Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve
Santee, CA
By Simir Shah
★★★★★4.5(1,670 Google reviews)
Santee's crown jewel: seven stocked fishing lakes with paddle boats, a lakeside campground with floating cabins, and a summer sprayground where little kids cool off. Park on the street and walk in through one of the three gates to skip the parking fee. Come early on hot weekends since the sprayground fills up fast.
Happening near here
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9310 Fanita Pkwy, Santee, CA 92071, USA
Hours via Google — confirm before a special trip.
Parking $4 weekdays / $7 weekends; sprayground wristband $2–$3
Map
What visitors say
- Cassi Mcfarland★★★★★
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ **Amazing Family Camping Experience at Santee Lakes** We had a wonderful stay at Santee Lakes Campground! The campground is extremely clean, well-maintained, and has beautiful lakes throughout the property. The staff was friendly and welcoming, making check-in quick and easy. There was plenty to do for all ages, including fishing, walking and biking trails, playgrounds, and pedal boats. The campsites were spacious with full hookups, and the bathrooms and showers were kept very clean. It felt peaceful while still being close to stores and restaurants if we needed anything. If I had one small suggestion, it would be to add a little more shade at some of the campsites during the hotter months. Other than that, everything exceeded our expectations. We would definitely stay here again and highly recommend Santee Lakes to anyone looking for a clean, safe, and family-friendly campground near San Diego.
3 weeks ago
- Tony Cappelli★★★★★
My family and I have been camping here a couple of times per year since 2007. We prefer staying along the little stream. It’s generally quieter and we have a deck we sit on in the mornings for coffee. The place is beautiful and the staff has always been friendly. However, my wife and I both work remotely and rely on consistent internet. Over the years it has progressively gotten worse. We pay extra for “higher speeds” but every few minutes the signal drops and we have to jump through hoops to sign in again, if we’re lucky. So we come here but have to go to Starbucks or another restaurant nearby to work. It is absolutely ridiculous that a place this nice can’t get internet service for its guests. Maybe they don’t want to offer it so that the local neighborhood doesn’t get some free internet. Ridiculous! We know it’s challenging to get wifi here but we’ve been dealing with it, but no more. After almost 20 years, at least 40-50 visits, hundreds of dollars spent on inconsistent paid internet and way too much coffee at Starbucks, we will not be returning any more.
a month ago
- King Reviewer!★★★★★
This is not a hotel area. I'm not sure why this survey is asking about rooms. This is a park with campgrounds in the back. I came here for my birthday with my children to celebrate in a peaceful quiet area. I thoroughly enjoyed the place. They are very clean they have people walking around picking up trash and putting it in the correct trash cans for recycling. They have playgrounds in the lake where you can take little boats and feed so you can feed the ducks and whatever other wildlife tends to be there. They have the barbecue grills which is where I was at a barbecuing. I thoroughly enjoyed myself there and you definitely should go there. I have never been to the campgrounds so I don't know how those are. The lady in the front that gives you the pass to go in is super nice. If you want to take your family somewhere take them here.
a month ago
- Rose★★★★★
We’ve been coming to Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve for years and it continues to be one of our favorite camping spots. We’ve stayed here several times with our RV, and every visit has been relaxing and fun. The kids absolutely love coming fishing here, and the lakes are always very well stocked with Fish. It’s such a great place to spend quality time outdoors and enjoy nature together. They love lakes 2,3 & 5.
a month ago
- Hunter Salyer★★★★★
It is a great place for families and couple to come, hang out, have a picnic, and go for a walk with they pups. The fishing is not great. Rainbow trout are easy to catch when they’re in season but other than that, it’s pretty slow.
2 months ago
Reviews from Google · See more on Google Maps
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