Was poking around trying to find alternatives in this "campground desert", and found this possibility in San Dimas that seems reachable from the Malibu HB sites:


https://bonellibluffsrv.com/amenities/#tent-camping


Zooming in on Google Earth indicates that those glamour shots aren't faked. $30 a night, but maybe you can split with others. Plus swimming in the lake! Also a couple of pools.


Then heading south to Orange County, it looks like there are multiple tent sites available at O'Neil Regional Park: https://ocparks.com/oneill @ $20 per night.


Can any locals confirm this?

$30/ night seems like a decent deal for a place like that. NJ state parks are $25/night for non-residents like myself.

You should see what some places are changing in the east. I was planning a tour in 2021. One place in nowhere special NY state wanted over $100/night. I thought there was something wrong with my computer at first. I went off route a few miles and got a better deal but still paid something like $45 with a cash discount.

have never stayed at o'neill regional park but have ridden through a few times and around the general area/approach routes. the park/campsite itself is an absolute gem...probably the jewel of the orange county
park system crown. good size, populated with arguably the largest concentration of oak trees in all socal and super clean. really big fire station directly next door.
can definitely see weekends filling up/sold out but weekdays should offer plenty of options/room. there is a little general store-trabuco canyon store-approx a .4/.5 flat mile to the east to resupply
and a pretty solid mexican food resto-rose canyon cantina and grill (closed mondays, i think)-just a little farther down the road. there used to conveniently be a bike shop directly across the street from
o'neill rp but it's been gonzo for about a year now. closest larger one catering to multiple disciplines/style is the rock n road bike shop in mission viejo. o'neill is located in a "bowl" so you'll eventually have to climb out
to leave the immediate area. easiest way is to cycle through the park to the upper mesa to the south and exit through one of the (legal) passages in the fencing into the adjacent neighborhood above.
second easiest is to ride trabuco canyon road up a quick set of switchbacks to the se and angle back over to civilization. live oak canyon, to the north, is pretty, relatively low traffic on the weekdays and mostly has a
canopy ascending/decending but is decently steep on the northern end and the longest escape out of the "bowl." if you have to hit the bike shop post-camping at o'neill, that's the way to go tho. the entire
santiago canyon road/live oak canyon rd/trabuco canyon rd is one of the more scenic 20 mile stretches in all of socal. some definite uphill times but rarely ramps and never vicious. cooks corner (at the intersection
of live oak canyon rd/santiago canyon rd) is a big orange county (motorcycle) biker bar/grill but i've stopped there 10-12 times over the years and never felt uncomfortable/out of place. decent beer selection and great
outdoors patio under the sycamore trees. if you need to really get back to city life for whatever reason, there is a solid, dedicated bike path se of cook's corner that first runs on the east side of el toro road heading south,
then tunnels under and switches over to the west side and will drop you back into the 5 freeway corridor after five miles. plenty of support enroute before hitting the 5 freeway tho.

there was a very recent large wildfire in sept/oct-the airport fire-that torched much of the area to the immediate open areas/cleveland national forest east of o'neill. been waiting for things to calm down and get repaired/restored before rolling
though the area tho. fire was not caused by campers but o'neill may have modified stoves/firepits/cooking/open flame rules in the last month or so. from what i've been able to piece together second and thirdhand, fire went directly
east of areas touched upon in this thread so scenery and riding access should still be good. if you're riding through after a major rainstorm, there should be mudslides that could affect your entry/exit/access to the area.

We did a day trip, group camping at O’Neil a couple months ago. Very well maintained campground, free hot showers. Reservations required, fills up on weekends.