Riverside Campgrounds & Cabins

What a great experience. We spent two days in Cabin 8 and had a very comfortable and relaxing stay. The cabins were clean and nicely appointed. Camp staff very helpful and friendly, two women in particular befriended our son on his multiple trips to the store and office with his various questions.
The river was really fun to float and relax in, and the camp ground was peaceful day and night. We especially liked the relatively secluded yard with a picnic table and fire pit, it gave us a feeling of privacy. Hot showers, too!
We will definitely return.

I recently stayed two nights at campsite #14. I loved my site, it was quiet, peaceful and clean. The neighbors were all kind and quiet, the bathrooms were very clean and always open, and the staff who I interacted with were nice and very helpful. This was the perfect place to spend a few days relaxing and enjoying the beauty of Big Sur! It was so nice to sleep to the sound of the river at night… very enjoyable!

Absolutely loved this campground. We were right next the river, beautiful grounds, and amazingly friendly staff. The bathhouse was close and clean, and the little store was well stocked. Very dog friendly grounds and area, which was a major bonus for my pup and I. All of the staff was friendly and sweet, Pam in particular went above and beyond to make sure my dog and I had an outstanding experience. The cell service in the area in general is extremely limited, but the campground offers free WiFi that you can text and email. Completely worth the drive!

The first part of my review earns 5 stars, for the accommodations. The location is beautiful and our cabin (2), was lovely and well-​maintained. The owners have really put cute touches inside the cabins, like towel racks that look like tree branches and comfortable beds! You really don’t need to bring much to be comfortable.
However, our first impressions of this place were terrible because of Nicole (I think that’s what her name was), the camp host. This is where our star rating drops. She has a terrible attitude. Her first question was to ask how many people we had and her second was about how many cars we had, to which I replied, «two.» This is where our conversation went south. She then proceeded to tell us we were not allowed to have 2 cars and that we should’ve paid attention to that when we booked on the phone. Well, we actually booked online several months ago and it said NOWHERE online that only one car is allowed. It actually says the pricing includes one car and additional cars are $ 10. We told her this and she was very argumentative and crass, speaking to us (who are very well educated) like we were idiots. She then told us we would have to park our second car 2 miles up the road at the hiking station. I asked where online it says that you cannot have 2 cars and she said it’s on there but was clearly trying to shy away from this because she knew it wasn’t in fact there.
I won’t stay here again solely because of this woman. I didn’t think anything could take away from the beauty of Big Sur, but an ugly attitude sure can! I’ve never in my life met someone in a customer service role that was more rude than her.

We loved the location, and the kindness of the staff. Thank you Nicole and Pam for being helpful and accommodating.
We can’t wait to get there again so we can spending more time hiking your beautiful grounds and sleeping under those giant trees.

Love this place– it’s my go to camp ground when I visit Big Sur. Very central and very beautiful– I LOVED sleeping in the redwoods that cover this place. The bathrooms and store are a nice touch and everyone is very nice. I’ll be a regular for a long time!

Great location! Easy access to all of the amazing things Big Sur has to offer. The office gave us a free map of the area and a list of hikes and views to check out with descriptions and directions. The camp store and laundry room were really convenient to have on site. We splurged and got site #9 which is a riverside spot and it was totally worth the extra money! Extra bonus: the coin machine for the showers wasn’t working so we had free showers :) I will stay here every time I come back to enjoy Big Sur.

We camped here last weekend on site 13 next than little stream. This place is located in an ideal setting: surrounded by nature, water, tall trees and plenty of shade. It’s not really rugged camping. There’s a very convenient general store, clean bathrooms and hot showers. Great hiking destinations lay near by. The only thing I would change is the zero-​noise tolerance starting at 10:00pm sharp. Also, our space was a pretty good size. As you can see from my pics, it fits two 6-​person tents pretty well. But the close proximity to neighbors can make it feel cramped. Nevertheless, I would happily return.

