Calico Ghost Town Campground — Attraction in Yermo

Condensed review: Located halfway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Calico is a nice stopping point to stretch your legs and get to know some gold/silver rush history.

I was actually very surprised at this place, in that I didn't think that many people frequented it. It wasn't too crowded, and the walk through the town was very pleasant.

Surrounding area: a few campgrounds and a fairly large RV park. They also have a Bunkhouse that we stayed in.

The Bunkhouse. Sleeps about 20 people, in 10 bunk beds in one big room. Accommodations: a microwave, a fridge, a big counter. NO sink or oven to cook things on. Outside, two bathrooms, NO showers. They also have a fire pit and fire grill. No wood in the area, so BYOFW for the pit or grill. Plenty of parking, even if everyone brings a car each. The RV campground and Cemetery is within walking distance. The RV campground does have showers that I think you can use if you are in the bunkhouse. Also included with the Bunkhouse rental is parking at the town.

Other things to do in the area. Hiking trails that are easy level, but watch your footing at all times. Loose rocks and holes in the ground. There is a lot of room to drive off road vehicles around, and if you go into the canyons, you can find old abandoned mines that you can go explore.

As for the town itself. Parking is $8. Very similar to the old western town at Knott's Berry farm. All the workers are dressed in period gear, and are very friendly. There are a bunch of shops with various wares there. Off the top of my head, there was a leatherworks shop, pottery shop, woven shop, rock shop, dog treat shop, candy store, old time photo place, and general goods shop. They have a museum, and a bunch of relics from the old silver mining times dots the entire town. There are also a lot of ruins of the old town. There is really a lot to explore and learn throughout the entire town.

Everything within the town is free to explore except they do charge for 4 things.

The train ride $5. Was a short 10 minute trip, with an audio recording telling you various facts.

The next 3 things you can bundle, and it was $8.

Maggie's Mine. Right near the train, exhibits inside free. Paid is walking through the mine. Mine is small, with two audio recordings telling you some history about the mine. It's the safe way to explore a mine. The exit of the mine has nice views and ruins and ends at upper town.

Mystery Shack. Within the main street. Warning. Handicap, weak knees, vertigo or get dizzy easily should probably avoid this one. I actually got dizzy at one point through the short tour (depending on group size, probably 15 minutes+). Best to see in a small group (12) Wait for next if it's too large. Explore the waiting room for some frontier humor.

Gold panning exhibit. Just a warning, not gold it's pyrite, which is silvery in color. They should call it silver panning, since that would be a better representation. In any case, it's a fun thing to do, and definitely something the kids will enjoy.

Other things. 3 places to eat at Calico. So if you don't mind paying the $8 parking, this is a great spot to stop if you are hungry.

Main restaurant right near the entrance. Sit down establishment, but severely understaffed. Peanuts to munch on and you throw the shells on the ground. Ate breakfast, and was worth the $10ish they charged. Have patience, service slow. Bbq smelled amazing.

Middle of town. Did not eat, but Pizza/Beer garden. (FYI, we carried beer in shops and town)

End of town. Standard fare, burgers, fries type food. It also had ice cream by the scoop. Price under $10, including the large beers.

One additional thing that the town serves (I know the last restaurant had it as a fountain drink) is Sarsaparilla. Kind of a root beer, but better. They also sell it by the bottle in some...

This place is awful. Pulled into the main gate and there were 7 cars in front of us. Took 11 minutes for the employee to get all of them in, and they were just day-visitors. Finally got to the booth and she seemed confused as to what to do. Got us 'checked-in' (I believe), and said go ahead on in. Had no idea where I was going so she finally gave me a map after I asked. I felt like asking her to do her job was an imposition. Pulled into the 'campground' and it is crap. The road is asphalt (poorly laid asphalt, not installed by licensed contractors) but the sites are rutted dirt strewn with various size rocks. Had to clear rocks before pulling in. Our pedestal is wobbly and broken, many of the sewer hookups have no caps. The site is very unlevel. We had to pull into the center of our site so that the fire ring in the adjacent site would not be directly under our left slide. Some sites don't have fire rings, just stacks of rocks that people have used to make their own. Our site also had no table. There is trash everywhere in the campground, on the trails and in the bathrooms. The bathrooms were horrible. Overflowing toilets, one door with a broken closer. We were here 2 nights, and they were never cleaned. When we pulled out at 10am the bathrooms still hadn't been cleaned. When we checked in they did not give us a receipt or window tag. So, when we left to go shopping, we just told them we were at the CG, and they waved us through. When we returned from having dinner there was no one at the gate so we just drove in. The staff spend a lot of time driving around in their carts and trucks but never saw them doing any work. And be careful because they race around at high speed. We only came here to see the ghost town. Which also had trash everywhere. We've been to other ghost towns but wanted to see this one because of its connection to Knott's Berry Farm. It's a typical tourist trap. Several of the buildings are empty/for lease. In many respects it was like walking around the ghost town area of Knott's. I would not recommend more than one or two days here. We...

Overall felt this was a great spring break experience for our family. We stayed in the campground, all pics are specifically from the campground and not the Ghost Town. We stayed in area O which is like a standard KOA style campground with everyone lined up and less distances between campers. O is the only area for those with OHV to stay, but is not required to stay in the area. We have a 65' rig between motorhome and trailer and found that we could easily get in/out of the campground without issues and there was plenty of room, we reserved one of the few pull through sites. We stayed during the week and it was far less busy then during a holiday weekend. If you are staying during a holiday I might recommend reserving two sites if you value space for your equipment and selves. I felt it might be a bit crowded for us during a holiday. There are large trash bins and cans everywhere, a substantial number of restrooms and showers. Generally there are no firepits unless you have a cabin, so if you have the ability, bring your own firepit. There are new trees placed in area O for future shade. We did not notice new shade trees in other areas of the campground. Found the full hookups to be easy to use and in good condition. Being in the Calico Campground automatically places you in the area of the town, when driving you will drive straight to go to Calico Ghost Town, turn right to go to all areas of camping except area O and turn left to go to O. Sites are about $48/night for full hook ups with tax and are overall, worth the cost given the amenities. There is no playground, grass, or dog runs if that is a specific need. But, there are amazing views, plenty of hiking, and lots of trails and a number of local things to see if you need more to do then just...