Rodriguez Ranch San Marcelino — Attraction in Zambales

What to expect: lots of pine trees, flat land, expansive green lawn perfect for camping, and a panoramic view of the Zambales Mountain Range and Lake Mapanuepe.

There's a toilet and shower room, a resting hut, and a treehouse, and that's about it. No other infrastructure around so you have to get by with your camping gear.

You can get here via land but you'll have to cross a stream and deep lahar. Or you can take a boat from the Lake Mapanuepe viewing deck. Two-way boat ride is Php 115 per person including life jacket rental. And you'll pay an additional Php 20 when you arrive at the ranch for the environmental fee.

I prefer the place as it is, no other building or development. But the owner/manager has to fix the waste management system. Plastic bottles are littered along the lake and there seems to be no separate receptacles or garbage bags for different wastes.

Found this place through Google Map, but the owner and LGU should install wayfinding signages from the National Highway. Oh, and don't forget to do a carrying capacity study.

Overall, it's a an amazing place with a huge potential of placing San Marcelino on every ecotourist's...

We visited April weekend and maybe because of climate change, everything maybe drier than usual. It was not only summer but drought season as the grasses and trees were not a lush green, like what we'd see in photos. The grounds were so wide enough to occupy more than 100 tents. The cows were grazing at night which was a nice & surprising sight for those awake. Animals were free to roam but be also be wary of dogs. We were grilling & 5 dogs were standing near us & ready to pounce anything you'd drop on the ground. There are a couple of bathrooms free to use and there's also a better one which we had to pay Php50 with more privacy. Although the water smelled like it went through rusty pipes, I cannot complain as it's the nature of camping.

Weather was humid, both very hot and no wind at all. I regretted to go with my child and also in this season. I don't like to be biased because I do not enjoy camping so much but it could have been better if it was a little bit windy.

I suggest you visit between the months of Oct-Feb when...

If you are looking for a camping site where you can be off-grid, then this is the perfect place. Stayed here after Holy Week so there were not much campers. The place is divided into phases, I'm not sure if it was phase 2 where we stayed. Our guide told us that we can swim in the lake but I was skeptic because there was not a single person I saw swimming and on the other phase of the place, there was a signage prohibiting swimming. There are no activities offered except for ATV which costs 1500/hour. I suggest you bring board or outdoor games to spend the day. The area where we stayed was far from the pay comfort room (50 pesos). There was a CR dedicated for the phase we stayed but it had no water so we had to look for another CR. It was overall a great experience, I just wish they maintain the place's cleanliness. Garbage bags are scattered because there were no garbage bins. I'll surely come back if there will be more accessible CRs with water. And hopefully they add...