General: Two campgrounds: San Simeon Creek, close to Highway One and the beach and Washburn Primitive, located about a mile inland. We stayed in San Simeon Creek, so the bulk of this review focuses on that one. 

Site Quality: Sites are spaced a decent amount apart, some with foliage providing privacy. The camper pads are level, paved, and designated as either 25 - or 35-foot campsites. Site 102 was a 25-foot site but IMO that is a stretch as our 18-foot campervan fit but not with much extra room. Surprisingly enough, we saw some rather large rigs in some of the spaces. No hookups. Depending on where your site is located, you will hear road noise from the highway. The tent section is closest to the highway. 

Bath/Shower House: What we’ve come to expect from California state parks: single units, most with a toilet and sink but one with just a toilet. Although they had toilet seat covers, there was NO soap or trash receptables in any of the units. Two outside sinks. Token-operated showers that looked decent but did not use. In the Washburn Primitive campground, there are only vault toilets but the one I looked at appeared clean. 

Activities: There is a horseshoe pit, but it looks like it has not been used in a long time. Also an amphitheater but do not know if there are currently programs as we were there during the week in the “off-season”. There are two trails that lead to the beach: one from the campsites and the other via a wooden boardwalk, a short walk from the campground. There is zero cell service in the San Simeon Creek campground, but I got two bars of Verizon in the Washburn campground. 

I waffled back and forth between three and four stars; the sites were fairly well maintained, and the beach access (and proximity to Hearst Castle) is likely the reason most people stay, but it annoyed me that there was no soap or garbage receptacles in the bathrooms (in an eternal Covid world, there should be soap in all bathrooms!) but we had a quiet and pleasant stay during the week in early November.