Best Tent Camping near Grover Beach, CA

Nira is a small, primitive campground in the San Rafael wilderness behind the Santa Ynez Valley. The campground is a bit of a haul to get back to, and is often used as a base for backpackers entering the San Rafael wilderness or the Manzana Creek trail. I myself have only tent camped at Nira, just to go somewhere different - my boyfriend and his friends have backpacked out of Nira into the San Rafael Wilderness and to the Manzana Schoolhouse on multiple occasions.

Nira is the second, smaller campground back on Sunset Valley Road - Davy Brown Campground is up the road a little ways. Nira is small, with only 12 sites in a densely wooded live oak grove. The oaks provide a lot of shade and help separate the various camp sites. The Manzana Creek runs behind the campground; the main road leading into Nira is right above the campground, however, you’re pretty far back in the hills, so there isn’t a lot of noise from traffic.

Each site has a fire ring and a picnic table. There are no hook ups and only pit-toilets are available. There is NO DRINKING WATER available at Nira Campground, so be sure to bring plenty of water, especially if you plan to backpack through the area.

WARNING: You ARE in black bear country! While it is unlikely that a black bear will enter the campground, I would suggest locking your food and coolers in your car at night, as there are no food lockers in the campground. When hiking the Manzana Trail be aware of your surroundings: Black bears, coyotes, mountain lions, bob cats, and coyotes have been seen on the trail. CAMPSITE SPECS

Fees: $20/night (+ $10/ extra vehicle)

Plumbed Toilets: No - vault

Drinking Water: No

Showers: No

Picnic Table: Yes

Firepit: Yes

Cooking Grate: Yes

Shade: Yes

Cell Service: No

Animal Bins/Food lockers: No

Trash: Yes

[ LOCATION -5 Stars ]

• Walking distance to the Morro Bay Natural History Museum -- great for kids and very educational for all ages. Admission is only $3 and they have a fun Nature Shop to pick up souvenirs and gifts.
• Bayside Cafe is adjacent to the Campgrounds. If you don't feel like going through the hassle of cooking an elaborate meal at camp, you can take it easy and eat at the cafe. It has a great view of the marina and Morro Bay Rock.
• Campgrounds is a stone's throw from the marina. This is especially great if you enjoy being by the water. A lot of campers bring their own kayaks, canoes, SUP boards, etc.
• Less than 2 miles from the Embarcadero where there are shops, restaurants, bars, cafes, boat tours, and water equipment rentals. It's a beautiful walk, an easy bike ride, and a quick drive into town. Best part, FREE PARKING everywhere! Also, plenty of public restrooms that are relatively clean.
• The campgrounds is right by a large and well-manicured golf course. So that's cool…if you're into golf!

[ AMENITIES -4.5 Stars ]

• Plenty of showers and restrooms throughout the campgrounds. Some are not all operational but it's not that far of a walk to get to the next available one. PRO TIP: Exchange your shower tokens at the check-in Kiosk. A lot of the token machines were out of order. 2 tokens for $1. Each token buys you 2 minutes time.
• Firewood & fire starters can be purchased at Camp Host sites. $7 for a bundle and $1 for firestarters. The profits go back to CA state parks :)
• Sites are very close together and not very spacious or private. Each campsite comes with parking for 1 car, a charcoal BBQ grill, a firepit, bear box, and picnic table.
• There are plenty of shared water spigots for potable water by every site. Make sure you turn it gently because the water pressure is super strong and you'll get a ton of splash back.

[ CLEANLINESS -5 Stars]

• Restrooms & showers are SO CLEAN! Most of the campers here are RV campers, so they aren't really using the public restrooms. Less foot traffic = cleaner!
• The majority of campers here are older, retired RV campers so the campgrounds are kept-up meticulously well. Everyone is very considerate and clean up after themselves. There aren't too many pests or ants either.

Figueroa Campground is a 33-35 site campground behind Los Olivos, CA. It is surrounded by live oaks and gorgeous manzanita trees, so there is a lot of shade available.

Each site has a fire ring and a picnic table. There are no hook ups, and only pit-toilets are available. Note that there is NO DRINKING WATER available at Figueroa Campground, so be sure to bring plenty of water, especially if you plan to hike or backpack through the area.

