Thornhill Broome Campground

We took our new 25' travel trailer here to see what we were missing & found out some good things about our preparations. It is a long row of parallel park places to the side of a 1 lane road on a beach, just off the coast highway. Good long beach for walking on dry sand, heavy rounded stones (not boulders) all along wet sand; not super easy to use for swimmers/bathers.

We told the guard booth ranger we were new and asked about water and turning around (there is a turnaround at the end of the long single lane road). He told us no problems to fill our fresh tank from the spigots across the road from the spaces & that RV our size had no problems turning around at the end of the road. Well, yes and no it turns out.

As we were filling our fresh tank, ranger Eaton came by in a car and said we couldn't use the water since they had no backflow protection. I said the booth ranger told us we could, and she doubted it, as he had been there many years. I said, we'll disconnect, but just wanted her to know we weren't lying/shading what we heard. We had got about 2/3 full at that point anyway. I checked later, with a different booth ranger, and he said, we were entitled to fill the RV fresh tank from the spigots by the spaces and the other ranger must have been mistaken. I'm guessing ranger Eaton thought we were hooking up to city water, since we had conneced the filter & hose and the filler spout was shoved all the way into the fresh water intake. There is a turnaround near the entrance with fresh water, too. 2 to 1 OK but the supervisor was in the car and told us no for the spigots by the spaces.

Space 20 was 50' long. that left us a few feet after 20' truck and 25' trailer. You're allowed to put back wheels over the sand as long as engine stays over pavement, but that wasn't necessary. We disconnected but stayed nose to tail. I'm not sure but the 31' sizing on the reservation site may just pertain to length of RV.

Camp host (throwing a clay pot on a wheel when we stopped in) sells firewood $9. It was pretty windy and we didn't want to try it, with so many other things to figure out. Nice heavy metal fire pits and weathered outdoor picnic tables. Portapotties under sheds and trash bins at 2-3 locations along the road. Neighbor 2nd space over was blaring music, barking dog and using axe on burning palettes atop firepit somewhat 30-45min after quiet hours. Not sure what recourse we would have had, if it had persisted.

Turnaround at the end was probably just fine, but I ended up going up a berm a bit with the truck and trailer because I'm a newb. Check the satellite view on Google for an idea of this sand covered turnaround culdesac. They do NOT open the gate for you to get out. Probably emergencies only, since there isn't a good driveway and no merging lane (which the have at the entrance).

Dump station is at Sycamore Canyon about a mile south; your reservation receipt will get you in there free to dump. No dump station at Thornhill.

Great spot parking parallel to the beach. Does not have the best cell connections using att and verizon hotspots. I had to drive 11 miles into malibu to a starbucks to work for a day because internet was bad. Make sure to heavily sandbag your canopies down and fold up at night. Also, close up your awnings. We experienced 60 mph gusts one night.

We were fortunate enough to get in a two-night stay right before the campground shut down due to statewide orders.

As others have said, if you are looking for a full RV-park experience with lots of amenities - this isn't it. There are no hookups or showers - just port-a-potties and a spigot for fresh water (which is not uncommon in SoCal state parks). And yes, you are right next to PCH, although this far north during the winter the traffic isn't nearly as heavy as it is closer to Santa Monica. We were also there on a Sunday and Monday in December with Covid-spacing enforced by the park. On a normal summer weekend there's definitely not going to be much privacy.

What you DO get is spectacular beachfront camping, which is surprisingly rare in Los Angeles County. There were dolphins cavorting just off the beach, seabirds galore and one of the best sunsets I've seen. I also had good cell service the whole time for texts and calls - transmitting data naturally a bit slow.

Can't wait to go back and have already booked a date in June!

We arrived here with some reluctance as several online reviews indicated no cell service. I am glad to report we had two bars of 4g with Verizon and when we turned on our SureCall Cell Booster it went to four bars of 4g. Also they do have water faucets across the road, however, they are not threaded to accept a hose. I am going back next week for a two week stay and plan on using my Water Bandit to fill our tanks with a hose.

