14 Finest West Coast Seaside Tenting Locations

The West Coast has some unimaginable beachfront views, and the myriad of decisions in relation to seaside campgrounds throughout the area is overwhelming. Campers can expertise a misty rainforest on the sting of a northern sea, a California sundown, marshmallows over a seashore bonfire, or a shaded spot beneath palm bushes.

Campers can use their tents, RVs, and all the pieces in between to discover the best and cheapest West Coast beach towns, take pleasure in a country expertise near nature, or simply calm down in entrance of a surprising ocean view. There are campsites alongside the West Coast that permit company to both sleep immediately on the seashore or solely a brief stroll away from it, and all the time inside view of the sand and surf.

You is likely to be driving probably the most luxurious trendy RV or simply pitching an old-school tent, however there is a West Coast tenting vacation spot that has a web site for you. Go rustic, leaving solely footprints and taking solely images, or settle in a location with trendy facilities and concrete companies.

Do not let the identify idiot you. This location on the Lengthy Seaside Peninsula, overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the Columbia River, has great scenic views in each path. This historic Washington state park provides guests the prospect to discover varied nature trails and a number of lighthouses on their approach to the seashore.

Cape Disappointment State Park is meant and designed for tenting and has the house and facilities for varied tents, campers, and RVs. Not all websites are subsequent to the water, although many are inside view and only some minutes away on foot. Websites will be reserved prematurely.

For these towing a ship behind their camper or RV, you may select between salt and freshwater fishing, and there are launch factors within the park for the Columbia River and Baker Bay on the Pacific coast. Different diversions embody a golf course, the Benson Seaside Amphitheater, and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Heart. 

Tucked into the aspect of a bay on Westport Seaside, this RV park and campground welcomes tents, rents cabins, offers quite a lot of trendy facilities, and lets guests keep proper on a non-public seashore. Get pleasure from a number of the most pristine nature of the California coast whereas additionally getting Wi-Fi, scorching showers, and entry to a useful comfort retailer.

Seaside actions embody browsing, snorkeling, fishing, and kayaking, and mountaineering trails lengthen alongside the shoreline and into the inland wilderness. When you’ve had sufficient of snacks and shore lunches, then discover the small cities alongside the coast, comparable to Duncan’s Cove and Sereno del Mar.

Get a web site proper on the seashore for a tent with a picnic desk and a stellar view, or park your RV on one of many oceanfront areas. This pristine stretch of coast, greater than 4 hours’ drive west of Sacramento, is surrounded by nature preserves and parks. The Angelo Coast Range Reserve, situated 15 miles to the east, is considered one of these distinctive conservation areas and is considered one of 42 protected pure preserves that make up the College of California Pure Reserve System.

Vacationers who do not need to drive too distant from the large metropolis can discover this seashore campground lower than an hour’s drive from San Francisco. A smaller a part of a state park of the identical identify, the campground at Half Moon Bay overlooks Venice Seaside Cove in a stellar location subsequent to considered one of California’s laid-back, coastal cities. The precise location of the campsite is on a stretch of sand referred to as Francis Seaside.

There are no parking areas or hookups on the seashore, so solely tents and different easy shelters are allowed on the sand, however there’s house for RVs only some meters away. From this vantage level, guests can see Dunes Seaside to the north and Venice Seaside and Elmar Seaside to the south.

Friends ought to be aware that a number of the companies and facilities at Francis Seaside are seasonal or have restricted opening hours. One instance is the Half Moon Bay State Seaside Customer Heart, which is solely open on weekends. 

This location overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca is considered one of many campgrounds alongside this pristine stretch of the West Coast, however Whiskey Creek Beach NW has a number of the most diversified decisions in relation to the kind of camper you’re. Convey an RV or a tent, or benefit from the varied rental choices, together with cabins, A-frames, and cottages. 

