El Cariso Campground

julian campbell

The overall experience was good. The soil is rough 😕, so your tent stakes won't be able to pentrate the ground. There's giant red ants, so you will need a bug net. My ONLY dislike was the bathroom 🚻 because it had so many spiders and was unclean. Also, its difficult sleeping 😴 at night due the the campground being right next to the Ortega HWY making it really noisy at night and in the morning.

Matthew Hengst

It’s a $15 a night campsite relatively accessible from OC which has water and bathrooms. Unfortunately it is right off the side of Ortega so if your sensitive to traffic noise you won’t like this one particularly with all the overly loud motorcycles. Sites themselves are rather nice with ample shade under the oaks but located very close to each other. On the plus side we were here on a Friday and Saturday in January and had it pretty much to ourselves.

Gabriel Pavelsky

This is a nice campground. There are lots of pretty oak trees that give you the impression of being way out in the wilderness. There are hiking trails nearby and a rangers station with a visitor center across the street. I have two complaints one is that it can be a little bit loud at early in the morning due to the Ortega highway and sometimes people come here and party all night long and that can also be a little bit loud for camping but, other than those small issues this one of my favorite campgrounds.

Patrick Dunlop

Nice little campground, we had the whole place to our selves on a week night! Traffic noise dies down in the evening. Multiple bathrooms and portable water made it really nice! The visitor center across the street is typically only open on weekends. Beautiful views, great spot when traveling through!