Best Tent Camping near Petrolia, CA

Well let’s see where do I start? The coast”ocean” is about 500 yards away. There is absolutely nothing to do here. It’s being remodeled/renovated because it’s a new owner. The on property store has limited supplies. I asked for plasticware they didn’t have it. I asked for allergy pills, they didn’t have it. I asked for ice, guess what? Didn’t have it. I just left the store and drove into town which takes about seven minutes. Can’t go for a walk around the camp because somebody just murdered somebody today and he was seen behind this camp in the forest. Of all days right? Doesn’t matter if you could walk around there’s nothing to see but people that I’ve been here probably months on end and it’s just “boring“ and it’s overpriced for boring. I stayed at humbug in Oregon after 101 it was $18 a night it was the best place I’ve ever been, and I love tent camping. the website says Wi-Fi, let me tell you something there is No!!!!! WI-FI The bathrooms are locked and they give you a code to open them. What the heck is that about right? The tent sites are very odd it’s a strip of grass with a picnic bench every 5 yards. it’s not fenced. There’s no trees or shrubs separating anybody it’s just very “odd“ you’ll be camping 25 feet from the next guy. I had to turn my tent facing the fence because any other way people can look in. A little privacy would be nice in a place like this but you won’t get it. You better have unlimited data on your phone plan because you’re going be using all your data out here because there’s absolutely nothing to do. Sit in your tent or at the table and hopefully have somebody with you or you better love movies “a lot “

Came here on a last minute trip. Everything else was booked up, but this was available. The campground opens up quite a few tent sites (probably over 50 sites) on first come first serve basis at 2:00 pm. Most sites did not fill up. Felt like we had hiked out to the woods with no one else around. Surrounded by redwoods and aspens. Clean bathroom and showers. Great location to explore the redwoods.

The campground is ok. The closest bathrooms near our site were closed due to renovation. The main bathrooms were good looking. The men’s bathroom kept running out of paper towels. One of the staff told me they can’t buy any toilet paper or paper towels anywhere. My wife had to keep bringing in toilet paper as they ran out. The pool was warm and spa hot. The most frustrating part was reservations. The website showed only tent sites with water and electricity. I then clicked on military discount and the website showed me a higher price. I called and left a message to get clarification. No one called me back. Turns out they apply the discount after you check in. Check in was another issue. The office was closed early and they gave me a tent site without electricity or water. So I had to call their after hours number to get them to change my site. Later in the office they told me that they aren’t responsible for their website. Campground is ok, but customer service needs work. Wish there were more options closer to Eureka. The WiFi worked good until the last day. The 15A outlet worked until the last day.

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.

Large state park campground that was completely sold out, but offered a small section of non-reservable tent campsites. We checked in on a Monday when there were only a few other sites around us occupied, but by the time we were leaving on Thursday most of the non-reservable sites were full.

The campground is very well maintained with bathrooms and showers that were cleaned every morning. They allow campfires in fire rings and sell firewood on site for $8 a bundle.

There is a redwood grove hiking trail behind the campsites that takes you from one end of the campground to the other. You can also walk across Avenue of the Giants from the entrance to a trail that leads you down to the South Fork Eel River. We stayed in July when the water was warm enough in which to swim and the fish are very playful. Bring a blanket or pad to sunbathe, the scenery is beautiful. Careful hiking around the area though, poison oak is abundant.

There’s a small town called Meyers Flat just south of the campground on Avenue of the Giants where you can get some last-minute camp supplies, beer and ice. The market does have some groceries, but not enough to do all your shopping there. I also recommend taking a drive North on Avenue of the Giants to Ferndale or Eureka for a day trip.

Definitely a great summer spot with the river, and a great anytime spot for a place in the Redwoods. You will hear traffic from the Highway 101 in the evening and morning, but it quiets down enough at night you wont even think about it.

We camp here as much as possible. Just good ol' pit toilets, but usually not crowded, and very quiet. As Humboldt locals, we like to be away from the crowds, in the most beautiful natural areas in California. This is the trail head to the famous Lost Coast Trail, and just a stunning beach campground. Dogs allowed on leash, pop your tent in the sand. Super nice.

No big stores nearby, so you should probably get groceries in Eureka or Fortuna before heading over the hill to Petrolia. There is a small store, but this is Humboldt so they could be closed at any given point, wouldn't depend on it.

Be careful in the summer, not really sandal appropriate. The native dune plants have lots of little prickers in the sand among the campsites.

Make sure to stroll along the beach north to where the Mattole river flows into the Pacific. You will almost always find a bunch of seals hanging out on the other side of the river spit and hunting in the estuary for fist.

