Best Glamping near Fortuna, CA

I stayed here twice for a total of eight days. Many long-term Residents give the place a seedy feeling. Ultimately it is safe and secure. And well managed. The bathroom is clean, heated, free showers and the combination is changed weekly. Large grassy area with good spacing between most RVs. I was in the middle of the campground for short term parking. Because of recent rains and some soggy areas I had to overnight campers close to me. 30 amp and 50 amp power and water at each side. The largest downside to this place is the RV dump station inside the fairgrounds. It’s the worst one that I’ve ever used. It needs to be completely rebuilt. No ultimately it did work. Great location to the picturesque town of Ferndale California. Also a convenient location for exploring the Lost Coast area. 12 miles away from Eureka California which has a Costco and Patriot gas station on the south end of town has a car wash that can accommodate RVs.

Amazing campground nestled amongst the heart of the Redwood Trees. Lots of shade throughout area but limited privacy due to proximity of sites and road noise. Bathhouse has water and basic shower amentities. Nice hiking trails to explore the Redwoods within walking distance of campground. Great location to explore the forest and access the rugged California coastline.

This is one of the nicest and quietest California State Parks in the system. The individual sites are separated by foliage and everything is green. The walk to Agate Beach is a must, where you can find interesting drift wood and other interesting beachcombing stuff. Need to reserve your campsite early, however you might luck out if you just show up. The staff is very friendly.

Emerald Forest is just that, nestled in a forest. It was a little muddy when we visited but California was smack dab in the middle of a very wet season. Our campsite was level and secluded. The bathrooms were clean and showers had nice warm water, did have to pay for the showers but a couple quarters isn’t much. We stayed two nights and walked to town every morning for coffee and scones from Beachcomber…delicious! Our dogs absolutely loved running on the beach which was also a couple mile walk away. Our second visit to this campground was as good as our first. Love this place and would return again.

We stayed for one night as we were passing thru from Oregon to Central California.

Pros

• No cell service
• In the trees, very secluded
• Flush potties.
• Nice swimming hole, the water was warm in mid June. This seems to be the primary attraction for this area. Most of the families were gathered along the shore and playing in the water.
• Hiking straight out of the camp ground. But, it is a very steep trail, so make sure you bring a walking stick(s) and wear proper gear. This is also a heavy bear area, so pack your bear spray.
• Best for tent or car camping.
• Nice fire pits, wood for sale at office
• Fantastic place for kids… so many families with young children.
• The camp host and other campers were really friendly.

Cons

• Close to the road, we heard vehicles all night. We were in a hard sided camper two rows away from the road and could hear them inside. It’s got to be really loud for people closer and in tents.
• Tight spots and everyone is packed closely together (Check out the video).
• No electric, site water, dumping, or showers.
• Not suited for most RVs and travel trailers, you need to be very small and fully self contained. Our 19’ A-Line barely fit into our spot. The sites are close together, short, with roots coming up in the road and parking areas, and sharp angled turns to get into your spot. A lot of spot have over hanging tree limbs. We made it in our spot because our camper is super low profile during travel mode. Would not have been able to fit under the tree limbs with a normal camper.
• Hwy 36 from the 101 is very curvy with lots of narrow areas and very few turn offs.
• Not a good place for dogs, very few areas they are allowed other than your camp site. Upon arriving we receive a yellow sheet letting us know why our dog was a problem for wildlife in this area and all the reasons we should not bring him with us next time.

Over all, I this campground would be a fun place for families, wanting to disconnect from technology for a weekend of tent camping.

General: Five campgrounds – Agate, Abalone, Penn (tents only), and two group campgrounds (Red Alder and Beach Creek) situated just north of Trinidad. 

Site Quality: Not all sites are created equal. Many are not level; we had a challenge in Site 123 and saw a few others in the same situation. Fortunately, we changed our sleeping position (we don’t carry levelers for our van) and parked sideways. We did see some larger RVs but many of the sites would be challenging for large rigs to fit. The sites themselves are very generous in size with a large picnic table and fire ring and plenty of room to set up a tent. Many trees separate the sites, providing privacy. There are no hookups at any of the sites. 

Bathhouse: The bathhouse was very basic with concrete floors, three small stalls, and two sinks with cold water only. Soap is provided but no dryers, paper towels, hooks, or shelves. Clean enough. Only one bathhouse in the Agate Loop had showers. I have no idea how many minutes each quarter will buy you in the shower as this information was scratched off, however, just the fact that you can use 15 quarters tells me not very long. I didn’t attempt to try it. 

