Best Tent Camping near San Luis Obispo, CA

Back in February, before my foot injuries hobbled me, we spent two nights here.    We chose to camp in the tent camping area, away from RVs and their generators and lights.

The location was great.....right next to the beach, with our car conveniently parked next to our tent campsite.     

We hadn't been tent camping for a long time before that, so we were surprised that we were one of the very few people in the tent camping area that actually camped in tents.  The rest of the people in the area just camped in the campervans, small camper trucks, or disconnected towable campers.     

We could hear the wind all night in our tent, but during the day, the weather was perfect....cool and sunny.

Restrooms were nearby and clean.   There were no showers, but we were told that we could (if we wanted) use the ones in another nearby State Park.

Rangers were friendly.  

Overall, a very nice experience.

Santa Margarita Lake is a lovely, quiet medium size lake used for drinking water in San Luis Obispo County, Los Padres National Forest. There are 60 campsites; 54 tent/RV, 2 Boat-in and 4 horse camps. There is a playground and a pool available in summer as swimming in the lake is not allowed. Canoe/boat rentals are available as well as a launch ramp and marina store. This lake is popular with smaller fishing and recreational boats. Amenities include flush toilets in main camp, picnic table, fire pits but no hook ups. Reservations are online except for horse camps which require a phone call to County Parks 805-788-2387, fees run 38$-36$ per night.

The Morro Bay State park offers a scenic coastal campground nestled in tall eucalyptus trees just a stones throw from the water. There is plenty to see and do in town, and the campground has a kayaking company within walking distance. There's also a natural history museum across the street.

This campground is clean, and quiet with showers and flushable toilets. It's accessible with car, bike, or rv spots. They also offer a senior discount, but it's very affordable.

This campground is a great base camp for coastal exploring; either north to Cayucos, or south to San Luis Obispo and Pismo.

[ PROS ]

• The campground is super close to the beach! You can just walk over the tiny dunes and the waves are right there.
• Nothing like falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves. So soothing and will knock you right out!
• The beach itself is very calm and not very crowded/busy.
• Driving distance to stores, restaurants, markets, and The Embarcadero (for a day trip)
• Stunning view of Morro Rock 

[ CONS]

• This campground is basically like one giant parking lot which mostly caters to RVS and trailers.

• Not ideal for tent camping. There is very little space to pitch a tent, don't even think about 2 tents.

• Sites are very, very close together with very little privacy. I could hear my neighbor's whole conversations even with the sound of the surf.

• It was super windy here at night. We were camping in our tent trailer and our entire tent was rattling for hours. The tent next to us packed up in the middle of the night and left.

• No shade at this campground so it's pretty awful when it's sunny. I wouldn't suggest bringing a canopy because it gets super windy here.

Overall, this campground was very disappointing. Especially for the price! The only redeeming quality is the beach. It was super hard to get a reservation and is normally completely booked.

We met a group here and camped at a couple of adjacent sites. It is a premium location very close to the Pacific Ocean, and you can walk to a little store and very casual restaurant on the water. You can also rent canoes and kayaks to paddle out to the isthmus which is comprised of dunes. On the day we tried that, it was very windy, and some of the kayaks and canoes had to be rescued, so we decided to turn around and didn't make it all the way to the island. Nonetheless, it was great to be out on the ocean, and the scenery is otherworldly. The town nearby is very cute with lots of touristy things, but with a laid-back atmosphere. One can also venture further in to San Luis Obispo, which is a fun college town.

This is a pricey rv park, but great location and very busy. It is competitive with the others around and think it was the best one in the area. There are over 400 sites and so you are very, very close to your neighbor and tight parking at your rv, but the grounds are kept very nice and there are lots of things to do at the RV park. 

Direct access to the beach and can stroll the beach all the way to downtown. Also walkable to state park with walking trails by the water. 

Wifi worked excellent and had good AT&T cell service so easy to work remote here. Laundry on site and pricey, but machines worked well and very clean facilities with plenty of washers and dryers.$2.75/wash,$1.75/dry 

Close to San Luis Obispo. Awesome food at Oasis Mediterranean, the Honeymoon Cafe and Talay Thai!

