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May 4, 2008
Big Sur's best campgrounds
There are plenty of lists out there of campgrounds, but they're just lists - no one ever tells you what's good and what to avoid. I'm nothing if not opinionated, so I'll tell you exactly where you should go and you'll thank me because, well, I've got good taste. In evaluating campgrounds, I don't care about showers, RV hookups, playgrounds, camp stores etc ..., I'm into simple wilderness style camping and so my only criteria are privacy, beauty, quietness and access to wilderness/hiking. So if you are into rustic, simple, non-RV camping in the most beautiful campgrounds in the West, you're going to love my reviews of different regions of California and the West, starting with this look at the Big Sur area ...
The best campgrounds on the Big Sur coast in order of preference are as follows ...
1. Kirk Creek State Park
2. Andrew Molera State Park
3. Limekiln State Park
4. Plaskett Creek Campground
5. Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park
1. Kirk Creek State Park
Kirk Creek takes the prize because, well, the picture sorta says it all ...
There are places up the road where you'd pay a minimum of $2,000 for the same view, here it's $22 a night - God bless America! (are liberal, environmental hippie freaks like me allowed to use that phrase?). Plus, there's no beach access at the Post Ranch and Ventana Inns (oops, did I mention the name of the overpriced celebrity fests up the road?) - so while Brangelina and Gyllenspoon are enjoying their redwood soaks, you can take some satisfaction in knowing you've got the best seats in the house for the price of dinner at Denny's.
There are 34 sites here plus these five "hike-in" spots - and when I say "hike-in" I mean walk 30 yards down a path and sit your lazy, cheap butt down in one of the most beautiful spots you've ever been. But even if you don't want to be more than 20 feet from your car, you just can't go wrong here. Every spot has the gorgeous forever views that define the Big Sur experience in a pleasant, small scale family style camping venue.
Stats: 34 sites, $22 per night; both walk-in and reserved sites (reservations at http://www.parksman.com/). This campground is extremely popular, so during the peak summer season either reserve early or show up on Friday morning to get a spot.
2. Andrew Molera State Park.
I love Andrew Molera state park. Although it doesn't have the glamorous views of Kirk Creek, this 5000 acre state park stradles the Big Sur river and is a hikers/kayakers/sufers dream with the best beach in the whole area and endless access to the most fabled hiking trails of the Big Sur region. You have to hike in about 1/2 mile to get to the campsites which is why all the RV's and lacksidasical car campers roll right on by and check in at Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park 200+ internal combusion engine friendly campsites. But if you can manage to drag your tent and sleeping bags and food a half a mile, you'll treat yourself to one of the best easy camping experiences in northern California.
The first time I went to Andrew Molera was about ten years ago when my new girlfriend (now wife) and I went for a backpack up to Sykes Hot Springs (10 miles up the Little Sur river trail). We were just looking for a place to camp before our trip. We pulled into the parking lot at about nine at night, and were in the process of unloading our groceries out of the back of the car when a group of insanely fearless raccoons descended on us and tried to take our food. I don't mean that they were grabbing the food when we weren't looking, they were literally grabbing the bags out of our hands. I witnessed my wife in a back and forth tug-of-war over a Berkeley Bowl bag of camping goodies with overly-empowered raccoon - she'd pull the bag towards her and yell, and then he pull it and hiss. We survived the mugging with our food mostly intact, and stumbled through the dark down the path to the campground area where we were met with the most pleasant little hippie scenario. It was UC Santa Cruz's Spring break, and the campground was packed with stoner college kids, bonfires and acoustic guitars. Now I'm not the drum circle, jam band type, but I was just so charmed by the whole scenario - the warm evening, the laughter, it was really sweet. We set up camp and went to sleep with the distant sound and singing and laughing.
Now I understand that I'm not painting the most appealing scenario with the woodstock-like campground and rabid raccoons - you'll be happy to know that the State Park cracked down on the open camping scenario that used to be in place in the meadow area. Now there are 24 official campsites with a limit of four people per campsite - so while the marauding raccoons are a constant, the campsite is very quiet these days. This is such a gorgeous state park with great access to the heart of the Ventana wilderness, hippie jam sessions or not, you just can't go wrong here.
Stats: 24 campsites; $12 per night; no reservations/walk in only.
3. Limekiln State Park
I've never stayed here but I took some pictures recently when I was driving through. This is a really nice campground tucked away in the redwoods with access to a great little beach. Here are the pics ...
Stats: 34 campsites/$25 per night; revervations http://www.reserveamerica.com
4. Plaskett Creek Campground.
This is a flat, grassy campground right across the highway from the best beach in the southern part of the Big Sur Coast - Sand Dollar Beach. Great family campground with good access to trails and great ocean views.
Stats: 44 campsites/$22 per night; reservations http://www.recreation.gov/
5. Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park.
Not to be confused with Pfeiffer Burns State Park which has two great hike-to environmental campsites, this is the place where most people stay when they come to this area. 200+ campsites tucked away in the redwoods with lots of RV's, but it's still frickin' gorgeous. If none of the other campsites were available, this wouldn't be a bad option at all. As an added bonus, you can leave right from the camping area and hike up the Little Sur River trail which is one of the best trails in the region.
Stats: 204 campsites/$25 per night; revervations http://www.reserveamerica.com.
Posted by Hall in Fun places to go | Northern California | camping
