North Beach Campground

Pros
Sites are paved & roomy, most are pull through u shape, exterior loop sites have more privacy. Wonderful birding and the Monarchs are in the grove adjacent to the campground from Nov to Feb. Easy walk to shore and Pismo. We had an excellent seafood meal at Ada's and rode our ebikes along the beach then into town. A little further south down the beach is the entrance to vehicle beach access. No staffed entry, host was friendly and helpful.

Cons
Floods when it rains a lot which can cause closures. Primitive- No site hookups- which I prefer. Nice bathrooms. Dump station and potable water are available. Water spigots are placed throughout campground. If you want hookups go to the RV Resort next door, you'll have hookups but you'll also be very close to other campers. It was reported that a trailer with an exterior generator had the unsecured generator and an e-scooter stolen while we were there. It feels safe, but any beachside campground can experience opportunity thefts of unlocked items.

We arrived late and were leaving early the next morning, plus it was rainy so we did not get a full experience. Campground was very flooded due to recent storms, so picnic table and grassy areas were not accessible. We had a paved pull through site. Beach is just over the dunes, so would be great for beach combers. Don't use Apple Maps, as it takes you far north of the park, requiring a turnaround.

Stayed for 2 nights in December 2022. There are 2 separate campgrounds in Pismo State Beach; this is the northernmost of the 2 and adjacent to Monarch Butterfly Grove. Plenty of pull through sites, all level and paved. No hookups. Verizon LTE full bars. Short walk to the beach and dune fields. Campground is bounded by RV park, golf course, beach, and hwy 1 and train tracks. Sites on beach side are quieter. Firewood available $10 per bundle. Decent wood. Bathrooms have flush potties and showers. Maintenance people show up early morning around 7 to 8 am and close the bathrooms for cleaning. This is when everyone is getting up and needs to use the potty. Very weird timing. Be prepared for humidity and heavy condensation overnight.

I so wanted to give this campground a 5 star review. Location is beachside right next to a monarch butterfly park with downtown Pismo within a miles walk. Sites are spacious and facilities mostly clean.

The bad: Homeless people literally wondering about the campground with one actually sleeping in one of the bathrooms overnight. Neighbors cooler was stolen and there are people literally thumbing through the garbage with wagons behind them. The kiosk was manned about half of the time during our stay. You have a 100% chance of getting your site cased overnight if you camp here so lock it up.

The good: seniors get $2 off, without any type of pass. The beach is right there, over the dunes. Next to the monarch butterfly gardens and walking distance to town. Bathrooms were clean, except for the one right off the beach, that one had wet sandy floors( near site 11, which is the camp hosts)
The bad: little oversight of rules, like keeping dogs on leashes, lots of sketchy people wandering off the beach, in fact this seems to be a place where non- campers walk around. There have been thefts, mostly of bikes and generators, according to the hosts. And when we arrived at 4 pm, there was no one at the ranger station. And road noise from 101 was loud from 4-7.
Overall, people are really friendly here. We had more conversations with people in one day than we had in 2 weeks at Arizona campgrounds.