Getaways : A Guide to the Great Outdoors for Campers Who Prefer to Stay Close to Home

This is the time of year when normally civilized residents of the Valley begin spending entire weekends without television, indoor plumbing and dinner reservations. Struck by an irresistible urge to get close to nature instead of smog, they go camping.

These are not descendants of Jeremiah Johnson. They do not really know much about the great outdoors other than what they remember from “Bonanza.” An annual weekend camping trip is their chance to hone what they like to perceive as “wilderness skills.” Truth be known, some of them might not survive 5 miles from the nearest pay phone.

To ensure a basic outdoor experience without too much discomfort, they stuff their cars with every conceivable camping aid from butane grills to bottled water but usually forget to bring the marshmallows.

A weekend camper owns a tent, not an RV. An outdoor tradition: When a camper pulls the mildewed tent and aluminium shafts from a storage bag for their yearly assembly, he cannot figure out how they go together.

Another problem facing weekend campers in California is deciding which campground to use. With beaches, mountains and deserts, the state is a camper’s paradise. The U. S. Forest Service alone operates more than 900 campgrounds in California, most of which have toilet facilities but no showers and charge a small ($2-$5) daily user fee.

But weekend campers don’t really get away from it all. There may be more stars in the sky and less traffic on the roads, but the woods are crowded. Last year, the Forest Service estimates, its top sites were at capacity every day from the end of June to Labor Day. Overall, some 11 million people used Forest Service campgrounds in the state in 1987.

Camping experts avoid the crowds by backpacking into the woods with minimal provisions and making their own campsites, a practice not recommended for the inexperienced. When experts camp at public and private campgrounds, they make sure to stay at spectacular sites without tent-to-tent crowds.

As a guide for the weekend camper, five local experts were asked to pick their favorite wilderness getaways. The campsites were required to be tame enough for families and within a three-hour drive from the Valley.

MT. SAN JACINTO STATE PARK

The park, located near Idyllwild, is above Palm Springs, about 2 1/2 hours from the San Fernando Valley.

“It’s a great place to go to get into the mountains,” says Mark Schneider, a veteran outdoorsman who works for Adventure 16 Wilderness Camping Outfitters in Tarzana.

Schneider, 26, goes on at least three weeklong camping trips a year, as well as twice-monthly weekend excursions. He has been visiting Mt. San Jacinto since he was a teen, rock climbing on its giant granite walls and hiking on trails lined with pine trees. In the spring, when he especially likes to camp there, rains and melting snow bring mountain brooks to life.

During prime time, the 32 campsites fill with rock climbers and weekend campers. Although stands of trees provide some privacy “people are close by,” Schneider says.

Also close by is the town of Idyllwild, which Schneider calls “a sleepy mountain community even in high tourist season.”

MESSENGER FLATS

One of the area’s closest mountain getaways, it is located in the Angeles National Forest, only 15 miles from the Valley as the crow flies but 90 minutes by car. The Forest Service campground does not have showers but it is “off the beaten track,” Ranger Steve Bear says.

Messenger Flats is on the top of a mountain “in a grove of old Ponderosa pine, trees as wide as a table,” says Bear, a Forest Service resource officer who works in the Little Tujunga District and lives in Granada Hills. The site provides vistas of the San Fernando Valley, he says, “and without pollution, you could see all the way to the Channel Islands.”

The area is a bird-watching hot spot featuring hawks and bald eagles. Campers also can glimpse deer, bobcat and bear. The Pacific Crest Trail, which stretches from Mexico to Canada, runs through Messenger Flats, making it a haven for hikers and backpackers.

“It’s what I think of when I think of a Forest Service campground,” Bear says. “It’s got what you need for an enjoyable trip.”

The campground is filled on summer weekends, but during the week “you probably wouldn’t find hardly anybody,” Bear says.

A warning: Because of high usage at Forest Service campgrounds, firewood is usually scarce, especially late in the season. “You need to bring your own wood,” Bear says. “And make sure you have a cooler that closes, or squirrels and raccoon will have your breakfast.”

