Monte Cristo Campsite

If you are a real camper forget this place maybe in the dead of winter, maybe. Soon as the weather gets good It gets rowdy, noizy and is what I would call ghetto camping. And in the spring to many rattle snakes. What you would expect so close to Palmdale. Sorry for the poor review just call it as I see it.

If you’re looking to get out of the city for the weekend, Monte Cristo is a convenient campground for last-​minute planners like myself.
There is nothing particularly special about Monte Cristo but it’s got all the basic necessities, is close to Switzer falls, and doesn’t seem too crowded.
My biggest issue with this campsite was the park rangers… we were quietly preparing our dinner by the campfire when a group of rangers in 2 big SUVs with angry barking German Shepherds descended on the campsite like they were the DEA doing a major drug bust. I understand the need to keep the park clean and hazard-​free particularly given all the wild-​fires BUT these were the meanest most power-​tripping people I think I’ve ever had to deal with. After our long interrogation (probably a result of profiling because of our age – we’re all in our twenties), the rangers finally let us be, but only after ensuring they had spoiled our cheery evening.
Can’t we all just be civil and courteous toward one another?

This place is nice when idiots aren’t blasting music or partying loudly into the night.
The trees rebounded amazingly well after the Station fire, but the whole area around the camp was left a moonscape. South and East campsites have the least shade, and it gets HOTTT here in the summer.
The campground is open year round. There might be snow in the winter, and I’ve stayed here on New Years Eve, which was surprisingly quiet compared to summer weekends.
I was here in April, and the creek was flowing, and every size frog that exists was going RIBBET! RIBBET! RIBBET! all night.
It’s a good place to camp when there’s a meteor shower.
Bring a gold pan, there’s actual gold in the creek!

LMAO at Roberts review. I just got back from Mote Cristo and he was right on, even down to the Latin 96FM until midnight. We also got stuck here because our original campground was all booked up. When we pulled in we were about to turn around and go home because it did look ghetto. We stayed because our daughter wanted to and we didn’t feel like going all the way home.
Cons
very much like camping in Los Angeles
close together campsites
very close to the main road
people camping there seemed kinda ghetto
Pros
close
GHETTO CRISTO!!!

After driving through the Angeles Crest Highway — all the way to Palmdale — I’ve always wanted to camp there.
When the car was all packed up we found out Buckhorn was closed. So had to do a lil improv to the Cristo. It served the purpose. We have two little dogs and they were thrilled. There was a knee deep brook we waded in and the pups swam. The sites are little on top of each other so you when it’s full (summer and a weekend) expect to hear Latin 96fm blasting till midnight. But aside from that a good campsite, with a grill. They are the closest site to the city so this seems to be a popular one for big groups and families. Make sure to get your food, beer and other essentials before you leave La Canada as the only thing being sold once you hit the Forest is fire wood by Otis on the side of the road.