Universal Studios Hollywood

Balboa RV is a residential pit in a low income area backing up to Van Nuys airport (the now defunct side which was the National Guard station). There are really no nice parks in the Los Angeles area, LA is just not RV friendly. Walnut Grove RV is also a residential park backing up to the Metro Link line, a block from the Northridge Mall with section 8 housing across the tracks. On this side of town you really need to go farther out. Travel Village RV park in Valencia backing up to Magic Mountain is very nice. Also Castaic RV Park a bit further out near Magic Mountain is nice. Both are about a 45 minute drive to Universal without rush hour traffic. With traffic, your best bet could be 1 to 2 hours, it is only about 30 miles. If you want to go further out, Ventura RV park is an option, quite a bit further, but you can take 126 around and then pass Magic Mountain on the 5 and head to Universal. (I'm referring to Six Flags Magic Mountain). If you are only planning a day at Universal, staying in Anaheim is still an option, about a 1 hour to 1.5 hour drive to Universal, just plan your day around traffic, heading to Universal after 10am and heading home to camp when the park closes, like 11 pm. Again it is not the distance it is the traffic.
Happy Trails.

Adding to my post, my family can travel to Disneyland in anything from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. We would plan on the 1.5 hours and be happily surprised if it were less. There is quite a bit of construction on the 5 in the Santa Fe Springs area so 1.5 hours would not be unreasonable. Heading back to Anaheim when Universal closes would or should be much faster around 11pm, and 45 minutes would be reasonable. Since you've been to Anaheim before, I suggest you stick with a park you have found comfortable. The area has nice restaurants, wide roads, and plenty of touristy things near by. I assume you will have a car available, so a trip into the LA area is always a daily option, just as a trip to an Anaheim venue is an option for us.
Happy Trails.

I stayed at Balboa RV park for 4 nights in March of 2014. It does have a pretty fair number of long term users. Many folks who work in the film/tv industry do stay there.

By the way, a scene from NCIS-LA was filmed at Balboa. A 5th wheel trailer was blown up. This happened the week before we got there. Would have loved to have been in Balboa during the day the trailer was blown up.

I did not find it a bad place to park my trailer. IMO, there are a lot worse out there. We did the Warner Bros Studio tour using Balboa as a base. It wasn't a bad drive. I'd guess that Universal is a bit closer to Balboa than WB is. We did Reagan's Library out in Simi Valley while at Balboa also.

Balboa is a small park in area. If you are towing, you have to drop your trailer at the office and someone, many times the owner, will use a fork lift to move your TT into it's spot.

I found it to be well kept, and the laundry and shower facilities were clean.

We also spent two night at Dockweiler Campground. Dockweiler is a state owned park, but run by LA County. It's right on the beach just below the end of LAX runway. There were a lot of air traffic, but they didn't keep us awake at night. We used this as a base to see the La Brea Tarpits and Hollywood Blvd, where the Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theater is located.

X2 on Travel Village. It's a straight shot down the 5 to the Hollywood Freeway to Universal.

One thing people are neglecting to mention is that Balboa is backed up against the busiest non-commercial airport in the world. It's very noisy with the jet traffic, and helicopter departure ("Bull Creek") for most of the airport (and there are allot of them) is over the park. Doesn't bother me at all, but just FYI that the area behind the park on airport property is LAPD, LA County Fire, LA City Fire, Life Flight, and Helinet on the NE side that owns several TV station air OP's contracts. And operations CAN run all night

x3 on Trailer Village.

X2 on what kalynzoo said. Balboa is barely ok. We've stayed at Walnut RV in Northridge and is a good option, right between the 101 and the 118. It is a small park but well kept. Another option is the Elks lodge in Simi Valley, if you are a member, they have hookups but not sure if they have sewer. Also, in Simi is Tapo Canyon park. Ventura County put in 16 full hookup sites, about 3 miles off the 118, out in a quiet canyon. You can make reservations on their website, Ventura County parks. There are not many good options in the LA area and with the traffic, ugh

East Shore RV Park in San Dimas is about 40 miles away and depending on traffic, about 45 minutes from Universal Studios. We live in the area but camped there before going to Universal just for fun. The campground is very nice, especially the loop spots nearest to the lake. The views from these spots are terrific. Watch for skunks in the evening.

Thank you everyone!! I thought it might be as i suspected. Once again thanks.

There is a great little county park (Ventura County)located in Simi Valley, CA called Tapo Canyon. It is a no frills campground with level concrete pads, full hookups but no other amenities. About 15 sites if I remember correctly. Mid week is usually wide open and weekends fill up so reservations is a must if you need to be here on a weekend. It is located about 25-30 miles from Universal Studios. Good luck

When we stayed at Balboa for 4 nights in March 2014, we never heard any jets take off or land, nor any Helicopter traffic. Never saw any, either.

Obviously, we did at Dockweiler, but even those jets didn't keep us awake at night. It's not like Dockweiler is directly under the flight path.

SCVJeff wrote:
X2 on Travel Village. It's a straight shot down the 5 to the Hollywood Freeway to Universal.

One thing people are neglecting to mention is that Balboa is backed up against the busiest non-commercial airport in the world. It's very noisy with the jet traffic, and helicopter departure ("Bull Creek") for most of the airport (and there are allot of them) is over the park. Doesn't bother me at all, but just FYI that the area behind the park on airport property is LAPD, LA County Fire, LA City Fire, Life Flight, and Helinet on the NE side that owns several TV station air OP's contracts. And operations CAN run all night