Circle X Ranch Group Campground
6Heads up1 park alert · 5 fires, nearest 6 mi
Closed for want of money or people is a choice somebody made.Ask who decided →
- Right now
- ClosedThe agency’s own sentence, quoted below
- Sites
- 1In the agency’s record
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
Circle X Ranch Group Campground is closed until further notice. There is no estimated re-opening date. Are you searching for a weekend getaway with mountain overlooks and sunny, sandy beaches? Your vacation destination may be a short drive from Los Angeles, California! Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area offers many opportunities to shake off the stresses of city life and immerse yourself in the beauty of nature. Keep reading
Recreation
Travel one of the many trails that wind through this rare coastal Mediterranean ecosystem. The plants you see here, such as coastal sage scrub and mixed chaparral, are adapted to hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Keep an eye out for red shank chaparral, a tree-like shrub with reddish-brown bark, clusters of thread-like leaves, and small bunches of white flowers in July and August. From the dry, rocky slopes near Sandstone Peak to the lush fern-studded Grotto, Circle X Ranch provides a wide variety of recreational possibilities. Linger here for a while, and experience the ambiance of this secluded mountain retreat.
Facilities
Circle X Ranch Group Campground is closed until further notice. There is no estimated re-opening date. Located below the Ranger Contact Station at Cirlce X Ranch. Check-in here with park staff before heading down to your campsite.
Natural Features
Tucked in the canyons above Malibu and nestled below majestic Boney Mountain, you will find Circle X Ranch. This former Boy Scout camp offers many opportunities for exploration and adventure. Journey to Sandstone Peak, the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains, and see several of the Channel Islands on a clear day. Enjoy a visit to the Grotto or a creekside picnic. Reserve the Group Camp and listen to coyote songs at night.
Nearby Attractions
Enjoy a visit to the Grotto or a picnic at the trailhead next to the campground. Grotto Trail 3.5 miles round trip, moderate to strenuous; no bikes, no horses. This trail traverses hillsides and leads down to the West Fork of the Arroyo Sequit. The trail is downhill from the Ranger Station, which means an uphill return. The Grotto area is rugged terrain; be careful and wear appropriate hiking attire. The last 1/8 mile is through an unimproved streambed and dogs are not allowed. The Ranger Contact Station can provide you with free hiking maps of Circle X Ranch. A publication of park-led activites for Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is also available. Vists to nearby Malibu and the Pacific Ocean are just a short drive way.
What the agency tells you
Circle X Ranch Group Campground is closed until further notice. There is no estimated re-opening date.
No wood fires. Charcoal fires are permitted in designated areas only, however, during high fire danger charcoal and gas fires may be prohibited. Fire regulations may vary; please contact us before you plan your trip.
Dogs are generally allowed on National Park campgrounds and trails if on a leash (6 feet maximum). At state parks, dogs are permitted only in campgrounds and picnic areas, and on certain beaches where specified.
Everything else this campground posts · 11
Natural and historic features (such as flowers, rocks or artifacts) are protected by law and may not be collected or damaged.
Wood gathering or collecting is not allowed.
Bring plenty of food and water. (Water from streams is not safe to drink!)
Learn to recognize and avoid poison oak, rattlesnakes and bees.
Guard yourself against ticks by wearing long sleeves, long pants and light colors.
Dress appropriately for variable weather conditions and be prepared for minor emergencies.
Bring a first aid kit, flashlight and extra clothes.
Take care of your trash. Use disposal facilities on site, or pack out what you pack in.
Only tent camping is permitted at this site.
Please note that reservation rules have changed for Circle X Ranch Group Campground.Reservations are now available on the same day of arrival.
Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 tent-only, 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets - year round
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
Around the campground
- On the water
- Beach, Coast
- Biking
- Climbing
- Hiking
- Picnicking
- Visitor center
- Wildlife viewing
Nothing to book until it reopens
Circle X Ranch Group Campground is closed until further notice.
The closure above is the reading. We hold no availability snapshot for this campground, so there’s no thirty-night strip to draw under it.
Tell me when it reopens
Watch for it to come back
One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.
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.
Every line of the receipt · 9
What you actually pay
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 · 3
What the agency said · 1
Circle X Ranch Group Campground is closed until further notice. There is no estimated re-opening date.
