Camping in Cleveland National Forest - A rarely visited area

Cleveland National Forest
Date camped: 09/14/2013-09/15/2013

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09/14/2013
Combining other errands with camping in Cleveland National Forest turned out to be a pretty good idea. Since we had things to do on Friday and then Saturday morning, we got a late start, heading east through Ramona, reaching the trailhead at around 5:30. The PD and I had hiked in this area before, so when I was thinking of a short hike with a backcountry feel, this area sprang to mind.

I had called the Palomar Ranger District, which amazingly covers this area. My first instinct every time is to call the Descanso Ranger Station, since this area is many miles south of Palomar Mountain, but the border between the districts is actually further south, along Tule Springs Road. The Palomar Ranger District includes Cedar Creek Falls and Eagle Peak.

Sophia was excited to go, as was the PD and his daughter, TN. Sophia fell asleep at the top of Ramona and didn't wake up until we were parking at the trailhead. On the way, I saw quail flutter away and deer bounding down the road.

It was a warm day, but the sun was setting, so the temperature was already getting comfortable.

Since the area I wanted to camp wasonly around 3/4 of a mile or so, we didn't have far to go. The flies were immediately upon us, so we put on some insect repellent wristbands. They are DEET-free and are safe for kids. While fairly strong-smelling, the scent was nice and, from all reports from the kids, they seemed to work well. I, however, put on my Columbia Insect Blocker shirt and that worked well, too.

While getting ready, a car stopped to ask us where they were. I confirmed they were on Boulder Creek Road, and I also let them know that starting a hike to Three Sisters Falls at this time was out of the question. (You're welcome SAR!)

They asked what else could be seen in about an hour, and I didn't know what to say. While I was charmed by the impulse of this cute couple looking for something outdoors to do at the last minute, I was wondering what would have happened if they would have started hiking at around sunset to a likely dry set of falls that take some serious scrambling to get to.

The trail was how I had remembered it, skirting a beautiful meadow. Since I wasn't sure if the meadow itself was in Cleveland National Forest (it wasn’t), and it was full of signs of cattle, we decided to press on a little bit.

The meadow at sunset, in Cleveland National Forest

A little further along the trail, we came across the bones of a cow, strewn across a tenth of a mile. There was no way for me to know if this was the work of a mountain lion, a pack of coyotes, sickness, or old age, it was still an awesome sight that I don't normally see. Bleached white, the bones had been there a while and the kids had fun with them.

We continued on up and over the shoulder between two mountains and came across even more evidence of cows. These were fresher.

We also came across an old car from the 40's, which, of course, had bullet holes in it. It seemed so out of place out there. We passed a large rabbit, scurrying for cover.

We joked about not wanting to wake up to "moos," so we turned around to find a level spot free of cow dung, somewhat protected from the herd's potential path.

We descended back to where we came and found a nice spot next to a rock outcrop on national forest land.

We set up our tent and decided to place the stove on the rocks and make our kitchen there. It seemed that we weren't the first with this idea, as there was what appeared to be a very well-defined mortero or bedrock mortar, a worn out indentation in the rock where the Kumeyaay people likely ground acorns into something edible.

As we watched the sun set over the valley below, we weren't surprised that they had chosen this spot. In wetter years or earlier in the season, there was likely reliable water sources nearby and the view was incredible.

As we prepared dinner while sitting on the rocks, an owl sailed silently over our tent to land in a distant tree.

As I sat there on the rocks, looking out over the orange valley below and seeing Middle Peak peeking out over the trees, I understood that this was truly a special place. One of many special places you can visit while camping in Cleveland National Forest.

Whenever someone asks me where one can go backpacking in San Diego, there are relatively few obvious choices.

Anza Borrego Desert State Park is a great choice, but it isn't a reasonable place to go during the summer and not everyone loves the desert as much as I do.

Cuyamaca Rancho State Park has two rustic camps where you can backpack to, but they need to be reserved and are pretty booked up throughout the year. (Update: These two are first come first served as of 2023):

The only other choice for backpacking in San Diego is to head to the Cleveland National Forest, where it's pretty unclear where you can and can't go. There are many ranches and inholdings within the National Forest, so it's hard to tell whether or not you are treading on private property.

It's due to the lack of defined campsites and lack of adequate messaging from Cleveland National Forest that this part of San Diego is so seldomly visited. It's also the reason that this place is so special.

Choose a spot, bring your own water, and hike out to it. Be sure you aren't near any of the popular waterfalls and you will have the place to yourself. Check with the ranger station for fire restrictions, since, during much of the year, campfires are prohibited. Check the hunting schedules and be aware of popular hunting grounds.

We had dinner and s'mores and snuggled into our large family tent. We played Uno and I read a couple of chapters to Sophia.

Even though we were only about a half mile from the road, we felt like we had the place to ourselves. It was the kind of wilderness experience I was looking for.

We had plenty of room and we all slept soundly. I was expecting to hear coyotes howling in the night, but it was very quiet.

We woke up in the morning at around 6:30. It was already getting warm. We hung out in the tent a little bit, playing some more Uno.

We had our breakfast, packed up our gear, and headed out. TN had to be at a game about an hour and a half drive away.

The morning was beautiful, the only sounds we could hear were the chirping of small birds. I didn't want to leave, but it was going to be a hot day and I had to make the drive back to Santa Barbara.

The view to the west from our kitchen in the morning

On the way back to the car, we saw mountain lion tracks on the road. We weren't sure when they were laid, but they appeared to be following deer tracks on the shoulder.

While driving back along the road, we saw about 30 turkeys cross in front of us and walk up the embankment.