Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park

One of the best spots to hike in the area. Amazing views. Good variety of challenging trails with shade and sun. Bring a hat and more water than you think you need. Main trails are well maintained. Some more adventurous ones a tad overgrown.

Absolutely stunning camping spot. Beautiful views and deeper into nature while still being close to urban areas. Water is sparse, so be prepared to bring your own sources. Fire pits, tables, and grill is provided. Currently portapoopers are common since the running water is out in some areas.

Even though it's right off the highway, our campground was quiet and peaceful. The trails were amazing for hiking and there is a small nature center with some absolutely amazing views. Photos are taken from the view deck of the nature center. Power and water worked in our site, and check in and out was smooth and easy. It was a wonderful campsite at a fraction of the cost and headache of booking through a state or national park.

We stayed in the Live Oak section which is full dry camping in this area. The sites are all gravel and most will require some leveling. We were in site 16 and had to level about 1.5" left to right. Our site also had a fairly large tree in the back corner so we had to be strategic about where we placed the RV. We have a toy hauler so it is taller than normal trailers. The good thing is the tree provided good shade but unfortunately shaded the solar panels on the roof for part of the day. Tradeoff I guess. The nice thing about the dry camping section is it is pretty far away from Ortega highway so the road noise is much less. The sites with power are right next to the highway so I imagine it is much more noisy. Our site also backed to a nature preserve area so it was very private. The grounds are very well kept. There are honey buckets but a full restroom just a short walk up the hill. My last comment is about the staff. The ranger checking us in was super nice, personable and helpful. After driving away from the booth my wife said "he was my favorite person who has checked us in at any campsite".

Short drive from SJC or I-5. Genuine wilderness in the mild coastal climate of San Juan Capistrano. Check with rangers as our planned hike was impacted by trail closures that added mileage. Also seemingly randomly some trails don't allow mountain bikes. Seemed very uncrowded as we only saw a dozen or so other groups in the camp grounds, and not another sole on our 10 mile hike.