Heart Bar Camp: Forest Road #1N02 – San Bernardino National Forest

Heartbar Campground, Hear Bar Horse Camps, RV Dispersed Sites, Coon Creek Cabin. SE of Big Bear Lake; Hiking & Equestrian Trails

Hwy 38 , the long way into Big Bear Lake, up thru Angelus Oaks CA. Heartbar Campground is a developed recreation area, right up front. 94 camp sites, plus the recreation goes on & on. Big equestrian area. Picnic, hiking, mountain biking, horseback trails, plenty RV spots, even a creek. (Oooops I meant the Santa Ana River)

Heart Bar is large pine valley w/ alpine meadows, great camping, San Gorgonio looms overhead with ridges of 10,000′ elevation.

Forest Service Rd #1N02 – the dirt road is graded & maintained. Many of these roads can close due to heavy snows or rock slides. Best traveled in the warmer months. Winter can be questionable with open road access. Large open sites, with tables & moderately level dirt access. Seen RV campers way back here. RV’s beyond 30′ are not recommended in the last half of Heartbar Road. At end of this 5 mile route is a hiking trail to Big Morongo Canyon & also, a really neat historic place called the Coon Creek Cabin.

Totally worth a visit, if you plan on driving to the end of the road – just for the heck of it. Cabin area can be reserved for small group camping in summer months.

COON CREEK CABIN reservations
909-794-4861

San Bernardino forest maps:

• San Berdu National Forest Map (USDA NFS)
• San Berdu & Barstow OHV Trail Map
• San Gorgonio Trail Map (Tom Harrison)

nearby Big Bear mountain communities:

Highway 78 cuts right thru the middle of the largest State Park in the lower 48. Anza Borrego Desert State Park is a place that must be visited more than once to really take in all the beauty it has to offer. North-South: San Diego County Road S2 skirts the western border with Laguna Mountain towering above. It starts at Ocotillo @ Interstate 8 and heads Northwest to Lake Henshaw at Warner Springs. East-West: a major route S22, connects Montezuma Valley to the Borrego Valley, and continues East to the Salton Sea. The center of the parks is pretty much the town of Borrego Springs. County Road S3 leads from Hwy 78 down the the town of Borrego Springs Valley. developed campgrounds:

• Agua Caliente Hot Springs, S2
• Blair Valley Camping (free), S2
• Borrego Palm Canyon Campground
• Bow Willow Campground (free), S2
• Butterfield Ranch RV Park, S2
• Culp Valley Campground (free), S22
• Fish Creek Campground (free), off Hwy 78
• Ocotillo Wells OHV Camping, Hwy 78
• Stagecoach RV Park, S2
• Tamarisk Grove Campground, S3 @ 78
• Vern Whitaker Horse Camp, Borrego
• Vallecito County Park Campground, S2

free camping: While the camping facilities listed above provide picnic tables and toilets, or more luxury camping… Total Escape thinks the best part of camping in Anza Borrego Desert is the vast amount of free, open camping available on most back roads. Hundreds of dirt roads lead off in all directions, so you can find the peace and solitude that few inside busy campgrounds ever experience.

San Diego Backcountry Map

Many routes are sandy washes, dirt roads, some for high clearance vehicles only, or 4WD in several canyons. Have a good dirt road map with you and know your cars limitations. Cell phone coverage is very unlikely out here in the most remote wilderness areas.

East San Diego County, Borrego Springs CA

San Diego Backcountry
600,000 acres of SoCal desert

BLOOM: mid-March thru May
Anza Park elevations range from low to high. Lowest near eastern border (next to the Salton Sea) to the upper reaches of the western slopes @ 4000′. Wide, deep, sandy, long desert washes, native petroglphs, wind caves, slot canyons and split mountain. This uncrowded state park has the most acreages than all of the parks.

OPEN CAMPING

Camp in a developed campground, a small back country site or camp primitive on nearly any dirt road. Car camping to 4×4, this park has lots to offer folks wishing to really escape. No ground fires allowed, so bring your metal campfire bucket and large trash bag to carry out your ashes. The last thing you want is to scar these pristine white desert washes.

DESERT WILDFLOWERS

Steep rocky canyons on the Laguna mountain foothills can be challenging terrain, so bring good, sturdy hiking boots. Wildflowers can be abundant on certain years. Lower elevations sprout up first; Higher elevations along County Rd S-2 & S-22 bloom later in Spring. By June 1st most of the color is gone in and around Borrego Springs, so this is a real Winter and Spring vacation kinda spot. California desert wildflowers include primrose, barrel cactus, prickly pear, monkey flower, ocotillo & many more.

