Orangeland RV Park

We stayed at Orangeland RV Park in Orange (Los Angeles), California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our second stay here; a nice park, just a few miles from Disneyland.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-04-01
Check out: 2023-04-08
7 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps ranging between 64-82°F, lows around 44-54°F
Little wind; one day of 28 MPH gusts

Noise:

No freeway noise, some road noise
No train noise, but distant horns a few times
Some neighbor noise

Site:

#96, pull-through, asphalt
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
Fairly level
Small site: about 50 feet long by about 30 feet wide
Patio table & chairs on asphalt
Orange trees that can be harvested

Utilities:

50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
80 PSI water, conveniently located
Unthreaded sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 78-86 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
AT&T: 20 Mbps down, 6-18 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
Verizon: 21-28 Mbps down, 16-23 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage collection from site
Swimming pool & hot tub
Package delivery to office
Just a few miles from Disneyland

Our review on Campground Reviews:

The place to stay for Disneyland

This was our second time staying here, and I would happily stay again. For an urban setting so close to Disneyland and other attractions, they could easily charge more than they do. This park is genuinely a park, with lovely landscaping and attention to service. We had site 96, which was an interestingly located pull-through site right at the end of a row close to the office. The only downside to the location is there is no privacy screening between your living area and the check-in area. There’s entertainment value in watching the flow of people coming into the park, but I would’ve preferred a nice trellis or hedge to look at. We also enjoyed being close enough to civilization to order food delivery and get some service done on our rig while here. But the main draw, of course, is being a 10-minute drive to Disneyland. We camped at Orangeland RV Park in a Motorhome.

Interactive map:

Campground map:

Map

They also have a map on a wall showing where all of the fruit trees are:

Fruit tree map

Our site:

Our site

Our site was near the registration area:

Our site

Setting up our site; here’s a video of a leveling jack going down:

Griddle, filters, and water softener stored for transport:

Filters and water softener

Setting up utilities:

Setting up utilities

Utilities

A nice thing about being in a city; we can get pizza delivery:

Pizza delivery

Working outside:

Working outside

The registration area was so close:

Registration area

A nice thing about this park is they offer trash pickup from the site (and even provide a bag):

Trash pickup

The Orangeland RV Park entrance:

Orangeland RV Park entrance

Entrance

Office:

Office

Registration area:

Registration area

Pool:

Pool

Hot tub (which was undergoing renovations last time we were here):

Hot tub

Putting area:

Putting area

Games:

Games

Pool table:

Pool table

Outdoor livng area:

Outdoor livng area

Outdoor kitchen:

Outdoor kitchen

Covered playground:

Covered playground

The local bus goes through the park:

Bus

A Tiffin Phaeton arrival:

Tiffin Phaeton arrival

Other RV sites:

Other RV sites

Video

Video: Palm Desert to Orange, California motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 103 miles from Palm Desert, California to Orange, California.

Travel from Palm Desert to Orange, California

We drove our coach 103 miles, about two hours of driving, from Palm Desert, California to Orange (Los Angeles), California.

Here’s the map route, heading west:

Route

An interactive map of our route, with potential stops marked:

Leaving our site:

Leaving our site

Toading up:

Toading up

Leaving the campground:

Leaving campground

Palm Springs overpass:

Palm Springs overpass

There were lots of yellow flowers below the wind turbines:

Wind turbines and yellow flowers

A stop at a rest area:

Rest area

A school bus next to us at the rest area:

School bus

Exit:

Exit

Green hills:

Hills

Snowy mountains:

Snowy mountains

Exit:

Exit

Castle Park theme park:

Castle Park theme park

Heavy traffic:

Traffic

Green hills:

Green hills

Exit:

Exit

Honda Center:

Honda Center

Our destination, Orangeland RV Park:

Orangeland RV Park

Guided to our site by a guy on a Segway; the site was that empty one on the left, but we needed to loop around the block to get into it:

Orangeland RV Park

Going the wrong way, and crossing grass, to pull through into our site:

Orangeland RV Park

Engine compartment door stop replacement

One weak point in our coach is the door stop of the rear engine compartment. Twice I’ve had it break.

Here’s the rear door:

Engine compartment door

It is held closed with a couple of latches, that hook onto door stops like this (the left one):

Door stop

Twice the right-hand one has broken off:

Broken door stop

So I ordered some replacements from Tiffin, part number 5116094 (“REAR ENGINE DOOR STOP BRE 2016”):

Door stop

I didn’t have any of the weather stripping padding, so I used some self-adhesive cupboard bumpers instead, which works fine:

Door stop

I now have a couple more spare, so if it breaks again, I’ll be ready!

Joshua Tree National Park day 3

Another afternoon visit to Joshua Tree National Park.

