Inland Empire Campers Know How To Party ... All Night Long

PERRIS, Calif. — The Inland Empire knows how to party, a detail I learned the hard way.

We didn't plan to visit the mountain-ringed desert suburbia that's one of the fastest-growing regions in America. Who could blame us? The Inland Empire tourism pitch, "Do Something Different," doesn't drip with California vacation bling. There are no Disney theme parks to visit, gnarly waves to ride or Hollywood stars to spot.

The things on the to-do list for tourists in the Inland Empire desert region, for instance, include a stay in "one of seven hotels" and a more than 100-mile drive to Los Angeles.

"On your way out to LA, stop by for some shopping at the Cabazon Outlets," the Inland Empire Tourism Commission suggests.

The Inland Empire has increasingly become a refuge for working-class folks pursuing a "new California dream." About 120 people seeking an affordable house move there every day, according to Inland Action, a nonprofit group of local boosters.

On my storytelling tour of America, we were looking for an alternative to Southern California beach hotels that are becoming impossible for middle-class folks to afford while continuing to hunt for an elusive open campsite on the coast.

An online brochure for Lake Perris State Recreation Area promised "clean white beaches, enticing blue waters" where nearly 1 million people visit each year to hike, ride horses, catch fish, watch birds, climb rocks and speed around the 1,800-acre reservoir in boats and personal watercraft.

So, we snatched up an available campsite near the man-made reservoir for $40.

The California State Parks website, however, did not mention that locals flock to the place for wild nights at campsites decked out with disco balls, strobe lights and a cacophony of amplified music that roars on and on, until the break of dawn, quiet hours be damned.

That was our experience, at least.

And after a sleepless night due to raging campground parties, I shuffled across the alabaster beach toward the lake to ask a lifeguard if the Lake Perris campground is well known for hosting all-nighters on the weekends.

"Sounds like you got the full-on inland California experience," she said of my first-ever campground rave.

She assured me park rangers usually enforce quiet hours that start at 10 p.m. On the previous night, however, the short-staffed security detail was extremely busy "transporting people to the local jail from our campground," she said.

I later learned from public records that park rangers indeed responded to complaints overnight on July 23 that resulted in arrests for methamphetamine possession and narcotics-related offenses.

While they were making those drug busts, my trusty navigator and I were trapped with Nelson the Dog in our tent between ear drum-splitting boy-band karaoke performances and non-stop mariachi DJ sets.

Folks from every corner of the campground mingled annoyingly close to our tent, unfazed by Nelson the Dog barking and growling empty threats at them.

Our port-side neighbors packed dozens of people in 10 eight-person tents over two campsites for a multifamily fiesta complete with a professional kitchen, full-size refrigerator and nightclub-worthy sound system pumping mariachi and The Los Bandoleros.

A gaggle of California bros on our campsite's starboard downed shots and shouted profanities into a microphone in between karaoke performances of Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and Britney Spears songs.

The campground parties were so rocking that no one noticed me standing outside capturing the action on video in my underpants.

Around 3 a.m., shortly after the music died, my visit to the bathrooms interrupted a couple engaged in a soft-core porn public display of affection.

"Some party, huh?" I said. They didn't separate themselves from each other to reply and disappeared before I exited the campground equivalent of a dive bar's toilet after last call.

That's how our wild night at Lake Perris came to an end.

It wasn't a one-of-a-kind camping experience, according to online reviewers

"Fellow campers aren’t the most considerate. I have been here 3 times and it always ends up being loud. Fellow campers play music loud, and it’s more of a low class party area then camping. I won’t be back," Paul C. wrote on TheDyrt.com, an online camping-trip planner.

A couple from San Jose described their July 8 visit this way: "Everyone was loud with music and talking until 2am! Sigh! There were NO staff in site to enforce quiet hours. … If you want a party-party all night atmosphere with adults and children running around and in a parking lot, this location is for you."

Before 8 a.m., the karaoke bros were back to blasting NSYNC for breakfast.

Someone sang "Bye, Bye, Bye" as we packed up and fled toward the coast.

The suburbs surrounding Lake Perris might be the next great place working-class folks can afford to call home in California.

But it's no place for out-of-towners looking for a place to camp on the weekends without earplugs.

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, wrote and produced the Peabody Award-winning series "Time: The Kalief Browder Story." He was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docuseries on CNN and a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary "16 Shots."

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