San Simeon Creek Campground

We were moved from C110 to C111 due to mud. Maybe 10% occupied. Site was nice, toilets basic. Showers now require tokens from a machine at the shower, 4/$1, a token allegedly gives 3 minutes of warm water but u used two and the water barely started getting above Glacier comas before it started cooling off again. Dump station is now $10, card only. We may as well have boondocked. Add $7.99 reservation fee to your cost.

A GREAT find. We stayed in the Washburn campground (up the hill/less expensive/better views/less people, more space, less trees and a clear view of the sky in every campsite (visited in February, we have Starlink and solar). The stars here are incredible at night, all you hear are the waves crashing, and beautiful views in every direction. The camp host, Shelby, was delightful and very accommodating, when we wanted to switch sites. Lots of bathrooms, very clean, lots of dumpsters and water spigots, all conveniently located. Rangers regularly drive through and we felt safe and attended to; a sketchy situation had materialized in one of the sites and the Ranger stood in the pouring rain for two hours, ensuring these folks left. A well run and maintained area. RV water and dump station at bottom of hill. automated, $10, fire rings and tables provided. I'm giving them 4* on access b/c the road up to Washburn is Swiss cheese.

$35/night for dry camping!! Pulled in to find numerous empty sites…..all with a little white sign saying “Reservable”. I should have read the fine print telling me that I had to go online myself to verify it it was actually available but I wrongly assumed that staff and/or hosts would have hung a tag saying if it was reserved on the post next to the site……like pretty much every other campground does. Set up camp….paid the fee and 2 hours later a guy showed up with a reservation. No problem….my bad so we pulled anchor and moved to another site in the A loop. Nice spot good location so we kicked back for the night. Up in the morning and headed for the showers. Showers at California State Parks all require tokens so back I went, got some cash and purchased some tokens. Stripped down, dropped in 3 tokens and stood there for almost 10 minutes waiting for hot water that never showed up. Returned to the RV and told the wife to use the house shower and use all the water you want because by this time I’m thinking that the dump station and potable water are the only things that would make feel good about this deal. Pulled anchor and headed to the dump site to find out that they want another $10 for me to dump. So $35 for one night of parking with ZERO hookups, Showers with no hot water and a separate fee to dump tanks. Not a good experience and on par with what I’ve come to expect from California State Parks. The only good thing is that it’s close to Hearst Castle.

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.