Description

The Silent Valley Club is a lovely members-owned and family friendly camping resort tucked into a 460-acre expanse of managed wilderness in the San Jacinto Mountains of southern California. This jewel of a park has 850 campsites, most with full hookup water, electric and sewer service. Campsites are in an open parkland of meadow with scattered live oak, sugar pine, sycamore and walnut trees; are nestled against weathered outcrops of mossy boulders; or are tucked into deeper stands of live oak forest. The park is open year-round and features many resort amenities and activities. The staff is friendly and welcoming. The campground has a real feeling of community, as members become friends and look forward to returning, year after year.

Location

Silent Valley Club, Inc.
46305 Poppet Flats Road
Banning, CA 92220-9636
(951) 849-4501
Latitude: 33.850509 N, Longitude: -116.852877 W, Elevation: ~3,566 feet (1,087 meters)

Silent Valley Park Map

Details

We have stayed many times at the Silent Valley Club over the past few years (from May 2015), and have really enjoyed our time here. We consider this our winter home and generally head here as soon as we arrive in southern California in the fall. As such, we have experienced the park in late fall through winter and early spring.

We have not experienced the park at peak season of late spring & summer, although we did stay for all of October, last year – another peak time. Halloween is HUGE here and the park filled nearly to capacity the last two weeks of October. Many sites were elaborately decorated and the club put on a haunted house, costume parties and closed the park to vehicles for a few hours one afternoon for trick-or-treats.  Fun!

We love the scenery and peaceful quiet of the park in the off-season. We have gotten to know many of the staff and other club members, making many new friends.

Cost

The Silent Valley Club is a members-owned park and requires buying a membership, plus annual dues. Last time we checked, the club offered three-year, five-year, and life-time memberships. The club generally has an Ownership Promotion for prospective members which may include free nights of camping. Membership includes 120 nights of camping a year, with a maximum duration stay of 30 days, followed by at least 10 days out of the park. Check with the office for current membership packages, promotions and terms.

Silent Valley is affiliated with Resorts Preferred International (RPI) and Resorts of Distinction (ROD) networks. RPI and ROD members are welcome, with according discounts or free camping nights. 

For us, we initially purchased a five-year membership and very nearly use all 120 nights per year. Including membership price and annual dues (no dues in the first year), we average around $9 or $10 per night. A real bargain for a gem of a park! There are no fees for pets or an extra vehicle. 

Ratings (1-5)

Accessibility – 4/5

The campground is accessible via winding mountain roads, CA-243 highway and Poppet Flats Road. The roads are well maintained, but are steep and have many curves, requiring some measure of confidence and competence when driving a large rig up or down the grade. Roadside turnouts occur at intervals for slower traffic – please use them as a courtesy to traffic following your rig. Be on the lookout for gravel, rocks or other debris on the road, especially after a storm.

From Banning, the CA-243 highway grade tops out at about 4,000 feet elevation, so snow or ice is possible in the winter. Fortunately, highway maintenance crews check often to remove rock, debris or snow and the elevation is low enough that any snow or ice melts quickly. Chains may be required during heavy snow or icing events.

Lanes in the park are well-maintained asphalt. The park has both pull-thru and back-in sites and can accommodate large rigs, although site size varies considerably. Not all sites are suitable for a large rig. The campground facilities have many provisions for Universal access and renovations are still in progress to improve access.

Facilities/Amenities – 4/5

The campground offers many luxury resort amenities at facilities in three main centers: the Village Center, with general store, restaurant, cocktail lounge, administrative offices, laundry room, activity rooms and outdoor entertainment areas; the Adult Center, with heated swimming pool, spa, toddler wading pool, snack bar, pool tables, fireplace, TV lounge, shuffleboard, game and reading area; and the Family Center, with Jr. Olympic-sized swimming pool, snack bar, arcade room, playgrounds, tennis courts, pickle ball courts, basketball courts, miniature golf. Comfort stations with restrooms and showers are conveniently located throughout the park. 

Park amenities also include a horseshoes, volleyball, bocci ball, dog park, fishing pond, fish cleaning shed, propane service and park-wide WiFi. The park has trailer storage with tow-out/tow-in concierge service. Rental trailers are also available. Park rangers are on duty 24/7 for security and aid. 

Site quality – 4/5

The campground’s 850 campsites have water and electrical hookups, as well as a picnic table. Most sites have sewer hookups and 50/30/20 amp electrical service. Site surfaces are asphalt and have fair separation between sites. Most sites have shade trees. As noted above, campsite size varies considerably and not all sites are suitable for a large rig. The park is in the process of extending some sites to handle larger rigs. Sites are generally in good shape, but some could use resurfacing or other repairs.

