Horse Heaven Group
1Heads up1 fire 43 mi away
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- Sites
- 3All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Contrary to its name, Horse Heaven Group Campground has no equestrian sites. Instead, this tent-only facility can accommodate gatherings of up to 100 people. It provides a great mountain getaway for city dwellers to relax and enjoy cool summer temperatures, hiking and other outdoor recreation, just one hour east of San Diego. Keep reading
Recreation
The Laguna Mountain region is known for its great horseback riding, mountain biking and hiking trails. Visitors can get their boots dusty on a segment of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from California to the State of Washington, and access other trails within a short drive. Many picnic areas are located nearby.
Facilities
This site offers three areas for group gatherings: Lupine Loop can accommodate 40 people and 10 vehicles; Buttercup Loop can hold 100 people and 16 vehicles; Hollyhock Loop can hold 70 people and 12 vehicles. The facility is equipped with vault toilets and drinking water. A general store is located 2.3 miles away at Mt. Laguna and Pine Valley.
Natural Features
The campground is nestled in the pines at an elevation of 5,600 feet within the Laguna Mountains in the southern portion of Cleveland National Forest. The area is home to many species of birds and wildlife. Contact Info This location has limited staffing. Please call (619) 354-8776 for general information.
Nearby Attractions
Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, Big Laguna Trail System, Storm Canyon Overlook
What the agency tells you
No equestrian camping at this facility
No first-come, first-served sites; reservations required
Click here to learn more about Cleveland National Forest
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Don't Move Firewood: Protect California's forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. For more information visit firewood.ca.gov.
Overnight camping facilities only, no day use allowed Group sites are managed by Westrek Services (Concessionaire). Host available at Laguna campground.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 3 · 3 tent-only, 3 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 30 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 3 of 3 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER (PEAK SEASON) on 1 of 3 campsite records, WATER (SEASONAL) on 2 of 3 campsite records
- Store
- Nearby
Around the campground
- Biking
- Birding
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Mountain biking
- Scenic drives
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 985th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 4
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
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.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
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 · 12
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 · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
3 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 3 mapped sitesAll 3 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 3 of the 3 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 3 of the 3 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
LagunaCleveland National Forest · 0.3 mi
El Prado GroupCleveland National Forest · 0.9 mi
Burnt RancheriaCleveland National Forest · 2.3 mi
Wooded Hill GroupCleveland National Forest · 2.5 miCibbets Flat CampgroundCleveland National Forest · 7.6 miCottonwood CampgroundEl Centro Field Office · 8.5 miThe campground is located 50 miles east of San Diego, California. Take I-8 to Sunrise Highway exit. Go approximately 14 miles until you see the Horse Heaven Group Campground sign and turn down the campground entrance road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Mount Laguna, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 51°F, day 69°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 36°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
Who answers for this land

Horse Heaven Group is in California’s 48th congressional district. Its representative, Darrell Issa (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →