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Lake Skinner
Category: Active Life [Edit]
37701 Warren RoadOff Rancho California Road, 10 miles east of Temecula
Temecula, CA 92593
(800) 234-7275
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
3 reviews for Lake Skinner
I live in San Diego and I wanted to find a campsite that was easily accessible, with good facilities, a lake and close enough to LA and OC to accommodate my friends. Lake Skinner seemed to fit the bill.
Lake Skinner is located in Temecula Valley. Driving to the lake allows you to drive through Temecula wine country. Dozens of vineyards line the roads to Lake Skinner. Once you reach the main gate of the Lake Skinner Recreational Area, you still need to drive a 1/4 mile until you reach the campground. It's nice that there are no main roads near the campground.
There is a nicely-stocked camp store as well as a cafe that I believe is open only on weekends. The store opens at 6am and provides some of the things you might need from packaged food and drinks, firewood, ice, fishing licenses, tackle and other miscellaneous camping items. A big plus in my opinion is that once the camp store closes around sundown, they load up a trailer with firewood and they go around the campsites selling wood to those forgot to get some.
Lake Skinner is surrounded by hills and there are virtually no reminders that Temecula is 10 minutes away and you do feel disconnected from the city. There are 3 major campsite areas. The majority of the RVs are in sites B and C. I have always camped in site A as do most of the tent campers. Each of the sites are adjacent to each other and on busy days it can feel like your neighbors share the site with you as there aren't many separating you. The sites are all dirt and there are a few bushes and trees but mainly open space. There are some spots that are next to public grassy areas but you are not allowed to pitch your tent there. The tent spots contain a fire ring with a grate for grilling, a water faucet and a picnic table. There are no individual trash cans but rather community dumpsters that are only a short walk away. The ground is relatively tough to hammer a stake through. Be prepared to ruin many of your standard aluminum stakes that your tent comes with. I recommend upgrading your stakes to something stronger. Noise at night has never been an issue when I have camped at Lake Skinner. Some nights you can hear the coyotes howling as you lay in your tent. During the day, a playground area next to site A , can be filled with kids quite early so you may want to choose a site away from it.
The restrooms have always been clean and well maintained. I have seen a cleaning crew there every time I have gone camping. There are usually 2 showers per bathroom and don't forget the quarters. I believe it was 5 minutes of water per 25 cents. The last time I was there only one of the showers offered hot water so choose wisely. If you happen to forget quarters, there is a change machine at the camp store.
The main attraction here is the lake. There is no body contact allowed in the lake because it is a domestic water supply. That means no swimming and only certain kayaks are allowed. Private boats are allowed but there are some restrictions due to the Quagga Mussel infestation. Please check the Lake Skinner website for more information. Fishing is very popular here and you can rent 4-person boats or 10-person pontoons for the day. If you want to stay on land, the launch ramp #2 is also very popular. You can rent boats or find out the latest fishing reports at the Lake Skinner Marina which is within walking distance from the campsites.
Other features include a public swimming pool which is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. There are also hiking and nature trails all over the lake area. The lake also offers day-use areas for picnics and BBQs.
Lake Skinner has great facilities and is very accessible. It has been the perfect location for my friends and I over the past year as most of us are just casual campers. If you are looking for an isolated camping experience surrounded by trees then you should look elsewhere. If you are the type of camper who enjoys making friends with your neighbors, enjoys fishing and likes to be close to a great winery then Lake Skinner may be the right fit for you.
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We've camped here a few times and for the most part it has been ok until this last weekend. We reserved 3 sites months in advance, the sites were riddled with ants and the camp host in our section did nothing but complain. We've camped at other places where the camp hosts are working hard to clean the spaces as soon as others leave to prepare for new people coming in. The rangers were in constant patrol; there were quite a few empty spots that were not sold and our friends were told to move their car because "the space could sell at any time". Unfortunately, we have reservations for Thanksgiving that we will keep because we want to camp, but I don't think we'll be back.
If there is something I've learned about socal. Rules are few and far between. Not here at lake Skinner
Gate close at front 10pm, open at 6am
Lake is nice, but no body contact allowed, this means no swimming, and only a certain type of Kayak
But there is a pool, 150 capacity, with that checked hourly!(ie line is long until they check if people have left)
As someone else said, this like your at an apartment, without the walls.
There are showers, with sometimes warm water, and port-a-pottys(cleaned perhaps weekly), scattered throughout.
Sadly, no grass near the campsite, ergo, no cricket sounds. one of the main reasons i love camping
Though the campsites are literally on top of each other, you'd be lucky if a short bush separates you and your neighbor, there is a park bench per site, that's a plus, there is drinkable water at each site, and a nice small fire pit with top rack for grilling.
BUT, in the end, the stars looked amazing, noise pollution low out here, the view upwards was quite nice. Watching the constellations while falling asleep to Mexican music a few campsites away can lead to interesting dreams.
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