Oak Knoll Campground

We spent Memorial day weekend here and had an absolute great time! Trudy and the staff were extremely friendly and welcoming. We did start off with a hiccup the spot we reserved was double booked so we were put in an unofficial spot. But they were accommodating and even gave us the option to move to the original spot but we didn’t feel like packing up and moving so we opted in staying put. The restrooms were clean and kept clean. I reported a clogged toilet and it was fixed right away. Yes the staff was scarce and very busy running up and down but they were just that «BUSY» actually meeting peoples needs not just lingering around. I plan on visiting again already have reservations. Can’t wait to bring my family. (Only down fall was that i wished we were offered a partial refund since we originally paid for 2 full functioning camp spots and were placed in the unofficial spot which isn’t even as big as 1 regular spot. Trudy did run us electricity and water but we didn’t have a grill and that was a tad difficult when we were counting on 2 and it was 2 families sharing the premises. I did hint at this inconvenience and concern to an old woman in the office but it fell upon deaf ears. I plan on contacting management about it. I hope they are willing to be reasonable since we loved this place soo much! I dont want a little miscommunication to ruin my new vacation spot.)

We stayed one night at this camp ground and most likely will not go back. There are a lot of nice birds to watch, that was a positive. The not so positives… The road/​s leading to the sites and the sites themselves are SMALL. We had a pull through but had to move the picnic table in order to pull through, and it was tight. They put us in what appeared got be a long term section and people were right on top of each other. No space or privacy at all. Also no level space. We could not even come close to leveling and a lot of people appeared to be in the same situation. We were not greeted warmly at first but got better the longer we interacted with the front desk staff. I asked if there was a fire pit and could we have a fire? The answer was yes so I paid over 7 $ for firewood only to discover there was no fire pit at all. While we didn’t go anywhere, I know there are a lot if casinos nearby in addition to Julian and a few other local attractions if you are looking for something to do.

I spent a month and a half or so at Oak Knoll Campground while I worked on a project for school, and the place is top notch. The people are friendly, the campground is quiet and I’ve never seen cleaner, more well-​kept bathrooms in a campground in my life. It’s only drawback is proximity to other things, but that was more a function of my needs for the project versus someone looking for a nice camping getaway. Oak Knoll is definitely worth a go.

First the people that work there are the people that live there, so sometimes someone wasn’t in the office. But you just call the number on the door and someone would come right down. So the staff was very nice, and even let us pick a different spot that was more open. It was a nice place and have to say they had the cleanest bathrooms I have ever used at a campsite. Great job on that. They had a playground and pool. Both were kept up and I saw the worker with long hair oiling up the swings on the playground. They didn’t make any sound and were smooth after he did that. It was very quiet place and there wasn’t any problems. 13a nd 13b are the best spots for camping. We will be back here again. Thanks again!

I left this campground with mixed feelings. It’s in a beautiful area and overall, our stay was fairly nice, but I have one suggestion and one complaint.
First, when we arrived at the office at around 1 p.m., no one was there. There was a sign on the office door indicating they would return at 5 p.m. (which is when they close??) and providing a number to call. Easy enough… if you have cell phone reception! I had zero service. Luckily my friend did, and we were able to reach someone. But why not provide a phone at the counter just in case your guests aren’t Verizon customers? Seems like a straight-​forward improvement if you ask me.
Second, we chose our lot and said several times that we’d like to buy one of the bundles of firewood she had for sale in the office. She kept saying she’d bring one by later, so we cooled our jets. Alas, she never came back! We left two voicemails and finally, around 5:30, left the site to find firewood. Long after dark, 7:30 or so, she drove by our site and asked if we were ok. Yep, good thing we went and got our own wood. It was just disappointing to have been forgotten.
Otherwise, the bathrooms were nice, the spot was really pretty, and we had a fun night (…until around 1 a.m. when the Sons of Anarchy continuously revved their bikes somewhere nearby for about a half an hour). The place gets extra bonus points for being the campground established by UFO weirdo George Adamski! No Orthon sightings, sadly…

