Best Campgrounds near Pismo Beach, CA

This KOA has had some upgrades. It’s great for trailers. They also have tent camping and some cabins. It’s not a flat cement camping experience. Lots of trees and hills. Mostly dirt roads so it is a little dusty. We have a 45’ 5th wheel and had no problem getting in. The space has full hookups with 50 amp. The water pressure was a little low compared to other places. Great areas for the kids to play and nice pool. Staff is awesome very helpful. There is a large veg fire nearby and we are in a evac warning they made sure everyone was notified and they answered any questions. Definitely will return.

The campground is pretty and ideally located right in front of a stunning beach. However, our experience with the host was very disappointing. We had agreed with her the day before to check out at 12:30 instead of 12:00, but at 12:00 she showed up and started yelling at us to leave. When we reminded her of our agreement, she seemed to have completely forgotten and was extremely rude. It was an uncomfortable experience. Also, note that the toilets are dry composting toilets — so there are no standard facilities. While the natural surroundings are beautiful, the atmosphere created by the host and the basic amenities left much to be desired.

We were going up these hills and like I’ve been on some bumpy roads and it started out fine so I wasn’t worried about it but the farther we went, the worse the roads got. Like fucking waves in the earth and just straight rocks. There was one spot that was legitimately just a fucking crater. My headlight actually popped out, decided to go all the way to this specific point to basically find jack shit, the ground is like straight rock so you can’t really pitch a tent which is what we were gonna do so we just had to turn around. Even if you have 4 wheel drive this is just god awful and I would not intend to stay up there unless you’re sleeping in your vehicle.

Oh, hello you beautiful cove with your heavy waves and moss laden boulders. Hello more birds, more deer, more meddling raccoons than expected. Hello hiking and biking trails. Hello local market with your reasonably priced ice and more reasonably priced beer. Hello. How have you been off my radar all this time?

I've lived only several hours away for 11 years without knowing this simple loop campground was even here. The state park offers days worth of outdoor activity and views forever and ever, with the ability to feel alone only miles from town. The sunset from the cliff is a must.

There is a little camp store, but it was closed during my visit (closes at 4pm). The campground is spare, and the camp host spent the better part of the day I was there smoking weed with friends. No shade, you do you, and they were friendly but the campground wasn't as kept as it could be. My site had trash from the previous resident and the grounds were...okay. The campground is fairly open site to site with the bathrooms in the middle, which I was surprised to find were flush with a faucet. There are two water spigots but they are a bit hard to find. They are right in the middle but hidden behind things. 

Sites 17-19 have a decent amount of shade and the most foliage separation. They back up to the park, and there are trails on the hillside above, so people coming off the trail might kind of be able to see you (briefly) as they pass. Raccoons will 100% rush your site as soon as you go to sleep to see if there are any fun goodies laying about. Put stuff away. Some sites have bear boxes, so I assume...bears. However, not every site had one. I assume because the bears aren't that much of an issue, but I'm not a bear expert, or anything.