The Far Side of the Hill: Sweetwater Summit Campground

The campground sits on the south side of a 413 foot hill eight miles north of the Mexican border. The Pacific Ocean lies eight and a half miles to the southwest. Until very recently, there were only 60 RV pads. Eleven of those have small corrals as the park has 16 miles of trails and is a popular spot to ride horses.

Last year 90 additional pads were constructed. The old campground is at an elevation of 270 to 280 feet. The new pads are uphill from there and range in elevation from 285 to 315 feet. Our site sits at about 295 feet. (All elevations curtesy of Google Earth.)

While the old campground has a number of mature trees, the landscaping in our section has only been in the ground a few months at most, and consequently there is absolutely no shade. If it was July instead of January, that could be a major concern, but at this time of the year, it just means there's nothing to block the view.

Also on the plus side, the new section is far from full. I doubt that there are more than a couple of dozen RVs here at the moment even though it is the weekend, and the people in the reservations office have been very good about giving everyone lots of space. We're at the end of a row and the next RV is four pads away.

After taking all of this into consideration, we have decided to stay awhile and rent a car. Tomorrow we'll have to sit down and work out the details.