Washburn Primative Campground, Cambria California

Great Coastal Access Camping

Getting There

It was a long drive on a Friday night after work from Oakland, but we love waking up in a campground on Saturday morning. It makes the weekend seem that much longer when we don’t spend hours on a Saturday getting to our destination.

The only drawback is you miss a lot of the beautiful scenery when you drive at night. For us though, it is worth it to enjoy a leisurely Saturday morning having coffee and breakfast at the campground.

With a section of Highway 1 closed a few miles south of the Big Sur area, we had to go a lot further north on highway 101 and then cut over on the 46 to highway 1. From there we drove down highway 1 for about 6 miles to the campground. The next day would be another long drive up to our Big Sur campground.

Before you plan, always check for closures on highway 1 between Big Sur and Cambria.

Driving Into The Campground

It’s always a little tricky pulling into a new campground when it’s pitch black out. As we drove in we first came upon the San Simeon Creek Campground. See our thoughts on this campground further down in the review.

We continued on and drove up the campground road for about a mile or so to the upper Washburn Campground area. After some searching, we found our spot and were quite excited that it required no leveling of the van.

All we could tell from the headlights is that it appeared to be a fairly open campground with not a lot of trees. We would give it a thorough walkthrough in the morning.

Types Of Campsites

There are 68 primitive campsites for tents and recreational vehicles in the Washburn Campground. It is a fairly flat area with a few trees scattered around. Some sites have no trees and others have a few that cast some shade. If you have solar panels you will have no trouble maintaining a charge.

We really didn’t see any campsites that we would not want to camp at besides the standard…right by the bathroom sites. The views of the surrounding hills are beautiful and a few of the sites on the west side do see a bit of the ocean.

Our Campsite Picks

We really liked our campsite, W263, and don’t feel there are really any bad campsites.

The Lower Campground – San Simeon Creek

The lower campground is much closer to the water, but also closer to the road. On our way out we drove through to take a look. It is very shaded with a lot of trees and bushes. It feels much more closed in than Washburn Campground does. The campsites are also much closer together. Solar charging could be an issue too.

If you don’t want to walk a mile to the beach and if your prefer a shaded campsite, then this might be your best bet. They also have showers which is nice.

Open Season

The parks.ca.gov website states reservations can be made year round.

Amenities & Additional Info

Fire ring.
Firewood is available from the camp host.
Picnic tables.
Pit and flush toilets.
Token operated showers (at the lower San Simeon Creek Campground).
Water spigots throughout.
Max RV length 35 feet.
Max 2 vehicles per site. (trailers & motorcycles count as a vehicle)
No hookups are available.
RV dump station (at the lower San Simeon Creek Campground)
Dogs are allowed on leash and have some restrictions.

Fees

$20 per night with a $7.99 online reservation fee.

Reservations

Reserve California ( www.reservecalifornia.com )
800-444-7275

Campgrounds Nearby

The closest campground is 20 miles away.

Local Things To See And Do

The cute town of Cambria is 2 miles south of the campground.
The coastal town of San Simeon is less than 2 miles to the north of the campground.
Hearst Castle tours.

Cell Service

ATT – 4 bars
Verizon – 3 bars

Address

500 San Simeon Creek Road
Cambria, CA 93428hearst castle