Activities: There is a nice rim trail that will lead you to various points. Wedding Rock, Ceremonial Rock, Mussel Rock, and both Patrick’s Point and Palmer’s Point. Palmer’s Point is where you can explore tidepools at low tide (the times are posted as you enter the campground). The wildflowers along the trails were beautiful. Several other trails take you to Sumeg Village and Agate Beach. Although we saw many dogs while there, be aware that many of the trails do not allow dogs. While there was good signage on most of the trails, I did manage to get lost a few times while wandering around. California may not invest in many other campground upgrades, but they do spend money on signs! 

Two nights here was the perfect amount of time to explore what Patrick’s Point has to offer. This was the very first campground we stayed at where campfires were allowed as the fog is so thick that fire danger was not an issue. However, there must have recently been a price increase for wood as the price was scratched off the sign; it is $10 per bundle. A shout out to the two rangers who had great attitudes and were tons of fun to interact with!

Campground Review: Abalone Campground at Patrick's Point State Park

I love Patrick's Point State Park. It's literally one of my favorite places in the world and I've been coming since I was a toddler. These sites are what I compare all other campgrounds to: huge sites that can fit multiple tents and smaller trailers, lots of space and trees between sites for enough privacy, fun trails between spaces for kids to explore, and just a short hike to the beach. Yes, it's often foggy and cold, but it is stunningly beautiful with so much to do.

All that said, my most recent trip rates just a four out of five stars for several reasons including the horrific new reservation system, gross bathrooms that were often out of toilet paper and needed to be cleaned, and camp hosts that were never available. The lack of funding for state parks is sadly showing here, but I'd still go back in a heartbeat.

Product Review: Primus Classic Trail Stove

Last summer we drove 4000 miles, camping across the country and back, without a stove or really any cooking utensils. Combine that with a fire ban throughout much of the Western U.S., and it meant a lot of cold meals and mediocre fast food.

So for our next camping trip in the California Redwoods I decided to get out my old backpacking stove and see if it might still work. I was honestly doubtful. I bought my Primus Classic Trail Stove maybe 15 years ago and for the past decade (since kids) it's mostly sat on shelves in basements and garages through several moves. I expected to find it rusty or possibly broken, but was incredibly surprised to pull it out of its tiny black bag and find it looking like new. I did some online research to make sure it would still be safe to use and found out they're still selling the same or very similar set, so after some inspection I packed it up with my gear without much expectation that it would actually work.

Oh man, why didn't I do this sooner? As soon as I fired the Primus stove up and cooked our first batch of mac n' cheese (followed by popcorn) I was shocked at how easy and quickly everything cooked. Lighting the fire was easy, the flame didn't go out once, the pot was completely stable, and food cooked even more quickly than it did at home. After three days of cooking we still had plenty of fuel left and clean-up was a breeze (basically, just wait for the stove to cool down, unscrew it from the gas, and pack it up). My primus stove is coming with us on all future camping trips. 5/5 stars for the Primus Classic Trail Stove

Super quiet on a Monday only 3 other RV’s there. Walked around Ferndale and had great Mexican food. The coffee shop in town was super cool and cozy.

Christian atmosphere

Beautiful campground without a river running through. Self check in and check out never even talked to anyone. It felt like just camping in the woods alone. I would definitely stay here again.

we stayed in the group site with friends a while back. the park is about 15 miles from the coast but still is heavily influenced by coastal weather. the fog can stay in the river valley and keep the campground cold even in the summer. the river is nice earlier in the year before the water warms and it fills with algae. theres swimming and hiking on site as well as the ranger station to explore. the redwoods are beautiful but the campground is directly adjacent to highway 36. luckily, its a low volume road, but the noise can be a bother still. we will be back even if its just for a day trip to swim.

Redwoods…awesome, but solar panels can’t charge 🙃. Traffic noise from the road can be heard in every site. Showers were adequate and required $1/minute. You can reload your water tank here. Nice and cool/cold at night even in August. Cool in the shade all day.

The site is lovely and taken care of well. There are bathrooms, showers (coins required), and a laundry basin. The sites are small and pretty close to each other. The main issue is the noise. It’s unbelievable loud as the camp site is right next to the road that appears to be supporting a logging operation. Logging and construction vehicles pass within 10-20 feet of the roadside campsites at all hours. We paid for two nights but left after the first because no one got any sleep.

The state park is beautiful but the campgrounds are just a little turn off from 36 and trucks speed by all night long. My spot was on the river so I was a little more sheltered but I wouldn't recommend booking the spots right off the road.