February 18, 2005

• And, yeah, it could be related to this thread from yesterday.
• you're looking for a campsite to date?
• a campsite with dates....bound to be warm!
• I can vouch for Appalachicola National Forest near Appalachicola, Florida. It's pretty, no one's there, and it's on the ocean. You could camp next to the water if you wanted and have no company but the trees and the birds.
• You're blowing the whole town! You must have a strong jaw! I'd recommend Michigan, but only in the summer. Their Metroparks are pretty good, but you have to put in reservations in advance. If you go for the "rustic" (no water/electricity) campgrounds, they're secluded and usually empty. The ones with water and electricity tend to be full of rural kids drinking light beer...
• Go to Matagorda Beach 100 miles southwest of Houston. Drive 5 to 10 miles east on the beach until you get as far from other people as you wish. Park above the high tide line. Collect the bounty of firewood that washes onto the beach and build yourself a great bonfire. Burn the plastic trash and haul some of the other flotsam and jetsam back to town in your 4WD, and trash it. Don't have a 4WD? Well, you are stuck now. Wish there were some people around.
• I note that all your choices so far are in southern California. You don't say when you're planning on coming, but you might want to be aware that SoCal has had a pretty wild winter so far, and it ain't over yet. As for your choices, Torrey Pines SB/SR (your first link) doesn't allow camping-- it's day-use only. While it's possible to sneak in and camp, it's probably not a good idea and certainly not a whole lot of fun. San Onofre (your second link) offers camping at the San Mateo campground. However, the campsites are not far away from the freeway and the RV parking area. There's a huge surfer presence at the beaches there, especially if there's a decent break at Trestles. If you're looking for quiet and solitude, you won't find it at San Onofre. As for Cuyamaca, I haven't been there since before the 2003 fires. The area was heavily damaged by the fires. The official campground (with prepared sites and rustic cabins) is open but the backcountry sites are still closed. With all the rain we've had this winter, I can't imagine that anywhere in the Laguna Mountains is going to be very pleasant this time of the year. The Channel Islands area right now will definitely get you solitude, but it's not going to be exactly sunny and warm. (Well, compared to Wisconsin maybe, but not by southern California standards.) If you're coming to this part of the world, have you considered Mexico? If you can time it right, the beaches on the Sea of Cortez side are just about perfect this time of the year. San Felipe and points south offer clean, mostly deserted beaches, and you can camp right by the edge of the beach if you want. Let me know if you'd like more details.
• Malibu Creek, north of Malibu on PCH. I liked it because the camp ground is located on the other side of PCH from the Ocean. Which is like a Forrest, then you cross the street and walk down the bluffs to the coved beaches which are kind of private. Then there is South Carlsbad off the 5 which is camping at the Beach. Here is the site's above home that I listed. You may also check out Catalina Island.
• San Onofre is often pretty crowded on any sunny weekends. Unfortunately, at this time of year, Southern California beaches are often socked in cloudy. El Capitan state beach, a bit north of Santa Barbara has been pretty uncrowded in my experience.
• Horn Island. Dry Tortugas.
• Andrew Molera State Park, near Big Sur. The nice thing is one can't park on the campgrounds - it's a quarter-mile hike - so you won't wake up to a revving RV. There's a shallow stream to the south of the grounds, and one can walk it down to the beach. It's a very free-for-all kind of place - people share, and sing, and are friendly. I haven't been there for five years but I hear it hasn't changed.