Burlington Campground — Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Recent rains resulted in several of the campsites being closed, but there were still spots available on my late arrival. Restrooms and showers were clean and conveniently located. Avenue of the Redwoods is an amazing drive!

Beautiful campground in Humboldt State Redwoods State Park right on Avenue of the Giants. Showers and toilets were decent. As a solo female camper, I felt very safe. It rained when I was there but the trees cover a lot of ground so I only felt some drops. The other folks camping when I was there were respectful, relaxed, and low-key. Truly stunning and serene area.

I got lucky and snagged a campsite as a first come first served on a Monday evening back in June. I love this campground as it’s easily accessible and has all of the basic needs. Bathrooms with electricity and flushing toilets. Firewood sold on site. Visitors center next door and of course trails leading through the redwoods. The sites are pretty large and had enough parking, but there is a fee for additional vehicles.

This campground is secluded and private and has a great location along the avenue of the giants. The downside for me was the clear evidence of logging the old giant redwoods within the campground.

We discovered this campground 4 years ago and were so excited to return this year. It remains in our top 5 favorite campgrounds. It is situated directly along avenue of the giants scenic route. So the only possible Negative would be the occasional road noise. Typical SP campground with full bathroom structures and coin op showers. This campground does not have a dump station nor any hookup Sites. They limit RV and trailer Length to 24ft with good reason. The road through camp is narrrow and windy and, literally, curving through a redwood grove. There really isn’t a bad site here. The high teen and 50’s are closest to the avenue. The mid 20-30 are along a creek. Sites can appear full online, but the host and ranger will Post a daily list of sites not booked or Vacated that can be FCFS on the day for 1 night. The visitor center for Humboldt redwood SP is adjacent to this campground and has some great wildlife and history exhibits as well As a small Gift shop.
Immediately across the street are ancient groves and nature trail. It’s truly a wonderland

This is a great campground and I feel so fortunate to have scored a reservation after the high season was already well underway. (For the record, almost all sites were reserved when I went on a weekday in July, but ADA sites were all open and mostly remained unused.)

It is not perfect: My site had not insignificant road noise from Highway 101, which you can see above you through the trees (the campground is down a hill and there are a lot of trees in the way, but nonetheless, there are plenty of trucks and other vehicles flying down the road at all hours of the day and night). The road on the other side of the campground is another popular one for people looking at the redwoods and heading out for hikes, so there’s that.

Nonetheless, this was a beautiful spot nestled amongst the redwoods. I was surprised there were so many sites in the campground because you just don’t feel like there are tons of people there with you. I was perhaps a bit too close to the bathrooms/showers and had a few people walk RIGHT past my van (like, to the point where it startled me!) with their headlamps in the middle of the night. But the campground itself is great and everyone seemed so friendly and kind while I was there, just a good solid crowd from all over the place, lots of Canadians, handful of locals, people with all types of trailers that were lots of fun to check out.

The campground itself does not have wifi but the ranger station next door does. Cell service was mediocre and spotty.

Quiet place with only tents and small trailers. Lots of shade (not great for solar, we did get some) No pesky critters. Clean private bathrooms and showers. Limited trials for dogs. Very limited. A small amount of poison oak. Close town for restaurants and stores. An 45 minutes to Eureka

Beautiful campground in the redwoods. Very cool visitors center next door.

[Internet. Verizon via iPhone 12: 16 mbps down and 0.20 mbps up with 38 ms ping. T-Mobile via Nighthawk MR-1100 - 6 mbps down and 0.69 up with 97 ms ping.]

I just love this campground. It’s an immersive experience. We were so glad to extend our trip from 2 to 4 days. There’s these birds that sing at dawn and dusk (springtime at least). It’s a kind of sound that starts strong and drops off like they they gave up singing halfway. Such a wonderful sound to wake up to. The bird is called a varied thrush. ❤️

PROS

→ You are camping in the redwood forest. → Next door to visitor center. You can get quarters for the showers here. → Has cell signal which I normally wouldn’t care to have in a place like this. Since there was signal, we could stay in this beautiful place and I could work on the two additional add-on days instead of having to move on to Eureka right away in search of signal. → It has a woodsy camping experience. RV sizes are limited to 25 feet so there’s mostly tent campers. → Sites are spaced apart. There’s no privacy trees but I mean redwoods aren’t good privacy trees. They are good at absorbing sound though so it’s quieter. They won’t save you from running, screaming kids though.

CONS - low level cons at that

→ Right off Avenue of the Giants so there’s some car noise but not bad at night. → Showers are quarter operated which is par for the course in California. Here it’s 25¢/minute. The water is mostly warm but pressure and temperature drop when toilets are flushing. I highly recommend showering midday since there’s less people in the campground thereby less people using the bathroom facilities. → Firewood is $10 but burns well. Standard bundle size.

4.5-stars — It’s near perfect except for the pay showers which gets me every time. For weekend warriors it’s likely a 5-star campground!

FYI ON RESERVE CALIFORNIA: The website doesn’t allow online reservations within 48 hours of your intended camping start date. I kept checking online to see if there was a last minute cancellation. Online kept showing 0 sites available. I went to the camp office and their system showed our site being free for two more days. You can only pay for the site one day at a time FCFS. They take credit card. When the office window is closed, then I believe it’s cash only envelope style.

—————————— [Rig. Mercedes Sprinter. 22 feet]

Dump station? - No Water fill? - No but there are water spigots throughout Clean site? - Yes Clean bathroom? - Yes (even has soap!) Flush toilet? - Yes Showers? - Yes, quarter operated Laundry? - No Dish washing sink? - Yes

Right off the 101, you'll have no problem finding this place on your way through the Humboldt redwoods. Absolutely beautiful grounds. Just surreal. 

