Bluffs Campground, near San Clemente, California, is a fantastic spot for those who love beach camping with easy access to the surf. This place is known for its clean facilities, including restrooms and showers, making it a comfortable choice for families and friends looking to enjoy the great outdoors.

The campground is right on the beach, which is perfect for catching some waves or just soaking up the sun. Many visitors have praised the beautiful views and the proximity to the ocean, although some noted that the beach can be a bit rocky. If you're planning to camp here, be ready for a bit of a hike to reach the shore, but the effort is worth it for the stunning scenery.

Amenities include picnic tables and fire pits at each site, allowing for cozy evenings under the stars. Just a heads up, the sites can feel a bit cramped, and some campers have mentioned that it resembles a parking lot at times. Still, the vibrant atmosphere and the chance to meet fellow campers make it a lively place to stay.

For those who enjoy surfing, the waves here are decent, and the area is popular with surfers. Just keep in mind that the campground is near a freeway, so expect some noise, especially at night. If you're looking for a fun beach getaway, Bluffs Campground is a solid choice that offers a mix of relaxation and adventure.

San Onofre Campground and day-use parking along Old Highway 101 adjacent to the beautiful sandstone bluffs. This beach below is popular with swimmers and surfers with six rugged dirt access trails cut into the bluff above. All campsites include a fire pit and picnic table. The campground offers cold outdoor showers and chemical toilets. No RV hookups are available, however, there is a RV dump-station.

Bluffs Campground — San Onofre State Beach

Join the fun near San Clemente. With tons of outdoor activities and scenic camping, this is an excellent vacation spot for all kinds of travelers. San Clemente is an adventure-filled destination for those who love the outdoorsy camper lifestyle. But it's also great for those who prefer to spend time near the city, exploring and sightseeing. Get the dirt on all the best camping near San Clemente. Browse campgrounds by amenities, site types, and more.

San Clemente

The Best Camping Near San Clemente, California

Beach camping is something else. I much rather prefer mountains, forests, and woods...there was something beautiful about this place as well. As far as the campsites go, it's a long stretch of 150+ rows of sites that are practically parking spots. You get a concrete parking spot that parks about 2 long RVs, and a very small 10x10 dirt patch. Some sites are bigger than others, but all of them include a fire pit ring with grill &amp; a wooden picnic table.

The campsites are rather close together so be prepared for LOTS of noise and people walking through your site to get to the restrooms. The beach is the best part of this place. It's secluded and quiet. Great for surfers! If you're into nude tanning, that's available as well. BEWARE OF BEES!

Great for surfers and day trips

I have camped at this state beach many times. Easy drive up car campingnor RV. Easy hike down to the beach and you usually have most of it to yourself.

Great family beach camping 

Only open during a portion of the year this campground is the true beach camping experience. While it can be used for day use throughout the year when I first visited this area I was so upset that it was not open and instead ended up staying at another campground.

Upon my return I had to check it out and now it will be my exclusive campground when in the San Onofre area!

The views of the ocean are amazing from the sites. There are pull in spaces that you can park a small RV or adventure vehicle or green space for tents. I noticed a lot of surfers pulling in when I was there and hiking their boards down the bluff while others pulled in by the Camp Pendleton Beach front for the rocky beach shores.

The facilities include outdoor showers and sinks and nice bathrooms. It is perfect for a visit to the beach where you don't need a lot to make you happy.

Stairs stagger down the bluffs toward the beach where there is a lifeguard stand and a vast beach area for anyone wanting to brave the cold waters. It is a perfect place to catch the sunset on any given night as you can see for what seems to be eternity.

During the open season on weekends it fills up quickly, during the weekdays it is kind of busy as well but there are still some walk up spaces available. I would suggest calling for reservations in advance just to make sure.

Camping on the bluffs is a bit more expensive than I typically would be wanting to spend to stay in my tent, $40 dry camping. No hook ups are available at sites and with the exception of some picnic tables there isn't much else to talk about in way of the actual location. You will also find that there is an additional fee if you reserve online for "convenience", that was annoying but standard for all campgrounds in California.

Everyone I met there had such a chill vibe and so it made for a great camp.

One perk to the expensive fee is it does allow you access to the San Clemente beach area which has hot showers and a little different view to check out!!