This was my first trip to Oak Knoll Campground and likely my only trip. We wanted to get away for the day, be close to Palomar Mountain and give the motorhome a work out. This is one of the few campgrounds that came up on Google that met my needs (Full hookups, accommodates Class A 30′ larger coaches) and upon arrival was taken back by the general rough shape of the campsites. The roads are generally pitched downhill making turning a bit of a challenge. There was a lot of hanging branches to navigate making it a difficult to get to the site.
There was a small softball field that was basically and abandoned Motorhome lot, in general the camp appeared to be a bit rundown, and the roads are pretty rough shape. There are a lot of full time campers that have taken over most of the better lots, leaving a scattering of sites mixed with tent campers located along a hillside. We were closer to the top of the camp, and the site I was assigned to was right next to the bathrooms and tightly situated between two other sites.
Navigating my 30′ rig into the site was the first challenge. Rather than pull through, I had to back in to the site. Once I got the rig lined up to the hookups, leveling was the next challenge. The sites are dirt, no gravel, no peat rock, no asphalt. The sites are not level at all, most of the permanent rigs are stacked up on blocks, then leveled. I was not able to get 100% level even with 24″ auto leveling. I got close enough but still had a slight pitch downhill.
We did not use the pool — it was full on Saturday when we arrived and everyone seemed to be enjoying it but when we left Sunday it looked to be very dirty. The water was milky and in need of treatment. Most camps I have stayed at treat their pools early in the morning to keep them clean for everyone to use — my guess is this one gets treated on occasion. There were a few campers that did not respect the leash rules and I had to chase off a dog who was threatening my two dogs while walking. The dog owners seemed oblivious to the rules. There was dog crap everywhere — it seems most campers ignore the rules and lack respect for others who care for their dogs and pick up after them. There was even dog crap on my site that had been there for days. With two dogs I know what old dog crap looks like.
So, why the 3 of 5 rating? The bathrooms — simply put they were immaculate! Honestly I have been to cleaner camps with dirty bathrooms that even I won’t use, and given my general lackluster impression I did not expect to find the bathrooms to be the high point of the camp! They seem to have been remodeled recently, everything is clean and new and kept very nice. Maybe having them key-​coded has something to do with it but I was completely surprised.
Oak Knoll is okay. If they spent a few bucks repairing the roads, re-​leveling the sites, maybe even re-​organizing the sites to allow Class A rigs to navigate and generally cleaned up I think they would do better. The close proximity to Palomar is key.

My girlfriend and I have camped here numerous times and always enjoy ourselves.
On our most recent trip we especially appreciated how helpful and friendly Trudy was.
The women’s room was very modern and clean :). Very rare to find in camping bathrooms.
We will definitely be going back.

We stayed in one of the cabins and the cabin itself was nice. The kids loved sleeping in the loft and it was well equipped with more than you should need camping. However apparently the $ 60 cleaning fee did not include clean linens because we were greeted with sand filled sheets when we got into bed our first night there. Some other pros were that the the pool and guest restrooms were also very nice and clean facilities to use.
Our biggest problem was with the residents. Most of the campground is occupied by full time residents in RVs which made us feel like we were camping in a trailer park. One night we decided to have a fire in the barrel by our cabin. Apparently there were some low hanging trees nearby and fires were not allowed there. Camping without a fire just doesn’t seem like camping, but 4 different residents came over to yell at us and tell us that the hostess wanted our fire out. Not once did she ask us and that was annoying. We were told we would have to build our fire three sites away in an empty tent site. Only one resident was kind enough to offer us wood to replace the wood we had to ruin with water to put out our fire. In addition when we returned from being out the next day the barrel was gone and the rock circle my kids had made was gone too. I felt slightly violated that someone was on our site while we were gone. That night while we were at our fire we kept seeing a resident standing outside our cabin, walking away, and coming back. It bordered between creepy and worrying that he was casing it for a break in.
Overall, the experience was not nice enough to ever bring us back.

I’ve been here multiple times and have always enjoyed this campground, but the improvements with the new owners (I think they took over a few years back) have made it even more comfortable. I know everyone talks about the bathrooms, but they really are the nicest bathrooms I’ve ever seen in a campground.
The staff are helpful, and the campground is clean and safe. We brought our 2-​year-​old, and it was perfect. If you’re more into survival-​type wilderness experiences, this might not be right for you. But if you have a family, for want to camp in a relaxing way and not worry about a dangers, this is a good place for it!
As for what is around, there’s a lake, there’s the Palomar Observatory with the Hale Telescope, and some really nice hiking trails around the observatory.
I highly recommend Oak Knoll!

