Monte Cristo Campsite

It's so nice to disconnect. Probably the closest campground to the valley in Angeles National forest. Water only, 3 total pit or vault toilets. New double wall fire pits which makes a difference when your fire is for more than just comfort. 19 total camp sites. A couple of them are perfect for RVs or larger groups. $12 per night. Monte Cristo Creek running thru the center of the campground. Have to drive thru it to enter the back side. Plenty of space to investigate. There are some good hiking trails. Some beginning at the campground and others short distance away. The ones beginning at Monte Cristo are long grueling up a dirt fire road with really limited views. The whole loop with all the peaks is about 17 miles but I just chose the closest easiest and it was not pleasant. Check AllTrails to get the specifics on several great trials nearby . Being the closest campground also means it fills up fast and it isn't exactly the most quiet. It is right near the Angeles Forest Highway so you do hear traffic. Lots of noisy bikes and zoomy cars during the weekend daylight hours, but at night it's pretty quiet. You'll hear more from the other campers. Another draw back maybe from being the closest is that the camping etiquette isn't what it might be in more isolated areas. With that said, it was a beautiful weekend. The sound of the light rain falling on the tent was as peaceful as it gets. Great hiking and exploring. Indications of wildlife everywhere. There is no store nearby so bring everything including firewood. No cell service and that is a good thing. This is also great spot for day use. More than worth it be able to stretch out after a long hike. It's not the best, but it is outdoors and it is close, at least to me. I'll be back. Leave it better than you found it.

Hard pass. If possible, go to the superlative Mt. Pacifico that has a better hike, better campsite, and better views (see https://www.yelp.com/biz/mt-pacifico-campground-la-ca%C3%B1ada-flintridge) that is just north of Monte Cristo.I was looking for a difficult hike and I found one but I won't return due to poor trail conditions and unrewarding views. The clockwise loop to five peaks crosses Rabbit, Granite, Round Top, Iron, and Monte Cristo. The trail is mixture of dirt road, nasty ridgeline firebreaks with over 45% grade, and vegetation-covered unmaintained trails. Even a small section of dirt road was overgrown with brush. The good news was that I went in August when there was less vegetation to trample over. The bad news was that August is the hottest month of the year which meant dealing with heat exhaustion (unless you're one of those Ironman triathlete types where an 11-mile hike with 3600' to 4000' elevation gains is routine).Half of the loop had highway noise. The majority of the sights were of surrounding higher mountain and ranges with roads cutting through them. Only occasional views into the Antelope and San Fernando Valleys. Both Granite and Round Top are easier to reach from Pacifico but the views are not worth the bother. Basically, just don't do it.If staying at the campground and craving a hike that starts at Monte Cristo, the best option is going to only Iron Mountain. Walk the dirt road that starts to the left of the campground entrance. Stay right at every junction except the left to the firebreak to reach the top of Iron Mountain.

After driving through the Angeles Crest Highway -- all the way to Palmdale -- I've always wanted to camp there.When the car was all packed up we found out Buckhorn was closed. So had to do a lil improv to the Cristo. It served the purpose. We have two little dogs and they were thrilled. There was a knee deep brook we waded in and the pups swam. The sites are little on top of each other so you when it's full (summer and a weekend) expect to hear Latin 96fm blasting till midnight. But aside from that a good campsite, with a grill. They are the closest site to the city so this seems to be a popular one for big groups and families. Make sure to get your food, beer and other essentials before you leave La Canada as the only thing being sold once you hit the Forest is fire wood by Otis on the side of the road.

We loved this campground. Although it only has a few campsites it's pretty chill. We brought our skateboards we had fun playing with it on the down hill. We will definitely come back.

Came here in the middle of the week as a back up plan since Buckhorn is closed due to fire damage. We drove in at a little after 12 and there were only two other occupied sites, by the end of the day only one more camper show up. It's first come first serve. Pull up, pick a spot, put money in an envelope and post the tag on your campsite marker. No one actually verifies that you've paid (as far as I know) and I can't say I actually saw any park rangers or officials during my stay. There was one paved accessible site that I saw but it was right next to a dumpster. There's spouts spread throughout the camp and standard gnarly vault toilet bathrooms. Each site comes with a picnic table and fire ring. We stayed at #10 and it was mostly unlevel except for a small hill that we put our tent on. Most people leave after one night or stay for a few but leave during the day to visit look out points, picnic areas and trails along the highway. Some people live there. The camp has big trees creating lots of shade and there is at least one trail toward the back of the camp that goes in between the mountains. CONS:-small campground -many sites are way too close together -you can hear the highway traffic -no place to buy firewood -limited info available about surrounding trails -nights here can be rowdy and/or dangerousPROS:-close to the city -pretty much empty regardless of season-good for passing through

This place is nice when idiots aren't blasting music or partying loudly into the night. The trees rebounded amazingly well after the Station fire, but the whole area around the camp was left a moonscape. South and East campsites have the least shade, and it gets HOTTT here in the summer.The campground is open year round. There might be snow in the winter, and I've stayed here on New Years Eve, which was surprisingly quiet compared to summer weekends.I was here in April, and the creek was flowing, and every size frog that exists was going RIBBET! RIBBET! RIBBET! all night.It's a good place to camp when there's a meteor shower.Bring a gold pan, there's actual gold in the creek!

If you're looking to get out of the city for the weekend, Monte Cristo is a convenient campground for last-minute planners like myself. There is nothing particularly special about Monte Cristo but it's got all the basic necessities, is close to Switzer falls, and doesn't seem too crowded. My biggest issue with this campsite was the park rangers... we were quietly preparing our dinner by the campfire when a group of rangers in 2 big SUVs with angry barking German Shepherds descended on the campsite like they were the DEA doing a major drug bust. I understand the need to keep the park clean and hazard-free particularly given all the wild-fires BUT these were the meanest most power-tripping people I think I've ever had to deal with. After our long interrogation (probably a result of profiling because of our age--we're all in our twenties), the rangers finally let us be, but only after ensuring they had spoiled our cheery evening. Can't we all just be civil and courteous toward one another??

LMAO at Roberts review. I just got back from Mote Cristo and he was right on, even down to the Latin 96FM until midnight. We also got stuck here because our original campground was all booked up. When we pulled in we were about to turn around and go home because it did look ghetto. We stayed because our daughter wanted to and we didn't feel like going all the way home.Consvery much like camping in Los Angelesclose together campsitesvery close to the main road people camping there seemed kinda ghettoProsclose GHETTO CRISTO!!!

i didnt go here. I was reviewing campsites i would like to go to. Then i come across some racist reviews. Dam theres two reviews calling this place GHETTO and referring to Los Angeles and LATIN radio. Hmmm. So basically, the place sucks cause theres 'latinos' there. WARNING WARNING THERES LATINOS ! who like LATIN MUSIC ! warning warning. dammm. racist arent we? Sounds like a good place. Latin music means a 'latino family' feel to it. Yeah ignorant people wanna call that ghetto cause they are ignorant of all the families who live in poorer areas compared to where they grew up, where there probably aren't many latinos. *cough*.

Campground monte cristo has tons of potential to be a really nice spot to spend time with the family, if it weren't for a very odd couple in their 40's who can be consistently seeing there, practically living there so they feel the need to come tell you how to behave there. The campground host won't tell them anything due to their buddy buddy relationship. The couple comes around asking for money and if that wasn't enough, I've heard the woman praying very loud in the middle of the day. Anyway, monte cristo needs some serious attention to avoid people like that couple from giving it a bad review.