mattole campground northern ca

This camp and the entire Lost Coast is closed till May 30 and might be longer. There is a triple killer loose that knows the area well.

I haven't found a single good boondocking spot for big rigs on the coast. Very, very difficult.

In OR you'll find plenty of great State Parks and even some NFS campgrounds that can take a bigger size. Some of them do have dry-camping sites. This is your best bet for easy, coast-accessible big rig spots. There are even a few "pure" dry-camping possibilities in OR (e.g. the harbor at Winchester Bay comes to mind...right on the water for $14/night), plus several free overnight spots like some of the Casino's (e.g. The Mill Casino in Coos Bay or Three Rivers Casino in Florence)

In CA it gets more limited. Overnighting by the road is prohibited (at least all the places we've been) and even the State Parks are tight in many spots. There are options, like others have mentioned, but free boondocking is not really one of them.

Halfway down this Webpage, see the Satellite view pic. Using the Tools at the left of the image, you can zoom in by hitting the plus symbol. Note the vehicle sizes, or get a feel for things by referencing items like Picnic Tables. Using the Directional Arrow Tools, you can move to the right and follow the Road while zoomed out and noting show sharp the curves are. A call to the State Highway Dept. or the CHP/Sheriff/BLM might help. They don't call this area 'The Lost Coast' for nothin'! Google in that term to research the area. It's on my Short List to visit.

Mattole Beach Campground

Mattole Beach Pictures

Well, technically Mattole is dry camping, not boondocking. And there is dry camping on the coast for big rigs. Kirk Creek in Big Sur, for example. And Prairie Creek up in the Redwoods. And lots of great stuff in Oregon and Washington.

I wish there were true boondocking near the ocean, but I have not found any. Maybe in Baja? Someday, when the situation calms down, I will go back there.

It looks amazing though. Im starting to realize there's no cool boondocking places anywhere near the coast for larger rigs. Very frustrating :( thanks for tho info.

I was there in 2007. Great beachcombing, great solitude, extreme wind. Would I go again? Yes! Would I take a large vehicle there? No!

photo of one of the better parts of the road



photos of campground. I think I was the only camper left by bedtime.

By the way, this is what the area near the campground looks like -- this is taken from the bluff above the campground -- the campground itself is hidden by the cliff. The river mouth is just to the north of the campground:



And notice that the plants in the foreground are blurry because the wind was blowing at around 30 knots!

The road is not very busy for a reason. We took the toad there and my recollection is there were limited number of sites and they were not very big...truck campers if I recall right. I would rather camp in the redwoods and drive there.

Beautiful campground -- on the beach in the middle of nowhere. Very twisty road. I would NOT take a big trailer on that road. I took my little trailer, and half the time I would come around a hairpin turn and find myself looking at the backside of my trailer. Thank goodness, no traffic. Talk to the local sheriff before you try that road with a big rig.