Best Campgrounds near Crescent City, CA

The entrance is well marked. The drive to the check-in office winds around a residence on a tight dirt road, so proceed slowly. The check in was pleasant, nice folks here. Our pull trough site was great. Very private with a planted wall on one side, and patio on the other side that has plants screening it. We thought we got one of the best sites, but looking around, we saw other sites that offered some space and privacy. There is a pond area that is very nice and as the name suggests, azaleas and other colorful plants abound the park. On 2 different occasions,  we hiked out of the park, up the road to Sue-meg park and hiked tails and points there. If you have All Trails, it will be helpful. Not too many rules here, biggest two is don't smoke or charge your EV. I would stay here again.

2 days prior to check in, I received a call from Turtle Rock. They noticed my reserved site would not fit both my truck and trailer, so they asked if they could change it. I appreciated the attention to detail. Check in was nice. The office is next to the Mexican restaurant which is next to Arch Rock Brewery, a great set up. Walk from your site, to both. We had a pull through site. When in the site, a tree was rubbing into the RV. A very nice and alert worker came and trimmed the trees so as to fix the problem. Before setting up, it looked like the sewer would need at least one extension. The sewer connections are in some strange places, mostly in front of the RV by quite aways.(see picture). Our neighbors sewer was right next to our picnic table on the camp side. I looked around other sites... pretty much the same. Pretty intrusive. The location allows beach access from the park. Just head towards the bridge and a trail will lead you there. Good place, there 3 nights.

Pretty nice campground, a good mile plus off the main highway and down in a valley, so you feel like you are out in the remote wilderness. However, it's still a state park campground in a very popular summer area (Redwoods NP), so the park was packed as to be expected, and lots of families and kids, all doing the things kids to when they camp (be loud). I'm not hating, I'm a parent, and I'm pro kids being kids while camping. But when I'm on a solo trip, I prefer peace and quiet. But again, I knew what I was probably going to get when I booked here. Truth is, there just isn't much for dispersed camping opportunists in the area. So, I made the best of it. And kudos to the kids and their parents, come quite time around 9pm, things went completely silent.

The spots are fairly close together, but the nature of the vegetation made for "walls" around the spots, which offered some privacy. Bathrooms were clean, and they do have showers (but I didn't partake, not stinky enough just yet).

A few of the spots have parking at the bottom of a small ledge, then you need to climb steps to get up to the camp area. Didn't look to bad, but something to keep in mind when booking your spot, try to find a camp map/pictures to see which ones are like that.

There are several spots on both the main Chetco River (North Fork) and the smaller south fork that meanders into it.

There's one pit toilet near a circle of 3-4 sites on the rivers. This is pretty wild camping, no amenities, but quiet camping. Probably best to use a car or truck with a little clearance but most cars should work unless it's wet and muddy.

We saw a beaver swim up the river. We also saw a small herd of cows that rolled through. There's private land nearby so we assume they are escapees or allowed to roam.

The spot is officially called South Forks Campground and there's a sign there once you go down off the main road a bit.