PINYON FLAT

Reasons for liking this site go beyond enjoyment all the way to “spiritual,” says Don Tidwell, a member of the Valley chapter of the Sierra Club. “It’s like being halfway to heaven.”

Tidwell has visited Pinyon Flat three times in the past six months. “Indians live in the area,” he says. “They followed traditional Indian life styles until 1900. There’s a good feeling there.”

Less than three hours’ drive from the Valley, Pinyon Flat sits in the San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Desert. “I like the fact that you can look up at the mountains and down at the Coachella Valley,” Tidwell says. “You’re surrounded by Joshua trees and cholla cactus as well as conifers and oaks. It’s a nice place to be.”

The Forest Service campground, part of the San Bernardino National Forest, is not for campers who want a completely rustic setting.

“It’s right across the road from a small cafe,” Tidwell says. But Pinyon Flat is also near a trail head, which makes it attractive to hikers such as Tidwell, who says he averages 750 trail miles a year.

CUYAMACA RANCHO STATE PARK

Bradley Childs, executive director of the Wilderness Institute, a nonprofit outdoors school in Woodland Hills, takes groups to the park in the Peninsular Range near the town of Julian, east of San Diego and three hours’ drive from the Valley.

“The views are dramatic,” he says. From the top of Cuyamaca Peak, highest mountain in the area at 6,500 feet, it’s possible to see the Pacific Ocean 40 miles away.

A large campground, Paso Picacho, is at the north end of the 26,500-acre park, which is richly forested with cedar and oak. There is also a nature center and bike paths as well as miles of hiking trails.

“I like the park because it has the convenience of camping near a road but then you can take off and hike away from people,” Childs says.

POINT MUGU STATE PARK

Aside from camping in mountains and desert, Californians can set up their tents on the beach.

But beach camping is not for everybody. Almost all beach-area campgrounds in Southern California are in close proximity to Amtrak tracks. To some, there is nothing that can ruin the mood faster than a rumbling train in the middle of a campfire yarn.

That is why Tom Grubbs likes this 13,000-acre state park--there are no trains. “It’s the only place where tracks don’t run along the coast,” says Grubbs, a Toluca Lake cinematographer and longtime camper.

But Pacific Coast Highway does intersect the park, located in the Santa Monica Mountains less than an hour’s ride from the Valley. There are primitive campsites--chemical toilets and cold showers--directly on La Jolla Beach, but Grubbs recommends camping at the more deluxe Sycamore Canyon campground right across PCH.

“It’s still close enough to the beach that you can listen to the ocean as you fall asleep,” he says.

MT. SAN JACINTO STATE PARK Driving time: 2 1/2 hours Campground: 32 sites Facilities: bathrooms with warm showers, drinking water, laundry tubs Activities: hiking, horseback riding Reservations: Mistix ($10 a night plus $3.95 surcharge) PINYON FLAT Driving time: 3 hours Campground: 18 sites Facilities: running water, pit toilets Activities: hiking Reservations: first come, first served ($5 user fee per night) MESSENGER FLATS Driving time: 90 min. Campground: 10 sites Facilities: running water, chemical toilets Activities: hiking, horseback riding Reservations: first come, first served ($5 user fee per night) CUYAMACA RANCHO STATE PARK Driving time: 3 hours Campground: Paso Picacho, 85 sites Facilities: bathrooms with warm showers, drinking water, laundry tubs Activities: hiking, horseback riding Reservations: Mistix ($10 a night plus $3.95 surcharge) PT. MUGU STATE PARK Driving time: 45 min. Campground: Sycamore Canyon, 57 sites Facilities: bathrooms, warm showers Activities: hiking, ocean fishing Reservations: Mistix ($12 a night plus $3.95 surcharge) THE SELECTION PANEL Mark Schneider, an instructor for Adventure 16 Wilderness Camping Outfitters in Tarzana. Steve Bear, a Forest Service resource officer who works in the Little Tujunga District. Don Tidwell, a member of the Valley chapter of the Sierra Club who averages 750 trail miles a year. Bradley Childs, executive director of the Wilderness Institute of Woodland Hills. Tom Grubbs, a Toluca Lake cinematographer and longtime camper.