I tried along the 101 corridor in the area to no avail. This location had several sites available, tent, and cabins, as well.

Mostly for RVs but to the left there’s a small area with small little campsites for tents and vans. Very clean nice showers bathrooms actually has cooking facilities and sinks to clean up… I believe there’s a laundry area as well.

The Campsite itself is closed due to Covid. However, 8am to 8PM it is a swimmer's Paradise. Really nice Camping spots and cannot wait to visit here when open. $25 a night to camp in tent and $1 per pet.

Price and campground make this a must stop. Signs at each campsite tell you what kind of camping it is: tent, RV. Not meant for big rigs and the 5 mile road back is very narrow and windy but the drive is beautiful.

Nice campground for trailers and tents with relatively large sites interspersed in the redwood trees. The shared bathrooms have showers (25¢/minute for water) and are all clean and updated. There are fire pits and picnic tables in each site. The summer charge was $35/night.

this is a large campground with large sites. We had three tents and a car and still had space. Conveniently located in the Redwoods. Nice river stream is across the road. Rangers at information center a must to visit! Has showers but bring quarters. Facility was very clean

There is something truly humbling camping under such big trees. This camp site was beautiful. We were in site 9 and it felt pretty private because it was up further from the two neighboring sites. Downsides are that it was across from the bathroom (I was traveling with a 1 and 2 year old so that was done on purpose) so it was car traffic from people too lazy to walk there. I didn't expect that. I'm also a tent camper and tents are mixed in with rv's so you get the rv buzz to until generator shut off time. The bathrooms were nice running water and flush toilets. Showers are pay showers too. Half the campground was closed when we went for renovations so it was not as busy as it probably usually is. The highway was close so you could hear some car noise but it wasn't as bad as the other reviews have implied. Nice amphitheater and trails around the site!

Quiet place with only tents and small trailers. Lots of shade (not great for solar, we did get some) No pesky critters. Clean private bathrooms and showers. Limited trials for dogs. Very limited. A small amount of poison oak. Close town for restaurants and stores. An 45 minutes to Eureka

[Internet. Verizon via iPhone 12: 16 mbps down and 0.20 mbps up with 38 ms ping. T-Mobile via Nighthawk MR-1100 - 6 mbps down and 0.69 up with 97 ms ping.]

I just love this campground. It’s an immersive experience. We were so glad to extend our trip from 2 to 4 days. There’s these birds that sing at dawn and dusk (springtime at least). It’s a kind of sound that starts strong and drops off like they they gave up singing halfway. Such a wonderful sound to wake up to. The bird is called a varied thrush. ❤️

PROS

→ You are camping in the redwood forest. → Next door to visitor center. You can get quarters for the showers here. → Has cell signal which I normally wouldn’t care to have in a place like this. Since there was signal, we could stay in this beautiful place and I could work on the two additional add-on days instead of having to move on to Eureka right away in search of signal. → It has a woodsy camping experience. RV sizes are limited to 25 feet so there’s mostly tent campers. → Sites are spaced apart. There’s no privacy trees but I mean redwoods aren’t good privacy trees. They are good at absorbing sound though so it’s quieter. They won’t save you from running, screaming kids though.

CONS - low level cons at that

→ Right off Avenue of the Giants so there’s some car noise but not bad at night. → Showers are quarter operated which is par for the course in California. Here it’s 25¢/minute. The water is mostly warm but pressure and temperature drop when toilets are flushing. I highly recommend showering midday since there’s less people in the campground thereby less people using the bathroom facilities. → Firewood is $10 but burns well. Standard bundle size.

4.5-stars — It’s near perfect except for the pay showers which gets me every time. For weekend warriors it’s likely a 5-star campground!

FYI ON RESERVE CALIFORNIA: The website doesn’t allow online reservations within 48 hours of your intended camping start date. I kept checking online to see if there was a last minute cancellation. Online kept showing 0 sites available. I went to the camp office and their system showed our site being free for two more days. You can only pay for the site one day at a time FCFS. They take credit card. When the office window is closed, then I believe it’s cash only envelope style.

—————————— [Rig. Mercedes Sprinter. 22 feet]

Dump station? - No Water fill? - No but there are water spigots throughout Clean site? - Yes Clean bathroom? - Yes (even has soap!) Flush toilet? - Yes Showers? - Yes, quarter operated Laundry? - No Dish washing sink? - Yes

Our spot was pretty good. We could see some other tents, but for the most part the trees and bushes gave us tons of privacy. Wood was for sale at the gate for 10 bucks a bundle. Plenty of bathrooms. Showers were warm and was 25 cents a minute. I was pretty happy. Plus huge sequoias everywhere!!