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The Serrano Campground
4 reviews
Big Bear City, CA
Category: Parks
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Pine Knot Guest Ranch
3 reviewsBig Bear Lake, CA
Category: Hotels
Pine Knot Campground
4 reviews for Pine Knot Campground
Nice campground; was very quiet during the week for those of us who don't work in the summer. We reserved ahead of time online, but it wasn't necessary for Sunday-Tuesday. Lots of open spots and very quiet. We were glad not to be by the people who were blasting country music and the other people blasting rap. I don't know why people think anyone else wants to hear their music because no one ever does.
The lots were large, but unfortunately some areas were kind of sparse in trees. From our site #4 you could see some rental housing that I'm guessing they use in during the ski season. Not very foresty. Although we did see lots of Blue Jays!
The bathrooms were clean enough. Bring your own soap if you want to wash your hands. They did have toilet paper though. Glad each site had a fire pit and grill. As for our belongings we left them in the tent all day while we weren't around and no one went near them. At night you can see a lot of stars and relax. If you bring food definitely bring it inside at night. We left out some bread and paper towels- the squirrels got to both of them!
People thought this was:
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Big Bear is a wonderful quick mountain getaway. This was a decent campground.
I have not been camping in like "Forever" but the kids wanted to go, so I "took one for the team"
The location was great, right at the end of Big Bear Rd, next to Snow Valley. The bathrooms were well maintained. This campsite does not offer showers so come prepared.
The thing I didn't care for was how close everyone was placed together. We booked our spot at http://www.recreation.gov We were in Spot #6. You really can't tell by the maps how close you are next to each other, but we can hear everyone around us and their screaming kids that were "scared of the dark" at night. Loud parties and many people walking around. So we didn't get that "out in the wild" feeling that we thought camping "tent style" was to offer.
In addition we didn't see much wildlife except for the fat Grey squirrels and occasional chipmunks. However, we did see the beautiful Blue Jays, wonderful.
The best part was at night. The Stars were so bright and amazing. Plus the Coyotes that howled and sang in the middle of the night... unforgettable experience. They sounded monstrous yet still so beautiful and in sync...
People thought this was:
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The actual campsite is pretty nice. Good location and easy to get to.The bathrooms are decent, especially since the bathroom light automatically turns on at night. There are no showers at camp and don't expect to find any free showers around. You'll have to pay at a different campsite like Serrano.
We found there were three main problems with the campsite. First, we had stuff stolen from our campsite nearly every night! To keep stuff from being stolen during the day, we had to pack up almost all of our gear each day when we left for the lake or village, only to have to unpack it later, which was a huge hassle. Second, neighboring campers insisted on throwing very loud and drunken parties until 5 a.m. There were at least twenty of them, many of whom liked to congregate at the bathrooms and harass campers needing to use the restroom. They also loved banging tree branches against dumpsters and trees to make as much noise as humanly possible.
These problems were magnified by the near-complete absence of the camp host, whom is pretty much impossible to find - he's constantly off duty and is unreachable since no one is allowed to give out his phone number. This was a pretty annoying problem since we didn't know the check-in and check-out procedures. Also, not being able to reach any camp staff was a big hassle considering the two other problems we encountered - we never were able to report our stolen items to him or have him silence the drunken imbeciles (even though we called the sheriff, they never sent out a deputy as they said they would).
Many other campers left early because of these problems. While it is a pretty area, camp here at your own risk!
I barely ever go camping, but since I moved to CA, I've been wanting to get out into the woods and play. I finally got my chance this weekend. Four of us packed up our gear (which means a change of clothes and tons of beer) and headed up to Big Bear for an overnight trip.
We camped out at Pine Knot and it was gorgeous. Big huge trees everywhere, fat squirrels running around for entertainment and as an added bonus - flushing toilets! Actually, the bathrooms were really clean for a campground. I wasn't grossed out at all. And they weren't so far away from our site that it was terrifying to walk there in the middle of the night. No showers tho.
The camp host was friendly (even if he did smell like Patchouli) and nobody complained when we were the only ones awake at 1am and we were a little loud and obnoxious.
The best part? $30 for a night. And you can reserve online at http://www.recreation.gov
Seriously, this is the cheapest way in the world to take a vacation.
People thought this was:
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