San Mateo Campground — San Onofre State Beach

I can’t say that it was awesome but it wasn’t jaw dropping. Nothing to write home about but not uninviting.

Site had tree cover which had some nice shade to provide relief from the sun. Lots of room for a couple vehicles and tents. Clean bathrooms and showers, but we stayed midweek and the place was very, very minimally occupied. Good access to walking and biking trails.

Nice campground. 1.5 miles from the ocean. Sites are quite large with bushes/ trees between sites. Upper campground has water and electricity.

We loved this campground!  There are mature trees between every campsite that provide privacy between sites.  The campground is setup as a bunch of loops with a large common area between the rear of every campsite.  That's the only place you're going to see your neighbors.  It's a perfect setup for a bunch of people camping together at separate sites - get enough of them and you'll have the entire common area between you to spread out!  For us, we used that large open space to setup our Starlink satellite antenna, and that was necessary since Verizon is basically a dead zone in that area.  

The communal showers were nice.  BRING DOLLAR BILLS to change them into tokens for the shower. A couple tokens (one dollar) is enough for a decent shower.  

Your paid campground site gets you day use access to the other nearby parks: San Onofre Bluffs and San Clemente State Beach.

Got an e-bike?  Lots of people had them.  I think as long as you're on the pavement there's no issues but check with the park regulations for any off pavement use which would include the trail to Trestles.

CONS:

The dump site was closed this weekend (8/18-8/20).   But with our day pass we were able to use the dump site at San Clemente State Beach.  NOTE: Day use is up to 10PM and they also have a dump site at the Bluffs.  Just keep in mind you may have to wait in line with other campers checking in to access the other areas.  We went at "dinner time" just before sunset to avoid crowds.

At each bathroom / shower area, there are a set of sinks - one for washing hands and a couple others for (apparently) washing dishes and other stuff.  However, they were turned off.

Overall, this was one of the better campgrounds we've stayed out.  We would defiintely come back here.

Easy spot close enough to the beach to be almost beach camping but far enough to have plenty of room and spacing to spread out. Your parking pass allowed to you to park at the state beach across the 5 freeway for free. Campsites are well maintained and have mature trees and bushes between sites to provide lots of privacy. Showers/facilities are a little rundown and our bathrooms foot-wash and dish wash station were disconnected. During the weekday you can hear activity from Camp Pendleton. Overall great spot to camp with the family.

This is my n=1 experience, but the night we were camping here, our neighboring camp was extremely loud. In fact, so loud and rowdy that eventually other campers called the police at 2AM, and a few of them were actually arrested for civil disobedience and threatening other members of their own party when the police arrived…

There is a ton of road noise coming off of the highway even late at night whenever a big trailer truck comes barreling down the road. You can try to imagine it’s the sound of the water but it doesn’t really work out when it’s off sync with the sound of the waves.

Camp is not close to the beach at all, but the sites themselves were large and spacious, so that is worth mentioning. Clean facilities in working order, but would never return for the aforementioned noise reasons.

You’re camping off the side of a highway for crisssakes!

Another beautiful gem along the California Coast. Although not on or too near the beach, this campground is truly a lovely spot. All or most of the campsites boast a bit of privacy. While parked on asphalt, you actually get not so small, individual area surrounded by low trees and bushes all around. I appreciated being in my own space, as my puppers are huge attention seekers and will bark to make themselves known. But here, they tended their own business (sleeping) and I got some well deserved peace and quiet!

It’s between San Diego and Costa Mesa so both of my daughters can meet us half way. Beautiful scenery love the nature around us and short walk to the beach

This is part of San Onofre State Beach. The campground is situated between the freeway, Camp Pendleton, and the city of San Clemente. Some campsites offer views of the river basin behind the campground. It is full of huge powerlines and you can see some marine facilities. It is a short hike under the freeway to the beach. There is good mountain biking to be had off of Christianitos. The park offers a nature hike with some informational signs.

Spent about 5 nights at San Onofre. It was close-ish To Disneyland and had nice amenities.

Showers were coin operated, but at least Hot.

Biggest con: Dump station cost $10 to use!!

A little drive to beach , not on the beach, closest beach is Onofre and it's mainly for surfers

We like coming here. It’s close to our home in San Diego. Spots are decent sized. Concrete pads for the RVs. Level. Decent facilities and they had a pop up store from 11am to 3pm on Saturday. Selling clothing primarily. Nice hikes near by. ATT cell phone service 2 bars for the most part. This is our second time here and we will come back.

Overnight stay at San Mateo campground to be close to the beach. Easy to get to San Clemente State Beach and the campground parking pass was also good at the beach.

