Rutherford Beach

We love camping on the beach! There is nothing better than sleeping to the sounds of waves crashing outside your RV. We saw dolphins while we were there, walked the shoreline, and talked with other campers. The best part? It's FREE! We stayed as close to the dune as possible while still being beach side. We had no trouble with soft sand considering our size of 36 ft. There were other campers, but everyone left enough space between each spot. We look forward to being able to camp here again!

This was an easy to get to (all paved roads) and scenic even though oil rigs for the horizon. It was also really cool that you can drive on the beach.

I give it three stars because we were tent camping. We hadn’t camped on the beach before and learned why people don’t. There was sand everywhere on our stuff, it was either really windy or really buggy, and the humidity was suffocating.

However, I can’t complain too much because it was free and it saved us during a moment of desperation during the government shutdown.

My verdict is that this would be a great place is you have an RV or van but is not ideal for tent camping.

We stayed in early December and it was great. We were practically the only ones on the beach and had the entire place to ourselves. The bugs were pretty vicious (not biting, just covering the car & RV) before the sun went down.

The sand is packed pretty nicely, so driving out and finding a level spot wasn't a problem at all.

We made a small campfire on the beach and watched the gorgeous sunset.

If you're looking for a place to boondock right on the beach, it doesn't get much better than this!

Swarms.

Yes ... swarms. We felt like we were in an Egyptians Plague. Around dusk, mosquitoes began their front like attack on our camper. Our camper was specked with black dots as it was LITERALLY covered in moquitoes. We closed every opening and woke up to clouds of mosquitoes. The next day, we had to clean our entire camper from the mosquitoes we killed. Dozens per square foot.

This was in December ... maybe the plague comes and goes?

The small parking lot was full, so we drove onto the beach. Our camper got stuck in the sand. Granted, there was a sign that the sand was loose ... Luckily a friendly neighbor helped us out.

The beach was walkable, but only picturesque if you like looking at oil rigs on the horizon.

Super long access road. No water. No gas stations nearby. In the middle of nowhere, but not the pretty kind.

Arriving on a Saturday afternoon on a free site, it's always risky to have no space to settle. But we are lucky or it is because it is the low season but we had no difficulty to find a spot. The place is definitely a favorite for us. We reconnect with the starry sky, the Milky Way only sees on TV screens when we live near a large center. If you like the sound of the waves, the blazing sun is the place for you!
The locals meet on the beach were all very friendly and happy to share the fishing stories as this is really a place to fish.
We were a little tight in reserve of water and it is with regret that we stayed only two nights.

We were here over the weekend so it was a little crowded but plenty of camping space. A lot of debris washed up on shore and quite a bit of trash. Receptacles haven’t been emptied in awhile and the port a potties left a lot to be desired. Overall a great free place to camp on the beach. Surf fishing was great as was crabbing 4-5 miles away. Pack in all supplies as it is quite a drive to a store or gas station.