Stillwater Cove Regional Park

This was a nice place had a good time the site was a bit small. I would say you can’t really tell how big the site is the pictures are a bit hard to tell. They are taken sideways from the road not straight on for all the campsites. It was nice and quiet and beautiful area and not far from the beach. But if you aren’t careful you can really get a super small site.

Overall the campground was good. Close to the water and relatively quiet and not busy. However, when booking online they don’t do the best to describe how your site is set up. Based off the picture I was expecting the site to be fairly spacious, with a large driveway for parking and area for setting up tents. I was wrong. The parking for most spots is a small pullout alongside the road barely big enough for two relatively small vehicles. The usable space on the site was pretty limited as well. There was almost zero level area to set up a tent, and sites were really small. With that being said, if you do your research and know what to do expect/plan accordingly I’d say it’s worth staying.

There were several felled trees behind my site and the camp host said they were told not to process it due to labor costs. Just a few branches gave me a huge bonfire.
My site had a shared pad and the campsite was sold out. I was dreading when they would pull in, but they never showed up. There is a wonderful trail through redwoods down to the beach. The campers were friendly and invited me for breakfast.

I spent one Saturday night in November at this small campground. It had all of the basics amenities except for clean water. There is a boil notice for the whole campground to not consume unboiled water due to testing positive for E. Coli. My campsite was adequate and has plenty of parking, although you have to pay extra if you bring more than 1 vehicle. There were other campsites with very small parking areas and small site as well. The camp host was friendly and ranger was on site as well. A short walk to the woods and the beach are convenient. No cell service for me in this area.

Mellow campground. Well maintained.

The trailhead to the beach or a forest hike is right next to the overflow parking lot.

The beach is rocky and not suitable for swimming but there were lots of people fishing.

The hikes are simply gorgeous and no one was on the trail despite a full campground.

A good mix of small travel trailers and tent camping.

Firewood is available. The water is not suitable for drinking due to e.Coli.

There are no first come first serve sites, or ability to take unreserved sites and everything must be reserved using the site. This was frustrating because empty sites went unused and the camp host was unwilling to let anyone use them lest someone made a last second online reservation.

We camped at site 15. It was nice and fit a 18ft travel trailer perfectly. It was not a back in site so our trailer was a great privacy wall against the road and there were nice trees on the other side. A small berm blocked the other site on either side.

We found a HUGE tick in my daughters hair so check yourselves.

The dump station started to back up about halfway through dumping our gray water, so beware. I notified the ranger and he was pretty nonchalant about it.

Others reviews say they didn’t have cell but we have AT&T’s and had good coverage

We decided on this park based on the reviews and pictures. It was out first attempt at boondocking, and we noticed water and dump was available on the premises, so we figured we were set. Unfortunately, when we arrived all of the water faucets were placarded with E. Coli warnings! I only brought up about 1/3 of a tank of water along with 6 gallons of drinking water. Given this, we immediately went into conservation mode! We ended up picking up 4gal of drinking water and pouring it into the fresh water tank for dishes and flushes.

We chose Site #7, which was one of the few "shared" pads. Even so, it was a left site so our door faced out towards trees. You can definitely hear the waves crashing from the site, which was awesome. Just loud enough to hear, but not overwhelming. Highway 1 is about 200m from the campground, so you will hear the occasional car drive by. Walking around I'd say Site #10 is the best...very isolated and a great view of trees all around.

I can confirm there is no cell service nor wifi at the campground. We had to drive about a mile north to pick up a signal. There are a couple restaurants close that do have wifi.

I recommend taking the canyon loop trail, and also take the short trail down to the actual Stillwater cove. The trailhead is in the day use area. I'd also recommend visiting Fort Ross and Shell Beach, which has great tidepooling at low tide (the camp host posts the tides at the campsite).

We saw the camp host was on site, but we didn't actually see them at all. We just placed our receipt on the dash in case they came by when we were out.

Driving down the coast is always breathtaking, however if you ever find yourself driving down and finding those heavy coastal turns too nauseating, THEN YOU HAVE TO STOP HERE!

This beach has a picnic area, a bathroom, a small stream leading to the ocean and a nice wading area for the kids to get their feet wet before heading back on the road! I love this spot but be careful, this is a dangerous beach due to the sleeper waves!!

Only 23 spots, but forested and lots of space. Reservable, but we drove up on July 3 by 6pm and had no problem. Hot showers are $2 in quarters for 5min and 25 cents for more time, and hosts have change. Clean bathrooms, water, flat sites are few for tents. Wood for purchase. NO cell service but they have a pay phone. Very quiet, with the sound of the waves down the cliff in the distance. $35 self pay per night, but the host is there too. Stores are 5 miles away and close by 6pm.

This is the most picturesque campground! Short walk to a rocky beach across highway 1. Beach is not for swimming since the rip tides are dangerous. Abalone diving for experienced folks. You can find plenty of treasures on the beach including abalone shells (just make sure you leave the live abalone alone). During low tide you can find tons of crabs, sea stars, sea urchins and more! Walk through the redwoods by the creek for an incredible tour of the forest. A short trail to the old school house and you can also take the trail a short walk or drive up the highway for beautiful sunsets among the cliffs. Some spectacular views of the ocean. Kid friendly, family friendly, friends friendly!! One of my favorite campgrounds on highway 1! 10 mile drive to a winery, and fort Ross as well as Salt Point state park!

This is a lovely little corner of the universe. We used to come here for abalone diving. The campground is perched just above Stillwater Cove- so just a couple minute hike down through the redwoods to get to the beach. A really nice feature of this campground is the fish butchering station away from the campsites. That way it is fine to get guts all over the place and then have a way to wash off - there was a hose or something right there. Campsites were really nice- most of them seemed pretty shady- I don't imagine they're warm most days of the year, but the beach warms up.