There is a a lot of hiking trails available in the nearby area. Both Figueroa Mountain and nearby Grass Mountain are extremely popular hiking spots, especially in early spring when the wildflowers bloom in late March or early April . During the wildflower bloom, the sides of the hills and mountains can look solid vibrant ORANGE from afar - the wild California poppies grow dense in this area. Purple mountain lupine flowers are also found during the wildflower bloom.

If you or anyone in your party does not want to/cannot hike, the top of Figueroa Mountain is completely assessable by car - all of the big lookout points for optimal wildflower viewing are accessible by car, so the wildflowers are essentially accessible to everyone, hikers or not.

The Davy Brown Creek and Manzana Creek trails are also accessible from the Figueroa Mountain area; the area is popular for cyclists and off-road cyclists.

WARNING: You ARE in black bear country! While it is unlikely that a black bear will enter the campground, I would suggest locking your food and coolers in your car at night, as there are no food lockers in the campground. When hiking be aware of your surroundings: Black bears, coyotes, mountain lions, bob cats, and coyotes have been seen on the trails.

While the campground is fairly remote in the the hills, you are only 20 minutes away from Los Olivos, and 30 minutes away from Santa Ynez. Los Olivos has a great market with groceries, a bakery/coffee shop, a deli, and beer and local wine. There are many local vineyards, wineries, and breweries nearby. The Firestone Walker brewery, taproom, and Resturant is close-by - we highly recommend their food and beers!

CAMPSITE SPECS

Fees: $20/night (+ $10/ extra vehicle)

Plumbed Toilets: No - vault

Drinking Water: No

Showers: No

Picnic Table: Yes

Firepit: Yes

Cooking Grate: Yes

Shade: Yes

Cell Service: No

Animal Bins/Food lockers: No

Trash: Yes

I was attending a weekend Jeep event at Pismo Dunes and had booked a space in the OHV area on the beach.  When I got there the wind was so bad it was impossible to put up a tent.  So I looked up this place, which is probably 1/2 mile from the entrance to the beach.

The campground has mixture of tent and pull-through sites.  All sites have full hookups, and include a fire ring and picnic table.  The bathrooms were clean and had showers, but everything was very old.  There was also a pool and laundry rooms on the property.

The sites were flat, but there was no barrier between you and your neighbors.  The RV sites looked very cramped but the tent sites seemed adequately spaced for the most part.  I stayed in site 252 which appeared to be some kind of double site, because there were two sets of hookups in the space (one of which required a large pole in the middle of the site).

In spite of the convenience of the location, there were drawbacks.  The campground is narrow and situated directly between PCH and the railroad tracks on either side.  So traffic noise was significant, and as an added bonus, every now and then Amtrack would roll past.

Over all, it met all the basic needs, was well maintained, and was close to the beach.  And the noise was probably less than I would get sleeping in the OHV camping area.

We didn't stay at this campground, but we walked over and checked it out while disperse-camping up the road.  

This campground has 6 sites, and is $20/night and $10 additional for each extra vehicle.  There is a $10/day fee for day use.

5 campsites are reservable through recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777, and 1 site is first come first served.

There is zero ATT, Verizon, or T-Mobile signal at this campground, but the Los Padres forest area as a whole is very spotty - you can go from zero to good reception for all 3 carriers as you move from area to area.

No water or any amenities here other than vault toilets. Fire is allowed in the fire rings at each site, no fire permit required here (but fire permits are required elsewhere in the National Forest).  There were a couple of garbage cans by the toilets.   Sites have 2 picnic tables, a shade structure, fire ring, and a grill.

There is no signage directing you to the campground, so download the map ahead of time if you need directions.  From 58 you take Red Hill Rd/Forest Rte 29S15 and turn left at the dead end at Fernandez Rd. Keep going straight until you see the campground on your right. There is a road turning right at the cattle guard, but keep going straight.

Campground is fairly large with wide open spaces to turn around, so bigger rigs should be fine.  The roads coming in from Hwy 58 -- Red Hill Rd and Fernandez Rd -- are ok, they are compacted dirt / DG with some washboarding and a few ruts.  There are people who live in this area and travel these roads in regular sedans, so it's definitely doable for most vehicles, but I'd imagine large class A's would have a tough time.