Welcome to the Lazy Daze Caravan Club!

Dates June 9 - 13, 2010
Campground Hurkey Creek
Address 56375 Highway 74
Mountain Center, CA 92561
Telephone 909-659-2050
Elevation 4,363 Feet
$12.00/night
The Class-C Campers

Directions and Maps

Get a map to Hurkey Creek and door-to-door driving directions at MapQuest

Even though you can get directions from MapQuest, we thought we'd offer up some directions here since you have several routes to choose from:

• From I-10 at Banning, take Highway 243 to Idyllwild. Continue to Mountain Center and turn left onto Highway 74. Drive east approximately 4 miles to the Hurkey Creek Campground (on your left).

• From Riverside County, take Highway 215, go east on Highway 74 (Florida Avenue) through the center of Hemet. Continue up the mountain, through Mountain Center. Approximately 4 miles past Mountain Center on the left is Hurkey Creek Campground.

• Please Note: The following route is much longer (for those coming from the north), but also much easier...you will avoid the 10+ miles of steep and winding grade out of Hemet on Highway 74, as well as the climb up Highway 243. At the south end of Temecula on I-15, exit Highway 79 South. Drive east on Highway 79 South approximately 18 miles. Turn left onto Highway 371. Drive north approximately 18 miles to the stop sign at Highway 74. Turn left and drive approximately 8 miles to the Hurkey Creek Campground (it will be on your right).

Very Important!

At the entrance to Hurkey Creek, after exiting the highway, make sure you keep to the left. Continue past the Entrance Station and past the ranger residence. You will then cross a dry streambed (Hurkey Creek) to get to the Group Camping Loops where we'll be staying. Just look for our Host Tent!

Here are a couple of maps to help you find us...

Map of entire Hurkey Creek Campground

Map of the Hurkey Creek Group Camp area where we will be staying

And just for fun, here are some satellite maps, courtesy of Google Earth.

First up, one showing Hurkey Creek Campground as it relates to Lake Hemet.

Next up, one showing the road into Hurkey Creek Campground and how it winds its way over to the group camping area (where we'll be camping)

Lastly, one showing the group camping area and the approximate location of the Host Tent.


Additional Information About Hurkey Creek



• Open dry camping (i.e, no defined sites and no hook-ups) among tall pines

• Please Note: We are in Group Camping Loops C and D (and E, if necessary) only...
...other groups will be in Loops A and B

• Camping fees are $12.00 per rig per night within the caravan dates of June 9th to June 13th;
early arrivals and late departures must pay the standard campground rate of $20.00 per rig per night

• There is a restroom with pay showers (bring your quarters!)

• Water is available

• Dump station at Lake Hemet (across Highway 74) available for a fee; also a small general store

• Picnic tables are scattered throughout the camp

Hey, Weatherman!



 Thanks to the wonderful world of technology
- and our weatherman Steve Tivy -
click here for the current conditions and forecast
for Hurkey Creek.

Good Things To Know


Idyllwild is the closest "large" town to Hurkey Creek. With a population of about 3,500 folks, here's where you'll find the nearest grocery store, pharmacy, restaurants and shopping...and art galleries!

Check out the Chamber of Commerce's website for more information.




How can you not love a paper with a motto like that?

The Idyllwild Town Crier, published since 1946 and now on-line here, is a great resource for finding out what's going on beyond (but not too far from) Hurkey Creek. Restaurants, shopping (including art galleries), special events...it's all in the Idyllwild Town Crier...well, at least it's almost all there, part of the time!


And now for this caravan's history lesson...

To Riverside County, it's "Hurkey Creek" but to the folks at the USGS and the Forest Service, it's "Herkey Creek." The correct spelling may be in dispute, but the origin of the name is not.

