Campgrounds of the Pacific Coast: California

This post is mainly intended as a resource for other cycle tourists trying to decide where to camp. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend making routing decisions based entirely on campground quality, there are situations when you have a few to choose from. And while I can't give an opinion on every single one, I can at least share my thoughts on the places where I stayed (plus a few that I didn't but have something to say about anyway).

After the jump: reviews.

New Brighton State Beach, Capitola, CA
Rating: 2/5
Distance to nearest town: in town
The only reason this even gets a 2 is because of its proximity to the beach. It has the most restrictive rules of any campground we stayed at (no check-ins before 4 PM, campsite must be vacated by 9 AM, maximum one night stay) and the hiker/biker sites are in a somewhat overgrown area in the middle of a traffic island. The park is within the Santa Cruz urbanized area, but it's big enough that you're not right next to any major roads or anything.

Half Moon Bay State Beach, Half Moon Bay, CA
Rating: 3/5
Distance to nearest town: 1 mile
We got in late and left very early, so we didn't spend much time doing anything other than sleeping. The hiker/biker sites are in a field at the edge of the main campground within 50 yards of the beach. There are a couple trees to break the wind in the area, but make sure you stake your tent well if it's gusty. I'm not sure if the hiker/biker sites are officially open here anymore. While there was a signed area and a food locker, the price board at the (unstaffed, at least when we arrived) fee booth did not show a rate for bikers.

Angel Island State Park, Tiburon, CA
Rating: 5/5
Distance to nearest town: on uninhabited island accessible only by ferry
The campsites are primitive and there are no hiker/biker sites, but you can't beat the view. It's worth the $30/night cost of the site, without question (plus $8 reservation fee, which is basically mandatory unless it's very early or very late in the season). There are three groups of three sites each in different parts of the island, but go for one of the ridge site (4, 5, and 6) if you can. Those are the only sites with views of both San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge. We were in site 5, which has some protection from the wind, but not to the point that it seriously obstructs the views. Once the last ferry leaves for the mainland in the late afternoon, the island is almost empty, and you can ride your bike all the way around on the perimeter road virtually alone. Be aware, however, that you will not have flush toilets (there are outhouses) and you may have to walk a bit for water.

Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Lagunitas, CA
Rating: 4/5
Distance to nearest town: 3 miles
The campground is nestled in a redwood forest on Sir Francis Drake Blvd., and it's perpetually dark as a result. The hiker/biker area is made up of several ill-defined, fairly small sites, but they are decently separated from the rest of the campground on the lower slopes of a hill. At the time we were there, the coin machines in the showers didn't seem to be working, so showers were effectively free. Because it was a Friday, the camp was fairly noisy and filled with smoke, but it was par for the course for a weekend night.

Bodega Dunes State Beach, Bodega Bay, CA
Rating: 3/5
Distance to nearest town: 2 miles
Another weekend campground, more noise and smoke. The hiker/biker area is basically a very large single campsite set back slightly from the others. The soil is almost entirely sand, so make sure you have tri-stakes or your tent may not be all that securely attached to the ground. Showers are free here, but because of that, they're also going to be cold unless you take them at an odd time. In all likelihood, you will hear the foghorn from the nearby lighthouse all night, but that's just something you have to get used to if you're biking the Pacific Coast.

Woodside Campground, Salt Point State Park, Fort Ross, CA
Rating: 3/5
Distance to nearest town: 2 miles (the only thing of interest is a small general store)
First off, make sure you turn into Woodside Campground on the east side of Highway 1. It's the more southerly of the two campgrounds in Salt Point State Park and the only one with hiker/biker sites. Another tip: to get to the hiker biker sites, do not turn right toward the main campground right past the fee booth. Go straight ahead, and the sites will be to the left of the day use parking lot. They're not really secluded in any way, although the only other person near you is the camp host across an open field. Some of the sites are fairly swampy, and Kevin apparently pitched his tent on top of a fly nest. The fee here is $6/person instead of the usual $5; why, I don't know. It is very quiet though, despite being very close to Highway 1, simply because there's almost no traffic in this area at night.

