Best Cabin Camping near Lucia, CA

This campground is 300 acres, so they say. We went here for the first time end of July when it can be hot toddy. It was only low 90s. They have 2 pools, one adult with hot tub and one family, quite far apart. All on all we liked it and will return in the winter when I am sure it will be beautifully green hills surrounding.

Plenty of sites if you have 30 amp. Plenty of full hook up sites. The 50 amp sites were all in one section. If you don’t need to run your A/C you can get by with 30 amp hook up. We loved most of the sites were pull thru. Had good picnic tables. Restrooms and showers were great. Like others have said this place needs a lot of care. A lot of sites were out of order. Nice trails there. Gilmore was a distance for us to restock on supplies. Pool was open but not heated. Hot tub was closed for the winter season. You are out in the sticks so no cell phone service. You could purchase WiFi and patch your phone thru WiFi calling.

Seriously love this place and wish we could go all the time! Too bad we live on the East Coast or id he here 24/7. We stayed in a cabin in January. Right near Pinnacles National Park! We had Condors above our cabin, deer around us, wild pigs crossing the roads. Its amazing!!!! My favorite part of our California trip was staying here!

I’ve stayed here so many times, both in an RV and in the cabins. Both have very nice sites for you to stay at and great views with tons of trees everywhere. Once we arrived and had to stay in a cabin bc my parents RV broke down. The staff was so nice they brought us pillows and blankets to use for the night while we waited for the RV to arrive. And the river is always my favorite part, to swim and chill or to go down the little rapids in a float.

Set amidst some amazing redwoods adjacent to a bubbling creek. Clean and well maintained facilities. Has cabins, rv sites, and tent sites. Many trails nearby along with some great restaurants. There is no wifi and no verizon cell service.

Campground is a bit small but it’s pretty. There are plenty of redwoods around so it’s very shaded. Sites are fairly close together.. I have a RTT and I had to swing my ladder to the other side because the neighbor tent was so close and I didn’t want to step on anyone. It’s clean and they offer cabins and tents to reserve. They have toilets and showers with hot water. Maximum 2 cars and 6 people per site since it’s very small. There is a river that runs though the site. I felt that it was a bit expensive for my taste since the charge per person and car but it’s a resort. My friends felt like it was too cold and there were children screaming so it’s not very quiet. I didn’t not have phone service but I did see a pay phone and there’s a general store and tavern.

Big Sur Campground and Cabins, while on the pricier side for camping, definitely delivers on cleanliness, service, and quality of experience. Check in is super easy, and the staff were all very friendly and helpful. The welcome package is a nice touch, 2 mugs, a deck of cards, flashlight and bundle of firewood. They also have free ice, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate daily.
It rained the first day we were there, and campsites stayed pretty well drained. Our site was kind of tucked away in the back of the camp ground, near the showers and playground. The bathroom/showers were cleaned regularly and stocked with shampoo conditioner and shower gel. Playground was well maintained and modern

Plenty of water spigots throughout the campground, each site has a fire pit. During our stay, over NYE, there was a nice mix of RVs, trailers, suvs with RTTs and tent campers. The campground doesn’t see a lot of sunlight, due to the large trees shading most of the area. If you rely on solar power, you may need to get creative.

I have come here since I was a kid with my Dad. This was the cheapest way to stay with a family in Monterey/Carmel. You will drive through a country residential area that does not look like there would be a campground then all of a sudden you take a turn and you’re in a nice wooded, shady place on a hill. The best of both worlds in the hills outside of Carmel but still close to town and beaches. They have glamping tents, cabins, and small tent camping spots. There is not room for more than two small and medium tents. Camp sites are not very private but they are clean. Kids love the pool and game areas and begged to stay longer and come back. Bathrooms are very nice and clean with hot water. I recommend if you want to take a family trip to Monterey or Carmel to check this place out. Only downside was I missed seeing and hearing the peacocks that I remember as a kid.

I've been coming to Riverside campground fo the past 46 years and I'm 48 years old.  I've never taken anyone here who hasn't fallen in love with it.

It's on the north end of Big Sur which is great since you can come from the north or drive through Big Sur to get there (which is beautiful).

There are amazing riverside campsites (some for RV's as well) that have picnic tables and fire rings.  There isn't the most privacy, but the campground does a good job of putting trees/bamboo between the sites, so you're not joining them for dinner.

The river is perfect for setting your chair in the river and sipping your beer while you watch the butterflies dance across the river and pine trees.

There are also cabins which are great during those cold spells, but I've always been into camping.

The general store is fantastic.  You can buy steaks to grill and has a good selection of beers and wine.  You could literally show up with just a tent and nothing to eat and be just fine.

There is also a restaurant that is walking distance which is fantastic in case you want different scenery.

We stayed at site #66 in early November.