I loved staying here. The site was clean, we had full hookups, and the bathrooms were very clean too. Their store had a lot of items that you might need (groceries and alcohol) and little souvenirs. Staff was super friendly. Would have given them 5 stars, except that the wifi doesn't work. I even went and asked one of the women who work in the office and she showed me how to set it up on my computer and phone but still nothing. I even brought my computer closer to the main office, hoping to be able to get some work done, but nothing. She mentioned that many other guests had complained about it not working but according to her, it was working. I am not sure where the "disconnect" was here! Regardless, great place, beautiful pool and lawn area and playground for kids. You are also only minutes away from the beach in Avila and great shopping (Whole Foods, Costco, Ralph's etc and lots of restaurants in San Luis Obispo (SLO).

Nice bathrooms, ocean sounds, not that level for tent camping at c7 .

Close to the beach within walking distance. Showers and restrooms not chemis . No hookups last time I was there both RV & tent camping .

Beautiful park. We thoroughly enjoyed our drive-in tent site, the scenery, and the abundant bird life.

Green, grassy campground with well separated spaces. Most pull thru and level. All surrounded by grass for nice tent camping. Surf sound is continuous. Masks other sounds except noisy generator in next site. Nice restrooms

We stayed here for a night when we arrived at Pismo Beach with no booking, and state campgrounds were full due to COVID-19 diminishing capacity. This campground is squeezed between the railway line to the east and the PCH to the west, in a not very wide strip of land. (Thankfully, the railway line is not very busy, with only 1 train in the evening, and 1 in the morning.) Our site was towards the southern end, and abutted the fence bordering the railway line. There were only 3 or 4 other sites empty in the entire campground (which has over 230 sites). There were mainly RVs throughout the campground, but a smattering of tents too (including ours).

The campsites had the basic fire pit and table, plus a faucet. The toilet block was close, but it was small and not particularly clean. The toilet cubicle doors were bizarrely short in both directions (i.e. the space from the floor to the bottom of the door was way too much for privacy! Not to mention being too short at the top too.) There was no soap dispenser for the hand basins, which I think should be mandatory during a pandemic (and especially considering how much money the campground is making each weekend, let alone at other times). I note that the campground is run by the San Luis Obispo County Parks. Frankly, I think they should upgrade the toilet blocks (at least, the one at southern end; perhaps the others are better but as I didn't use them I can't be sure....)

If we'd have been in our RV, we'd have preferred to save ourselves almost $50 and stayed on a street somewhere. This saved us from sleeping in our car, and made us appreciate other campgrounds we've stayed at all the more.

It is a fine enough campground, the nearby park being its main selling point. There is nothing special in the way of amenities or things to do, but it is peaceful and you are mostly left alone,

Bathrooms are closed, tent camping is closed.

The location was pretty sweet right by the beach. I tent camped while my family members RVd. My site was large with a fire pit but they were slightly crammed in and had no fire pit. Did notice that some had the pits so be careful if choosing which site. Overall a nice visit.

We looked for a beach not overly populated but clean and easy to camp. Lovely hookups if you need them and tent sites beach side are mostly protected from the winds. Cooler time of year but we knew that coming in. Would love to visit again in warmer months!

Eenjoyed 2 days here with many other campers. Staff helpful..friendly..restrms clean..quiet at night..fun things for kids..lake nearby also. Only 1 pitfall...we tent camped in space #63..next to a dirt road which looped around the campground. We got nailed with dirt dust every time someone drove by. Other than that..all was well...saw wild turkey and dear right next to our site. Inwould return but not at that camp space.

I have been here a few times over the years and it never disappoints! This year the swimming holes were perfect for some post hike cools downs. On the way to the site prepare for about 12 water crossings. There are roughly 6 tent sites all close together. There was a pretty rowdy crew of guys so get there early to pick your spot!

This lake has a no body contact rule which makes it a great quiet fishing lake with no jet skiing, swimming etc... there is a seasonal swimming pool that is right across from the rv spots. It is a dry campground and the 7 rv spots are basically on a parking lot but are on the waters edge which is nice. The tent sites are nice and are close the the lake. There is a well stocked and surprisingly well priced store as well as a marina that rents boats and kayaks. The lake has 2 boat launches and miles of hiking trails all within a short walk to the camping area. We get a few tv channels on our antenna but there is no cell reception. We launch our kayaks 20’ from our camper and when we had a boat we would launch it when we got there and leave it in the water right next to the camper which was very convenient. This of course always depends on the water level which has been very low some years, but has been good this year. The pool, showers and restrooms are newer, clean and very close to the rv spots but a bit of a walk to most of the tent sites.