San Simeon State Park & Campground

I camp here at Washburn every year.
Bring your own water and plenty of it.
The camping spots near the road are too noisy from the traffic on the 1.
Washburn is much nicer, go during the middle of the week and you will have your pick of the best spots. If you are able, bring your own firewood or buy it from the host as you arrive.
Beware the raccoons, they will steal and eat ANY food left out. Lock it up inside your auto at night.
Some of my favorite spot numbers.
231, 233, and 235 offer some limited views of the ocean.
224 and 222 have awesome shade.
201 through 213 are the first sites you come across and can become dusty from traffic.
The hiking trails are well maintained and offer great overlooks to beautiful scenery whatever the season.
The short walk to the beach is rejuvenating.
The short drive to San Simeon pier and Hearst Castle to the north and Cambria to the south make San Simeon campground the ideal spot to reawaken the mind body and spirit on the central coast for cheap.

San Simeon State Beach has lots of rocks friendly people lots of camp sites are well-​organized and very spacious and there is plenty of room to enjoy friends and family and to have fun

My boyfriend and I have been here 4 times. I have to say the first time we drove in I was disappointed, however it turned out to be amazing. You have lots of trees and the ocean is across the street. Every time we go we meet very nice people. The only downfall, no showers for the last 2 years. I, be seen good and bad reviews but in our opinion it’s a great spot for the price,

Awesome campground in the heart of the state park. In the middle of nowhere with an amazing view on the Coast. At only 10 minutes from Hearst Castle.

I stayed here over Labor Day weekend (2014) and was I ever LUCKY! I had a 32 ft RV and did not have a reservation! Short story: I was in a long line at the entrance gate and got out of my RV and walked up to the ranger with the clipboard to NICELY ask her if they had any openings. She initially said no but I smiled (again) and said «I’ll take anything». She went into the hut, talked to another ranger asking «will he fit there»…Thank God the answer was yes! I had a space! Each day I had to put my name on the wait list at 8AM (get there at 7:30 or 7:45 to be one of the first in line) and each day, I luckily got my same space back. It was nice because you came back at 9AM to see if you had a space and you did not have to come back at noon like some parks to find out if you had a space.
Positives:
Very friendly rangers/​volunteers! They appear flexible to make things work.
The beach is EASY walk (1 – 2 min) from the lower campground and it is beautiful, soft sand, and plenty large
Your on the coast baby!!!
Cambria and San Simeon are close by and lots of cool shops and good eats
Cambria, while a tourist town, is not «trendy» or overly «touristy»…it has that small town feel and seems to appreciate their customers /​tourists rather than price gouging them.
Great dump station for those who appreciate clean dump stations:)
«only» $ 25 /​night versus $ 35 — $ 45 /​night for other CA state parks (I believe they have lowered the price due to the water issues).
Lots of families and kids… and they had a campfire program each night I stayed (a rarity these days)
Negatives (why its not 5 stars)
Drought: True, the central coast is dependent on very limited well water and with the drought, there is no water available at the park (no showers, no flush toilets and currently, NO water faucets)…but when I was there, I could fill up with water for my RV at the dump station but not sure if this year if its allowed since they have turned the spigots off in the entire campsite.
You currently have to bring your own water so for this year, so it is a real negative…
The campsites can be a bit close together (especially the tent sites next to the highway). But the first loop to the left as you drive past the guard hut seemed a bit less congested (where I stayed).

We have been coming for 40 years. It is a great place to camp and has some nice trails to hike. Washburn campground it the cheapest camping on the central coast. No water, no electric at sites. Clean restrooms!

We parked in the Washburn Primitive area. It was clean and well kept. They were under extreme water drought, so no running water.
There was access to local dumping station and a drive for basic amount of drinking water.
We loved the close location to Hearst Castle and to the Elephant Seals.
We planned on not having access to water, power or toilets, therefore, we enjoyed our stay and I recommend the park and I would come back.

A couple friends and I had a weekend off and decided to camp here. Our camping sites were close to the restrooms which were kept very clean. Our site had a table, benches and a fire pit. We had gotten to the site around 4 pm and once we set up, we decided to explore. A 5 min walk away is the beach that is accessible by a trail that goes under the highway.
There were a lot of families with children and generally just a lot of people but for us, the site size was large enough not to make us feel cramped. We didn’t have enough time to check out the primitive sites but that might be something to experience next time!

