John, interesting that you should ask. My family is planning to visit the LA area at the end of march, and I have been researching parks there. We were thinking about staying in Huntington beach, but I'm curious to see what other replies you get to your question.
Try the City of Long Beach's "Golden Shore RV Resort," conveniently located at the end of I-710 in Long Beach. Well maintained back-ins, close to Port of Long Beach and the Queen Mary. Likely the only good RV park in southern LA County. Visited there in early Jan 2013.
John WD Smith, As with most requests of this nature, it would help those who may want to advise you if you would give a little more information on what you want. Asking for suggestions on a "nice" RV park doesn't cut it. Do you want a private or public park, full hook ups, cable TV, WIFI at your site, family and/or pet friendly, shade, a pool, and on and on? Are we talking just overnight or and extended stay? There is no sense in somebody recommending a park that doesn't meet your needs/wants.
QUOTE(Jerry S. @ Feb 15 2013, 01:34 AM) [snapback]32627[/snapback] John WD Smith, As with most requests of this nature, it would help those who may want to advise you if you would give a little more information on what you want. Asking for suggestions on a "nice" RV park doesn't cut it. Do you want a private or public park, full hook ups, cable TV, WIFI at your site, family and/or pet friendly, shade, a pool, and on and on? Are we talking just overnight or and extended stay? There is no sense in somebody recommending a park that doesn't meet your needs/wants. John, I can answer for our family that we would like to see the beach since we are land-locked Coloradans. We will visit Knotts berry farm and universial studios, and will visit the CBS studios for a taping of a show. We will probably be in the area for 3-4 days. I was also wondering about public transportation since we don't travel with a towed, we would have to unhook to travel to the destinations listed My boys are 12 and 16 so they wouldn't need a playground, but a pool woul be nice What is the water temp of the ocean in late march? Too cold to swim in?
Remember that LA is a Really BIG-SPREAD OUT city, with a crushing auto transportation freeway use!!! That said it's a great city that shouldn't be missed, ya just got to plan. Work on staying close to your venues, yes there's public trans, but to go 30 miles in a bus that stops every other block will take some time. Metro/light rail works but usually must be connected with a bus. I transferred from LAX to the Long Beach Air Port once and even making what I thought was good time, it took an hour and 1/2. LA is also expensive ( except for farmers markets, ethnic foods, and wines!!...but you have to know where to go!!) The Huntington Breach RV park is a winner for the beach ( Be sure to have reservations ) but the water wont be warm till summer ( CA is where the wet suit was invented). Dont have any first hand RV park experience ( always flew in ) but am an LA aficionado. With RV parks @ $60 per night, one could consider hotels in the Anaheim area, mid-week in a hotel (Sun to Fri), beach on the weekends ( use priceline...start at 3 stars and work up in stars as you increase your bids ) Did notice that "TripAdvisor"does list RV parks in Anaheim under "Specialty Lodging". One can find anything in LA..just got to research and Drive!!! Have a great trip!!
Good luck! In all sincerity, this is a real challenge. I am now on the western edge of the sprawl, north of San Bernardino, and still finding the crowding, noise and dirt of LA. Palm Springs,is another Far East dessert setting that is near enough for me. Now the good news, a gem of a park, beach is within a bike ride. Malibu Canyon SP. it is clean. Quiet-ish, interesting, beautiful. The State Parks on the beaches? Equate to Walmart lots with sewage.
Hi Windjammer. Always on the look out of a good camp site in LA. When I googled "Malibu Canyon SP" it came up as "Malibu Creek State Park" !!!!1 which is South of the 101, about half way (3miles) to Hwy 1; east of Calabasas. Am I in correct spot? This park was the site of MASH filming, RV limit is 30 feet...web site is http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=614
http://www.balboarvpark.com/ Formerly Birmingham in Van Nuys, Los Angeles. Rather close to Universal Studios. We camped here with a 43' Dutch Star. The site was very crampy, but the owners are most helpful, so no sweat! An issue you have to know: do not stay on the camping during daytime. We had to do this one day to make a repair and all day long helicopters are airborne flying from and to Van Nuys Airport close by! This is really boring!
QUOTE(Fitzjohnfan @ Feb 15 2013, 05:25 AM) [snapback]32628[/snapback] John, I can answer for our family that we would like to see the beach since we are land-locked Coloradans. We will visit Knotts berry farm and universial studios, and will visit the CBS studios for a taping of a show. We will probably be in the area for 3-4 days. I was also wondering about public transportation since we don't travel with a towed, we would have to unhook to travel to the destinations listed My boys are 12 and 16 so they wouldn't need a playground, but a pool woul be nice What is the water temp of the ocean in late march? Too cold to swim in? We're wanting to do the very same trip. Curious if you did go in March and where you guys stayed?
QUOTE(ducmons @ Jun 16 2013, 07:13 PM) [snapback]33791[/snapback] We're wanting to do the very same trip. Curious if you did go in March and where you guys stayed? Yes we did go in march, and had a really good time. We actually did stay at Balboa RV park, as mentioned in previous post. I personally made the mistake of changing plans at the last minute, and booking 3 days at this park (rather than only booking one or two days, then going to the beach). The park is very cramped, and you cannot park any medium or large sized rigs without help from the management. The third night we met some friends by Disney and found a great deal (and lost out on my $$ we paid to Balboa, but didn't miss it). There is an attraction 2 blocks from Disney called "the gardenwalk" which is a collection of stores an restarunts. They have a parking garage and right at the entrance to the garge is a large area for busses. I asked if we could park there and they said we could stay during the day for free or stay overnight for $18.00 (no hookups). We stayed overnight and I thiought it was a pretty good deal. There actually is a little elect. Available. I hopped a small concrete wall and ran an extension cord to an outlet for an hour so my XYL could curl her hair. We didn't see everything we wanted to see, but LA is a place you really need a full week, and a car.
QUOTE(Fitzjohnfan @ Feb 15 2013, 04:25 AM) [snapback]32628[/snapback] I was also wondering about public transportation since we don't travel with a towed, we would have to unhook to travel to the destinations listed My boys are 12 and 16 so they wouldn't need a playground, but a pool woul be nice What is the water temp of the ocean in late march? Too cold to swim in? Simply forget public transportation in LA! It takes hours to get somewhere in case you need one or two transfers, and that is often the case. We hired a small car. And even then LA freeways are a nightmare to reach a destination in a certain time. Swimming in the ocean is not possible; you'll freeze; this ain't Florida! We loved LA for the musea (Getty!) and the seafood along the beaches.
