Rincon Parkway Campground

Couldn’t ask for a better view. Nice sunsets. Weather happened to be perfect. Waves are loud and drown out most of the traffic and neighbors. As mentioned by others the traffic is busy in the morning and the evening (“rush hour”). Other than that it’s quiet. Trains roll by several times a day. No horns. Arrival was uneventful. No ranger on-site just an occasional drive-by. You must make reservations online but you could check availability on you mobile and make the reservations right there. These spaces are parallel to the shore but there is an easement space and then a bike lane so you’re not right on Highway 1 so to speak. We went during the week and had the beach in front of us to ourselves. Access at this spot was fairly easy but not ADA. Lots of dolphins playing in front of us as well as ocean birds of various sorts.

I’m sure Rincon gets a lot of mixed reviews. There are definitely pros and cons to staying here. The beach is fantastic, but it can be difficult to access. If you’re relatively nimble you can make your way over the sandstone boulders from the RV parking to the beach. It was a little more difficult for Riley and getting our very cautious, very stubborn mastiff up and down was a challenge. He did love the sandy beach though! Lots of off leash dogs on the beach, but most folks were very considerate and would leash their pets when passing other dogs.

Rincon offers no amenities other than garbage dumpsters and a couple of porta-potties. The spaces are TIGHT with folks parked nose to tail. We had just enough room for our 33 ft motorhome with the toad parked perpendicular in front. To camp here you must be in a self-contained RV.

Yes, there is road noise and yes, there are train tracks. The train wasn’t an issue at all, mostly a passenger train and no whistle blowing or braking. The traffic on Hwy 1 kicks off for a morning “rush hour” around 6am and again in the late afternoon, but midday and at night it wasn’t bad at all. Hwy 101 is more heavily trafficked, but it’s further up the hill and we didn’t notice any noise. The sound of the surf was constant and a plus in my book.

We stayed at Rincon so we could visit Channel Islands National Park. The visitor’s center is in Ventura, access to the park is by boat booked through Island Packers. Well worth the visit! Other than that, we were content to enjoy the view and play on the beach.

Reservations are recommended, but my understanding is that you can talk to the park ranger about same day openings and then mobile pay.

We had 4 bars of Verizon 4G.

We grew up in T.O. and Camarillo and as kids drove with our parents on this very part of the highway, before it became a campground. Many times since, we have driven past on the new section of highway and wanted to pull off and stay. Had to move to Seattle before we did :). The highway is a little noisy and you are pretty tightly packed nose to tail, but just a few steps further west from your rv door and you're on the beach. Hard to beat. No hook ups or services provided other than dumpsters for trash. Ventura is close and has all the retail outlets you'll need. Camping is by reservation only through the Ventura County website. You'll find the rangers particularly helpful in making or extending reservations when they are onsite. Be aware that getting to the beach involves scrambling down the rock sea wall (there are no stairs)... easy to moderately difficult depending on how spry and stable you are on your feet. Depends on the dog of course, but some may have difficulty with the big rocks. We just fit with our 35' motorhome and our little Honda FIT parked perpendicular to the site. If you are bigger, it looked like sites 4 through 18 were wider (they're next to a concrete sea wall) and some longer 5th wheels were backed in diagonally to fit.

Would not stay again. In the middle of the night, we were woken up by flashing lights, a BLARING siren and loudspeaker saying “no overnight camping, move along”. It must have woken up every camper within 30 spots. The sheriff was RIGHT beside us, so we thought there was a problem with our reservation. My husband stuck his head out the window and tried to talk to the sheriff but the sheriff blatantly ignored him. My husband got out of bed in the middle of the night and went outside to talk to the man. The sheriff was talking to the man in front of us when my husband got out there, and when my husband tried to talk to him afterwards he just got back in his car and drove away. Apparently the siren was for the people in front of us, but how were we to know?? If you’re going to blast your siren 5 feet from where people are sleeping, causing them to GET UP AND OUT OF BED you could at least apologize and say, “sorry, not you” ?!?!!! It was ridiculous. If we’re paying $44 for a parking spot with no hookups, I would have wanted to get a good nights sleep at the very least.

This was just beyond the retaining wall area where you have a bit more space for your set up between the rig and rocks. Our area had a limited amount of area before the rocks but the great thing about site 27 is that it has a little path that easily takes you to the beach. Many of the other sites are difficult to climb down.

The view is amazing and we were not phased by the traffic or train. The ocean sound is great to sleep to and covers up most other noise.

Made a reservation several weeks in advance but was able to call in the day of and change site numbers.

We have stayed here many times over the years - used it to add time to a trip as we live in Ventura. We love the view and the beach, but there are often giant RVs behind you and in front of you and some that run their generators in front of their trailers for hours... It's a hard place to walk a dog as you are basically camped on the side of a highway. Glad they went to a reservation system, as this was famous for "site saving". Trash cans & porta potties & nothing else. But yes, a beautiful view and great beach!

This is a great “campground” on the beach if you can really call it a campground. It is really just a long stretch of oversized parking spots adjacent to the road that have been turned into overpriced campsites. While $32/night plus the $5 reservation fee is a good price for the area you really don’t get anything more than a stretch of asphalt to park on and a port-o-potty.

So why do I call it great? Because the view is amazing and it is beach camping without any of the worries of getting stuck in the sand. It is hard to beat a spot that allows you to fall asleep to the crash of the waves right outside the window and where dolphins swim by and play in the surf throughout the day. You can go fishing just behind your campsite and watch the sunset over the crashing waves.

That being said there is the adjacent road which people fly down all day and night that creates noise and concern, the train tracks just on the other side, and the 101 which is basically an interstate just beyond that. The train tracks luckily don’t cross over any roads so the trains had no need to use their horns. All of this noise is mostly drowned out at night by the crashing waves. In fact, we had no problems with any of the above noise levels but a fellow camper did arrive late our last night and decided to ignore the hours of use for his generator and ran it all night long. That hum overtook the crashing waves and made for a very miserable experience. Please don’t do this. If you need your generator, use it during daylight hours, please.

To start, it's gorgeous. We spent a lot of time enjoying the ocean views and watching for dolphins (we say them several times). It is also nearby a lot of neat things in the area. But, there is a moderately trafficked road literally on the opposite side of the RV parking spaces. We have two young kids and two dogs and the 45mph speed limit on the road and close proximity to our rig was just not enjoyable for us. The kids couldn't roam around, which they are used to doing. Since the ocean literally hits the rocks during high tide, so the beach wasn't even a place for them to play.

There are two parking lot dry campgrounds on either side of the long stretch of RV parking for Rincon Parkway that are similarly priced and have ocean views as well. This is where we would stay if we are ever in the area again.

Oh and there is a train track on the other side of the road. So road traffic noise all day and trains all day. We didn't come for quiet camping, so noise wasn't an issue for us, but I know it is for some.