There's a highly respected California history book called "The San Jacintos: The Mountain Country from Banning to Borrego Valley" written by John W. Robinson and Bruce D. Risher (a review of the book by the San Diego Historical Society can be found here) that acknowledges the differences in spelling and provides the following background:

"The great (grizzly) bears seldom molested humans. One notable exception was the mauling of a man named Herkey, or Hurkey, a woodcutter working at the Thomas Ranch. The story goes that Herkey's dog chased two grizzly cubs up a tree. The enraged mother charged the woodcutter as he was drinking from a creek, severely injuring him. Herkey was able to struggle back to the ranch house, where he died a few days later. Herkey Creek immortalizes the incident today."

Granted, it's not the cheeriest of place name origins, but it is part of California history and...well...your webmaster can't help herself when it comes to history!

Good Things To Do (Kind Of) Close to Hurkey Creek

The Palm Springs Aerial Tram

If you've never ridden the Palm Springs Aerial Tram, you owe yourself this treat. During as ascent of the tram, one will witness flora and fauna changes equivalent to those seen on a car (or Lazy Daze!) trip from the Sonora Desert of Mexico to the Alpine Fringe in Alaska...five different ecological zones experienced in a tram ride that's 12,800 feet long with a vertical ascent of 5,873 feet (2,643 feet at the Valley Station to 8,516 feet at the Mountain Station...and all in just 15 minutes!). The air is clean and cool and the views are spectacular.

Tram prices are $22.95 for adults, $20.95 for seniors (60+), and $15.95 for children ages 3 to 12. Tram cars depart at least every half hour from 10 A.M. Monday through Friday; 8:00A.M. weekends and holidays. Last car up is 8:00 P.M. with the last car down at 9:45 P.M. And of course, prices and hours of operation are subject to change without notice. No pets allowed.

Directions: The drive to the tram is approximately 55 miles. Turn right onto Highway 74 (known as the Pines to Palms Highway). Drive approximately 3.2 miles to Highway 243 (known as the Banning-Idyllwild Panoramic Highway). Take Highway 243 for approximately 29 miles to Interstate 10. Go east on I-10 for approximately 12 miles to Highway 111. Take Highway 111 for approximately 8.1 miles to Tramway Road which will take you (after another 2.5 miles) to the Valley Station where you can buy your tickets.

To find out more about the Palm Springs Aerial Tram, you can call 888-515-TRAM (toll free in US and Canada) or 760-325-1391, or click here to go to the official website.


Shields Date Gardens

Frommer's travel web site says it best, so by golly, we'll let them say it:

"In a splendid display of both wishful thinking and clever engineering, the Coachella Valley has grown into a rich agricultural region, known internationally for grapefruit, figs, and grapes--but mostly for dates. Turn-of-the-century entrepreneurs, fascinated with Arabian lore and fueled by the Sahara-like conditions of the desert around Indio, planted the area's date palm groves in the 1920s. Launched with just a few parent trees imported from the Middle East, the groves now produce 95% of the world's date crop.

Farmers hand-pollinate the trees, and the resulting precious fruit is bundled in wind-protective paper while still on the tree, which makes an odd sight indeed. You'll see them along Highway 111 through Indio, where the road is sometimes referred to as the "Date Highway."

And there's more!

"For decades, Shields Date Gardens has been enticing visitors into its splendid 1930s Moderne building with banners proclaiming free admission to the continuously running film The Romance and Sex Life of the Date. (Fair warning: Its racy title is the best part.) Even if you're not interested in the flick, stop by the lunch counter (date shake, anyone?) and store (which sells an endless variety of dates and related goodies) and sample some date ice cream or date crystals, a mysterious sweet product that seems to have many practical uses--until you actually get it home. But the quality and selection of fresh-harvested dates is superb; we guarantee you'll find yourself snacking on them before long."

Shield's Date Gardens
80225 Highway 111
760-347-0996

Directions: The drive to Sheild's Date Gardens is approximately 39 miles. Turn left onto Highway 74. Drive approximately 33 miles to Highway 111. Drive approximately 6.1 miles to the date gardens.

Click here for their website.


Home Who What When and Where Why What Else