This is a great little beach campground. And we mean little because there's only about 60 spots total along about a one mile stretch of ocean front Sandy/rocky beach.
Perfect for RVs 30' or under ONLY, STRICTLY ENFORCED!, vans, tents, whatever you wish to camp in as there are no hookups but you get a fire pit in a picnic table and your own slice of heaven on the water.
The negatives are the proximity to the highway due to the noise and the convoluted procedure for getting a site outside of reserving 6 months ahead of time. Trying to get A-day use site is a complete and utter nightmare.
The positives are you are on the beach in Malibu 30' from the ocean. The sunsets are stunning as is the marine wildlife frolicking before you. And the biggest plus we found were the hosts. Every host we've ever met here has been great but in particular the hosts there now September 2020 are amazing. They are helpful come up friendly, and always available. They help kids find fossils in the rocks and go on scavenger hunts and they make buying firewood a simple process. They gave us recommendations for restaurants and attractions in the entire area. Thank you so much for this wonderful experience we will be back again, and again, and again.

This location is...”ok” in my opinion. There are a ton of rocks in the beach so the kids weren’t able to play in the water. We have Verizon and had no reception. We had to drive a few miles in either direction to get service(it may be a plus to some). Lots of trash found on the beach, fire pits were full and had to be cleaned out for us to lite a fire. You are right off of PCH and get the noise from cars driving by. Since summer is almost here there were a few bike clubs and mustang clubs driving the road.

Okay, so like others before me...there are lots of cons to this campground, buuuuuut location, location, location!

Cons -
- Right next to the busy road. It does quiet down some at night as traffic slacks off, but you will hear cars all night.

- No amenities - we boondock 90% of the time so we sort of expect to have some amenities when we do pay for a site. There is no dump station, no fresh water to fill your tanks, no showers and only port-a-potties (and obviously no electric).

- Spots are close together. You are nose to tail all the way down the beach and the turnaround at the end has been washed out. Our 24ft motorhome had to do a 5 point turn to get turned around and thankfully we weren't too boxed in. I can imagine this would be a real issue if you're towing (although plenty were doing it!).

- No cell signal - this is a big one for us since I work an 8-5 job where I often video conference. The ranger told us they recently took down the Verizon cell tower at the entrance to the park. We could get some 3g at the day use area (north of the park by about a mile), but it wasn't enough for me to feel comfortable using for Skype calls. We ended up parking at the National Recreation area another mile north before you get to the naval base (30 down/10 up unboosted through the Verizon hotspot). This is the only reason we might not stay at this site in the future - we never felt settled at the campground because we had to commute (with the RV) for work every day - and it's not an easy park to get out of.

Pros -
- You are right on the beach. Literally, open the door and your toes are in the sand. Within minutes of arriving, we saw whales breaching, seals and dolphins. This is the reason to stay here!

- Firepits are provided in the sand for each site and the host sells firewood.

- Hiking just across the road has great views.

We would stay here again when we don't need cell signal.

Okay, so like others before me...there are lots of cons to this campground, buuuuuut location, location, location!

Cons -
- Right next to the busy road. It does quiet down some at night as traffic slacks off, but you will hear cars all night.

- No amenities - we boondock 90% of the time so we sort of expect to have some amenities when we do pay for a site. There is no dump station, no fresh water to fill your tanks, no showers and only port-a-potties (and obviously no electric).

- Spots are close together. You are nose to tail all the way down the beach and the turnaround at the end has been washed out. Our 24ft motorhome had to do a 5 point turn to get turned around and thankfully we weren't too boxed in. I can imagine this would be a real issue if you're towing (although plenty were doing it!).

- No cell signal - this is a big one for us since I work an 8-5 job where I often video conference. The ranger told us they recently took down the Verizon cell tower at the entrance to the park. We could get some 3g at the day use area (north of the park by about a mile), but it wasn't enough for me to feel comfortable using for Skype calls. We ended up parking at the National Recreation area another mile north before you get to the naval base (30 down/10 up unboosted through the Verizon hotspot). This is the only reason we might not stay at this site in the future - we never felt settled at the campground because we had to commute (with the RV) for work every day - and it's not an easy park to get out of.

Pros -
- You are right on the beach. Literally, open the door and your toes are in the sand. Within minutes of arriving, we saw whales breaching, seals and dolphins. This is the reason to stay here!

- Firepits are provided in the sand for each site and the host sells firewood.

- Hiking just across the road has great views.

We would stay here again when we don't need cell signal.