Burlington Campground

We used Burlington State Park campground as a place to just spend 1 night on our trip north. But a lot of people stay longer. Or even make it a destination in itself.
The campground is in a dark Redwood forest. So prepare for lots of deep shade. Very cold in the winter and hot in the heat of summer. We were here in the shoulder season (late spring) and had to wear coats all day and evening around the campfire. It was also half empty and quiet. Very nice.
No bushes of plants between sites so not much privacy. Just old growth Redwoods.
Swell visitor center right next door and lots of beautiful walking trails, again in the dark, shady forest.

Camping right in the middle of the redwoods is an experience. Those big, towering trees just change the perspective of everything.

Check-in was quick and easy. Wood is sold at the same stand, so we were able to do that at the same time. $10 bundles of well seasoned firewood. We burned about 2.5 bundles per night.

Site was nearly level, a leveling block under each wheel on one side was all we needed. Site was big and spacious. Ours was long enough that we could park our camper van and a car.

Neighbors were a little noisy at times (mostly music), but always stopped at quiet hours. The trees block most of the noise from around the campground, unless the other site has a clear path in to yours.

There's lots of trails accessible easily from the campground across the road. A long one was reachable via walking bridges across the river. The river was a great feature -- we all spent some time either wading in it to cool off after hiking or even swimming in it. The "beaches" along the river were just right for relaxing on too. Saw plenty of folks launching kayaks or tubes too.

Cell phones could work just barely outside the camper without the booster running. Running the booster made them quite usable inside and out.

The trees blocked out nearly all direct sunlight. It stayed cooler, which was great. It also meant our solar panels generated absolutely no power.

We'd all love to come back some day. There's plenty to enjoy in a campground that at capacity didn't feel crowded or busy.

[Internet. Verizon via iPhone 12: 16 mbps down and 0.20 mbps up with 38 ms ping. T-Mobile via Nighthawk MR-1100 - 6 mbps down and 0.69 up with 97 ms ping.]

I just love this campground. It’s an immersive experience. We were so glad to extend our trip from 2 to 4 days. There’s these birds that sing at dawn and dusk (springtime at least). It’s a kind of sound that starts strong and drops off like they they gave up singing halfway. Such a wonderful sound to wake up to. The bird is called a varied thrush. ❤️

PROS

→ You are camping in the redwood forest.
→ Next door to visitor center. You can get quarters for the showers here.
→ Has cell signal which I normally wouldn’t care to have in a place like this. Since there was signal, we could stay in this beautiful place and I could work on the two additional add-on days instead of having to move on to Eureka right away in search of signal.
→ It has a woodsy camping experience. RV sizes are limited to 25 feet so there’s mostly tent campers.
→ Sites are spaced apart. There’s no privacy trees but I mean redwoods aren’t good privacy trees. They are good at absorbing sound though so it’s quieter. They won’t save you from running, screaming kids though.

CONS - low level cons at that

→ Right off Avenue of the Giants so there’s some car noise but not bad at night.
→ Showers are quarter operated which is par for the course in California. Here it’s 25¢/minute. The water is mostly warm but pressure and temperature drop when toilets are flushing. I highly recommend showering midday since there’s less people in the campground thereby less people using the bathroom facilities.
→ Firewood is $10 but burns well. Standard bundle size.

4.5-stars — It’s near perfect except for the pay showers which gets me every time. For weekend warriors it’s likely a 5-star campground!

FYI ON RESERVE CALIFORNIA: The website doesn’t allow online reservations within 48 hours of your intended camping start date. I kept checking online to see if there was a last minute cancellation. Online kept showing 0 sites available. I went to the camp office and their system showed our site being free for two more days. You can only pay for the site one day at a time FCFS. They take credit card. When the office window is closed, then I believe it’s cash only envelope style.

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[Rig. Mercedes Sprinter. 22 feet]

Dump station? - No
Water fill? - No but there are water spigots throughout
Clean site? - Yes
Clean bathroom? - Yes (even has soap!)
Flush toilet? - Yes
Showers? - Yes, quarter operated
Laundry? - No
Dish washing sink? - Yes

We rolled up without a reservation midweek and lucked out with there being one cancelation. Camp staff are very nice, location is great to access surrounding wildness, facilities are clean and we could walk over to the nearby stream. We had a nice site for our camper van and only had to level it a little since our parking spot was not flat.

Great campground for early March midweek, because it’s not crowded at all, and as others have noted, it’s set in beautiful redwoods. It doesn’t get 5 stars simply because if full, the campground aesthetics wouldn’t make up for the closeness of most sites. Sites can be a little muddy if it has rained recently. Toilets are clean and flush, which is nice. Sites are shady so it’s a little challenging to charge solar panels. Not many places to run a dog around. The road is extremely close, though it quiets down at night. The campsites farthest from the road are actually less desirable, because you can see a bunch of buildings from them.

The very best thing about this campground is its proximity to the wonderful trails and features of this state park. The Avenue of the Giants drive is beyond inspiring, as is the Founders Grove and other walks. This is a special place, and it is therefore well worth staying in this pretty, central campground.

Burlington is the only open campground in Humboldt Redwoods State Park after Nov 1st. We found this to be an ideal time to visit. Campground half-empty on weeknights; was busier on the weekend but still plenty of available sites available first-come first-serve, though we had reservations. We stayed in Site 20 for 2 nights -- a level, pull-through and large site --but so-so privacy. Then we moved to Site 19 -- level if you park sideways -- a huge and private site. Every campsite has lovely trees. So many hikes within 15 minutes away... highly recommend hiking the North Bull Creek Trail, accessible via Mattole Rd, we hiked about 5 miles and saw no one! The Visitor Center is at this campground and the staff was very helpful directing us to hikes we did every day. Clean campground and clean showers. There is a little bit of noise from Hwy 101, so recommend staying in sites closer to Avenue of the Giants, hence my 4 stars for noise. There is supposedly a dump station here but we forgot to look for it before we left.

We loved our overnight at this campground despite the heat wave in early June. Yes, the sites are tight, but we had no problem getting around in our 26' View. The dense Redwood forest really helps keep the sound down and makes for a quiet stay. We hiked the trails outside of the campground and drove part of the Avenue of the Giants. The campground was clean and our site had a large table, a fire pit and a food locker. We'll be back!

Popular campground, steady flow of campers all day. I highly recommend a reservation, I’ve seen many campers turn around at the gate. I’m amazed the amount of traffic on hwy 254 to drive by here. Clean grounds and bathrooms and showers. Friendly and courteous staff. Great hiking in the area. Interpretive center very interesting. We live in Fort Bragg this a convenient location to come and warm up.