Best Campgrounds near Lucia, CA

I recently spent a weekend at Veteran's Memorial Park Campground and had a fantastic experience. The grounds are well-maintained, the campsites are spacious, and the park offers a peaceful atmosphere surrounded by nature. Whether you're hiking, grilling, or just enjoying the fresh air, it's the perfect spot to unwind. One thing I really appreciated was the clean restroom facilities and how friendly the staff were. They genuinely care about making your stay comfortable. I brought along my laptop for some offline fun, and playing Minecraft with the Optifine mod made the serene forest setting even more immersive at night. If you're looking for a relaxing getaway with all the essentials covered, I highly recommend checking out Veteran's Memorial Park Campground.

I recently spent a weekend at Veteran's Memorial Park Campground and had a fantastic experience. The grounds are well-maintained, the campsites are spacious, and the park offers a peaceful atmosphere surrounded by nature. Whether you're hiking, grilling, or just enjoying the fresh air, it's the perfect spot to unwind. One thing I really appreciated was the clean restroom facilities and how friendly the staff were. They genuinely care about making your stay comfortable. I brought along my laptop for some offline fun, and playing Minecraft with Optifine mod made the serene forest setting even more immersive at night. If you're looking for a relaxing getaway with all the essentials covered, I highly recommend checking out Veteran's Memorial Park Campground.

Many here will tell you about the raccoons! The campground is split by a creek which has a lot of critters, rabbits, chipmunks(?), quail, mice, and raccoon. My campsite was right next to a common raccoon path and a few walked by within a few feet of me and my campfire. Don’t leave food out and make sure they are afraid of humans. It’s for their safety and ours!

Sites on the outsider best for big rigs. Sites that are inside loops are best for tents. Cell coverage is spotty. Watch out for ticks.

I've been looking for a secluded spot near Monterey and this one looks perfect for a block blast. Love that it's only a mile from downtown but still tucked away in the woods. Has anyone been here recently? Curious how crowded it gets on the weekends.

We love this campground and stay here whenever we're going through the area. It's got a mellow, chill vibe, and other campers we meet here have all been nice and friendly.

Dump station is no longer free for campers, it's now $10, which is the case for all California State Parks now.

Att and Verizon have weak but usable service, and the WeBoost does help here.

It's a nice walk to the beach, though dogs are not allowed. There are coin op showers here, but last time we were here we tried to use them and the water was freezing cold.

Still $20/night plus $8 online reservation fee.

Although there is a 1/4 mile hike from parking to camp sites. Having access close to the beach and forest as well was great.

Tight spaces for RVs or trailers, hot water shut off around 6 pm. Women’s restroom is clean, shower has no pressure, it’s basically like a stream (reminded me of my carrier days). Other than these things, the place was quiet, clean, and a nice stop if you need a quick nights rest. There are only around 30 ish or so spots. There were fire signs indicating you can’t use the fire ring, which was fine for us since it was raining. Grateful for this little spot.

The campsites we had were great. No other sites behind us. It felt secluded and private. Close to the bathrooms. And the bathrooms were clean. We didn’t have a river site but the river was right across from us. The part of the river that was in front of us wasn’t appropriate for kids to play in but the kids still enjoyed putting their feet in at the rivers edge. It was great staying in the SP because you can walk to many of the trails offered.

raccoons….everywhere…. seriously leave your car locked, these little buggers were not afraid of humans. otherwise, good showers, clean bathrooms. private sites. very convenient location to trails.

This was a beautiful campground with level, paved sites, lots of trees, great showers, and access to the beach within walking distance.

We camped here February 24-26, 2025. The forest service website indicated the campground is open all year, but when we arrived on the site one through four were available. Beyond site number five was a locked gate. Site five was closed due to “hazardous tree“. The stream was running plentifully and gave a lovely background noise. Sites 1 & 2 share a parking pad which is almost level. Site 1 is completely exposed and quite spacious and full of ground squirrel disruption. Site 2 is very convenient to the parked car, and it was our choice because we sleep in our van. Most of the water taps were not operable but the one by the toilet near the entrance did work and was labeled “non-potable, not for drinking or cooking”. The tap in site number 2 had no handle and was dripping at a rapid pace so we hung a bucket on that tap and use the collected water for handwashing. There were trash cans conveniently located to all of the sites, and there was a good supply of toilet paper, but even though the weather was cool, the toilet closest to the entrance was a bit smelly. It is a pit stop for people driving over or back on Naciemiento-Ferguson Road. I noted that reviewers indicated that they were plagued by flies and yellow jackets in the mid summer, but we had only a couple of flies, no yellow jackets. The weather was predicted to be sunny and pleasant with highs of 70° based on checking the weather reports for Jolon, California. It was almost a new moon and the stars at night we’re gorgeous. There was heavy dew which turned into frost in the early morning. We saw the occasional lizard and a couple of slow moving salamanders. We saw no raccoons, and considering that they have switched from having dumpsters to having trash cans I suspect that raccoons are not a problem. There was a posted memo dated February 2 reported that for the Monterey Ranger district, campfire restrictions were lifted until March 25, due to sufficient rain having been received. We walked the loop of the other campsites; some of them have the picnic table and fire ring located some distance from the parking spot, a few are possibly suitable for RV camping but most of those would require at least some leveling. I don’t know when they plan to open the rest of the sites, but probably March would be a good time to come and enjoy this campground. Bring your own drinking water. The fee is expensive for a no-water campground, but I was willing to pay the discounted price with my lifetime senior pass.

We stayed in the upper San Simeon creek campground area - site C25. It had the best view of the ocean but was surrounded by power lines and looked down on camp hosts site/buildings. I felt like it was a little bit of a fishbowl with no privacy and we stared at the RVs in front of us. Which all RV/trailer sites are mostly parallel parking. We drove through the bottom site and it provided much more privacy due to trees and seemed to be more level as well. No view, but you get that “true camping” in the Forrest feeling. The walking trails were fun and the beach was close enough. There are camp kitties that will visit you if you are lucky enough (I think they belong to the host).

Primitive campground ocean beach 1/2 mile walk, wave sounds all day, scenic view, sites spaced out OK, some trees but bright and airy. Nice go to site for chilling but weekends and summers can be busy. Water spickets in campground, dump station below on another campground.

Camped with family over Memorial Day weekend. Park was busy , but amazing. Everyone is very friendly and helpful. Our camp neighbors were awesome. Bathroom and showers clean. We camp here at least twice a year. Can’t wait to come back.