, or just relax in your happy place at camp, Lake Morena has you covered. Lots of family’s out and about. We had no problems with noise or rude campers. It was a great Fourth of July trip, and a very in”site” full and fulling first trip for my wife and I.

We have T-Mobile, and thankfully we had zero signal on our phones.

Thanks for reading and Happy Trails...

Stayed at site 17 for the full hookup. This site is difficult to get in for a 32 foot trailer. There’s hardly any room to maneuver into the site. I ended up denting my truck bumper against one of the road log makers while Backing up to the site. The lake front sites are much easier to get in but they lack the sewer connection.
Pretty much all sites are not very level and there are lots of ants, wasps and Bugs in general.
But once situated at the site, this was a great place to stay. Nice easy hikes or biking on trails with beautiful views of lake morena. Campground is well maintained and rigorously controlled by the rangers. Quiet, clean and great for families.
No cell coverage for Tmobile at site 17 but could get some signal around site 10 and lower.
Access to the lake is somewhat restrictive and pricy . I had my own kayak that required inspection by the ranger prior to getting in and an $8 launch fee per day.
Fishing boat rental is $30 during the week $50 during the weekend.

We stayed here because I was slack-packing the first 77 miles of the PCT and this campground was pretty well located for my husband to drive around dropping me off and picking me up. Our site was fairly level but there are no pads; it's dust and grassy patches. Our site had water and electric but no sewer. Actually, the water is not drinkable so we didn't even hookup water; instead we filled up at nearby Boulder Oaks Campground prior to checking in at Lake Morena. We liked our site mainly because we could see all the PCT hikers coming on the trail, which was fun. (There's a PCT hiker tent area at the back of the campground if you want to go chat with them.) During the week, the campground was very empty but during the weekend every spot was taken.

The campground's east side, where site 48 is located, is right next to some neighborhood houses. We never saw any people at these houses though. The sites at the west end of the campground are closer to the lake and are larger. The lake is really hard to see anywhere really because it's about half the size of most of the pictures you see due to the drought.

The bathrooms are ok but there are only metal toilet seats (actually, no seat). One of the two showers in the Women's restroom was out of order the entire week. The other shower is pretty dirty--wear rubber shoes! Shower costs .50 for 4 minutes/1.00 for 8 minutes and had a pretty low flow but it got the job done. My husband said both showers worked but over the weekend, several of the men's toilets were clogged. (It's really busy on the weekend and there's only one bathroom for the entire campground.)

I would only come back to this campground if I was doing hiking on the very south part of the PCT. If you don't need hookups, the state campgrounds Burnt Rancheria and Mt. Laguna are very nice, although, some sites are very small and not level at Burnt Rancheria.

Lake is dryed up, no amenities, water not potable. Only redeeming grace was the number of birds.

Pros: showers and bathrooms clean, water gets hot fast, excellent birdwatching, the lake is pretty even if you can’t swim in it, nice hike to the dam.
Cons: campsite covered in these spiky ground cover plants that poked through the bottom of my tent and deflated my sleeping pad, no privacy between campsites, people were quite loud with kids screaming and playing music. It’s the spiky plants that are everywhere that will keep me from camping here again. It’s like the ground is covered in rose thorns.

This is a beautiful park! Full hook ups for RVers. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit. Great little lake for fishing and kayaking. Rangers are friendly. Wonderful trails for hiking and biking. Part of the Pacific Crest Trail runs thru the park. Be aware that the only cell provider that works here is AT&T. Zero TV reception, only one or two radio stations work. Come prepared to unplug and relax.