Entrance sign

Joshua trees

Jenn gave me an Insta360 X3 camera as an early birthday present, so I tried it out on this visit:

Insta360 X3 camera

My first video, holding the invisible selfie stick out the truck window:

Barker Dam Nature Trail hike:

Barker Dam hike

Video:

Barker Dam hike

Videos:

Barker Dam hike

Video:

Barker Dam hike

Joshua tree bloom:

Barker Dam hike

Video:

Barker Dam hike

Petroglyphs:

Barker Dam hike

Video:

Barker Dam hike

Videos:

We had a picnic dinner at Hidden Valley:

Hidden Valley picnic

Rocks

Joshua trees

Joshua Tree National Park day 2

Another visit to Joshua Tree National Park, this time in the evening, going in the south entrance. Like most of the popular parks, this one is very busy during the day, but much less so in the evening.

Entrance sign

Rocks

Cholla Cactus Garden:

Cholla Cactus Garden

Joshua trees

Cholla Cactus Garden

Jenn and David

Cholla Cactus Garden

Arch Rock Nature Trail:

Arch Rock Nature Trail

Picnic dinner:

Picnic dinner

We have some bamboo cutlery in our picnic bag, which was useful:

Bamboo cutlery

Rocks

Skull Rock; this is one of the most popular areas of the park, impossible to get parking during the day, but easy in the evening:

Skull Rock

Split Rock:

Split Rock

Rocks

Sunset:

Sunset

Joshua Tree National Park day 1

We visited Joshua Tree National Park several times while staying in Palm Desert.

On the first day, we visited all five of the visitor centers, drove though the park, and did a shortish hike.

First up, Black Rock Nature Center in Black Rock Canyon Campground:

Black Rock Canyon Campground visitor center

Visitor center

Do Not Die Today:

Do Not Die Today

Welcome to Joshua Tree (the city, not the park):

Welcome to Joshua Tree

The main Visitor Center outside the park:

Visitor Center

Passport stamp:

Passport stamp

The Joshua Tree Cultural Center:

Joshua Tree Cultural Center

The Oasis Visitor Center, which is permanently closed, but still has the Oasis of Mara trail available:

Old visitor center

Kinetic artwork:

Kinetic artwork

Picnic:

Picnic

Oasis of Mara trail:

Oasis

Entrance sign:

Entrance sign

Joshua trees:

Joshua trees

We did a hike to a mine, past some ruins:

Ruins

A nice pic of me:

David

Jenn:

Jenn

Mines (look for the metal covers):

Mines

Old winch:

Old winch

Old bucket:

Old bucket

Flowers:

Flowers

Me:

David

Selfie:

Jenn and David

A fun dirt road, with Joshua trees and mountains in the distance:

Dirt road, Joshua trees, mountains

Joshua trees

Ocotillo:

Ocotillo

At the southern entrance, Cottonwood Visitor Center:

Cottonwood Visitor Center

Recent rains brought out a profusion of wildflowers:

Wildflowers

Video

Video: Thousand Trails Palm Springs campground timelapse

A timelapse of the Thousand Trails Palm Springs campground.

Thousand Trails Palm Springs

We stayed at Thousand Trails Palm Springs in Palm Desert, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our second stay here; a working date palm farm as a Thousand Trails park. Tricky to get positioned, but convenient once there.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-03-25
Check out: 2023-04-01
7 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny
High temps ranging between 65-76°F, lows around 47-51°F
Little wind; one day of 24 MPH gusts

Noise:

Distant freeway noise
Some train noise, but no horns most of the time
Some neighbor noise

Site:

#282, back in, sand
Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
Fairly level
Small site: about 45 feet long by about 25 feet wide
Picnic table on concrete pad palm trees
Super difficult to park due to palm trees, light post, and wacky sewer position

Utilities:

50 amp power, very inconveniently located
50 PSI water, very inconveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 26-88 Mbps down, 60 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
AT&T: 3 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 8 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Swimming pool
Package delivery to site

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Parking here is not for the faint of heart

This was our second stay, and it was pretty much the same as the last time. The check-in staff are very helpful and informative, giving you a rundown of the park and the best way to wedge your RV between the trees. With a 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle, the best way to find a site is to park your rig by the pool, unhook, and then drive the tow vehicle around to scope a decent site. Not all sites are created equal; some have palm trees that lean more than others, some are quite a bit shorter than others, and some are narrower. Once you find the best site you can, parking your rig in it is a community endeavor. Between the trees and the narrow roads, you may have to enlist the aid of your neighbors to move their vehicles so you can back in. Compromise may be required. I saw smaller rigs than ours balk at sites along our row. But once you get in, it’s very nice under the palms. We camped at Thousand Trails Palm Springs in a Motorhome.

Interactive map:

Campground map:

Map

Our site; it took literally half an hour to get positioned between the trees, sewer, and light pole; the most difficult park to get situated in. But once set up, we enjoy the proximity to Joshua Tree National Park and the desert cities:

Our site

The electric and water utilities are at the back of the site, rather inconvenient:

Utilities

The sewer is conveniently located, though, other than in terms of the palm trees:

Utilities

Working outside:

David

We drove our truck around to scout for a site (this being Thousand Trails). This is the site we chose; a little tight between the palm tree and sewer at the rear, and a light pole and another palm tree at the front:

Our site when scouting