TIPS:

* If trying to walk in arrive early otherwise there will be little chance of snagging a spot.

* Bring your firewood because there is none to forge and none available at the entrance.

* Pack a wetsuit the water is COLD so if you are planning on being in and engaging in any water sports you will be thankful!!

This is your true BEACH experience at San Onofre

Growing up in SoCal, I had thought this would be a lousy place to go camping when I would drive by on the 5 Freeway. But after I had gone with a group of friends for a weekend trip, I totally changed my mind. And here are the reasons why:

*   You can't hear the freeway traffic
*   The beach is uncrowded, plus every camp site has a fire ring and picnic table.
*   You can set up your tent or bring your RV (some guys merely set up cots next to their cars on the asphalt and slept under the stars)
*   World-renowned surfing just up the beach
*   The campground offers cold outdoor showers and chemical toilets. No RV hookups are available, however, there is a RV dump-station. 
*   Super long paved bike ride with no traffic which is great for the kids.
*   Great surf fishing
*   Unofficial nude beach is just south of the camp ground near Camp Pendleton.
*   The San Onofre Nuclear Plant was closed in 2013 if that is a concern for you.

Surprisingly Quiet & Relaxing Beach Camping with Freeway Access

We stayed here for Labor Day weekend and it was packed! There are no hookups but you can use a generator. We were surrounded by tent campers with 15 people in a site who partied all night yet complained when we used our generator during generator hours. It’s a hike to the beach and even then it’s more of a surfer’s beach than one for kids.

Pricey!

If you can get over the train coming by multiple times a night you will enjoy this campground. Beautiful beach views but frequent trains. Great for local oc residents

Beach campground but near train tracks

Hard to beat the scenery here. Camping cliff side along the beach in Southern California. The camp grounds are a little cramped. Seem more designed for RV’s and trailers but we don’t mind. You can take dogs here and hike down to the beach from trails 1&amp;6. Bathrooms are clean. Only outdoor showers though. I’ll go again!

Can’t beat the views !

$40 per night gets you a fire pit, table, bathrooms, water, showers, and the beach view. 

Nice area

The campground is super long. Which is good there are a lot of spots but it also feels sort of crammed and no privacy. They have cold outdoor showers and vault toilets. If you have never been to the area it's super confusing how to get to the beach. You can go to the public Access beach where it says 15 $ but if you are camping at San onofre, they will let you go in. If you go to the beach from the campsite there are a few trails. I will tell you we attempted to go down three different trails and couldn't make it. It's so steep, dangerous and not maintained. You really need hiking gear to get down it. I felt unsafe in my swimsuit and flip flops climbing down a steep bluff to get to the beach. The website makes it seem like it is an easy walk. It is not. If you go to trail one it was the most accessable. It was still really sketchy and a super steep hill for like half a mile but if you're desperate enough you will go down it. The first time we went to the public Access we had to wait in line for a hour. When it's really busy you just sit and wait basically until someone leaves so you can park. It just depends on the time you're there. Other than that the beach is awesome it's really unhabited, so not your typical Sandy white perfect beaches. The side by the bluffs are almost nicer bc there are a lot less rocks. The public Access side is really long but the side I was on the whole shore was Rocky where the water touched the sand. Seeing the ocean by the bluffs is pretty cool. But it comes with a price at this place. There is a lot of road noise which isn't unbearable and a metro train that passes through all night by the campsites. 

Was good, but thought it would be better

I read the reviews before coming, so I knew what to expect. I was aware of the showers with the bees, the freeway, the train and that it is a glorified parking lot. We brought ear plugs and slept like babies. During the day, we were down at the beach so it didnt bother us.  The trains do run passenger and freight trains, the passenger trains are quieter and shorter, but we did get to see a long freight train carry lots and lots of tanks which was interesting.

The RV sites are close together, but our neighbors were, friendly and nice. We had plenty of room for our popup camper with awning out and our car in the space.

We woke up to a view of the ocean past the bluff (not all sites have a view so we felt lucky for that).  There is a hike down to the beach (we went down trail 5) that does have a lot of river rock, but low tide gets you our past the rocks into the sand, there were surfers out but we had the shore to ourselves to play in the surf. When it's high tide and the wave retreats it makes a really cool sound with the rocks tumbling in the surf. We went down to watch the sunset and only had a couple other people on the whole beach, so we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.