I absolutely love this campground! I’m sure part of it has to do with sentimental reasons as my family has camped here every labor day weekend for the last 8 years.
Yes the days of amazingly hot showers and flushing toilets are long gone and while I do miss those amenities, the rangers do a fantastic job at keeping the porta potties/​chem toilets clean and well stocked. For those who complain about them all I have to say is you must not do a whole lot of camping because these are the least smelly chem toilets I’ve ever come across. And with some slight ingenuity you can build your own shower for a few dollars which is what we have done the last 2 years and I have seen several other campers who have purchased a portable shower.
This place does NOT allow you to reserve a site in advance, however the rangers are more than happy to let you scout the open sites and choose one to your liking. We have done this every year and have always had a great site with enough shrubbery to give the sense of seclusion and privacy. While some sites are pretty open with no privacy between sites, I have mostly seen large family groups occupying those spaces which gives them a great open area for everyone to spread out and enjoy themselves. Get there early, be nice to the rangers and you shouldn’t have a problem grabbing a site that works for you.
There are raccoons and skunks in the campground. The only problem we’ve ever had is when I forgot about an empty package of sausage at the bottom of our trash bag. Needless to say the raccoons found it along with some eggs in an ice chest we didn’t secure properly. Throw out your trash every night, put your small ice chests under the bench seating and place something heavy on top of each of your bigger ice chests and you’ll be fine.
Fires are allowed! Yay! Nothing better than a good camp fire. If you forget or need more wood I suggest driving a few miles into Cambria and buying your bundles at Cookie Crock Market… much cheaper than the bundles sold by the ranger! Its also a great place to restock on beer, ice or any other camp essentials.
Finally the beach… its not the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen but its walking distance from the campground with bathrooms near the entrance. My kids love exploring it on their own while we stay at the campsite and make dinner.
If you’re looking for a family friendly, low key campground then this is your place! However if you want seclusion or a glamping experience then keep driving.

We stayed in site 217 in the Washburn Primitive Campground. It was assigned to us at the ranger check-​in station on Saturday afternoon on Labor Day weekend.
PLUSES: Clean toilets, no trash, no pests, nice short hike to the beach from the campground loop.
MINUSES: No shade (very few sites have shade), no privacy (sandwiched in between a loud RV blasting «butt-​themed» dance music and a disgruntled dad).
I will be skipping this campground on future trips up the coast which is too bad because the area is gorgeous.

Lovely area! We camped in June 2015. Fires were allowed. Because of the drought all of the flush toilets were closed, but there were chemical toilets available. The chem toilets were very clean and did not smell. The ranger at the front kiosk was very polite and got us the last spot for that weekend. We showed up at noon, and that is the check out time for the campers that stayed the previous night. Our site was pretty small, and a raccoon and skunk visited us in the middle of the night, but we like adventures like that. Will stay here again!

This was a good quick stop for us as we headed up the cost to big sur. I wouldnt want to spend more than one night here. The campground is just ok.
They will let you drive around and pick a site when you get there and then come back and request a few. Most of the sites are pretty close together and some on the edge dont have a very flat looking spot for the tent. Luckily we had our pick of quite a few sites and found a good one (86). There is Poison oak/​ivy around the edges so look out. Porta potties are what they are. There’s spigots around everywhere w/​non drinking water you can use.
Note that sites 116 – 133 have NO trees and are very out in the open but closest to beach access.
You can walk right from the grounds under a bridge and be on the beach and its a close drive to Moonstone beach which is so pretty w/​all its colorful rocks!

We had a great time in our campsite. First time camping and it was great! Gotta get there early though, cant choose your site in advance there designated, but if you get there early they will late you switch as long as it’s not taken. Beach was clean and so where restrooms. Beach was a short walk away. Our first camping attempt was a success! We are sure to return. And yes no wifi, which is perfectly fine. Watch out for cheeky squirrels though!

First time camping and it was a great experience!
But I could easily see how someone may rate this 2 stars or lower. This camp site needs you to get early around 1 hour before check in (2:00 pm) and a bit of luck. Hope you get friendly and clean neighbors ! Quite time is 10 pm but we stayed up to 12 am without trouble, just kept the noise down and the campfire low. Beach is clean and a walk away, 10 minutes max!

