Palomar Mountain State Park

I'm not a fan of summer camping only because of the copious amounts of mountain flies. So annoying! Make sure you're geared up for this situation. other than that it was quite nice.

Have not camped here. Have hiked here on some nice trails. Also, the Boucher Fire Lookout Tower is located there. (Note: the tower is not wheelchair accessible.). Visitors are allowed, no more than 4 at a time, and children must be accompanied by an adult. The fire lookouts that staff the tower, May 1 through November 30, are happy to greet you, and share information about their jobs and history of the tower. Right next to the tower, there is a very nice ground level wheelchair accessible viewing platform that has information about the tower and the flora and fauna of the area. Also, you have an unobstructed view all the way to the Pacific including Catalina Island, Channel Islands, etc.

We wanted to go to the Boucher Tower but the road was closed (Apr 12). There were also a lot of clouds in the area so we wouldn't probably see anything anyway.. So we hiked around the pond instead and spotted a couple squirrels & blackbirds there. The forest is beautiful! Day use fee is $10 for a car. Very friendly park rangers.

An amazing well kept mountain forest area. No graffiti or people bothering you. No loud music. Just a simple mountain full of streams. My 4x4 Bronco took the Nate Harrison Grade which was an excellent and exciting 8% grade down from the state park gates. Don't take a regular car only high clearance.

Had a good time camping here with the fam. It's at max a 3 day site, as there isn't a whole lot to do in this area if you're looking for activities. We enjoyed the Fire Lookout spot, the pond, driving "in to town" where the general store is, and exploring Palomar Observatory. The naturalist at the site had Junior Ranger badge opportunities and also had a show about mountain lions and mammals in the area.

The showers at the site weren't bad, each spot had its own water source which was very nice, and there was plenty of shade even though it was somewhat hot. Bring bug spray!!