Crystal Cove State Park campground opens in affluent Laguna Beach

Are you old enough to remember the halcyon days of state park campgrounds for $8/nite? I think those days are gone forever. The model now seems to be to raise camping fees to near prohibitive levels or just close the parks if they don't pay their way.

But California is both shutting down unprofitable state parks--70 to close at last count--and opening new ones. Well, at least one new one.

The new $15-million Crystal Cove State Park coastal campground opened on the 4th of July weekend at Laguna Beach in Orange County south of Los Angeles. The Moro Campground, with electric-only campsites for a staggering $65/nite, isn't even on the beach. The hilltop campsites do, however, face the ocean--on the inland side of Pacific Coast Highway. To get to the beach you have to pass through a pedestrian tunnel under the highway.

But if the $65 pricetag is too high for you, tent sites are going for $50 a night. The park has also added 200 "day-use spots" that cost $15 each--what ever they are. But the steep fees didn't deter Southern California campers as the park quickly sold out all campsites for the opening weekend.

The campground is built on the site of the former El Morro Trailer Village. The state kicked out the Village residents a few years ago after a prolonged fight to save their homes.

So if you are wondering how a new campground could open with today's multiple budget crises, the park has been in the works for years, long before the state ran into fiscal trouble.

As an investment, however, the park should work out financially--for the state if not for campers. The park also retained 15 historic vintage rental beach cottages and along with the campground, parking, and a percentage off the concessionaire's business, Crystal Cove will bring in between $1 million and $1.5 million annually.