I checked out the specs on this place after finding out where we’d be camping and wasn’t too excited about the campground — so my expectations weren’t very high. Even with that being the case I was pretty severely disappointed with this place.
Checking in was smooth and the lady in the office was pretty nice. Getting a free bag of ice was a bonus! Our site was much smaller than anticipated and much closer to the neighboring sites which was a disappointment. If you’re looking for a campground with ANY privacy or feeling that you’re not surrounded by people, keep looking.
The first night there was a large Church group camping near us and they were VERY loud. I can honestly say this is my first time camping where my group wasn’t the loud obnoxious one. I didn’t complain, nor did I really mind the noise. I’ve done a lot of camping, and like I said, usually we’re pretty noisy so I’m not going to be hypocritical and expect others to be quiet. But I know there were other campers who were probably very upset by all the noise. No one from the campground came to quiet them down — again, I’m fine w/​this because I wouldn’t have wanted to be bothered either. I went to bed at 1am and the Church folk were still up, when I woke up at 7am the first sounds I heard were loud and coming from their sites. Some other campers in our group who stayed up later said they thought the group may have been up all night.
There is very little to do in this area too which sorta sucks, and the office staff wasn’t very helpful on things to do. Some google searches will yield some hikes in the area but I couldn’t find any that were hydro-​centric (a walk to a lake, swimming hole or at least along a river). There is tubing at another campground but they don’t allow dogs at the river and from what I hear the water is VERY shallow. There’s also Henshaw lake (reservoir) nearby but you can’t swim there and you need forest adventure passes. We drove around all afternoon looking for something to do and ended up just coming back to camp to hang out at the pool.
The pool. The pool was relatively clean and there was plenty of seating. The pool rules are oppressive to say the least. «No Dogs or Cats» is posted on a large sign at the entrance. And was accompanied by the standard «no glass» rule which had some sharpie additions made to it to include «No food and No Beverage». We decided to ignore all of these rules as we liked the idea of having a little poolside picnic including beers and sandwiches. A John Deer version of Pat (think SNL circa 1992) promptly came down to shut our party down. I won’t go into too much detail but they were not nice about asking us to obey the rules and also yelled at some children swimming in the pool who had also brought down some beverages to sip poolside. Apparently people throw food trash in the water all the time and it clogs the filter, so now no one is allowed to eat down there. We moved our food to a shaded bench near the pool and simply ate/​drank outside the fence and then went back down to the pool for a dip. Later on more people came down and brought some snacks and drinks. Again, Pat quickly came down and this time was VERY upset and was yelling at the group of 20+ people swimming. They threatened that if anyone else was caught with any food or liquids that the pool would be shut down for the rest of the weekend.
The only brightspot to this campground were the nicely kept bathrooms and showers.
Pros:
— easy to get to and not far from most areas of SoCal
— clean restrooms
— washing machine tubs as fire pits
— free bag of ice
Cons:
— angry staff
— crowded
— small camp sites
— no privacy or feeling of seclusion
— not much to do in the area except gamble at local casinos
— some rules strictly enforced, others not enforced at all
— the perimeter of the campground was littered with garbage (broken down vehicles, building supplies, neighboring run down property…)

I planned a last minute memorial day camping trip with my friends and when I say last minute… try friday afternoon of that weekend. I actually signed up to Unilocal just to write a review so that tells you something.
Pros:
Customer service was terrific, they were friendly and accommodating to my group.
Bathrooms were exceptionally clean and looked freshly remodeled. Clean tile floors
in the showers. Passcode is needed to enter the bathrooms which I liked for safety.
Office/​Store was great providing loaner decks of cards free of charge horseshoes for the horseshoe pits. You also get a free bag of ice to replenish your ice chests.
There were also pool tables, swimmnig pools, arcade games and a jungle gym.
Atmosphere, we made friends with all the campsites around us. I enjoyed getting together nightly for campfires and a few drinks. Very kid friendly environment and fun for adults too.
Campsites all came with water spickets, electric, picnic table, fire ring…
Con:
The spots are literally next to each other. so you can forget privacy and seclusion.
our site was particularly small but its probably because of our late booking.
This place was great overall and I would stay again however I might look someplace else just for more privacy.

Overall, this campground is a pretty good spot to take people who are *not* heavily into camping or families with young children, who really need to have some amenities close at hand such as electric outlets, water at each site, and restrooms, showers, a small play area and pool tables.
Note: the pool, and store are not open in the «off season» but there is another store about 10 or so minutes drive down 76 (Heading West it is on the right side of the road with a Jilbertos)… They said people get a FREE BAG OF ICE with check-​in. I also noticed it had a slow, but viable, wi-​fi connection!
The people here were VERY very friendly and nice. They went way out of their way to ensure that our stay went well. Their kindness is the sole reason the location has 3 stars instead of 2.
I think the number one problem with Oak Knoll Campground is its horrible location. It is a fairly long drive away from so-​called «civilization» but yet you do not escape the sounds of people all around you and many of the natural elements of the camping experience are totally lost here. If you are looking for a natural, private experience, this is not it. Keep searching. (Tip: My experience in the past indicates that County, State or National campgrounds can be much better options for remote or more natural setting campsites in general)
I heard more cars, trucks, motorcycles, dogs, farm equipment and people than I heard nature. The campground is just off of a county highway and is bordered by that road and people’s private land and homes. The people, naturally, wake up early and tend to their chores. This may include, but isn’t limited to: Chainsawing things down… Hours of high-​pitched, metallic tapping and so on and so forth.
If one wanted to drive just a little bit further (your already out in the middle of nowhere anyway) there seem be other campsites that have a much more natural feel with no close-​by neighbors. I drove through a few and would stay at a different location than Oak Knoll next time. We chose this location because we had a small child with us and it was pretty good for that purpose alone. The other reviewers mentioned it wasn’t a «roughing it» spot and that it was best for «beginners”— and we were fine with that— I just hadn’t expected so much noise pollution and the close proximity of private homeowners.
Some other issues:
The sites are very close to one another. I don’t know how packed this place gets in the peak season, so maybe all those sites are really necessary but they’re essentially as close together as homes in a mobile home park. This isn’t where you should go for a private, remote feel, what so ever.
Additionally there’s an obscene amount of rodents (mice) and pesky crows who terrorize your site if you walk away to the bathroom for a few minutes.
To end on a good note I’d like to say that this campground doesn’t seem to be a stickler for a lot of rules and regulations. If you’re respectful they’ll pretty much leave you alone and let you hang out at all hours around your campfire and chat with your friends— unlike some campsites who impose a quiet-​time and a campfire hour limitation (usually 11pm).
If you are looking for a camping «lite» experience with newbies or kids this site offers some pleasant diversions with the recreation options offered on site, up the mountain at the Observatory or back down 76 to the casinos.

