Best Cabin Camping near San Simeon, CA

This was our first trip in our RV and I think it worked out well. The location of this place is perfect with lots to do in the area. 1 hour south of here was Solvang and Ostrich farm, 1 hourish north is Cambria and San Simeon. There is also Avila beach about 5 minutes away and pismo about 10 min. If you need anything, San Luis Obispo is 5 minutes away.. the facility was very nice, with lots of trees that give the "escape" feeling and the people that work here are FABULOUS!! The only downside was the noise. You are really close to the highway so you hear cars zoom past all night, not great for a light sleeper like me.

RV hookups , pool , huge jumping pad for kids about a mile walk to the lake . They have yurts for tent & cabins.

Stayed here in a cabin for 2 yrs because of work in area. Quiet, clean and away from the city. Love this place.

Cool spot to explore, it’s an event ground space with cabins, pool, showers, trails, nice views, and a beautiful place to explore. I called around 4pm and was there for 1 night on a Thursday and it seemed like I was the only one there. Amanda was super sweet and got back to me immediately.

Easter weekend visit. Staff was awesome. The cabin was exactly what we needed for a low impact weekend of camping. Proximity to the lake was great. We had so much fun out on the water doing some fishing. The highlight for my kids was the Easter egg hunt put on by the staff. A happy surprise for sure. We will be going back!

Last minute booking for us as all of the surrounding parks were fully booked. We got site “W.” Stayed for one night. This spot seems to mostly cater to tent and cabin campers... had to use 4 blocks to level our tailer, the site was full of trash and dog poop too.

One thing that is awesome is that there is a bike path (5 miles ish round trip) that leads to the beach. The path is along a creek, surrounded by trees, and goes through a golf course. It is relatively flat and our 7yr old had a blast.

Such an awesome unique space! Looks to be an old summer camp that is recently acquired to be a campground/outdoor event space. Amanda, the owner, is extremely sweet and accommodating. There is hookups for rigs, I saw two vans and a smaller/mid-sized SUV. They also have small private cabins to rent as well. We paid $35 for boondock camping and slept on the ridge overlooking two valleys. Half the price of pismo and Oceano, and half of the dismissive, gnarly attitudes. For what it is, it’s a little patch of heaven. Worth checking it out!

My family used to visit this campground for its easy accessibility for younger children. Deciduous trees and leafy ground cover make for a comfortable experience. Canoeing and kayak rentals available, beware of spiders!

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.

This small hot springs resort has a unique charm about it. With not a lot of acreage, they maximize the space for sure. The main attraction is the warm pool, 25 yards with swimming lanes, and the hot pool which can accommodate 30 people. We found this rustic resort a good place to spend the night and get in a quick soak, but not exactly someplace we’d like to spend a weekend. 

The RV lot is a large parking lot with spaces allocated on the outside of the gravel road. The tent camping section was a narrow patch of grass, with sites slotted in together along a tight corner of the property. Get to know your neighbors, because you’ll be close! Our little camper and truck rig was just small enough to fit into one of the grass camping sites at 32 feet combined, but it was a tight fit.  We were easily able to run on solar instead of paying for an electrical site.

There's a picnic table and fire ring at each site, but the sites are so small, you are practically on top of your neighbors with zero privacy.  There are pit toilets in the campground as well as flush toilets and showers available near the bath house.  They also offer cabins for rent.

The town of Avila Beach has restaurants and a few convenience stores, but the larger grocery stores are available in nearby Pismo Beach.  Morro Bay is definitely worth a visit as well!

Long time campers in California are probably familiar with the feeling that the prep work required simply to get a reservation at the most popular national and state parks is more than prepping for the trip itself. This is true not just for the most famous parks, like Yosemite, but for many others as well. Wanna camp between late May and early October in a well known state park? Better book that reservation months in advance. This is especially true for RV sites, as there are even fewer of those.

But sometimes you want to just get away on shorter notice. This is where the CA county park system comes to the rescue. County parks are numerous and much easier to get reservations at. And Lopez Lake, part of San Luis Obispo county doesn’t disappoint. The lake itself is a man made reservoir, and the campground sits right behind it. It’s got a mixture of tent sites and RV sites, some will full hookup - although some may only have 15/20A power. There’s lots to do on the lake, and Pismo Beach is a short drive away. Is a weekend at Lopez going to be like that epic 4 day trip you took to King’s Canyon or Zion or Yellowstone that you planned years in advance? No. But if you decide to take a long weekend in the late summer, there’s a good chance Lopez Lake will have spots available, especially during the week. Highly recommended.

My wife,son and I stayed here May 11-13 in our class C. We even brought our two dogs. A quick get away during the lock down. This was one of the few campgrounds we found that were taking reservations. They only took full hookup sites because bathrooms, showers and laundry are closed. The playground was open. Fun bounce pad. There is frisbee golf and horse shoes. They even have an Emu that is friendly and your kids can pet. The place is very clean and the staff is friendly. The campground was pretty empty except for a very few brave campers and the staff. It is a short walk down to Lake Santa Margarita. We stayed in site 28. AT&T cell service was zero to very poor at our site. WiFi was poor and slow. They advertised good WiFi in our spot but it just wasn’t so. A bit pricey but we just wanted to get out of the house. We would stay here again.

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!

Dusty little place. It was the only one available since all of the surrounding spots were booked up.

Restrooms and showers close at 6p, so only potter potties are available after that.

Also the tenting spots are really close together.

$45 is way to expensive for what it is. Even for California.

We recently stayed at Lopez Lake with our three children (all under age 9). The sites are easy to navigate, the wildlife flourishes throughout the area for some fun viewings, the rangers and staff were super helpful and there was plenty of room for the kids to run around. The Lake was low, but this is California so, ya know. Water was chilly but the kids were soldiers and it was a good time and extra relaxing for us parents. For $30 a night, it’s worth every penny!