William Heise County Park - San Diego region

Just got back from a weekend at William Heise County Park - this is in the hills to the east of San Diego, close to Julian. It is about a leisurely 2 hour drive from San Diego.

The park is very nice. They have sites that have partial hookup (electricity only). but they are crammed together - literally only feet apart. By contrast, the non hookup sites are spread out over a beautiful campground among tall oaks. These sites all had an asphalt pad, table and fire ring. Some of the sites are close together, but many have good separation from neighbors. Sites fees were only $15 per night. Restrooms were all clean and well maintained. There is a no cost dump site in the park.

You can book online here:
http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/parks/online.html

There are several miles of very good trails around the park.

Note for dog lovers - all of the web sites, printed material, and park signs say that dogs are not allowed on the trails. We were told by the Park Ranger that this has now changed and leashed pets are now allowed on all trails.

[MudDog]

We were there a couple of weeks before you (Halloween weekend) on our second trip with the TM (first dry camp).

Agree with you 100% on the park - very nice, very clean and the dry site we were in was very spacious.

As you mentioned, it's very close to Julian which made a real nice day trip (our first time there).

There was a nice playground for the kids and we enjoyed walking around the park thru the various camp loops.

We had our Shepard/Husky mix with us and unfortunately saw the signs saying dogs were not allowed on the trailheads so we turned around. Next time if the signs are still up, we will check with one of the rangers - the hiking trails looked like they would have been fun and would have offered good views.

Best $15/night we've spent so far