Scenic Value – 5/5

This 460-acre campground is in an area of managed wilderness, with sweeping vistas of boulder-dotted, chaparral-covered hills and of the San Jacinto Mountains. Lanes in the park wind through open parkland and forested areas with massive live oaks, sugar pines, California sycamores, and walnut trees. Weathered outcrops of moss & lichen-covered granite boulders occur throughout the park.

Location/Isolation – 5/5

The campground is 10-miles from the nearest town, up a scenic mountain highway and set in an isolated valley. The campground feels very remote and is generally quiet. Occasionally small planes or military aircraft on maneuvers will fly over the park.

Paws Friendliness – 5/5

The campground is pet friendly and has two moderate sized enclosed pet runs with pooper-scoopers, but no cleanup bags. The campground is large enough for a really nice walk with your pet. Indeed, to walk the perimeter loop roads of the park is about 2.5 miles.

Please note that the campground is in a managed wilderness area and does have wildlife – rabbits, deer, raccoons, coyotes, skunks, the occasional bobcat, and even mountain lions (as well as a gazillion squirrels). Generally there has been no problem with the local wildlife, which keeps its distance, but do keep your pets on leash and do not leave them tethered unattended outside for long periods – especially at night. 

Also exercise caution when walking your pet off the roads, especially in the meadow area where there is a nasty infestation of goat-head burrs (also known as sand burr or puncture vine). Walking through a patch of these spiky tetrahedral burrs, so reminiscent of the medieval Caltrop, is a painful experience when stepped on with bare feet or sensitive paws!

Overall Rating – 5/5

Overall, Silent Valley is one of the loveliest private parks we have visited in our travels. We enjoy our time here, treasure the new friends we have made, and look forward to returning in the years to come.

Additional info

Internet access

We receive a weak to moderate 4G Verizon signal at Silent Valley and deploy our cellular antenna booster to improve MiFi hot spot internet access. The campground provides free WiFi at the Village, Family and Adult Centers, as well as pay WiFi service (via ISP – Southern California Telephone) throughout the rest of the park. We have tried the pay WiFi several times, but the poor service quality continues to disappoint.

Water Quality

The water at this campground tested moderately hard – we added our water softener to the water filtration stack.

Nearby Amenities

Grocery stores, restaurants, automotive and RV services are nearby in Banning (10 miles) and Beaumont (16 miles). A larger choice of services and shopping are available in Palm Springs (~32 miles) or Riverside/San Bernardino, CA (~42 miles).

Nearby attractions

Here are a few local attractions and activities:

• Idyllwild
• Cabazon Outlet Malls
• Fox Cineplex Theatres
• Morongo Casino Resort & Spa
• Palm Springs
• Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
• Joshua Tree National Park
• Temecula Wine Country

Photos

Bonus: Winter at Silent Valley

Winter in Silent Valley is a peaceful time of the year and one of our favorite times to visit the park. For those of you considering a visit to the park during the winter, here is what to expect.

Being in southern California, winters at Silent Valley are usually mild compared to the rest of the country. SoCal winters trend toward mild and dry, or wild and wet, depending on long-term weather patterns, such as El Niño and La Niña, or seasonal Jet Stream antics, such as the Pineapple Express (a veritable conveyor belt of storms off the Pacific Ocean).

Daytime temperatures usually stay above freezing and feel like a brisk fall day, but nighttime temperatures can dip into the low 20’s °F, or lower. Do insulate your water hookups in preparation for hard freezes. The good news is that daytime temperatures rarely stay below freezing and water hoses thaw quickly, especially if your hookups have a sunny south-facing exposure.

At 3,500 feet elevation, a cold storm can bring snow or sleet, but this generally melts within a few days. (It is a real treat to relax in the Jacuzzi during one of the rare snow storms!) At this elevation, the park can experience heavy fog when we are in the lowering cloud layer. A foggy day can really be pretty in the park, taking on the look of a mysterious cloud forest with eerily glowing lights throughout the campground. However, it is best to avoid driving on the mountain roads during foggy times. Always be on the lookout for rocks and debris on the mountain roads, especially after a storm.

Drainage in the park is good, but some extremely heavy rains in the past have washed out culverts, silted in creek channels, and caused some flooding in low areas along the creek, at dips and creek crossings, and in the meadow. Generally not an issue, but do pay attention to likely drainage flow on a site before setting up your rig.

That’s all – enjoy your winter stay at Silent Valley!