LegendSan Simeon Creek Campground — Hearst San Simeon State Park
Close to the ocean
General: Two campgrounds– San Simeon Creek, which is the developed campground, and Washburn, the primitive one (258 sites total). The main discernible difference between the two is that Washburn has vault toilets and San Simeon Creek has flush toilets. There is also a hiker/biker section of San Simeon, but it is very close to the highway. No utility hookups at all. This review is for San Simeon Creek. The maximum length of RV permitted is 35 feet.
Site Quality: Camper drives are paved and level. Some are VERY short; our friends made reservations, so I am not sure if you can tell when reserving the length of each pad. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring.
Bath/Shower: As is typical with California state parks, the bathrooms in San Simeon Creek are individual units, with most having a toilet and sink and one with just a toilet. No hot water, soap, paper towels, or air dryers, but they do have toilet seat covers. Token-operated showers.
Activities/Amenities: Firewood is available for $11/bundle from the host between 3 and 7 pm. I saw a somewhat overgrown horseshoe pit, and there is a nice-looking amphitheater (although I don’t know if there are still programs). There is a boardwalk that takes you to the beach, and the San Simeon trail winds around the Washburn campground and was prolific with wildflowers at the end of April. However, the trail was narrow, and there was a lot of poison oak. There is a (double) dump station. Very limited to no cell service (on Verizon).
This campground is typical of what we have come to expect from California state parks– it is less expensive than some, but still short in amenities. While the Washburn campground is further inland, note you will hear road noise from many of the sites in San Simeon Creek (but you do have direct access to the beach). At night when the road noise subsides, you can hear owls and/or frogs if your site backs up to the creek.