National Park Service · posted Sep 9, 2026
Open within 60 miles · 4
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
- Anacapa IslandChannel Islands National Park · 26 mi · 16 sites
- Rose Valley CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 32 mi · 9 sites
- Holiday Group CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 34 mi · 1 site
- Oak Flat CampgroundAngeles National Forest · 36 mi · walk-up
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
| Driveway | Group | group tent only area nonelectric | 2.7 mi | 608 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Anacapa IslandChannel Islands National Park · 26 mi
Rose Valley CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 32 mi
Middle Lion CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 33 mi
Wheeler GorgeLos Padres National Forest · 34 mi
Holiday Group CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 34 mi
Oak Flat CampgroundAngeles National Forest · 36 miPacific Coast Highway to Yerba Buena Road. Turn inland; go 5.4 miles to Circle X Ranch contact station.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Lake Sherwood, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 53°F, day 85°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 42°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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Circle X Ranch Group Campground is in California’s 26th congressional district. Its representative, Julia Brownley (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 · 4
Filed as maintenance from the agency’s own words “until further notice”. That reading is ours. The draft to the agency asks what closed Circle X Ranch Group Campground, what reopening it would cost and what date they’re working towards. The draft to Congress asks them to put the same question in writing and to fund the answer.
- The office that runs itSanta Monica Mountains National Recreation AreaNational Park Service unit
- The member who votes the moneyJulia BrownleyU.S. Representative · California’s 26th 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 found out at the gate, or a week before the trip. 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 what remains to be done at Circle X Ranch Group Campground, what it costs, and what date they’re working towards.
Subject Circle X Ranch Group Campground: what it would take to reopen
To the National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area: I was planning to camp at Circle X Ranch Group Campground in California and found it closed. The notice says: "Circle X Ranch Group Campground is closed until further notice. There is no estimated re-opening date." (https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233381, read Oct 16, 2026) Could you tell me what work remains at Circle X Ranch Group Campground, what it’s expected to cost, and what date you’re working towards? If the schedule depends on funding or staffing that hasn’t arrived, please say so plainly. That’s a thing the public can do something about, and we can’t help with a delay nobody tells us about. Sent about Circle X Ranch Group Campground (Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to find out what reopening Circle X Ranch Group Campground would cost, and to treat the deferred-maintenance line as the thing that decides it.
Subject Circle X Ranch Group Campground is closed (Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California)
Dear Julia Brownley, I’m a constituent in California’s 26th district. I went to camp at Circle X Ranch Group Campground, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California and found it closed. The notice says: "Circle X Ranch Group Campground is closed until further notice. There is no estimated re-opening date." (https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233381, read Oct 16, 2026) That’s a maintenance closure, which makes it a budget question before it’s anything else. A campground doesn’t need this work because of bad luck. It needs it because the work was deferred until it couldn’t be deferred any longer. Please ask the National Park Service, in writing, what reopening Circle X Ranch Group Campground would cost and where that work sits on their own list. And when their budget comes to a vote, treat the recreation and deferred-maintenance lines as the thing that decides whether these 1 campsites are open next season. 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 Circle X Ranch Group Campground (Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to find out what reopening Circle X Ranch Group Campground would cost, and to treat the deferred-maintenance line as the thing that decides it.
Subject Circle X Ranch Group Campground is closed (Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California)
Dear Adam B. Schiff, I’m a constituent in California. I went to camp at Circle X Ranch Group Campground, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California and found it closed. The notice says: "Circle X Ranch Group Campground is closed until further notice. There is no estimated re-opening date." (https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233381, read Oct 16, 2026) That’s a maintenance closure, which makes it a budget question before it’s anything else. A campground doesn’t need this work because of bad luck. It needs it because the work was deferred until it couldn’t be deferred any longer. Please ask the National Park Service, in writing, what reopening Circle X Ranch Group Campground would cost and where that work sits on their own list. And when their budget comes to a vote, treat the recreation and deferred-maintenance lines as the thing that decides whether these 1 campsites are open next season. 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 Circle X Ranch Group Campground (Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to find out what reopening Circle X Ranch Group Campground would cost, and to treat the deferred-maintenance line as the thing that decides it.
Subject Circle X Ranch Group Campground is closed (Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California)
Dear Alex Padilla, I’m a constituent in California. I went to camp at Circle X Ranch Group Campground, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California and found it closed. The notice says: "Circle X Ranch Group Campground is closed until further notice. There is no estimated re-opening date." (https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233381, read Oct 16, 2026) That’s a maintenance closure, which makes it a budget question before it’s anything else. A campground doesn’t need this work because of bad luck. It needs it because the work was deferred until it couldn’t be deferred any longer. Please ask the National Park Service, in writing, what reopening Circle X Ranch Group Campground would cost and where that work sits on their own list. And when their budget comes to a vote, treat the recreation and deferred-maintenance lines as the thing that decides whether these 1 campsites are open next season. 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 Circle X Ranch Group Campground (Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California) via campanac.com