Best Campgrounds Near Arcadia
20 hand-picked camping destinations curated for families visiting REI Arcadia. Each campground selected for quality, scenery diversity, and memorable experiences.
Showing 20 campgrounds
Featured Picks
Dogwood
Dogwood Campground is one of the highest-rated family bases in the local mountains, with shady pine and cedar forest plus quick drives to Lake Arrowhead and Lake Gregory for boating, fishing, swimming, and biking.
Thornhill Broome Campground
Thornhill Broome Campground offers classic Southern California beach camping right on the sand with the Santa Monica Mountains as a backdrop, making it an easy ocean-focused day-trip or weekend for families.
Coldbrook Campground
Coldbrook Campground is one of the closest highly rated mountain campgrounds to Arcadia, with a creek winding through shaded pine sites that are ideal for first-time family campers and quick weekend escapes.
Round Valley Campground
Round Valley Campground pairs five-star scenery with a short backcountry approach, giving families with older kids a great first backpacking experience among granite peaks, subalpine forest, and open meadows.
Borrego Palm Canyon Campground
Borrego Palm Canyon Campground showcases the best of Anza-Borrego with mountain views, starry skies, and a palm oasis hike right from camp, giving families a warm, winter-friendly desert contrast to forest and beach trips.
Santa Cruz Scorpion
Santa Cruz Scorpion Campground adds a unique Channel Islands adventure with boat access, island trails, snorkeling and beach time, perfect for families ready to move beyond drive-in camping while still staying relatively close to home.
More to Explore
Barton Flats
Barton Flats offers cool high-elevation camping under tall pines near Jenks Lake and the Santa Ana River, giving families a spacious mountain base with excellent hiking, fishing, and biking options.
Moro Campground
Moro Campground at Crystal Cove State Park combines blufftop ocean views with easy access to sandy beaches and coastal trails, making it a versatile Orange County option for families who want both hiking and water play.
Canyon Campground
Canyon Campground at Leo Carrillo State Park gives families shaded creekside camping a short walk from the beach, tide pools, and coastal caves, packing a lot of kid-friendly exploration into one destination.
Mountain Oak
Mountain Oak sits right across from Jackson Lake, offering close-to-home shaded forest camping where kids can fish, paddle, and swim without a long drive.
Glenn Camp Campground (Hike Or Bike In 7 Miles)
Glenn Camp Campground provides a rare hike-or-bike-in experience along the San Gabriel River just a short drive from Arcadia, great for adventurous families looking to try an easy backpacking or bikepacking overnighter.
Malibu Creek State Park Campground
Malibu Creek State Park Campground offers dramatic canyon scenery, swimming holes, and multi-use trails, giving families a close-by spot to hike, bike, and cool off in an iconic movie-filming landscape.
Belknap
Belknap Campground puts families right among giant sequoias with a creek and the Tule River nearby, making it a standout weekend road trip for big-tree scenery and cool summer camping.
Rainbow Basin/Owl Canyon Campground
Rainbow Basin/Owl Canyon Campground surrounds campers with colorful badlands and sculpted canyons, offering a family-friendly base for short desert hikes, geology lessons, and exceptional stargazing.
South Carlsbad State Beach Campground
South Carlsbad State Beach Campground offers blufftop ocean sites with stair access to a wide sandy beach, ideal for families who want classic SoCal surfing, swimming, and biking along the coast.
Santa Rosa Island
Santa Rosa Island provides a wilder, more remote Channel Islands experience than Santa Cruz, with long coastal hikes, quiet beaches, and rolling grasslands for experienced families seeking a multi-day island trip.
Ricardo Campground
Ricardo Campground in Red Rock Canyon State Park features towering sandstone cliffs and easy loop hikes, giving families an eye-catching desert alternative to the smoother badlands at Rainbow Basin.
Sawtooth Canyon Campground
Sawtooth Canyon Campground is a rustic BLM site with dramatic boulder formations and dark night skies, great for climbing-focused families or those wanting a free, low-light-pollution desert camp.
Green Valley
Green Valley Campground pairs shady forest sites with nearby Green Valley Lake, giving families an intimate mountain setting where kids can swim, paddle, and fish at a small alpine-style lake.
Quail Campground
Quail Campground at Lake Perris offers warm-water swimming, paddling, shoreline fishing, and paved bike paths, providing a lower-elevation lake option that works especially well in spring and fall.
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