Gould Mesa Trail Camp — Hotel in Pasadena

Great backpacking site for beginners. The trail in is about 2.5 miles. The 1st mile is very urban and not super pretty. The last 1.5 miles follows the stream and is beautiful and shady. There are 3 stream crossings before you reach the campsite. All along the trail are bridges, picnic tables, stone walls and benches for resting. The campsite itself is pretty with a fire ring at every site. There are several places to hitch a horse. The campground has about 6 sites in total but not every site has a picnic table. Some sites have a log to sit on by the fire if you don’t want to pack a chair. There was no toilet paper in the vault toilets and the bear safe trash cans were overflowing. There was one “long term camper” but he didn’t get us any trouble. The main trail runs just beside the campground with a steady stream of trail runners, mountain bikers and hikers. The stream runs just on the other side of the trail and is wonderfully cool and refreshing. Pack water shoes or extra clothes if you have kiddos that...

The last time I was there was about 25 years ago. This is a backpacker's campsite; in other words, the public cannot drive to it; you must backpack in or ride a horse in. When I was there, there was a ranger that lived in a trailer. There is a community of rangers that live nearby. This is a great place to hike to; it is an easy walk. The trail roughly parallels the stream. There is opportunity for shade along the trail from (near) JPL. There is a relatively large pool in the stream next to the camp.

If you continue up the trail you can go all the way to Oakwilde Picnic Area which is also a backpacker's campsite. The trail is easy except for the part that goes past a dam. I think that is in the area of the Paul Little Campground.

If you continue up from Oakwilde then the trail becomes relatively steep. It goes up to the Switzer...

The camp ground wasn't anything special at all. If I had one word to describe it, it's would be dirty as there is just bits of trash all over the campground, cordage tied to a bunch of trees, old broken tent poles, you name it, it's there. I had read beforehand that homeless people like to stay here and that is absolutely true. I do not have a problem with homeless people, but what I do have a problem with is that that took up 3 out of the 4 major campgrounds, leaving recreational and backpack users with noot as many options. There is a good water source for filtering and plenty of firewood. Although, it does get quite windy sometimes and the campground sits right in the middle of an open canyon. I would come back if I had to, but this wouldn't be my...