Lilac Oaks - Valley Center

[Camping Coxes]

This past weekend (Mid-August) we stayed at Lilac Oaks Campground, in Valley Center, CA.
 
The campground has W/E hook-ups.  We stayed at a site on the lake that ws grassy.  We couldn't hear any road noise.  There is a pool.
 
The lake is pretty big by CG standards.  We saw a group of boys pulling fish out of repeatedly.  I say "repeatedly" because I think they were catching the same three or four fish, as it's catch and release and I can't imagine all that many large fish in such a small lake.  If you have a child who likes to fish, this is a good fishing spot.  Hot dogs seemed to be the bait of choice.  They also have kayaks and paddleboats to rent and the boys were fishing off of the paddleboats.  However, the lake is pretty green and slimy, so it's not the pristine blue lake one might wish for.   There are also resident geese that do what geese do -- honk loudly, threaten campers around the lake and poop all over the place.  
 
On the negative side, the neighbors were very noisy (I mean VERY NOISY) and were up late partying, and then slept in while the kids ran amuck right through our campsite, screaming at 8:00 AM.  The CG has quiet hours, but I never saw them enforced.  In fact, I saw park personnel exactly once the whole weekend driving around.  I realize not every weekend will there by campers like we had, but it really put a damper on our weekend.  I finally had to ask the boys to not go through our site when they were squeezing behind my chair as we saw around the fire.  We also witnessed them letting their toddler squat on the ground to use the bathroom rather than take her to the bathroom facilities nearby -- really nice.
 
The women's bathrooms/showers were dirty every time I went in there.  My son described the men's as "gross."  It was apparent that cleaning them involved sweeping them out and putting exactly 1 roll of paper in each stall (heaven forbid we waste TP!).  The showers were small and generally dirty, with only one stall having a hook to hang your towel on.  Another gripe was that the women's bathroom was at the back of the building, against a slope, and you had to walk down a type of hall, with little lighting in that area, so you were always walking into a dark area and out into a dark area that was secluded.  I didn't feel safe at all and made my DH go with me and wait for me at night and didn't allow my daughter to go by herself.  If you're fully self contained, i.e. toilet and shower, you wouldn't have to deal with this.  
 
There is a store on the premesis and the prices were actually very good.  The aforementioned pool was very small and the patio furnitre around it was either really dirty (i.e. never hosed off) or falling apart.
 
We usually stay at Woods Valley when we go to this area, but decided to try somewhere new.  As soon as we starting setting up, I knew we had made a mistake.  Campers next to us came in later afternoon Friday, and left very early Saturday morning.  The wife wouldn't even come out of the motorhome to visit with friends camping across from us because she was so unhappy with it.  
 
The girl working at the store told my DH that people usually stay either at Lilac Oaks or at Woods Valley, never both places.  Now I know why.  For my money, we'll go back to Woods Valley Kampground (see previous reviews/posts on this CG), where the bathrooms are clean, the owners are often roaming around, greeting you or seeing if you need anything, the pool is large with clean furniture in good shape, and no geese are chasing you!

[cb]

Thanks for the review.  We're always looking for CGs close to home, but will pass on this one.