Rincon Parkway Campground

Rincon changed from first come first serve because people would save spaces for their buddies, problems with groups doing this and ruining it for others. Well I think they are at it again. It is almost impossible for the weekend camper to get spots.
It would b nice if Ventura would look at this, because Rincon is great, We would definitely stay, only if we could get spots... six months later, still trying

We have stayed here a few times and as long as you aren't behind the sea wall, you're likely to lounge out with a beautiful ocean view. Some spots are easily accessible to the beach by carefully coming down the rocks, this space not so much with our older dog. We always have a great time and will continue to come back! You can reserve now up to 3 months in advance.

Not a lot I can add but will say a little hard to get down to the beach but here is a tip kind of like one you hear on travel channels right across road from #13 is a culvert that go's under the road to the beach. One thing to keep in mind a lot of home less people will pass by and ask for help Torrance CA has a big home less population. We stayed here on 06-08-18. The only other thing I can think of is stay away from first 15 spots all the 5th wheelers will come in and block your view of the beach.

Yes, the campsites are literally parallel parking spots along the Pacific Coast Highway with no hookups. Yes, there is a train line about 20 yards from the campsites. Yes, the beach is barely usable, even at low tide. Yes, you must fit your entire rig, including all slides and tow vehicles / toads strictly within the 46x15 camping area. Yes, your entire rig will quickly be encrusted with salt spray.

But for us, spending a week listening to the crashing waves, watching frolicking dolphins, and gaping at incredible sunsets -- all from our RV -- was simply magical. Every site has direct ocean views on the curb side, and being parked directly adjacent to the rock rip rap meant we had ocean sounds permeating the RV all day, every day. It was loud enough that we barely noticed the trains (they are small passenger trains, not freight trains) or the road noise.

Our site was perfectly level, and we were able to get in easily because we reserved a site that had vacancy behind it so it became a pull-in for us. We also chose a site with a dumpster & portolet in front, so we knew we would not be blocked in at the front. Now that sites are reservation only, I have no idea how people will get into their sites if they find that neighbors are occupying sites on both sides, because most campers use every available inch.

Sites with higher numbers (100+) tend to have lower rock rip rap so there are slightly better views from the sitting area. We were here in winter and preferred having a little windbreak.

The park is about 7 miles from Ventura (plenty of stores / gas / etc.) and was a perfect spot for visiting Channel Islands National Park from Ventura Harbor. The town of Oxnard is about 15 miles away and has even more stores (Costco, Whole Foods). It's an urban area so cell service was no problem. Our speeds on AT&T: Download 17.04 Mbps Upload 1.35 Mbps.

Effective November 1, 2018, you can now reserve your campsite at Rincon Parkway Campground! (http://www.venturaparks.org/reservation/camping/?parent_idno=17&showsites=n)

Unreserved campsites are still available on a first-come, first-served basis. The mobile payments site (https://www.venturaparks.org/payment/) will generate a list of unreserved sites each day after 11:00 am. You may occupy and pay for an unreserved site if you have no reservations.

Payments are no longer accepted onsite. You must be able to pay for your site online, so be sure to have some way to access the internet. Cell service is best at the southern end of the campground.

Right along the beach with gorgeous views. generously sized spots. We easily parked our 5-berth motorhome here. Most amazing sunset. Peaceful and quiet, with the exception of the trains that come past every now and then, but I think they stopped at night, or at least we weren’t woken by them. Highly recommend this place. Book your space when you get there, but don’t settle in until you’ve confirmed your booking as you may find you have to move into another spot. Ranger did come past in the morning to check on everyone.

www.venturaparks.org/payment for booking

We chose this spot based on all the 5 star reviews from other campers. I gotta say, I don’t get the appeal. Small spots (we couldn’t fit our 28 foot trailer with slideout and Tundra in the spot and the ranger came and hassled us after 3 days because the truck and slide out were slightly over the lines so we spent the last day with the slide in even though there wasn’t anyone in the 5 spots surrounding us), traffic all day and night long and a very loud train track. Cars driving 55+ (Speed limit is 45) on the small road right next to us rocked our trailer constantly. And to top it all off the tide was in all day long so the kids hardy got to play on the beach at all (bad luck, your timing might be better!).

And if we would have made a reservation unknowingly between two large rigs we would have had a heck of a time getting our trailer into the spot. Luckily we are here in the off season so it’s only about 1/3 full.

On a positive note we did have a gorgeous ocean view (I would recommend the sites at the end 100+) rather than where we were (84) as the beach access is better and the rocks are lower so you’d have a better view and more room to park your car perpendicular to the trailer.
Reservations are not accepted the day of or 1 day ahead of time so if you want to just drive up like we did it isn’t very easy to tell which sites are available. Luckily we ran into the ranger and he kindly helped us find all the sites that were available for 4 nights. Otherwise you have to be in the site and check to see if you are able to pay for it for the nights you need before you can tell if it’s available. The city definitely needs to work on the booking process.

Next time we’ll skip the Ventura beaches and head up to Jalama or down south further.

$30 for the view and $1 to have the dog. Not bad for dry-camping near/on the beach. Sleeping with the sounds of the surf and smell of the sea is awesome. The train going by behind us was hardly noticeable.
Verizon has 4 bars and there is a nasty outhouse nearby.

After 0ctober 31 you have to reserve online. Sad. Nice to be able to pull up and grab a spot on this off-season night.