This place was perfect for what we needed, which was just one night on our way out to the NorCal coast from the Bay Area. Weather was very tolerable for a late November stay -- chilly early morning that thawed out as the sun beat down.

 You'll hear a tiny bit of highway traffic, but not much. It's really serene, especially if you can grab a site that's farther off the road.

Access to nearby trails is obviously exceptional. We had a great time exploring the Eel River at Leatherwood Bar, where we did some rockhounding and exploring with the dog.

Not the most privacy, but the trees offer some cover from other campsites, which was good enough for us especially since the sites were nicely spaced out.

Quiet campground blanketed in shade from the most incredible trees.

Clean individual bathrooms!

Love this place - so peaceful and beautiful. Great campsites. Bathrooms and showers were very well maintained. Lots of hiking options.

We only spent one night here. It was a stop over for us heading north. We pulled in at midnight and woke up to beautiful trees we weren’t able to see in the dark. It is right next to the road if road noise bothers anyone. We were fine with it as we were only staying here one night. The bathrooms are clean and the camp host is very nice.

This is a must-stop if you enjoy foresty camping in the trees. Threaded throughout the giant redwoods, this campground is just a hop skip and a jump away from the avenue of the giants. Towering trees cast shadows at all times of day—dress warm! Coin operated showers and clean restrooms were very comfortable and the best of all campgrounds we enjoyed on this trip. Byo firewood if you count on having a campfire—it’s damp. Don’t skip this campground, it was one of our most beloved stays

Reserve online at https://www.reservecalifornia.com

There's nothing quite as special as camping amongst giants. Spots are spaced out and plenty big for rigs (24' for us). There are easy trails across the Avenue of the Giants, longer hikes in the area, and visitor info next door. Unfortunately, the closet town is Fortuna about half an hour away. It is a beautiful drive, though, and camping here is a must for anyone.

Camp site 12 backs up to a fence (houses or cabins occupied behind the fence) and had decent space from other sites. Large picnic table, bear locker and tall fire pit on site. Bathrooms are a short walk and were mostly clean with flushable toilets, sink and soap (no towels or dryer to dry hands). There was a water spigot right next to the sight with potable water. Being surrounded by trees was lovely. The campground’s natural features seems a little worn and weathered with some trees damaged and well worn paths. You can can purchase wood onsite for $8. Right across the street from the campground is a nice nature trail and leads to the river.

Campground is very clean. Lots of smaller sites packed closely together. Campground backs to the busy hwy 101 on one side and then to the slightly less busy Avenue of the Giants on the other so you hear cars and trucks all night long. Traveled here with another couple and were unable to get sites next to each other.

Located right next to the area’s visitor center which is really cool. This mini-museum with gift shop tells the fascinating history of the area. They also do a Junior Ranger program every few days which gives the kids a scavenger hunt to do which also serves as an excellent guide to the Avenue of the Giants and it’s surrounding Redwood groves.

All-in-all there are better campgrounds in the Humboldt area worth considering.

One of my all time favorites. I’ve been staying here with my family since I was a young boy. The campground is well maintained and has flush toilets and coin op showers. No hookups here but the dry camp is well worth your time. Tons of shade so don’t expect your solar panels to keep your battery charged.

Just passed the camp and it looks really nice

Nice campground for trailers and tents with relatively large sites interspersed in the redwood trees. The shared bathrooms have showers (25¢/minute for water) and are all clean and updated. There are fire pits and picnic tables in each site. The summer charge was $35/night.

If you find yourself traveling through the redwoods while driving the Avenue of the Giants this is a really nice little campground to stop in and spend the night. They have first come, first serve for any unreserved spots, and during the week there are typically a few available. However, they can only be used for one night at a time. 

The campground has access to the South Fork of the Eel River right across the street for swimming and fishing, and hiking trails nearby. Much of the campground is surrounded by huge redwoods and the stumps left from fallen or logged trees, which are in themselves enormous, and so much fun for kids to play on! There is also a nearby town, Myers Flat which has a store and the awesome Drive Thru Tree! The only downside to this campground is the size of the sites, which are crammed together and don’t have much privacy.

Every site is nestled among a grove of old growth California Redwoods - books up a long time in advance / I was lucky to get a walk up site. Great amenities and right on Avenue of the Giants

This has been a favorite site for us. It's nestled right in the redwoods and there is a ton to explore around it. There are trails right across the road and you're right next to the visitor center. VC has WiFi and the campground had great Verizon service.

I ended up here because the Hidden Springs Campground down the road was closed. The highlight of the Burlington campground is that it's right by the Visitors Center so you have easy access to the wifi, free coffee in the morning, and lots of educational opportunities. In fact, I even had wifi access at my campsite. The campground was almost full when I arrived without a reservation around dinner time mid-September.

The campground and most of the campsites are pretty close to the main Avenue of the Giants road so if you're a light sleeper this may be an issue. The campsites are large and spacious but there isn't much privacy between them as the undergrowth is largely absent. There are showers, flush toilets, plenty of water spigots, and tables and bear lockers in each site. Unfortunately my site was pretty far from the facilities and there didn't seem to be a direct way to access them without going through others' campsites or walking way around on the road.

There are also really wonderful looking hiker-biker sites. The entire area is incredible and if you have time, take a slow drive through the trees. Ask the rangers for good local hikes and take lots of stops along the turnouts. I definitely do not regret taking the Avenue of the Giants rather than the faster 101.

Sites were reasonably private and tucked amongst towering redwoods. Right off Avenue of the Giants, this campground is a great location to explore some spectacular old growth redwoods and the Eel river nearby. This area is magical.