Manchester State Park, Manchester, CA
Rating: 1/5
Distance to nearest town: 1 mile
As far as I can tell, this park has a staff of one person (maybe even no staff now with California park closures). There's not even a fee booth, just some envelopes and the payment post. The hiker/biker site is very close to the entrance in an area of tall grass. You can tell you're in the camping area because the grass is only 1 foot high as opposed to the 2+ feet everywhere else. There are a few scattered trees to block the wind, but it's mostly open. You're not all that close to the beach, probably another mile or so. Wildlife is a problem. I had a gopher trying to pop up underneath my tent all night. I think there's a flush toilet, but you'll probably be using the much closer outhouses, which appear to have been forgotten in approximately 1992. On the plus side: the caretaker was a really friendly woman who didn't seem to care in the slightest if we had paid (we did though). Also, even though the hiker/biker is open, there probably won't be more than 10 people in the entire campground.

Russian Gulch State Park, Mendocino, CA
Rating: 4/5
Distance to nearest town: 2 miles
We stayed here for two nights, and it's a great campground for a rest day. Mendocino is a cool little town and Russian Gulch is a fun park to explore, if not that big. The hiker/biker is right at the campground entrance at the bottom of a steep hill and right next to a restroom block. Showers are a little way up the road into the campground though. Privacy is about average; you're near the host, but not really right on top of any other site. Because you're right next to the bathrooms, you can use them for charging electronics while doing other things. Noise is slightly above average due to the Highway 1 bridge over the gulch. You won't get a phone signal.

Westport KOA, Westport, CA
Rating: 5/5
Distance to nearest town: 1 mile
We didn't plan to stay here, but it felt like a five star hotel compared to the state parks. Free wifi, free showers, hot water, hand soap and paper towels (not available in most CA state campgrounds), and all for $5 total. I'm not sure if that rate was official, but we were the only tent campers apart from a tour group in Walmart tents. The campground is very sheltered from the elements in a filled-in cove. The view from the beach at sunset is phenomenal. Noise is on the high side though, because the tent sites are right below the Highway 1 embankment. On the other hand, traffic is minimal, so you should be able to live with it.

Westport-Union Landing State Beach, Westport, CA
Rating: N/A
Distance to nearest town: 3 miles
We didn't stay here, but I wanted to comment on it briefly. First of all, if you're northbound and want to camp here, GO PAST the closed section. The campground is at the northern end of the park and may not be the best for tent campers if the weather is at all threatening. It's right on top of some low cliffs with virtually no wind protection, and nothing to block the noise from Highway 1 either (although traffic is, again, minimal). In good weather, I'd say go for it if you can't get the $5 rate at the KOA, but stake your tent down well.

Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area, Leggett, CA
Rating: 4/5
Distance to nearest town: there's a small general store right across the highway
This park was already closed to everyone other than hiker/bikers in May 2012, so there weren't any issues with privacy or over-zealous RV campers. You'll probably be setting up in an RV site, so make sure you have a sleeping pad - you'll be on gravel. The campground is very well protected by second-growth redwoods, although it's fairly noisy right next to US 101. It's worth the short but steep walk down to the river for the views of the green valley.

Burlington Campground, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Weott, CA
Rating: 3/5
Distance to nearest town: 2 miles
Now you're really in the redwoods. This campground is right in the middle of the Avenue of the Giants next to the park visitor center, and it's dark all the time under 300 foot tall trees. You'll be pitching your tent on a nice, soft base of redwood needles. That being said, it's a pretty large campground in terms of capacity and it's not at all spread out. The hiker/biker area is actually just 3 normal tent sites, two of which are together (you have to walk through one to get to the other). They're all right next to the road, but there are no trucks and little night traffic. Still, it's a little closer than is pleasant. Worth noting: unless you plan to bandit camp or have a really long day, don't try to make it over the Leggett Hill directly from here. It's over 80 miles to Westport, the first place on the other side.

