Best Camping Spots & Outdoor Adventures
Explore the best best camping spots & outdoor adventures options for kids and families in Costa Mesa
Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve
Birding, biking & an interpretive center. Home to many bird species, this 135-acre park offers an interpretive center & hiking/biking trails.
The CAMP
Hip, eco-conscious retail & dining spot. Retail complex featuring health-conscious & eco-friendly local shops, services & eateries.
Estancia Park
Green space with picnic & grilling areas. Modest recreation area with green spaces, picnic shelter, tables & grilling sites.
Talbert Regional Park
180 acres divided up by plant groups. Park divided into 6 areas by plant groups to showcase diverse habitats along the Santa Ana River.
Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina
Rustic beach cottages, plus a pool. Casual resort offering simple beachside cottages, plus RV parking, a pool, dining & a marina.
Mile Square Regional Park
Large urban park with many facilities. City park offering 3 golf courses, soccer fields & baseball diamonds as well as picknicking & lakes.
Huntington State Beach
Large surfing beach with a paved trail. A popular surfing destination, this sandy 121-acre beach also offers a 8.5-mi. paved trail.
Camp Sycamore
Park campground for youth groups. Youth-group campground at Mile Square park offering a fire ring, BBQs, a shelter & restrooms.
Huntington Beach RV Campground
RV park with ocean views & beach access. Unassuming RV park offering sites with partial hookups, plus ocean views & beach access.
Turtle Rock Nature Center
Educational nature preserve with trails. Five-acre nature preserve with trails for viewing wildlife & habitats, plus an outdoor classroom.
Bommer Canyon Nature Trail
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Bommer Canyon Preserve Cattle Camp
Wildlands, trails & a former cattle camp. This large natural area features many paths for hiking & biking, plus a historic former cattle camp.
Pacific Ridge Trailhead
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Deer Canyon Campground
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Haster Basin Recreational Park
Soccer fields, a lake & picnic areas. Community park with jogging trails, soccer fields, exercise stations & lakeside picnic shelters.
Crystal Cove State Park
Beach, hiking trails, coves & tide pools. Park has 3.2-mile beach with sandy coves & tide pools, plus 2,400 acres of land for hiking & biking.
Camp Izza
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Moro Campground Entrance
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve
Protected coastal estuary & bird habitat. 1300 acre ecological preserve with over 200 avian species spread around the coastal wetlands.
Bolsa Chica State Beach
A public beach with RV sites & fire pits. A beachfront state park with fire rings & RV campsites, featuring sunbathing, surfing & volleyball.
Upper Moro Campground
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail
Kid-oriented adventure trail in a forest. A traverse wall, ropes course & slides, plus a cave for visitors to discover their spirit animal.
Laguna Coast Wilderness Park: Big Bend
Recreation area within coastal canyons. 7,000-acre park with many trails for hiking, biking & horseback riding, plus a nature center.
Canyon View Park
Grassy areas, a playground & paths. 12-acre park with big grassy areas, a sand-covered playground & path overlooking the canyon.
Peters Canyon North Trailhead
340-acre park includes reservoir. Popular jogging & hiking park features coastal sage scrub & grassland habitats, plus a reservoir.
Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Little Cottonwood Park
Place for picnicking & shooting hoops. The grounds include sand volleyball courts, picnic shelters, BBQs, playgrounds & a basketball court.
Laguna Niguel Regional Park
Lakefront fishing, sports & amphitheater. Surrounding a fishing lake, this park offers trails, sports courts, picnic space & an amphitheater.
Oak Canyon Park
Vast fishing & camping area on a lake. Sprawling 750 acres with forested mountains & a lake, plus fishing for many species & camping.
William Peak Park
Neighborhood go-to for skating & sports. City greenspace with a skate park, baseball fields, basketball courts, a playground & a pool.
Seaview Park Trail and Overlook
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Lake Forest Sports Park: Glass Creek Overlook
Visit this great place for kids and families!
El Dorado Nature Center
Wide-ranging park for flora & fauna. 105-acre park featuring a visitor center, flora & fauna, lakes, a stream & walking trails.
El Dorado East Regional Park
Outdoor recreation & a nature center. Expansive outdoor area with fishing lakes, bike trails, camping, an archery range & a nature center.
Black Star Canyon Wilderness Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Oak Canyon Nature Center
Nature park with an interpretive center. Nature park featuring oak forests, scrubland & canyons, plus wildlife & an interpretive center.
Red Rock Canyon
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Sports Basement Long Beach
Massive store for sports apparel & gear. Sprawling retailer for sports & outdoor clothing, gear & accessories, plus equipment rentals.
Don Knabe Community Regional Park
Public park with fishing & swimming pool. Over 50 acres of outdoor activities, including a fishing lake, swimming pool & basketball courts.
Friendship (Smith-Murphy) Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Rynerson Park
Large city park with a bike trailhead. Spacious park, dedicated in 1990 & offering psorts facilities, open spaces & a variety of trails.
Bluff Park
Ocean views & the Lone Sailor Memorial. 13.2-acre city park offering ocean views, footpaths, benches, telescopes & the Lone Sailor Memorial.
Ralph B Clark Park
104-acre park at foot of Coyote Hills. Sprawling park covering more than 100 acres includes a softball complex & plenty of open fields.
Yorba Regional Park
Picnicking, fishing, hiking & biking. Mile-wide park adjacent to the Santa Ana River has 140 acres of picnic tables, lakes, trails & more.
Craig Regional Park
Recreation on 124 acres with a lake. 124-acre recreational park with biking, hiking & picnicking, plus hills, a rose garden & a lake.
Laguna Lake Park
Park with trails & an equestrian center. In addition to lake fishing, this 28.5-acre park offers trails, picnic areas & an equestrian center.
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