Hearst San Simeon State Park Campground

For many years, my husband Garth and I have traveled the western states in our little 24-foot motorhome, along with our golden retriever Chase (and occasionally our cat!). In this and subsequent RVCYOB articles, I’ll share with you our experiences, our opinions on the best campsites to reserve, clever camping gear and gizmos, tried-and-true hacks, secret hikes, camp recipes, camping with pets and kids, things to avoid, and things you won’t want to miss. I hope you’ll enjoy traveling with us.

In less time than it takes to pack your RV and round up the kids and the dog, you can drive to Hearst San Simeon State Park Campground. Its name is longer than your drive! Instead of being on the road battling traffic, you’ll be sipping a cool beverage in your lounge chair at your campsite. Smart you! Who wouldn’t want more time relaxing and less time behind the wheel?

This is one of our favorite local getaways, especially from October through April when the crowds have thinned and the serene, beautiful setting is all ours (or yours). If you’ve sped past this campground with disinterest, you’ve missed a sweet vacation spot with nice campsites, easy access to the beach, wonderful hikes, good star-gazing on clear nights…shall I go on?

KIDS will love camping here! Besides doing all the fun camping stuff at your RV, they can ride bikes on the level looping roads, meet up with other camp kids, chase ground squirrels and scale some good climbing trees. They can do makeshift performances at the amphitheater, participate in the Junior Ranger Program, or go to the beach with you and hunt for moonstones. The creek typically doesn’t empty into the ocean and is a calm area for kids to play in shallow water. They can hike the many trails, though I’d recommend an adult go along. At dusk, they can lay on their backs and search the darkening sky for satellites (you’ll find most in a polar north/south or south/north orbit). And they’ll be sound asleep soon after!

HIKING is a must-do. At a minimum, make sure you stroll the short boardwalk section of the San Simeon Trail. This part is particularly pretty, taking you through shady, dense riparian habitat then out to the day-use area and the beach. The inland part of the 3.3 mile loop trail features wetlands, meadows, pine forests, and grassy knolls with spectacular views of the ocean and mountains. Well worth the walk. Ask the rangers at the entry kiosk for a trail map. There are lots of other great trails that will take you exploring.

DOGS camping with you? Like most state parks, your dog can’t join you on the camp trails except the boardwalk (the grassy trails often have ticks and foxtails anyway). Nor can she/he go with you to the beach, which has been a huge bummer for Chase, our gonzo golden retriever with an over-developed water obsession. But just today we discovered the perfect hike for you and your dog—a  perfectly legal dog trail and beach access starting at the north end of Lone Palm Drive (across the highway from camp). Eureka and halleluiah! So now there’s a contentedly worn-out dog snoring under our RV dinette as I write. It’s only a 1 mile hike from the park entrance (2 miles round trip), mainly along a beautiful blufftop trail, to get to a lovely protected beach at low and medium tides. Go out the park entrance, turn left. Go approximately 800 ft. to Lone Palm Drive by carefully crossing the highway. Turn right and go north to the end of the pavement. Take the trail directly west to the beach. If you follow the blufftop trail for about ½ mile, you’ll come to the cove with fairly easy access down from the trail. Take a picnic. The view down the coastline is postcard-perfect. And your dog can join you for all of it! You can return to camp or continue north for another ½ mile to the town of San Simeon. The Chamber of Commerce states that El Chorlito restaurant and San Simeon Beach Bar & Grill are dog friendly. Have a relaxed lunch or dinner as a break from camp food before you all return to camp.

One of the best coastal experiences, in our opinion, is only a short 5 mile drive north on Highway 1 to Old San Simeon where you’ll find Sebastian’s Store, Hearst Winery, and the prettiest beach in California, William Randolph Hearst Memorial Beach—where dogs are allowed! Your dog can even join you while you wine-taste at Hearst on the grassy lawn above the beach. The hike to the point is a local favorite. You’ll find the trailhead at a well-worn path leading up from the beach just past the winery.