Nice campground ,cell reception seemed poor, children playing in roads , very stressful driving and having kids dart in path of car because parents aren’t paying attention! We did see a ranger who was nice , bathroom okay for campsite but bring tissue and disinfectant just in case, bring water shoes as the beach is very rocky.

Always fun here. Fire at night, ocean sounds all night!

We came here on our maiden voyage with our trailer. Go figure the toilet valve clogged up once we plugged in. None the less, the bathrooms are close by and we made due until the next morning. Went into San Clemente and got a new valve at Ricks Trailer Supply and was back in business. Great place to get away without being to far away. We enjoyed our peaceful time.

$40 for a parking space 1.5 miles from a surf beach.

It has fire pits, flush toilets, and showers with hot water, but it lacks privacy, nature, and the feeling of getting away from the city.

Very quiet and comfortable place to spend the night! The hike to the beach was okay but pretty close to a busy road. Spotty cell service but that's fine by me when I'm camping! Very clean bathrooms. Overall pleasant stay.

Pretty nice camp ground. Clean and quite. Close enough to the beach. Decent facilities and nice hosts/front gate persons. Site was well maintained and fit 3 tents and 3 cars.

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🤓

Wanted to camp near Trestles and this seemed like a better option than the Bluffs. The trail to the beach takes about 40 minutes each way. A few times we drove to the bottom of the road and walked from there instead (15 minutes). Feels a little overpriced at $40 a night. Quiet campground.

We recently tent camped here for 5 days, space 138. Since we were here, Sunday - Friday, we didn't get any weekend crowds, and the days we were here, it seemed more 1-2 night use in the spaces around us.

There are pay per use showers, and flush toilets, that were both clean and had plenty of TP.

I think the wood bundles were $8 from the Ranger stop, but we had bought some in San Clemente before hand.

the long hike to the beach is fairly easy, but long, at least 30 minutes walking on a dusty trail. but it was better than trying to find parking.

Lots of kids riding bikes and having fun! I suggest to follow their lead. Bring a bike to explore the loops and trail to beach. Walking the one mile each way to the beach was nice with our dog on leash because the terrain has snake potential. We enjoyed the view in our Skamper pop up from site with Electric hook up site 30. But other Electric sites had good views 24,26,27 and 28. Clean bathrooms. Nice campground will be back.

My favorite spot in the San Clemente area. It's farthest from the beaches, but it's also quietest and the most spaced out. Bathrooms and showers are standard. Want to surf? Walk the short trail for 10-15 and you're set!

Our first camping trip and was a great experience. Front gate/office staff were efficient and getting us checked in and helpful with directions to our reserved site. Firewood was cash only and staff provided easy directions to nearest store selling bundles that would accept card payment. Site was clean and mostly free of ants. They seemed to be all over the grounds so watch your messes and keep trash away from camp area and thrown out frequently.

Bathrooms and shower area is cleaned and sprayed out every morning. We noticed this on our way out the following morning. Bring soap and towel with you to bathrooms. These are not provided. We did not use the sink/kitchen clean up area as we only stayed one night and opted to take care of this at home after our trip. I cannot provide any feedback on that area.

Our site was close to the entrance of the trail to the beach. We walked .5 mile of it the morning we left and turned back. The view at parts are very nice and the trail is well kept and flat. View of the valley and ocean at highest point.

Night was quiet from other guests. Everyone in our area respected the quiet hours and kept to themselves. Yes, you can hear nearby military exercises but these are not very disturbing, in my opinion. Wildlife was active at night during our stay. Rabbits and squirrels are running about throughout the night and a nearby pack of coyotes were celebrating something making for a fun experience.

In all, we’d return and look forward to it.

Clean campground, most of the spots are super private! A fun little hike (1.5 miles) to the walk until tresels beach. I think it’s 2 miles all together. The beach is beautiful, great for surfing!

My wife, son and I stayed here with our two dogs for the weekend of 9/11. It was a nice surprise. The place was clean and the sites were private. The campground overlooks Camp Pendleton. The sites had electric and water hook ups with a dump station on site. Good cell service with AT&T. It was a nice 40 minute hike to Trestles Beach. We would definitely stay here again. It was close and convenient for a local camp trip.

We were very happy with our camp site which was a short hike to the beach and town to get ice. We live super close to this campground but finally decided to camp near us and were happy we did. I loved that there were many showers super close to our site. Will definitely be back.

Just far enough away from every day life but close enough to go at a whim Bonus factor hot showers

Nice campgrounds, lots of privacy between you and your neighbor. Good trails nearby, but only 2 in Onofre Beach that allow dogs. Close to the ocean, restaurants and shopping. The trail between the campground and beach is~1.5 miles.