Stop 2 of our escape! Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay KOA, Watsonville California. This visit we had the super deluxe site with a small dog run on it. Dog loved being outside with us “off leash” with plenty of room for him to move around. We took our e-bikes and had some nice outings to the coast, watched deer in an orchard and rode next to a produce field.
Kiddo#1 and family were unable to join us on this trip. Their local reservation was cancelled due to the pandemic.
We were supposed to be in Glacier National Park – instead we went to Prado Regional Park. Definitely not what we planned! COVID sure is putting a crimp in our summer plans! Not sure we are going to make our goal of 20 public parks and/or 20 nights in public parks during 2020. 3 nights of our 20 complete!
The National Park refunded our reservation money about a month ago when it was decided they would not be open this week for camping.
Prado Regional Park is in the southwest corner of Chino, California. It has full hookups (meaning we have water, electricity, and sewer connections), most are long pull-through sites with asphalt pad for parking. A concrete patio area with picnic table and fire ring is also at each site. Cost is $40 per night. The sites are pretty far apart. Good AT&T cell reception.
** 11/2020 – the lake is contaminated and no water activities are allowed until further notice. Please check their website for more information.
From their web site: “This park is loaded with outdoor recreation and adventure offering, fishing, camping, hiking, biking and nature trails, splash pad, disc golf and outstanding picnic facilities are just a sampling of what this park has to offer.
A unique feature of Prado is that it has a meeting room that seats 80 people and is ideal for club meetings, parties and receptions.
Additional activities at the park include two 18-hole golf courses at El Prado Golf Course, an Olympic shooting range at Shoot Prado, an equestrian center at Prado Park Equestrian Center and an archery range by Oranco Bowmen Archery Club.”
We had a unique easterly view. Mid-afternoon on Wednesday a small fire started in the equestrian/hiking area. 28 acres burned. Pictures show progression and how close it was to us. Friday morning John saw a deer going towards the river in this area.
My only complaint about this park has to do with the bugs. It is near a wilderness area and has its own “lake” so the mosquitoes and other biting bugs are plentiful. I really don’t like to use bug spray but you really should at this place!
Now I’m off to do laundry – too bad “vacation” doesn’t include a respite from these kind of chores!
We spent last weekend at Mojave Narrows Regional Park camping with friends. This is a hidden wetland/small lakes gem in the middle of the desert.
We would recommend this county park during the fall and spring. The temperature varied from a low of 25 to a high of 42 during our visit in mid-February. There was a storm passing over and we received some rain and plenty of wind (about 20-30 mph). A couple of days after we visited, they received a couple of inches of snow.
There were a fair amount of birds in/near the lake: pelicans, canadian geese, turkey vultures, and ducks. We did not see any mammals or reptiles. Many fisherman were catching fish – not sure what type – with crows hanging out near the fishermen.
They have a decent play area for kids. The water feature is only available during the summer months.
Many of the sites during the winter have no grass. It seemed like our site (#14) was in a low area with rain runoff pooling in the area. We didn’t have any issues on the paved part of the site. Picture taken showing our site and a view south showing location of restroom/shower building.
Location: Victorville, San Bernardino County, California It is about 7 miles (about 15 minutes) from the I-15 and Bear Valley Road exit.
RV sites: there are about 40 RV sites with full hookups. There are a 8 “dry” RV sites as well as about 30 tent sites.
Wifi/cell reception: wifi is not provided. Our ATT phone had 3 bars and LTE the entire visit.
Negative: The train tracks are close by. In our site, I only felt the rumble of the trains once all weekend. They blow their whistle several miles away and some might hear them. In the RV at night with windows/vents closed, the trains did NOT wake us up.
Cost: $40 per night.
Decluttering the Stuff 