Initially planned to stay for 4 days, but had such a great experience… I stayed for 11!!! Perfect for off-​season camping, even with my non-​cold weather tent (screen roof covered with a rain fly) I was able to stay warm and toasty in mid-​February with a little rain. Although, that mainly had to do with my electric heater.
Quite possibly the best bathrooms I’ve ever seen in a campsite area. Clean, well-​maintained, with real toilets. Showers were nice with plenty of hot water. There are some permanent residents in RV trailers, but they didn’t appear to use these facilities. Access is granted to them by a electronic lock and keypad.
There’s a nice sized baseball field, which doubled as great place to setup a telescope at night.
There’s WiFi, but I stuck with using my phone as a hotspot with full bars at 3G, didn’t get a 4G signal up there. Was still able to stream The Walking Dead on my laptop in HD. (Can’t miss that, right???)
Whoever thought of using old washing machine tubs as fire pits is an absolute genius! You can move them around to wherever you like, put a couple rocks in them to help radiate the heat, and they appear to be safer for kids.
Peaceful, relaxing, secure, affordable and close enough for stay-​cations. Didn’t stay in a cabin, but they looked pretty nice. I talked to a few people who were staying there and they all seemed really pleased.
The on-​site manager, Maureen, was very friendly and accommodating. She and her husband were really the heart of this place. «I’m staying another 3 days!» :)
On the weekends (2) during my stay, I was accompanied by my sister, her husband, their 5-​year old son, and a little dog. There were plenty of exploring areas and hidden gems throughout the site to find. Many activities to keep him busy and entertained.

For what it is, it is pretty excellent. It’s not a «out in the wilderness, roughing it» type of place. There is a small store, pool, basketball court, pool tables, and bathrooms. Each spot is spacious, comes with a table, fire pit, electric and water. Pretty inexpensive (we paid $ 20/​night in April). The bathrooms are better than any camp ground i’ve seen ($ 0.50 per 5 minutes for the shower, but WELL worth the price for how clean they are). The whole place is cool because it’s still old fashioned– basic, relaxed, very few rules, and friendly. Reminds me of the places I’d go when I was younger, which is hard to find these days since everywhere is so concerned with rules, regulations and killing anything fun. This place is the opposite. Filled with huge oak trees and really beautiful birds. Great for a weekend trip :)

We showed up before dark on friday at 4:30pm as instructed by the mgr. Closed sign in window of office. We called office and just machine telling us the hours are till 7. Since we already paid for one night we drove into one of the sites with elect hook up and found the electrical boxes were all locked. Spent the night using genset when needed. Got up next morning packed up and left at 9 am. Closed sign still in window. By the looks of the place it seems they are more after permanent residents instead of campers. Won’t be back. Ever.

Are you one of those people who don’t want to camp because of the poor condition of the restrooms??? (Trust me, you are not alone). But, I guess this campground might change your thoughts!!!
This is a great campground for beginners. I have never seen such nice, clean, and shiny restrooms in a campground before (Check out the pictures I have posted). Not just the restrooms, all the other amenities are also highly mentionable. The campground is fenced, gated, has a nice pool and a nice convenient store. Each site is equipped with electric outlet, table, and fire pit. This campground even has WiFi connection!!!
The campground is on a small hill. So the camp-​sites are on steps, which looks really nice. Also, lot’s of trees on the campground. So, when you set up your tent, it gets a lot of shades from the trees… very relaxing!!!
One bad thing is, there are a lot of mosquitoes and bugs (I guess because of the threes) in this campground. So make sure you take bug/​mosquito replant with you and DO NOT use white light at night. Use the yellow ones, that seems to keep the bugs away from the light.
Here is the address for the campground if you want to Google it…
Oak Knoll Campground
31 718 South Grade Rd.
Palomar Mountain, CA 92 061