Camping in the Angeles National Forest

Cooking s'mores beneath the stars, seeing lots of lizards, hiking the Burkhart trail, sleeping in a tent, eating camp food, climbing rocks.

Quick Tips:

Remember to bring sunscreen, a hat, plenty of water, and bug repellant. This is bear country, believe it or not, so you need to keep your food in your car and covered up, so the bears can't see it.

Best Way To Get Around:

Definitely a car. There are lots of hikes, but you'll have to drive to each one, so be prepared to put some drive time in on the curvy road.

The Manzanita campground is nice and open, which on summer days may mean too hot, but it also means you can see the stars at night. It has lots of huge rocks that the kids can climb on. The camp sites are a bit further apart than in Buckhorn, the most popular campsite in the Angeles National Forest. And there were plenty of empty sites on a Saturday in July.

We put up two tents and put our canopy over the picnic table. Josie had plenty of lizards to hunt within view of the camp site and we took several tours of the area looking for marshmellow roasting sticks. We also took a walk around the entire camp grounds in the dark and saw a coyote.

The camp ground host did remind us to keep all our food in the car and cover it up because the bears will apparently break the windows of cars where they can see the food. Though we were warned about the bears, we didn't see any of them or even any sign that they were around, but it's better to be safe than sorry. There are also rattlesnakes in the area, so be careful where you put your hands and your feet.

The bathrooms were usable, though Josie and I had a mouse run in on us. It was trying to escape from the people outside and it hid in a small hole in the wall for awhile, then made a dash for the outside again. It was definitely one of the most exciting bathroom trips we've had. The lizards were numerous and we saw many different kinds. Josie didn't manage to catch any, though.

Make sure you bring chairs to sit in. The kids will probably enjoy sitting on the various rocks, but the three adults in our group appreciated the comfort of a folding chair.

This hike was a little too long for Josie. We only made it about three-quarters of the way and, according to our two friends, we missed the steep part at the end that led down to the stream, which was probably just as well. Despite turning back before the end and having to rest several times on the way back, Josie (age 4.5) declared the hike to be "Great, awesome" when I asked her to describe it later.

The narrow trail leads down the hillside towards the creek and you spend most of the time in the shade of tall trees. There was water on the trail in a few places, not really enough to splash in, but it was surprising to see that much water in July. There were plenty of lizards around in the spots of sunshine, especially at lizard rock, a large outcropping of rock that Josie and I spent a long time resting beside.

Josie did trip and fall a few times over the rocks and I would rate this hike between beginning and intermediate.

To reach the trail, drive to the Buckhorn campground off Highway 2. Follow the signs in the camp ground to the parking lot, then take the trail out of the parking lot. There were a lot of people taking this hike. It's a good afternoon activity.

We specifically decided on the Vincent Gap hike because it was supposed to be easy. Either conditions changed since our guide book was written or the author was out of his mind. Josie and I didn't make it very far on this hike because she was tired. The part we did cover was on an old wagon trail, very easy to walk. There wasn't much shade, though, and we stopped just before a really long hot stretch. While our friends went on, we sat down by the trail and threw rocks at trees. Then we made our way back slowly, with Josie on my shoulders.

Meanwhile, our friends had a hot walk to the mining buildings that were at the end of the trail. They said that in a few places there was just a boulder keeping the trail on the side of the mountain, so this is definitely not for beginning hikers.

We also had a little trouble finding the trail. There is a sign on Highway 2 that says Vincent Gulch. You park in that parking lot, then go down the large trail towards Mining Gulch. You can also get on the Pacific Crest trail from that parking lot. There is a bathroom in the parking lot, which was nice.