I feel so compelled to write this review because like a drunk idiot (which I was), I left $ 200 cash among a mess I left on the table in Cabin #2. Halfway home back to LA I realized that I left it on the table and figured, oh well it’s a nice tip for the nice cleaning crew. Later the same day that we left Big Sur, somebody calls my wife and tells her that we left the cash! Not only did she mail it to me, but she took the time to get a money order made to avoid sending cash in the mail AND included the full amount, not deducting any expenses. I’m so bad with names, I forget who the lady was. But anyway, that was a really cool gesture.
As far as the cabin itself and our experience at Riverside, it was really great. Super relaxing weekend in a cozy little cabin! From what I understand, not all the cabins have a bathroom so I figure our cabin was one of the more luxurious. I see some people on here complaining about the wifi there. Are you serious? You go to Big Sur and wifi is important to you? We were here with some friends. Would definitely come back and bring the kids. Also it’s about a 5 minute walk from a general store /​restaurant. Would highly recommend this place.
Oh yeah, and when we got there, the lady at the front office hut took the time to write us a personalized letter with some instructions for when we arrived. Super thoughtful and nice. I’d give 10 stars if I could.

My family and I just stayed for a few days in spaced 22 and we loved it! Everything the camp site our space the river and specially the staff super friendly and helpful specially Nicolle and H. Will recommend this place to everyone hoping to be back soon

Really enjoyed my stay here! The place is beautiful and close to many attractions that Big Sur has to offer! Our campsite was by the river ;) #08, in my opinion, the best! Water, power, sunny in the morning with some shade after 1 pm. The camp store has everything you need, plus a great staff! HOT SHOWER! YAY!
Totally recommend if you are not planning to sleep after 10pm!!! This is a family super friendly campground!!! Children and dogs = no party, late night drinking, music. nothing like that after 10pm! If you want to have some extra fun after 10pm just head to Fernwood campground bar! ha! When you get back just go straight to your tent…
4 Stars because the campsites are really close to each other. really close.

If you are in your 20’s and want to party, this is not the place to camp! 10pm curfew & 11pm fires out.

Stayed in a cabin which was very nice and cozy. The scenery is beautiful and it is right on the river. My cabin was a little pricey for only one night, and I was not pleased to see strands of (not my) hair on the actual sheets after I pulled the bedspread down. Otherwise it was very nice, clean, and peaceful.

Beautiful, of course. Some details:
Campsites are fairly small and they are very close together. If you have a site on the river side, be prepared to have kids from the opposing side running through your site to play in the river.
The camp store has EVERYTHING you will need if you forget stuff. They even have cold beer, wine, and ice cream bars.
The area is shaded and doesn’t get too much light. It gets very cold at night so bring a couple extra blankets.
The showers get nice and warm, water pressure is okay. Restrooms are pretty clean considering they’re on a campsite.
Nicole at the front desk was very sweet and accommodating, but her colleague almost ruined our experience, but I won’t let one person tarnish an otherwise fantastic experience.

Very nice campgrounds with friendly staff. Drove to Big Sur on a Saturday without reservations and while everywhere else was full we were able to find a few open spots here. Price is reasonable for sites!
The campground store has a lot of useful items and not overpriced. Only negative observation is the bathrooms do not offer much privacy as the stall doors are very short. Other than that I totally recommend this campground! Happy Camping!