Pros: Our site was large and had River access. It was equipped with a picnic table and fire ring with grate. Power and water were also at the site. Close to the bathrooms but not too close that it was loud. The bathrooms were big and had free showers. There was a laundry room and also an area to dishes near the restrooms. We had three cars and three tents and still have plenty plenty of space. The property had a motel, restaurant, general store and also small cabins for stay options. We appreciated the locations proximity to the sites of Big Sur. We also spent a lot of time at the site since it was so beautiful too. It rained each evening during our stay and was pretty cold but we had a great time still :)

Cons: Site 66 was huge but was also right near the road used by many people at all hours of the day/night. The location is great but was very pricy. The site rate only pays for 2 people and 2 cars. So we had to pay $10 a person and $5 per car, per day above that 2people/2cars.

We stayed at a cottage at Lake San Antonio. We were fortunate to have a local show us around. Grandpa is a local to Bradley and this is a favorite spot when we want to get away but still have all the accommodations of home.

We've been camping here for during my August birthday for the past 8 years & its something I look forward to all year!

While we used to just head up & find a site- its become nearly impossible to "walk-in" during high season. Being one of the last campgrounds at the bottom of Big Sur we meet ppl every year hoping to find a spot after being turned away from every other campground on the way down.

•BOOKING• The great sites book out VERY quickly. If you want to score you'll need to plan:

1. Use the website, not the call center.

2. Booking windows open 6 months in advance, you’ll need to make your reservation then if you have specific dates & can’t wing it whenever something is available to book.

3. There’s a 14 days limit so ppl who booked before you mean a site may be unavailable On your planned check-in day. Research ahead of booking to see which sites are going to be available on the date you want to arrive.

*TIP: Booked site’s are only held through checkout the day following a planned arrival...so if your desperate & see a posted reservation thats passed the no-show deadline you MIGHT be able to kindly ask the on-site camp director if you can camp on it.

The camp directors diligently check reservation cards & drive around; you won't get away with trying to sneak onto a spot!

•SITES•

We've stayed on sites: -3B -18 -21 (Multiple times) -26 -29

*I’ve tried to book site 9 for YEARS but even with availability & hand on the mouse it seems impossible to get.

Site 21 is along the cliffside. The large beautiful tree between 21/22 shades the driveway not the site, so be sure to bring a cooling vest 4 fur babies in the summer.

The nature of this site allows for a lot of privacy if you’ve got a large vehicle in the drive. Its a short walk across a well beaten trail to the toilets & just down the curve and through the bike-in sites you’ll find a beautiful forest with plenty of look out spots.

Because of the tiered setup every site has ocean views and there are NO bad sites, so don't stress too much if you don't get your first choice, any site is sure to be wonderful!

After trying for a cliff site for days we had to book 18 this year (2020). Even though its on the inside bottom loop and a bit smaller than 21 we found it peaceful & would’ve enjoyed it had we not had to evacuate after 3 days due to an illegal fire causing catastrophic wild fire :(.

•NOISE•

Unlike a lot of other California campgrounds you won't be drown out by generator’s throughout your stay. The surrounding plants, ocean waves, and overall space btwn sites absorb noise very well. Unless your used to huge private camp sites, its easy to forget other people are around.

The upper sites do get more audible noise from cars driving along highway 1 but it's not excessive or distracting, just thought I should mention it.

•BATHROOMS•

The bathrooms are non-flush toilets but they’ve always been rather clean by campground standards. There’s the normal fly population of course but the camp directors work to keep it minimal & you shouldn't be in there much anyways.

I’ve upgraded our gear & bring a pump flush composting toilet + double room pop-up for basic bathroom and shower use which is nice to have on site.

No running water; bring plenty for washing, drinking, etc.

We use a 50 gallon container & find its perfect for a 8-9 day trip with 2 solar showers, lots of hand & dish washing, and dog water refills. We do freeze bottled water & keep it in the cooler for drinking.

•OVERALL•

There’s nothing that can compare to drifting off the sleep on the edge of the earth while gazing up at the milky-way, cut off from the rest of the world.

In the mornings you’ll wake to the sounds of the ocean and watch as the fog rolls in, lifting away from the ocean & surrounding hillsides until it seems heaven is kissing the earth.

It calms the soul in a way that only those who have been can understand...this place is PURE MAGIC!

*Note: You will be quite literally cut off from the world here. You won’t find any cell service so turn that phone off when u hit the main road in & enjoy the feeling that comes with uninterrupted connection with nature.

If you really NEED to check on things, wifi can be found by stopping for a beer at the pub connected to the Big Sur post office.

We camped right on the lake and were able to pay to have our boat docked overnight. Huge lake awesome experience, we were able to do some night wake boarding which I had never done . Tons of grass when we were there, California has since had a gnarly drought so you might wanna call ahead. Really Great Lake to camp and take the family to!