Hurkey Creek Park

"A great meadow in the mountains"

Hurkey Creek Park is one of the Riverside County Parks.  It is located right outside of the teeny town of Mountain Center just a few miles away from Idyllwild.   It is a beautiful park located in an open valley with views of the gorgeous mountain peaks!  

It is a large campground with a really nicely developed day use area.  There are 130 campsites.  All are leveled and rated for both tent and RV use with the exception of a group of tent only spaces.  There are no hook ups.  Water is centrally located.   There are also five group sites that with hold up to 80-100 campers. The group sites are in a separate area from the main camp, which I would expect benefits everyone.   The bathrooms are clean, and there are coin/token operated showers.   The sites are surrounded by large trees.  Some sites are very well shaded, others not as much.  So, this is a situation where you will need to choose your site carefully if you have afternoon nappers or plan on being in the tent during the day (sites 8-12 are very shady, as are 4-5, 69, 68, 65, 64, 62, 41, 42, and 99).   If you would like a site that backs up to the creek, the tent only sites (99-104) are great, along with 92 which has an access path to the creek, and 92, which is a nice looking site.  

The playground is great.  It is definitely for primary school kids.  My almost three year old had a great time, but it was a little scary to have him be able to traverse the highest and fast slides.  There is a rock wall on one side that would be fun for 4 and up.  

The creek is very seasonal.  I wouldn't count on being able to use the creek to cool off.  

The grounds are very well kept.  The planning of the grounds were too as there is a large, open grassy area, picnic tables, and an amphitheatre which are accessible and centrally located.  

There are hiking trails and a 10 mile mountain bike course that stem out from the campground.  

The day use prices are $3 for adults and $2 for a child.  
Camping is $20 a site a night (Know that you can reserve online, but there is a service charge)