West Coast Campsite Availability

[Adiabatman]

We're contemplating a trip from the DC to southern CA and then up the Pacific Coast to OR. We generally travel without reservations and I'm not too concerned about heading west. But I am worried that it might be difficult finding sites along the PCH in June. Any advice? Thanks.

fred

[2gypsies1]

jeepgal wrote:
I also recommend reservations along the Oregon coast. State parks can be booked up to 9 months in advance and pretty much all the popular ones will be booked almost solid Memorial Day to Labor Day. You may find spots here and there, but will be limited.

As for wing_zealot's comment about Walmart parking, along the Oregon coast, there's maybe only a couple Walmarts, not too much in the way of commercialization over there. There may be private campgrounds that can be found, but space is still probably limited.

I don't think Hwy 1 has any WalMarts. 🙂

OP: You didn't state the size of your RV and if it's long there are sections of Hwy 1 PCH you do not want to be on. Take 101. Park it and use your vehicle to sitesee.

Also, Oregon's state parks on the coast, Cape Blanco at the southern end and Washburne near Florence do not even accept reservations. Plan to be there early the first part of the week and you'll get a site. We did. We love Cape Blanco - rough and wild!

We've also used other Oregon coastal parks without reservations. It can be done but you need to be there in the morning - Beverly Beach, Bullards Beach, Harris Beach, Fort Stevens. We find there are always cancellations.

[jeepgal]

I also recommend reservations along the Oregon coast. State parks can be booked up to 9 months in advance and pretty much all the popular ones will be booked almost solid Memorial Day to Labor Day. You may find spots here and there, but will be limited.

As for wing_zealot's comment about Walmart parking, along the Oregon coast, there's maybe only a couple Walmarts, not too much in the way of commercialization over there. There may be private campgrounds that can be found, but space is still probably limited.

[wing_zealot]

What is the down side to making a reservation ahead of time? Why wait? Or go ahead with no reservations and worse comes to worse you'll spend a bunch of nights in a Walmart parking lot with no air conditioning.

[missourijan]

Don't let others discourage you. When we hosted at Emma Wood in Ventura we usually had open sites during the week. Weekends may be booked up.

[Flapper]

djgarcia wrote:

Adiabatman wrote:
We're contemplating a trip from the DC to southern CA and then up the Pacific Coast to OR. We generally travel without reservations and I'm not too concerned about heading west. But I am worried that it might be difficult finding sites along the PCH in June. Any advice? Thanks.

fred

Your "no" reservations plan will result in the following possibilities:
1. severely limit/alter your RV park choices
2. add a level of anxiety or frustration during your travel as you wonder about your next day's reservations.
3. June will be the HIGH season for other tourists and local people who will impact your traveling and sight seeing activities.
The Calif. and Oregon coasts are high tourist attractions any time of the year but especially during the summer months. Reservations do not limit your RV travels or choices. Reservations are only plans to deviate from--You can cancell or change reservations!!!!

X2 to this!
Did the trip a couple of years ago. We were able to find spots, but it was a matter of researching/reserving a couple of days ahead, and be willing to either find State Parks that were inland and/or finding a private CG. Many is the place (public and private) we would check that was completely full. It was tight, and there were some high anxiety days where I was convinced we would just have to keep driving.....it also meant many times that if we found a spot, we might have to leave no matter what, as it was reserved for the coming weekend, etc. Not fun burning a couple of hours every day or three trying to find the next place we could stay.

BTW - we learned after the fact - travel North to South, if you can. There are sights you won't see being on the other side of the road, and many ocean side pull outs that you can't get to from the north bound lane.

[Adiabatman]

Thanks for the tips. I can see the wisdom of calling ahead a bit to check availability.

[goducks10]

donkeydew wrote:
if you do it i would suggest a list of parks and start calling each morning before you get to far down the road. it is prime season and the coast is a magnet.
i live in the portland area and will not consider heading any where on the left coast without reservation in the summer

z2. We don't even go to the coast hardly in the summer. Too crowded. Hwy 101 is slow going. Tourists of all kinds all summer long. We much prefer going before Memorial Day and after Labor Day. Some of the best weather is in Sept/Oct.

[donkeydew]

if you do it i would suggest a list of parks and start calling each morning before you get to far down the road. it is prime season and the coast is a magnet.
i live in the portland area and will not consider heading any where on the left coast without reservation in the summer

[bikendan]

Coastal SoCal campsites for the summer, are probably already all booked up.
June was probably booked up last December.

Expecting SoCal campsites, in the summer, to be available only a month in advance, is a fantasy.
California State Beach campsites are usually all reserved the first day tney become available.

Oregon's coastal state parks are almost as bad.

If you're doing this now, you'll have to go inland or hope there are some private parks with some8.

Have been camping on the West Coast for over 30 years and we have always made reservations.
We also stopped camping during the summer months, about 15 years ago.
Too crowded and too competitive for camping.

We now camp just spring and fall. Way more pleasant.

[Rocky2]

Oregon State Parks are among the best, if not the best, in the country. You will find on their website which parks are first come first serve. I have camped for years on the Oregon coast without reservations. It is doable if you are not trying to adhere to a schedule. That said, the most popular of the parks you can reserve will book out quickly.

[leesan]

Most of the California state campgrounds on the coast are fully booked by now. The booking time is 6 months in advanced. In So.Ca when you want a campground on the beach it takes only a few minutes for all them sites to be gone. I have been doing this for many years so I know how it is.Maybe you will have better luck looking into private ones.This year I tried to make reservations for Memorial Day at a State beach campground near San Diego but couldn't get in,all sites were gone within 5 minutes. Good luck

[missourijan]

X2 on what djgarcia said. We volunteered for 5 seasons at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura, CA. Even though it's beautiful weather all year long, summer is definitely high season and you REALLY need reservations anywhere along the coast. You can check reserveamerica.com for CA state park reservations. The state parks don't have hookups as a rule. Another comment, Southern CA is not rv friendly, few rv parks and PCH doesn't go all the way up the coast. It starts in southern Orange County, goes through Los Angeles County, then ends again in Ventura County. 101 is the road you will be traveling on north of Ventura County. Be prepared for frustrating traffic and make reservations!
Also, don't go on Hwy 1 (PCH) north of San Francisco, don't know how big your rig is but it's a really winding road with switchbacks that is NOT a place for rv's. Find a park and drive it in your toad/tow vehicle.

[the_bear_II]

For Friday or Saturday stops I would make reservations. If you will be staying in one spot for a weekend I would make reservations.

Sunday through Thursday stops you may be able to get a spot without reservation unless the campground is near a high volume tourist destination (San Francisco, Big Sur, Carmel...etc.). The farther north past San Francisco the easier it will be to get a space at will. Anywhere in Southern California up to San Francisco the campgrounds are sometimes booked a year in advance for Friday thru Sunday.

[jmtandem]

I definately would have reservations in California during the summer and especially the weekends.