San Simeon Creek Campground

My site 239 was fine but it's right next to the bathrooms and I think the views are better along the eastern edges. It's nicer up at Washburn for the views and quiet but takes a bit longer to get in and out of the CG. The vault toilets are the freshest smelling I've experienced. Verizon signal is weak 1 bar or worse but with my booster I was able to work. Ground squirrels and local birds are fun. Nearby Elephant seals are awesome! Quiet and peaceful unless you get generator loving neighbors.

This campground is in desperate need of funding for maintenance. The first bathroom I went into was atrocious. It looked like it hadn’t been improved since 1950. The flushing mechanism didn’t work, the door didn’t lock - there were signs on the door that said the showers were not operational. I really needed a shower and was fit to be tied! $35+ for no services! Thankfully another shower building was working, however the shower was by no means nice.
There was rain in CA when we visited which the area sorely needs. MANY of the sites do not drain and I felt bad for the tent campers who woke up to a lake in their sites or on their parking spots.
There is no water at the sites, no electricity at the sites. Bathrooms have outdoor sinks presumably for dishwashing, but the sink was so small it would not be feasible.
The dump station charges $10 for service. Fresh water spigots throughout the campground do not have traditional threaded spigots so you can really only fill a jug or bottles at this campground.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression and CA State Parks gave me a very bad first impression with this location.
The “upper” loops seemed slightly better in terms of site quantity but it was very windy up there.
No cell coverage.

We stayed here mid week and did not use the online reservation system so we saved $7. The Ranger told us that even in November the weekends fill up so probably best to get a site online. There had been some heavy rain the night before and the sights along the creek we’re not available from the Ranger. He directed us to the hillside which we thought were better anyways. Great view of the ocean from our spot and it was actually level. Not many of the other sites are that way. bathrooms were clean but when I went to take a shower the coin operated shower did not work. I had to drive down to the lower campground and that one was working. The host confirmed that the showers are sometimes a problem. Raccoons in the dumpsters. It’s all part of camping and I would stay here again.

I reserved this campsite online. In addition to $35 camping fee, there is $7.99 reservation fee. Campground is nice and conveniently located. However, our campsite (C74) does not have much space to pitch a tent. You basically have to choose - do you want to set up your tent too close to your neighbors, or too close to your fire ring.
At night, we were visited by a raccoon who tried to open a wheeled cooler which we left outside the tent.
We had no luck with phone connection - our T-Mobile was showing a glimpse of 1 bar from time to time, but this was disappearing very quickly. Not like we needed it much, but still something that has be mentioned.
C74 is just across the street from restrooms, but not too close to cause any issues with smell or noise. Restrooms are individual, which is nice. In our block, there was 1 room with toilet only, 2 rooms with toilet and sink, 1 closed toilet and 2 closed showers.

Just north of Cambria. Beautiful beach. Camped on the hill with a view of the ocean and partial sunset. We didn’t use the restroom or showers but they were cleaned daily by a team of people. Nice easy hike to the beach (no dogs allowed). Cell reception was terrible. You will need a WeBoost or similar to get streaming content. Not too crowded on weekdays so it was a nice stay. Also note the pads are not level on the hill campsites. Rangers and camp host were friendly.

I think the Creek campground was much nicer than the Washburn campground. It's down in the trees and much closer to the ocean but still has easy access to the hiking trails. Though the views from the Washburn campground are nicer. Like a lot of CA State Parks, the pads here are double-wide but short. Usually there is plenty of room to back in until your tires hit the rear curb. So I did see some sizeable rigs in sites. But there is always the risk of a tree blocking full access. Interior sites appear to lack much screening vegetation though the ones on the outer edge are ok. Overall I would say that privacy is fairly limited in this campground. The beach is very accessible and has plenty of sand and the opportunity to do some beachcombing. If you venture far enough to the north during low tide and onto the rocks, you may run into some elephant seals. The hiking trail that makes a big loop around Washburn campground is a nice trail, though keep an eye out for poison oak. You may also want to check out the trails that go out to San Simeon Point a few miles to the north of the campground. It is worth the drive. Dump station is an extra charge ($10) and is easily accessible with two lanes. My only complaint is that there is no facility for a black tank flush so you'll want to have a bucket handy.

Cell coverage is spotty at this campground. You may or may not get bars at your site. We got no bars at ours so I put up the antenna on a mast and was able to get acceptable service.

This campground was very congested (first week of May). Many of the camp spots are right next to one another so there is very little privacy. Also the closest beach within walking distance is fairly rocky and gravely. The bathrooms were also dirty and one of the showers coin slots was broken so it just kept stealing quarters. I don’t think I would camp here again. It definitely did not feel like we were camping.

Nice campground, busy our first night but emptied out on Sunday and it was almost like having the full campground to ourselves. It was a short walk to the "no dogs allowed" beach. We were able to get a site in the "lower" section where the roads are paved and asphalt pads and lots of trees.

There is another section of the campground, sites 1-35, which are "up the hill". Dirt roads/pads and dusty and not many trees, but larger sites for bigger trailers.

The wifi signal was a little weak and slow, if you need it. No cell signal until we raised our booster and then we could get 2 bars, but with wifi, direct cell wasn't needed, gotta love wifi calling for staying touch.

We have stayed here several times over the years - sometimes with reservations and sometimes just randomly showing up. When we have reserved, the reservation was NOT site specific (don't like that so much). We prefer the sites up on the hill - sites 1 to 35 as many of them have nice views and seem to be more spread out than the lower ones. Often this section is closed though and seems to be more of an overflow. We have had water there off and on - a dump station, had no water and only porta potties - kind of all over the board! Speaking of board, there is a nice boardwalk along the creek to the beach - the beach is not dog friendly. We have seen deer here, raccoons the size of deer and a lot of birds. A great place to base from when exploring this section of coast and / or inland a bit to Paso wineries.