Blue Jay Campground

This is a great campground in the Cleveland national forest, east of San Juan Capistrano. Camping fees are $20 per night. Sites have picnic tables, fire rings, and flattened areas for tents. There are over 40 sites, and each has ample space. Lots of great hiking trails nearby. Bathrooms with pit toilets are accessible. There are water spigots, but they were turned off when I was there. Bring water just in case! There are dumpsters for trash- please use them, instead of leaving trash at the beautiful campsites. Dog friendly.

This has to be one of my favorite campgrounds. Unfortunately it’s a pay campground ($20). It’s becoming the norm, so clean up after yourself so the forest service doesn’t have more reasons to increase the fees. You do get generous campsites, some of which have some space between sites and bushes for privacy. There is also dispersed potable water spigots, vaulted toilets, and trash. Weirdly the trash is not animal resistant. Some sites are pretty big. My 40’ truck/trailer fit in several. Beware though, the final 1 mile road is steep, with tight curves, very narrow with only room for 1 vehicle, and only 2 turn outs. It’s paved, not easy, but doable. The area is pretty and green with trees and bushes. The trailhead for the San Juan trail is just outside the campgrounds with another trailhead in the way to sites 40-50. Great for a hike or for mountain biking. The trailhead within the campground actually has lots of parking. Section 40-50 is for tent camping and currently closed for not obvious reasons. There is also a group site nearby which you call to reserve. It was relatively quiet even on the weekend when all the sites filled up (nearly empty during the week). There were lots of flies but not the kind that bite. Also, the cell service was spotty for Verizon. There was a decent connection at the trailhead just outside the campground.

1st time camping here.. its a 1st Come 1st serve try to get there be 10 AM so you can catch the spots as they leave after Breakfast. Its Beautiful and nice ..no internet connection which is very great . We will be back more often since we r only 20 mins away.. i got spot #50 its on the side corner nice n private #45 has 2 camping tent set ups #46 has the most beautiful huge tree right under it its nice to take picture. There nice hiking trails

There are entrances to the San Juan Trail behind a lot of the campsites. It was a lot of fun to run on, and beautiful! Some sites can be a bit close together, but there were very few people there when I went. There are two types of sites here, spurs and park/pitch a tent sites. I chose the spur because my car is my tent. To pay, you pull up to the main entrance, grab an envelope and then drive to your site. After filling out the relevant details and hanging the paper placard on your mirror, you walk the envelope with the fee in it to the deposit box at front.

Clean and comfortable campground that provided peace and a good night's sleep ... A good amount of the spots are closed right now (10/31/22) for renovation so be sure to make sure there's a space available before you submit your payment envelope at the gate!

Beautiful day for a bike ride! A bit overgrown. Needs a nice trim, push back the poison oak

Nice little campground tucked away back from the traffic noise that seems to define Ortega these days. There are pit toilets, running water, and even trash dumpsters for $20 a night. The road in is a little steep and winding but it’s a little easier if you take the eastern route from the main divide junction.