Dry Lagoon Campground, Humboldt Lagoons State Park, Orick, CA
Rating: N/A
Distance to nearest town: 7 miles
Another place we didn't actually stay, but we stopped here to take shelter. Or we tried to, anyway. The campground is primitive and, more importantly, DRY. There is no water here, and you're nowhere near a town. You'll have to hike or drag your bike into the campground itself after biking about 3/4 of a mile from the highway.

Elk Prairie Campground, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick, CA
Rating: N/A
Distance to nearest town: 6 miles
This is where we originally intended to stay the night we ended up stopping at a motel in Orick. The campground is on the edge of a large field that apparently is frequented by elk (I didn't see any when we stopped). It's decently sheltered and on a parkway, so traffic is almost nonexistent at night.

Mill Creek Campground, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Crescent City, CA
Rating: 4/5
Distance to nearest town: 8 miles with a massive climb
The entrance to this campground is pretty much at the top of the Crescent City hill, the 1,200 foot climb that's second only to Leggett on the Pacific Coast route. The campground itself, however, is almost 3 miles off the highway and some 600 feet below it. It's a reasonably steep climb that you'll have to do first thing in the morning, so be prepared. That being said, pretty much everything else about this place is excellent. It's NPS maintained, so facilities are of somewhat higher quality than is usual for California, and it's big. The redwoods protect you from the elements, although I don't actually know where the hiker/biker site is. It wasn't open yet when we were there, so we instead got placed into a site next to a HUGE redwood stump. It got a little cramped when they put 5 others into our site and the adjoining one, but no worse than a small hiker/biker area. There's absolutely no noise, but there are theoretically bears here, so make sure you put your food in the metal lockers. If it weren't so inaccessible from town, this would be a fantastic place to spend a rest day.

Other relevant campgrounds:
Mt. Tamalpais State Park, Marin County, CA - There are walk-in sites here (maybe hiker/bikers, I'm not sure), but you'll have to climb almost 1,000 feet up and 5 miles away from the main Adventure Cycling route. That being said, if the Forest Service camp in the Marin Headlands (itself a steep climb up from the main road) and Angel Island are full, or you didn't make the ferry, this may be your only camping option. China Camp State Park near San Rafael may also have hiker/biker sites, but it's some 8 miles off route.

Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes, CA - The only camping in Point Reyes is in the backcountry. It's free though, if you can get a reservation. If you're willing to ride/push your bike over a few miles of trail, it's an option, though I would only do it if you plan to spend a couple days exploring the area. There's also a hostel in the area, but it's very isolated too (although it's on a road, at least).

Van Damme State Park, Mendocino, CA - This is another park with a hiker/biker a few miles south of the town of Mendocino. If Russian Gulch is crowded or you just want to ride 5 more or 5 less miles for the day, it's an option.

MacKerricher State Park, Cleone, CA - This is a fairly popular hiker/biker camp, but it will add a bit of distance to your Leggett Hill day. It's about 20 miles south of Westport and maybe 5 miles north of Fort Bragg, the largest town on this section of coast. A lot of southbounders go here over the Leggett Hill and then all the way to Manchester the next day, but headwinds may make the reverse a real challenge for northbounders.

Eureka/Arcata - This is a gap in the state park system. You're either going to have an 85 mile day from Patrick's Point to Burlington Campground or you're going to have to stay at the Eureka KOA. Most people seem to do the latter. I can't comment on it though, because we floorsurfed (it would be couchsurfing, except there was no couch) in Arcata.

Patrick's Point State Park, Trinidad, CA - It seemed nice enough, but it's awkwardly situated, so I can't really see stopping here. If you do, you'll have to pull some combination of very short (~20-25 mile) and very long (~70-90 mile) days to make it work.