CAMPING! Now we’re talkin’! There are two camping areas: Creek (lower, by the beach) and Washburn (upper, one mile inland). Both are dry camping only—no hookups. But there are water spigots throughout, plus a water fill-up for RVs and a dump station (fee). All campsites have a fire ring and picnic table. Maximum vehicle length at both is 35’. When making reservations (see below), be sure to note the campsite’s pad length to make sure your rig will fit! Also, you can check websites like www.campsitephotos.com to view photos of each campsite. If you need solar (especially dry camping for an extended stay), check which sites are too shady.

Creek campground has paved roads and medium-sized campsites with level asphalt pads. Sites 1-35 are more open and breezy with ocean and valley views. Sites 36-119 have more trees, shrubs, privacy and less wind, but no long views. There are clean restrooms with flush toilets and hot coin-operated showers (bring quarters). One of the best things about Creek camp is its good proximity to the beach via two short trails—one by campsite #107 and the other at the boardwalk trail. At the beach, you can surf-fish for perch, sunbathe, picnic, beach comb, or fly kites. Regarding surfing, husband Garth says you can usually expect closed-out beach breaks, best for boogie boarding. But to surf you’ll need to walk about a half mile south to a break called ‘Exotics’—a left-breaking rock reef that may be working on a south swell. 

Washburn is a primitive campground with an energetically loyal fan base—embracing the more isolated plateau location with drop-dead gorgeous views of the Santa Lucia range and some views to the Pacific. The 68 campsites are larger than Creek but more open and exposed. The gravel roads and pads are fairly level. There are well-maintained pit toilets but no showers—you have to go down to Creek camp to shower. There’s a mile-long paved road up to Washburn from Creek. To get to the beach, hike down the foot trail or along the road, or drive down. Many hikes start at Washburn trailheads. We’ve found the serenity of Washburn is best experienced in the less-crowded off-season. We have our favorite sites, just as we do down in Creek campground.

CAMPSITE RATINGS: Garth and I have walked this campground, map in hand, rating all the campsites on a graded scale. This helps immensely when I’m online making reservations. I see which sites are available for our dates, then cross-reference to the ones we rated the highest. We make notes about what we like—big, level, nice shrubs or trees, view, etc. And what we don’t like—road noise, bright bathroom lights, too close to neighbors, dumpsters, etc. I’m happy to send you a copy. Just send me an email on my contact page and mention that you want the San Simeon rating map. I promise I will never sell your email! I’m all about sharing camping information, not your personal info.

TICKS: Generally speaking, where there are deer, there will be ticks. Because our area rarely freezes, ticks are present year-round. But the most active time for adult ticks is May-July. The coastal trails in the park are great fun—just take the usual tick-prevention precautions and check yourself carefully after hiking.

CELL SERVICE: There’s usually none in Creek. You’ll get one or two bars in Washburn, two at entrance station, or over near the highway. Wi-Fi: Usually available at the amphitheater, or across the street from the amphitheater in front of the Employee Residence using password ParksWIFI or up at the bench by the entrance station. If you have a Wi-Fi booster, it may help. We just take our phones when we walk the dog and plop down on the aforementioned convenient bench (“dubbed Cell Phone Bench”) to check email, etc.

RESERVATIONS: They’re made through the ReserveCalifornia www.reservecalifornia.com, up to six months in advance. For multi-day stays, you’d better plan ahead for summer camping, though you can usually find a site in Washburn relatively last-minute. As of this writing, the fees are a reasonable $35/night for San Simeon Creek and $20/night for Washburn. Dump station fee is $10. No dog fee. Seniors get $2 off. Not bad for such a pretty place to stay.

There are several RV rental companies on the Central Coast that will deliver and set up an RV to be all ready for your use when you arrive.

If you’ve had an experience at San Simeon State Park Campground that would be helpful for other readers, please send that along to me too.

Make sure to add Hearst San Simeon State Park to your list of camp spots. We’ll see you there!