Buckhorn campground in Angeles National Forest is a cool place to pitch a tent
DOWN & DIRTY
The Burkhart Trail high above the San Gabriel Valley leads to Cooper Canyon Falls, a clear, bracing swimming hole.
It's no mystery why several outdoor groups have ranked the Buckhorn campground in the Angeles National Forest as one of the top campsites in Southern California.
The campground is perched in the forest at 6,300 feet, where the temperatures are cooler and the sky is mostly free of that brown muck that floats over the San Gabriel Valley on hot summer days. The big, green pines and cedars that shade the campground make it easy to forget you are less than an hour's drive from one of the biggest U.S. cities. And then there is the little, gurgling creek that cuts through the campgrounds in the spring, giving campers a lovely water-splashing serenade.
But most hikers rave about its proximity to several great hiking trails that lead into the glorious backcountry, including the Burkhart and the Pacific Crest trails.
Mountain map: A map that accompanied a Sept. 7 Travel article on Buckhorn Campground in Angeles National Forest showed California 2 connecting with California 39. The part of California 39 south of California 2 no longer exists, and the roads do not connect.
Mountain map: A map that accompanied a Sept. 7 article on Buckhorn Campground in the Angeles National Forest showed California Highway 2 connecting with California Highway 39. The part of California 39 south of California 2 no longer exists, and the roads do not connect.
When I invited my 10-year-old daughter, Isabella, and my brother-in-law, Tom, to spend a night at Buckhorn with me, I warned them that the campground was so popular that we might not find an empty spot. I felt like an idiot when we pulled in on a recent weekday and found the place nearly vacant.
Mostly I was disheartened to see that the shin-deep creek that I remembered from a previous visit was gone, the victim of a long, dry summer.
Still, we were happy we could drive around and choose the best site the campground had to offer. We chose No. 16, away from the trash Dumpsters but within a short walk of the vault toilets (just in case we needed to find our way to the outhouses at night).
The campsites at Buckhorn vary in size and shape, but nearly all are blessed with nice shade.
It's no wonder Native Americans long ago dwelt in this area, hunting wild game and collecting pine nuts. If you scout around the big boulders in the camp, you still may find mortar holes where they ground meal.
We left Pasadena shortly after the morning rush hour on a Thursday, stopped at a supermarket in La Cañada Flintridge to pick up supplies and arrived at the campground within 90 minutes, which gave us plenty of time to set up our tents and make a quick lunch of sandwiches, chips and sodas.
We could have stopped for lunch seven miles back along Angeles Crest Highway at historic Newcomb's Ranch, a combination bar, restaurant and convenience store that is popular among leather-clad motorcyclists. The restaurant serves hearty meals, but don't rely on the Newcomb's Ranch store for your camping supplies. It's open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays and all day Fridays through Sundays --and has a limited selection of products. (Call Newcomb's Ranch for more details, [626] 440-1001.) Bring your own firewood, because campers have already picked the campsite clean.
