Best Tent Camping near San Clemente, CA

Took the ferry from San Clemente to Avalon (45 mins to 1 hour). Then a bus from Avalon to the campsite (1 to 1.5 hours depending the stop at the airport). Went with a group and had to carry all your equipment and food for the weekend. The buses have plenty of room for coolers. Any last minute food items can be bought at the small grocery store in Avalon, but you'll pay for it. Once you leave Avalon, you are at the mercy of the bus schedules in order to get back to a store, which buses only come by the campsite a limited amount of times through the day or week.

Beach and cove is great for spearfishing or snorkeling. Rock cliffs wrap both north and south of the beach for miles and there are kayaks for rent on the beach, but need to pre-order.

Overall a great location to isolate yourself or with company on a sandy beach, BBQ, drink and relax.

[ LOCATION -5 Stars ]

• Walking distance to Dana Point Harbor and Baby Beach. Lots of fun things to do there including whale watching, boat/kayak rentals, SUP boarding rentals, and restaurants/bars. Also walking distance to Wheel Fun Rentals where you can rent 4 seater surrey bikes to cruise along Doheny Beach for $35/hr.
• The campgrounds are SO close to the beach. Just a couple feet over the dunes! Campsites 45-73 are the best IMO. They book up fast, but they are GOLD if you can get one. Campsites near the road are loud from the freeway and street.
• Convenient to lots of liquor stores and restaurants along Del Prado Avenue. The Double Tree is also SUPER close to the campsite entrance. They have a nice rooftop bar, and a small lobby shop if you need to buy toiletries, snacks, drinks.
• Close to the San Clemente Metrolink which is less than 4 miles from the campground.

[ AMENITIES -3 Stars ]

• The day use areas are so nice for picnics! If you walk along the beach there are rows of day use areas with picnic tables and bbq grills.
• The restroom and shower facilities are cleaned daily in the mornings, but they are very dirty. There aren’t many restrooms for the amount of campsites/campers so they flood, run out of toilet paper, and become disgusting. Showers take CA State Park coins.
• There are lots of homeless people who linger in the park, and they use the showers as well. We saw two go in to a shower and didn’t come out until 45 minutes later.
• You can purchase firewood at the check-in area for $7 a bundle. Not every camp host site had firewood so we had to walk further to find some.
• Sites are really small and close together. The best sites are along the ocean, but they are also the furthest from the restrooms. You give up convenience for a good view. The place is always booked and packed. A LOT of people so it doesn’t feel quite as relaxing.
• Sites come with 2 parking spots, a fire ring, and picnic table. Water spigots are near the restrooms.

[ CLEANLINESS -2 Stars]

• The restrooms are a NIGHTMARE. It’s obviously better than pit toilets, but a lot of them overflow and there is urine and feces all over the toilets and floor.
• There are lots of crows, seagulls, and birds at the campsite. They poop everywhere. All over our tents and picnic tables. Lesson learned: Don’t pitch your tent under any trees.
• Lots of ground squirrels around. They are very aggressive and brave. They will jump onto you table and take food.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - this weekend I tested Renogy’s Multi-Functional Solar Backpack. I have another solar product (bluetooth speaker) from Renogy that I love, but this solar backpack blew me way. The panels are much larger so it charges so much more quickly and efficiently. I was able to charge my phone to 100% in an hour and a half of being plugged in, and also it kept my husband’s laptop charged while he was doing some programming at our campground. As a charger, it totally met my needs and exceeded my expectations.

There are also so many features to this backpack that really impressed me. I love that the solar panel part can be unzipped off from the rest of the pack which makes it really convenient. I was able to remove the solar panel from the backpack and lean it on the ground to charge while keeping the rest of the backpack safely inside my tent. The solar panel part of the pack can also be flipped and reversed so you can have the panel facing out when you want it charging or faced inside when you want to protect it from exposure to rain. The backpack is also very safely padded for a laptop so that it is protected. I love the convenience of all the little pockets and compartments for organizing, the sunglass loop, and also a side pocket to hold a water bottle.

This backpack was so well constructed and designed with the user in mind. I highly recommend this rucksack to anyone looking for a solar backpack.

Our family had a great time camping at site number 23 in San Mateo campground. Electrical and water hook ups, a great view, and a lot of space to enjoy this one of a kind Campground. Your camp ground receipt permits you to drive down to San Clemente State Beach and park feet from the water with no extra charge. Great mountain biking Just off the main road. Having an E bike allows you to zip back-and-forth to the world famous Trestles Surfing beach, or you can park on the main street and walk in about a quarter mile to this beautiful beach. This camping area is a couple of miles across from the Marine base, and when we arrived there was some live artillery training during the daytime. At first we thought there were thunderstorms in the area🤓

Tucked on the outskirts of Mission Viejo is an oasis of green grass and groves of the twisting and searching limbs of Coastal Live Oak trees.  If you stuck me in the middle of this park, I’d never know that I was miles away from the sprawl of suburbia of a major metropolitan area…shhh don’t tell anyone.

There are 3 campgrounds within this regional park -- one soley dedicated to RV's that require electrical hook-ups (Ortega Flats), a group campground (San Juan Meadow), and another which is a mix of tents and off-grid RVs (Live Oak).  This review is specifically for the off-grid Live Oak Campground which s aptly named because you’ll find yourself enjoying the ample shade of these amazing arbors, but plenty of sun to run our solar powered system.  