The showers provided to rinse off did have bees during the day (at least 2 of the showers that were near us) so we had to forego rinsing off then.  The toilets are rv foot flush toilets, at least it wasnt a stinky pit.  The hosts did hose them out daily and kept them well stocked. 

There are sinks there to rinse your dishes, drinking fountains provided but no potable water available on site to fill any tanks, plan on filling up before you come or bring enough water with you to last.  There are dump stations on your way put to empty your tanks.

We packed up before check out time of noon and went to pay for a day pass to enjoy the beach awhile longer before we left, we were told our camp fee went all day so that saved us the daily rate, we went down to trail 1 and that beach was completely different, soft sandy beach, no rocks and still not a lot of people.

All in all it was not the nicest campground we've stayed at, but it was convenient to the beaches and they were nice enough that we would stay here again.


Would stay here again

Small sites, some are better than others. I took pictures of each type. Beach is very rocky, not much of a family beach but good for surfing. No hookups, there is a septic dump. Fire pits and tables at each site.
Very close to the highway but there is a hill in between some of the camp. Also close to the nuclear plant, I don’t know much about that.

Good for surfing, not a lot else

Kinda hard to get to the beach, camp sites are nice and have a table. Bathrooms can be far, we scootered to them 

Some good camping for California. 

We just spent 4 wonderful nights camping at San Onofre Bluffs with our 4 and 6 year old children. We brought a wagon to wheel the kids and gear down to the beach (a decent sized hike). The beach was spectacular and not too crowded. Make sure you bring a noise machine because the freeway noise is LOUD at night. 

Pros: fantastic beach 
Cons: noisy, no hookups, spots are very close together with no dividers/privacy 

Dry Beach Camping w/ Freeway Noise 

I've been coming here since the late 90s, and it's one of my favorite places. If you like to surf, the bluffs are great. The waves are decent and crowds are usually pretty minimal. Take a short stroll down the cliffs and stake out your piece of paradise on the sand. 

Cons: some people don't like the parking lot camping, and the 5 is right behind you so it never gets really quiet. Also, showers are cold water only. 

Camped here dozens of times

Campgrounds are on the cliffs but you can’t really see the ocean from most spots. It’s close enough to walk your boards to the beach which is nice but don’t expect and epic view or anything. Most of the campgrounds felt like a giant parking lot and spaces are very close together. Our neighbors set up camp in our space so moving them out made for an awkward vibe right when we arrived. 

It’s decent 

We spent 2 nights in a campsite by a berm and it was a nice spot to camp, but beach access was closed due to unstable cliffs. There were a lot of RVs and parties even on Wednesday.

The 3rd night we stayed near beach 6, and the sites were so small and close together people pitched their tents in the middle of the trail to the bathrooms 

Parking lots

Overall great beach camping. I've been coming to this campground with my family for a long time now. The spaces will up quickly on the weekends, so it's smart to make a reservation way ahead of time. Admittedly the camping spots are hit or miss. Some are on pavement and some are actually on the bluff. There are plenty of restrooms between sites, with beach showers. The beach is located at the bottom of the bluff and may require a bit of a hike to get to. Some beach trails are easier than others. The beach itself is a little rocky, but lovely and secluded. Popular with surfers. My tip for this campground is to scope the sites if you can. We always try to get the ones closest to our favorite beach trail.

Great beach camping

If you want tent camping on the coast, this is one of the few SoCal offerings that provides. The shortcoming is the proximity to the railroad, especially that 4am freight line which I’d be shocked didn’t wake everyone up who was tented. Other than that, the wave is worthwhile, but will require a lil hoofing to get ya there. Amenities were better then anticipated 

Fun but loud

Easy check in and lots are easily accessible where we were in Surfers Paradise. Right on the beach and great small wave surf spot. Super busy, I’ve heard you should book months in advance. We were able to get in for one night in mid July and it was the only spot available. 

Great  spot right on the beach. 

Restrooms and showers clean, facilities clean. Close to all major conveniences within a few miles. 50 degree nights, clear skis in late Jan. 

Photos of Bluffs Campground — San Onofre State Beach

Real photos from real campers