Hurkey Creek Park — Attraction in Palm Springs

I do believe I was camped out at spot 56 around June 20th, 21st and left camp on the 22nd.

Pointers: Very close to Idyllwild and Lake Hemet, about 15 minutes to the town center and just a few minutes to the store at the lake, depending on how deep you've parked in the campsite. NOTE: Speed limit is generally 10 MPH in the park/campgrounds Showers are fairly maintained, cheap (two quarters for 3 minutes which is enough for a simple wash down) but there's no adjustment for hot/cold. Fortunately, the water was fairly warm but the lack of a manual hot/cold adjustment is discerning. Still, decent value really Nearby trail offers a decent hike for light/moderate hikers. Not too much of an incline and just enough vegetation to make it somewhat interesting for a short hike in the morning/evenings. Picnic tables and grill were decently maintained, not enough to call them premium on account of the tables still being metal and old (bring tablecloths!) Riverside Regional County website for camping reservations is pretty straightforward BUT be aware that unless you're disabled you're not allowed to reserve ADA type sites. That's something I found out too late with my original camping reservation much closer to Idyllwild. I was able to get a full refund after cancellation and managed to get a reservation at Hurkey Creek Park instead. Still, be careful of this when booking camping reservations through Riverside County.

Cellphone coverage: For me, using a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 with Mint Mobile, I wasn't able to get any coverage till I either drove down the CA-371 or up into Idyllwild. Please keep this in mind when camping here.

Tent Camping: Pretty decent grounds for tent camping but be aware that around the summer time (June and into September-ish) there will be ants and other insects. Best to invest in some bug repellent or those specialized scented candles. There were a lot of ants around my campsite but fortunately none of them were interested in entering nor infesting my tent. However, I was solo camping and am quite clean about how I keep and clean up after myself so if you're camping with others, cooking by the grill, eating in the tent etc then this WILL be a problem.

All and all a decent experience. I would have preferred to camp within...

This campground has huge sites, which allows for very large family groups to attend. There were different family groups that had 2 to 4 huge tents on their site. I don’t know if they strictly enforce how many people are actually staying on a site. But also the family members have their own sites and they all gather together at a site to eat and hang out.. This leads to issues with noise. I unfortunately ended up next to a group that had 20 or 30 people hanging out and they played their music all day and into the night about 1230 or 1 AM. I couldn’t sleep.

Before I set up my tent, I recognize there would be an issue. The Ranger was kind enough to allow me to have a different spot reserved for emergencies, but I could still hear the music even several rows away. When the Ranger had driven through at 10, they shut everything down, but of course when the Ranger left, everything was back up and running. So if this is a concern of yours, she might consider the time of year you go and if you’re on a weekend when you get a lot of families . It’s nice for them to gather and have a great time, but it does impact other campers.

The restrooms were well maintained (for a campground ) having enough toilet paper. They had toilet seat covers, which is unusual. Surprisingly enough, given all the people that are at the campground who are tenting and the few number of restrooms, I never found an issue with waiting. Usually the restroom was empty.

It was hot when I was there. Some sites have great shade with thick pine trees and some have partial shade with exposed areas. I found it too hot during the day and I consider going and hanging out in the library for the day. What a way to go Camping! Instead, I aborted my camping trip...

I camped here when i was a kid from 1984 - 1997, at that time i would have given it a five out of five rating because it was an awesome place for kids and families. The creek was an amazing experience, the water fall was beautiful and tranquil, the hiking trails were fun and enjoyable, the campsites were clean and graded frequently, there were no armies of ants in the campsite. It was just an all around great experience.

This time I had a reservation for 4 days for the 4th of July weekend and was hoping for my kids to have the same experience that I had as a boy, the campsite was uneven due to water runoff and someone digging holes all over the place, it was also covered in fire ant hills and cigarette buts. The bathrooms haven't been cleaned since 1998 and are in Sirius need of updating, and someone went into the men's room and exploded in front of the toilet not in it, and still, the rangers never cleaned the bathroom.

There were several groups of people from East LA that showed up and started tearing the place apart. Playing loud, vulgar and offensive music (as if they were the only people in the park) well into the early morning hours. There was drunken yelling and screaming children all night long, the rangers never responded to the complaints from several campers.

We went camping when i was a kid to escape the city life and get out in the open and enjoy nature, and remember simpler times, why would you want to bring the ghetto with you?

Needless to say this campground is not decent family friendly anymore and i would rather remember it the it was from my youth than...