Really enjoyed our stay here! We were in cabin 3 which was nice. Our own bathroom, parking right next to our cabin, reading nook for a little extra space, a shared firepit (which we had to ourselves every night) and a nice heater to keep us warm! The walls are extremely thin so we were able to hear the bear snoring next door one night and the excitement of a cabin of girls the next night, however after a day of hiking and playing its real easy to fall asleep quickly! Lol Minor downfall the bed frame sticks out a lot farther than the mattress so I have a pretty bruise on my knee from hitting it time and time again… They do allow dogs so we were able to take our pooch on vacation with us. Nice perk.
This was our first time staying in Big Sur and this was the perfect location. Everything we wanted to see and do was no farther than a 20 minute drive. There were also restaurants that were dog friendly which was awesome for us!
Nicole in the office was very friendly and helpful. She recommended a great place for dinner after we got in from a long drive. She recommended hiking trails we could do with our dog and she had delicious coffee ready right when they opened at 8am! :)
They are a little on the pricey side but I guess it’s worth it for the convenience of the location.
Something I thought was awesome — they keep a journal book next to the bed. It has little tid bits from people who have stayed in that same cabin. I thought it was a bible at first but when I opened it I was entertained for at least an hour reading ALL about other people! It was SO cool!
Recommend staying here :)

Such a lucky, fun and energizing experience.
My boyfriend and I came here on sheer luck and we’re so happy we did.
It was a Saturday around 9p on a long drive from LA and every campground on the map was full!
In high hopes of finding a place to rest, we cruised down into the grounds as quietly as we could and found 2 spaces left. We set up on #21 and just as we did, someone came and settled into the last spot!
We had some friendly neighbors who were enjoying a fire while we set up and just in time, we all settled in our tents for some sleep. The second nite, everyone had packed and left, so we had a very beautiful riverside spot (#14) to enjoy.
In the day time, I took note of the grounds…
The sites are a decent size and the bathrooms and showers are clean. Thank goodness!
They sold natural options and vegan options in the shop, which is also clean and extremely well stocked.
The man and woman in the shop are extremely helpful and offered great hiking and view tips for us central coast newbies to enjoy. We tried prebooking some holiday reservations but they’re all booked up! It’s no wonder though, because this place is a hidden gem and I hope to return to enjoy it again soon in the future! Thanks for the great introduction to winter camping on the central coast!

So, some context: my girlfriend and I were searching for a campground to stay (with no reservation) on a busy autumn weekend when the weather was perfect; go figure. We hit up multiple spots with no luck. After searching for hours, we stumbled upon this campground, the woman who worked in the office was an absolutely amazing person. She was hospitable, warm, and genuinely welcoming. Not only that. But she had a few guests not complete their reservation and their time was almost up to call, so she personally requested my phone number so she could call me and give us one of the available spots if we couldn’t find another one! This was a genuine act of kindness. She went out of her way to facilitate a spot for us and did everything she could to make sure we were happy and accommodated for. The transaction/​business aspect was a second thought. Her first concern was taking care of us.
The campground was clean, quiet, and not too big (like those state parks with many sites). We got a spot near the river, we had WiFi just in case we needed to reach out to family, the bathrooms were clean and accessible, and the camp store had everything you could want from water shoes to marshmallow sticks for very, very reasonable prices. There is also a burn ban in effect (no fires whatsoever due to the drought) but since this was a privately owned campground and they had designated fire pits, we were able to enjoy a fire while all other state parks could not! It’s safe to say we lucked out with this campground.
The ONLY thing I would change is how close the campsites were to each other. We had no problems with noise and our neighbors were very friendly, but I could imagine some others being turned off by this. It also wasn’t as private as I personally like to camp, but with all the other positive aspects, staying here was an absolute joy.
Thank you to the woman who greeted us and took care of us like we were friends! (I’m sorry I didn’t ask your name). I would highly recommend staying here.

We loved our first camping experience here! Kid and dog friendly! The staff are soooo friendly! We already booked our place for next year. Play in the river, hang out with the family. Perfecto!
Bathrooms are outdated, but it’s camping :) so any shower was appreciated!

Pros:
–amazing campground and beautiful all around
–clean showers and toilets
–Small store for food and supplies
–nice calm river
Great for families
Cons:
–not good for younger bigger groups (our group is in our mid/​late 20’s$
–pretty much lights out at 10
–there’s a lady that is way to strict and kind of B that regulates