If you're camping at Big Bear, a side-trip your family shouldn't miss is Moonridge Animal Park, where black bears, mountain lions and other alpine creatures grab visitors' attention. For other ideas, call the Big Bear Lake Chamber of Commerce at (909) 866-4607.

POINT MUGU
For families who routinely visit the mountains or fresh waters, these coastal campgrounds offer a change of pace. Bordering the park, miles of warm sandy beach provide ideal conditions for sunbathing, swimming and exploring. You'll also enjoy some of the best fishing during the dog days of summer.

Plenty of surfperch are taken off the beach at Point Mugu, but you'll want to target the California halibut that move in throughout the warmest months of the year. Use frozen anchovies on two-hook bottom rigs, and cast as far as you can -- if you don't get a bite after five minutes, reel in several feet. But don't stay in any one spot for too long. The key is to stay on the move until you find fish.

At Point Mugu State Park, you'll have the option of roughing it on Thornhill Broome Beach or staying in a developed site at the Sycamore Canyon campground. Developed sites have tables and fire rings. Though there are no hookups, most accommodate small to mid-sized RVs.

For information, call the park at (805) 986-8591. For reservations, dial 1-800-444-7275.

Turn an ordinary Point Mugu camping trip into something special with an excursion to the Channel Islands with Oxnard's Island Packers. For other ideas, call the Oxnard Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-269-6273.