Applewhite Campground (CA)
5Heads up5 fires, nearest 21 mi
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 28 of the next 30 nights read 15:27 UTC
- A night
- $15–$20Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 4442 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Located three miles north of the Lytle Creek Ranger Station, the campground provides an easy get-away. Trees surround the campsites and Lytle Creek flows across the street at Applewhite Picnic Area. Please use caution crossing the road. This site is accessible. There is a $5 charge for an additional vehicle which must be paid on site. Keep reading
Recreation
Ample opportunities for short, day hikes in the Lytle Creek area as well as OHV opportunities in the nearby Cajon Pass area. Flowing waters of Lytle Creek nearby offer a relaxing place to enjoy the cool waters.
Facilities
The campground offers dozens of single-family campsites, available mostly for tent camping. Some sites can accommodate RV/camper camping without water or electric hookups. The parking aprons are paved, but can be quite narrow. Each site is equipped with a table and campfire ring with grill. Accessible flush toilets and water spigots are provided. CHECK-IN TIME IS 2:00 PM. CHECK-OUT TIME IS 12:00 PM. There is a Maximum of eight (8) people and two (2) vehicles allowed per campsite. Quiet hours are from 10:00 PM - 6:00 AM.
Natural Features
Across the road from the campground is Lytle Creek, which offers a cooling place to relax and recreate. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (909) 866-8550.
What the agency tells you
Check-in time is 2:00 pm. Check-out time is 12:00 pm. There is a two (2) vehicle and eight (8) person maximum limit per site. Quiet hours are 10:00 pm - 6:00 am. These rules are strictly enforced.
Pets allowed on leash only; must clean up after your pet.
Dump stations and electric/water hookups are not provided. Do not drain your wastewater onto the ground.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
All vehicles must park on the pavement within your site.
Speed limit is 5 MPH. Please watch for children.
Operation of green or red sticker vehicles within the campground are not permitted. Maps of the OHV areas are available at the Lytle Creek Ranger Station for free. Closest OHV areas are about 20 minutes away in the Cajon Pass. Must have current registration and operating spark arrestor. You are required by the California Vehicle Code to have a spark arrestor, maintained and in effective working order, whenever you are operating your OHV on any forest-covered land, brush-covered land, or grass-covered land.
Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed.
In accordance with standard industry practices, Mountain Top Recreation will be assessing a $5 additional vehicle fee per night on the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicles in any double family campsite, provided these vehicles are not joined to the first vehicle by a hitch and towed onto the site. In the case of motorcycles, the first two are considered to be one vehicle and the third and fourth are also considered to be one vehicle. No additional vehicle fees are collected for bicycles. Fee is collected at the campground for extra vehicles if you did not pay for the Extra Vehicle Add On. Extra vehicles must fit on the spur at your site.
Do not trust reservations on First Come First Serve sites. They do not show when they are occupied.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 44
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 15 ft
- Paved pads
- 36 of 44
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…and campfire ring with grill. Accessible flush toilets and water spigots are provided. CHECK-IN TIME IS…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…with grill. Accessible flush toilets and water spigots are provided. CHECK-IN TIME IS 2:00 PM. CHECK-OUT…”
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek
- Night sky · 1197th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 6
Full this Saturdayread 15:27 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
1 campground has sites open within 30 miles, read 16:24 UTC. See them
OpenBookedClosed
Every one of the 16 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 26 are free on Thu, Oct 22. read 15:27 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
“In accordance with standard industry practices, Mountain Top Recreation will be assessing a $5 additional vehicle fee per night on the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicle…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $15–$20 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 1
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:24 UTC
- Lake CampgroundSan Gabriel Mountains National Monument · 16 mi · 1 of 12 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:27 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
44 sites
All 44 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 42 of the 44 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 14 | type not stated | ||
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 15 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 16 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 17 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 18 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 19 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 20 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 21 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 22 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 23 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 24 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 25 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 26 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 27 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 28 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 29 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 30 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 31 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 32 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 33 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 34 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 35 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 36 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 37 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 38 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 39 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 40 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | $15–$20 |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 41 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 42 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 43 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Lower Loop | 44 | type not stated | ||
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 1 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 10 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 11 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 12 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 13 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 2 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 3 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 4 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 5 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 6 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 7 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 8 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 | |
| Applewhite Upper Loop | 9 | standard nonelectric | $15–$20 |
25 of 44 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Continue 3 miles past the Lytle Creek Ranger Station. Campground is on the right with Upper Loop campsites on the left and Lower Loop Campsites on the right.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Lytle Creek, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 47°F, day 79°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 33°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Applewhite Campground (CA) is in California’s 28th congressional district. Its representative, Judy Chu (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyJudy ChuU.S. Representative · California’s 28th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationAdam B. SchiffU.S. Senator · California
- Your senator, on the same appropriationAlex PadillaU.S. Senator · California
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Applewhite Campground (CA), San Bernardino National Forest, California
Dear Judy Chu, I’m a constituent in California’s 28th district. I tried to camp at Applewhite Campground (CA), San Bernardino National Forest, California, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 42 of the 44 campsites the agency files at Applewhite Campground (CA), and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Applewhite Campground (CA) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Applewhite Campground (CA). I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Applewhite Campground (CA) (San Bernardino National Forest, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Applewhite Campground (CA), San Bernardino National Forest, California
Dear Adam B. Schiff, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Applewhite Campground (CA), San Bernardino National Forest, California, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 42 of the 44 campsites the agency files at Applewhite Campground (CA), and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Applewhite Campground (CA) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Applewhite Campground (CA). I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Applewhite Campground (CA) (San Bernardino National Forest, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Applewhite Campground (CA), San Bernardino National Forest, California
Dear Alex Padilla, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Applewhite Campground (CA), San Bernardino National Forest, California, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 42 of the 44 campsites the agency files at Applewhite Campground (CA), and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Applewhite Campground (CA) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Applewhite Campground (CA). I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Applewhite Campground (CA) (San Bernardino National Forest, California) via campanac.com