Kumeyaay Lake Campground partly reopened

Sherman called the reopening a sort of a rebirth for him.

“I grew up right around here, and when I was a kid, this was our playground. The whole Mission Trails Regional Park area was our backyard before it even became the Park. I can’t tell you how much this means, but we still have a ways to go here.”

Sherman’s reference was to the fact that the overnight camping will only be available on Friday and Saturday nights for now. Before trhe budget cut shutdown, camping overnight was available four nights a week, and all involved say they are working hard to get back to at least that level of availability.

The Campground offers 46 overnight camping areas, each with a maximum number of six campers per site. The rate is 20 dollars per night per campsite, and reservations are available online at . You can arrive at 2 p.m. on Friday, you don’t have to leave until noon on Sunday.

The Kumeyaay Lake Campground was a popular place long before it actually became Kumeyaay Lake Campground. In the 1970’s, the lake itself was part of an H.G. Fenton Company sand and gravel mining operation. That lasted until the lake was mined out and turned into a camping and fishing facility called Hollins Lake Fish Farm and Recreational facility, meant to a a place where seniors could come fish and relax.

That lasted until 1985, when the area had to be cleared of the people who had more or less taken up residence therfe, in order to crfeate an area for the endangered least Bell’s vireo, a bird species that was seriously threatened by the construction of State Route 52 to Santee. The endangered birds are apparently thriving there since the north side of the lake was closed to human access to protect the birds.

The campground itself is among thousands of green trees and native vegetation, with walking paths only, and some beautiful views of nature at its best.

There are a few rules you need to know about. The trails are ONLY for walking. Bicycles are not allowed except on paved roadway. You cannot bring your own barbeque grills- you must use the ones provided at the campsites.

Mission Trails Regional Park is first and last a City of San Diego park, so all the usual rules that apply at any city park apply here.

Chief among those rules is, leave at home your cigars, cigarettes, pipes, or anything else you might be tempted to smoke. If you look at the tinder-dry brush around the area, you’ll quickly figure out why the no-smoking rule is more important here than just about any other City park.

This reopening should have happened a year ago. It was budgeted and ready to happen, until former Mayor Bob Filner, allegedly reacting to what he perceived as a political insult, suddenly shifted the money set aside for the park to something in City Heights.

That problem has been taken care of. (In fact, ALL of that problem is gone now.) The next thing to work on is getting the overnight camping opened up four days a week, as it used to be.

Many park supporters would like to see it open every night. That could happen, but it’s a ways down the road.

For more information regarding the Kumeyaay campgrounds or to reserve a camp space, please visit: