Campground recommendation needed for Carmel, CA

[ShrimpBurrito]

We are taking some folks up to the Pt. Lobos Nature Reserve in a few weeks, and need a campground reservation. I typically run away from places with "RV Park" in their name, and gravitate towards Forest Service campgrounds with no amenities other than a fire ring and picnic table. But I realize that might be a bit challenging in this area.

Also - we are hoping to leave our dog in the TM during the day, temps permitting, so that's perhaps an additional consideration.

Any suggestions for something close by, say within 30 minutes or so? Large sites and privacy are highest priority. And frankly, if there were no hookups, that would be attractive as that usually means larger more private sites.

Many thanks,
Dave

[Bill]

Seems to me there were several places in the Big Sur area. From Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, north for 10 or 15 miles, was beautiful as I recall. Big Sur Campground and Cabins was quite nice, and you will camp in a big grove of huge redwoods. As I recall, B_&_D have stayed there recently.

Bill

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

We are taking some folks up to the Pt. Lobos Nature Reserve in a few weeks, and need a campground reservation. I typically run away from places with "RV Park" in their name, and gravitate towards Forest Service campgrounds with no amenities other than a fire ring and picnic table. But I realize that might be a bit challenging in this area.

Also - we are hoping to leave our dog in the TM during the day, temps permitting, so that's perhaps an additional consideration.

Any suggestions for something close by, say within 30 minutes or so? Large sites and privacy are highest priority. And frankly, if there were no hookups, that would be attractive as that usually means larger more private sites.

Many thanks,
Dave

Well...........I can give you a "PASS" recommendation.....

"Carmel by the River RV Resort". We stayed there for 3 nights last summer.

We actually liked it there but the sites are beyond small. The Management were really nice. No fire rings. It's just sort of a place to park your camper while you go sight-seeing.

You may be very limited in your choices due to the short time-frame. Anything near Big Sur will need reservations a year in advance.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Thanks for the suggestions. I had checked out all those places online, but all these places blend together after awhile, and it is way better to get personal recommendations.

Wayne - good to know. I will cross that one off for sure.

So it looks like my choices are primarily limited to:

- Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
- Big Sur Campground & Cabins (holy $$ - we'd end up paying $10 extra for our guests, for a total of $60/night for a "non-river" site.)
- Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, further south

From what I can tell, the places closer to Carmel are more like parking lots, like the one Wayne described.

Has anyone checked out Botcher's Gap camp in the Los Padres National Forest? It pretty close to Carmel (maybe 15 miles), but I've read descriptions that it is both walk-in and able to accommodate at least 1 or 2 trailers. I even called the camp host (there's only like 8 sites), and couldn't even get any conclusive info.

Anyone familiar with any "dispersed camping" areas in Los Padres in that area that are not in a campground?

Thanks,
Dave

I can second Pfeiffer Big Sur state park. We used to take my in-laws motor home when the kids were little during Christmas break. The have hot showers.

We have had our TM in there a couple of years ago. We like to go off season, usually December through March.

The back loop where near where we were was pretty tight. But the rest of the loops was easy.

[B_and_D]

Botcher Gap....I'm not sure about getting your trailers in there. I think we've driven through it, but many years ago. If it's the one I'm thinking of, the road up there is really tight and windy (even in a car). My California Camping book by Tom Stienstra says that it's a "walk-in" campground. If it's the one I'm thinking of it's kind of a parking lot only thing where you can backpack into the Boy Scout camp on the Big Sur River or walk into the campsites.

New Brighton is nice, lots of big trees and right by the beach. I don't think any of the campgrounds around here offer total privacy. You could try Sunset State Beach. It's not my favorite, but it's close to the beach & close to where you want to go. There is also Mt. Madonna County Park, just up the hill from Watsonville, it's very woodsy and there probably aren't many people up there this time of the year (but you never know). http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/pa...tcurrchannel=1 It takes a while to get up there so you may be more like 70 minutes (? +) from Pt. Lobos.

They also have camping at the fairgrounds in Monterey. There is camping at Laguna Seca, maybe Wayne B could chime in on that location; we haven't been there in years.

There is another private campground close by the Riverside campground in Carmel, it's the Saddle Mountain Recreation Park, we've never been through there but it might be worth investigating. We've driven through the Riverside campground and although it's kind of tight, we would stay there.

There is a county park in Monterey called Memorial Park, it's cheap, but not too private, but if you go during the week there will probably not be very many people there. Downside: there are no reservations.

Are you coming during the week, or weekend?

Bryan & I used to have a truck with a camper shell on it and found a couple of places to stay "sort of " near Big Sur out in the boonies, but they're way back there and it would take a really long time to get from those campsites to where you want to go during the day. I can't remember finding many places to even turn a trailer around in any of those spots, except maybe one, and it's "way back" there in both distance and in my memory. This was "BC" before children and it's probably way more restrictive now than it used to be. We always went in through the Highway 101 side, and now the road through Arroyo Seco is closed to the coast.

Another reason I want a cabover camper (besides the TM). I miss being able to go to those places.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Thanks for chiming in, B_and_D. I was hoping you would.

We're headed up for a weekend....will probably get there Friday afternoon, so I think even around this time of year, I don't think I'd want to risk no reservations unless it were a place like Botcher's Gap. And yes, it sounds like we are talking about the same place. From a combination of my conversation with the host and looking at satellite photos, it looks like we'd be camping in the parking lot, which I don't want to do. I saw some pics online of some folks that took an Airstream up there, but from their description, it sounds like that's where they were.

I've got the 16th edition (2009) of Tom Stienstra's book....definitely helpful.

Thanks for the additional suggestions. I saw a post of yours in a 2006 thread, and upon reading it, checked out Mt. Madonna. Too far, especially considering we'd be backtracking to Pt Lobos. From what I've seen online, Laguna Seca, Saddle Mountain, and Veteran's Memorial Park all look similar to the photo harveyrv posted above in Carmel by the River RV Resort, so they are not ideal. I guess I am going to have to compromise on this if I want to camp in this area. I concede I will not be able to find my usual type of place.

Of the places I listed in my post above, which would you rank first in terms of site spaciousness and privacy?

Dave

[B_and_D]

Exactly which campgrounds are you trying to choose between?

I don't know about leaving your dog in the trailer...we used to leave our cat but always found a shady place and she didn't bark .

If you could get into Pfeiffer I'd probably chose that place. But I don't know about the dog...not all of the sites are shady.

It's very shady at Big Sur Campgrounds & Cabins. But not as spacious as Pfeiffer.

I'm sending you a PM.

D

[ShrimpBurrito]

Thanks for the follow-up B_and_D. I think we're going to stay at Pfeiffer Big Sur, which looks to be right at a 30 min drive to Pt Lobos. Amazingly, there are a half dozen or so sites available for reservation, but most are marked "low privacy", so I'll just make a reservation and keep checking back to see if something better opens up.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Dave

I would not recommend Laguna Seca unless you were staying there for an event, like a race. We stayed there for the Sea Otter mountain bike races, until our son quit entering that race.

It is convenient though to central Monterrey.