Ugh. I would have had a better time camping in my backyard!
We were literally sandwiched between two other campsite tents. Awkward because it was like camping with strangers in a fishbowl. No trees.
We paid 25.00 for the non primitive campground (20.00 for pit toilet campground at adjacent Washburn campground). However. .the showers and flush toilets were closed! Aparantly because of the drought. Really? Stinky rent a cans is what we got.
We were woke up early by a trash truck. Couldn’t wait to bail. By 8 am there were bees everywhere. Watch your step as there are gopher holes everywhere.
If you’re looking for a place to arrive late and leave early, this is the place. We were at site 115.

Beautiful view and the wind, or the threat of wind, keeps the numbers down. We went as far from the road as we could, in the back campground, and did the wonderful trail in the morning, which was about 90 minutes round trip through a variety of landscape. Never did find our way to the beach. We were tent camping; you definitely need your tent pegs! Amazingly, the little liquor store at the entrance to Hearst Castle, carries tent pegs and other handy camping items.

We camp a lot in state parks but this one we would never go back to.
The plus side is the Rangers at check in were friendly and courteous and helpful. We asked and were assured this was a family orientated park.
Not so much from our experience in an RV there for 3 days. It appeared that the locals have turned this into a place to party and get drunk. Our neighbors were literally hanging from the tree limbs and were way over the limit on persons per campsite 5 cars were parked in front of this site as the night Ranger drove through with loud music and standing room only. It was the weekend if we could have left we would have found somewhere to go. We are not prudes drinking and partying is ok with us but not in this setting with small children and the elderly in the mix. In other words keep it at home or in the bars. It ruined our stay and we won’t be back.
Pappy

The hiker /​biker sites get the raw end of the deal here. It’s all the way in the back of the campground right next to Highway 1. It’s out in the open too so it’s super windy. Kinda disappointing for $ 5 per night.
At least each site comes with the usual amenities — water spigot, picnic tables, food lockers and fire pits. Use the wood picnic tables — the morning dew will make everything on the plastic tables wet.
There’s wood at the camp hosts — you have to buy a wheel barrow full for $ 10 — there are no other options. They were nice about letting me wheel it to the site and return it hours later after dinner. The wood was difficult though — young and full of sap — hard to get a fire going. If you’re driving you could probably get a better deal in town somewhere.
The only electrical outlets are next to the camp hosts too. They put out a strip to charge up phones though they said they aren’t responsible I left mine there for hours and it was fine.
The bathrooms are all closed — no flushing toilets or running water. They’ve replaced them with portapotties due to the drought. I’ve heard that San Simeon and Cambria have done the same thing with their restaurant bathrooms.

We spent a couple of nights here, VW camper camping, recently (January) and I would give San Simeon Campground 3.5 stars over-​all, mostly for its location:
The Good:
*Gorgeous area, rural, close to ocean
*Walking distance to beach from campground. About 15 minutes via street and beach deck walkway
*Level pads
*Activities like visiting elephant seals is close
*no problem with local animals bugging us– one did try and open a cooler in the middle of the night though…
*camp fires permitted
*campground was clean & quiet when we were there
*rangers were friendly at entrance
Not-​so-​good:
*NO WATER anywhere: no showers, no toilets, no communal water, no lighted bathroom: be prepared to bring your own potty or face going out to a pitch-​black, windy chemical toilet in the middle of the night with coyotes calling in the distance! Chemical toilets were serviced, but no sinks… Over-​all kind of a bummer for more than a couple of nights.
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*NO hook ups… not really a ding cause this is common, in many campgrounds, but something to be aware of.
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*Ranger accidentally gave our site away after the first night! No tags or way to reserve at the site itself. They were apologetic, but wish they had a better system to reserve site once someone books it. Be prepared to leave something behind to keep your site from getting taken, especially if can camp is busy, or you could be bummed at your return.
*Limited hours to buy wood. They want you to buy wood on premises, but he camp host only sells from 8 am –10am which is kinda ridiculous. We bought local wood for both nights in nearby town.
*Part of campground was closed down. Looked like the better, hillier part too. The flats were fine cause the place was about half full, so many of the more private spots were open.
Because of the beautiful location we would return to this San Simeon Campground again… with our trusty portapotty!

I camped here for the first time over Memorial Day weekened. Great place… worth the 4 hour drive (from LA), I’d like to go again, and stay more than just one night. The camp sites were decent sized, and the beach (which is loaded with jasper and jade rocks) was just a short hike away. The fire rings have a built in BBQ grill, so no need to bring your own.
A couple of things to note: Due to the drought, all water has been shut off (including bathrooms and showers)…you must bring your own wash water. The chemical toilets are decent. Also, there’s no fishing allowed in the creek.