The campsites can be reserved but there is plenty of room for first-come first-served travelers as well.  The sites offer enough space to tuck away a tent in the corner, or set up the longer trailer, as well as the typical picnic table and fire ring.  Plenty of port o potties are scattered throughout the campground and served the large groups gathered here on Easter weekend.  We indulged in making a fabulous brunch of Wood Fired Waffles to celebrate the holiday!  As of April 2023, they were still experiencing a well water issue, so no water was available from the faucet, but the river running through the park was useful for obtaining water to wash dishes.

Hiking, biking and horseback riding trails meander throughout the park. The campground borders on a small creek for fishing, but is off-limits to wading and swimming because of the instability of the opposite bank. Keep an eye on the kids!  Be sure to check out the volunteer-run Nature Center on the property which is full of great information about flora, fauna, and native history.

The closest store for firewood, and groceries is just a few miles back toward town.  And, the closest beach is just about 30 minutes away, so a great option for a day trip.

Campground Review

[ LOCATION -5 Stars ]

• Less than 2 miles from Amtrak Station & Metrolink at the San Clemente Pier. We took the train from LA Union Station and walked along the beach to San Clemente SB.
• Private beach access and really nice Day Use Area accessible from the campgrounds. Swing by the visitor center & gift shop on the way!
• Great if you love surfing! San Clemente is a total surf town and the campgrounds is an easy walk to where all the surfers go to catch waves
• Convenient to lots of liquor stores and restaurants along El Camino Real. There is easy access near the Butterfly Trail to get to the main road.

[ AMENITIES -5 Stars ]

• Hot showers that accept CA State Park tokens. 2 tokens for $1. Each token buys you 2 minutes time.
• You can purchase firewood at the check-in area for $7 a bundle
• Sites are HUGE! You can visibly see your neighbors but there is plenty of space separating sites. Some people had 7-8 tents on their site with up to 14 people. You’re technically not supposed to, but the Park Rangers seemed to be really chill about it.
• Sites come with 2 parking spots, a charcoal grill, fire ring, picnic table and shade canopy (no bear box). Also, this place is super hammock friendly. Everyone straps their hammocks to the legs of the shade canopy.

[ CLEANLINESS -4 Stars]

• Restrooms are stocked with toilet paper, but they get completely depleted by the morning. Rangers come around daily to replenish, but it doesn’t hurt to bring some extra with you.
• There aren’t too many bugs or ants here, but there isn’t too much wildlife either besides birds. You don’t have to worry too much about squirrels or raccoons.
• Campers are mixed between families and the party crowd. The party crowd aren’t great at cleaning up after themselves so some sites are a little littered.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - this weekend I tested the new and improved Boost Oxygen Cans, Renogy’s E.TUNES Solar Bluetooth Speaker, and TredAgain Hawthorne Sneaker Boots.

[Boost Oxygen Cans]

I went camping for New Years weekend and wanted to see how these work for hangovers. The cans say “Hangover Reliever” so I thought I would give it a shot after partying into 2018. First off, I really like their new and improved cans. I’ve used their older canister design in the past, and the mouthpiece on the new cans delivers oxygen to the mouth much more efficiently and comfortably. Also, the cans are ridiculously light so they barely add any weight to your pack which is great when backpacking. I tried the Natural flavor this time, but I think I still prefer the Peppermint and Pink Grapefruit. The natural flavor was missing that sensation of inhaling anything, but I guess that means Boost has achieved the “natural” effect! The medium can is perfect for 1 person, and the large can was great for sharing. As for my hangover, it definitely improved my recovery! I used an ENTIRE medium can to myself the next morning after drinking, and I felt less nauseous, and dizzy. I wouldn’t claim my hangover disappeared completely, but there is no doubt that it alleviated some of the side effects.

[Renogy E.Tunes Solar Bluetooth Speaker]

I am so in love with this speaker! The sound on it amplifies loud, clear, and crisp. Even at the loudest volume, the sound is great. The battery on it lasts surprisingly long. We kept it going at medium volume for about 5 hours with battery to spare for the next day. The solar panel is on the small side so it doesn’t recharge that fast, but it does just fine if you’re only using it to play music. If you want to charge other devices (such as a phone) don’t expect too much. The speaker also comes with a strap which I attached to my backpack. This thing is durable! It was swinging around my pack, getting dropped to the ground, getting bumped against things as I hiked, and it can take a beating. I love that it’s waterproof as well. The flashlight on it is also super bright. It came in handy when I was looking for items inside my tent at night.

It's a fantastic speaker if you're on the search for it. I also love the red cover that I selected for the speaker. It adds some extra flair, AND also makes it super easy to spot out when I'm fumbling around for gear. This little guy comes with me on all my adventures!

[TredAgain Hawthorne Boots]

I love the way the Hawthorne boots look. It’s a good mix between urban and outdoorsy. The leather is made with super soft and high quality suede, and the rubber soles are sturdy. We took them camping and they got really dusty, but a little warm water and a rag was able to clean them surprisingly very easily. My husband wears a size 13 and he says these ran a little on the small side. He suggested that sizing up a full size would’ve been more comfortable, especially with wool socks. They are great for going around town, but aren’t for anything technical. He wore them on a 4 mile hike and they were on the heavy side. He got some blisters on the back of his ankles, so they do require some breaking in (like most shoes). We love the style and the quality, but they definitely aren’t meant for performance shoes. He’ll be wearing them for more casual outings around town though!