ANZA BORREGO WILDFLOWERS

see also BORREGO SPRINGS

find you way easily with the Anza Borrego Desert Map

This is the largest State Park in California and “open car camping” is allowed on the back roads. (also referred to as primitive camping, free camping or 4×4 camping) One of the few places in Southern California that you can camp outside of a developed Campground and still have a campfire. You gotta bring a large metal bucket to have your campfire in – as ashes scar white sandy washes and ground fires are not allowed.

Big Meadow: Forest Road# 22S12 – Cherry Hill, Sequoia National Forest

Take Sierra Hwy. N of Kernville, past Fairview & over the Johnsondale bridge; Right turn on Sherman’s Pass Road & drive up to a signed intersection (near a snow gate). Turn right on Big Meadow Road, aka Forest Service Rd# 22S12. This is a very long road which is paved for the first few miles. 22S12 becomes a graded dirt road, suitable for horse trailers; it forks off to other smaller dirt roads, as it progresses through the forests & dead ends back by Cannell Meadow. The main routes are passenger car accessible, but some of the smaller dirt roads can get quite bumpy. A truck or SUV would be advisable to explore these secondary routes. Some areas have suffered from wildfire July 2000.

Horses & equestrian camping are very popular in this region. The developed Horse Meadow Campground can be found on the right via road# 23S08. Located at 7400′ elevation w/ 41 spots.

Side routes include:

• #23S14 Cherry Hill – a few camp spots near creek & a meadow with views at the very end
• #23S41 Poison Meadow
• #23S13 Salmon Creek
• #22S07 Big Meadow – this is a graded loop road around the “Big Meadow”. Plenty of primitive camp sites around Big Meadow, but they are the first ones to fill up during a popular summer weekend. The region is perfect for backpackers or day hikers wanting to access Manter Mdw. & the Domelands Wilderness.
• #24S13 feeds the last stretch of road to Rattlesnake Meadow. Taylor Creek near 24S43, features numerous waterfalls leading to the South Fork of the Kern River
• #24S12 Cannell Meadow & Pine Flat. The Cannell Meadow National Recreation Trail runs thru here, from Big Meadow down to Kernville, CA.

Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia National Forest MAP

DOME LAND Wilderness MAP

Nearby towns include:

• FAIRVIEW
• KENNEDY MEADOWS
• KERNVILLE

Sugarloaf Ridge: Forest Rd# 23S16 – Thompson Camp Spring, Sequoia National Forest

Driving north on Sierra Hwy N of Kernville, California; Passing Fairview & the Johnsondale bridge; After the R Ranch @ Johnsondale, take the left fork on the main highway; After you climb in elevation, look for brown signs on right side of road & turn left on Forest Service Rd# 23S16. Primitive camp sites are located throughout this area along Packsaddle Creek. Do not turn left up Sugarloaf Rd. There are no good camp sites up that way (unless you wanna make one).

RV campers are very common at Thompson Camp Spring, as this road is paved up to this point. The paved road is windy & narrows after this point. It is not advised for trailers or long motorhomes past Thompson.

For the more adventurous, Bear Meadow & Packsaddle Mdw are located up the dirt road a bit on #23S64.

Paved Sequoia route# 23S16 continues to climb, which leads to the Speas Meadow, the Greenhorn Mountains & you best have a real good map if you are heading up this way. 20 miles of awesome open meadows, small streams, dense forest, wildflowers, some primitive camp sites & great viewpoints overlooking the Kern Canyon. All passenger car accessible! Elevations between 6000-7000′. Sugarloaf Peak has cross country skiing. Side route #23S05 will take you to White River Campground w/ 12 spots. The paved road winds west down the mountain to Posey & eventually Glennville on Hwy 155.

Instead, to easily reach Hwy 155 – you’ll need to get on dirt for a few miles. While on 23S16, look for the Panorama Campground (@ 7400′ elevation w/ 10 sites). Take dirt road #24S15 to get back to civilization @ Alta Sierra, California.

Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia National Forest MAP

Closest small towns are:

• ALTA SIERRA
• KERNVILLE
• LAKE ISABELLA
• WOFFORD HEIGHTS