Regardless of the time period “creek” within the identify, which refers back to the small river on the jap aspect of the venue, each campsite at Whiskey Creek Seaside is beachfront property, however some are nearer than others. The country cabins and some of the A-frames out there for hire are actually steps away from the shoreline. 

Guests can use this useful location to discover different thrilling areas on the Olympic Peninsula. The Lyre Conservation Area, situated lower than 4 miles to the west of the campground, features a 2.1-mile seashore path resulting in the shores of the Juan de Fuca Strait.

Camano Island State Park is definitely on an island in Puget Sound, which opens to the Juan de Fuca Strait and ultimately the Pacific Ocean. As it’s with most campgrounds in state parks, there are trendy services like showers and water hookups, however little to supply by way of outlets or meals shops. The city of Camano is barely a five-minute drive north, do you have to want facilities or provides, and there are additionally varied small communities lining Elger Bay.

The Cascadia Marine Path campsite is situated at Lowell Level, the southernmost a part of the island. It is the closest one to the water, with loads of areas only some toes from the shoreline. Apart from quick seashore entry, there’s additionally house for picnics, restrooms, an amphitheater, and entry to the Al Emerson Nature Path. 

Every part from primitive campsites to RV pull-ins is offered, and there are even just a few cottages for hire within the shelter of the forest. Guests ought to be suggested that a number of the extra remoted rustic areas are accessible solely by boat. Fortunately, the park can be outfitted with a ship launch, however be sure you have the suitable allow.

Wright’s Beach Campground is a part of Sonoma Coast State Park and is situated on an extended stretch of open seashore that features a number of different sandy dunes and seaside cities. It is a venue that provides campers an opportunity to be proper subsequent to the water, whether or not they have an RV or a tent, and every web site is supplied with a hearth ring and parking spot. 

The entire campsites are subsequent to the seashore, however some are nearer and immediately face the ocean and due to this fact are in excessive demand. Winter storms and associated excessive winds may shut just a few of those campsites, relying on the season. 

Stroll south alongside the seashore to Duncan’s Level and Rock Level Seaside for some recent air and picture alternatives, or head north alongside the Kortum Path to Genesis Level and Furlong Gulch. There’s quite a lot of house to cowl on this huge open seashore for many who need to discover and hike alongside a principally undeveloped seaside.  

One of many many campgrounds out there in Olympic National Park, one of many best national parks for camping in America, South Seaside provides guests an opportunity to camp on a small bluff proper subsequent to the water. The catch is that it is solely open in the course of the hotter months, with out there dates starting from Might to October. 

The Kalaloch Lodge Group Campsite is another for these visiting within the offseason. It is lower than three miles north, has electrical hookups, showers, and overlooks the Pacific Ocean. The Kalaloch Lodge can be a useful location that features a restaurant, present store, and concession stand if a camper wants primary provides.

South Seaside is extra rustic than most different campsites. The one entry is a mud street; it has 50 websites in whole, and there aren’t any hookups for water or energy. A number of trendy touches can be found; each camper has their very own picnic desk and fireplace pit, and flush bathrooms can be found. 

Squeezed between the Pacific Ocean and the huge space of the Redwood Nationwide and State Parks, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is considered one of a number of beneath this banner that additionally embody Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, and Redwood Nationwide Park. 

What higher approach to expertise the waterfront than by staying proper on it? Gold Bluffs Seaside has a number of tent and RV websites with idyllic coastal camping spots out there proper subsequent to the seashore. There’s plumbing and electrical hookups, so deliver your camper, RV, or tent and revel in some seaside ambiance. Websites No. 5 by means of No. 18 are solely steps away from the sandy dunes, and some of them have water hookups. 

For these campers who like some greenery with their sand and surf, the Miner’s Ridge Trail is close by and results in Fern Canyon. That is simply part of the wooded inside of the state, well-known for its lush rainforest and tall redwood bushes.

An excellent location for many who like tall cliffs and lighthouses with their lengthy sandy seashores, Cape Blanco State Park additionally has house for electrical hookups, rentable cabins, and separate camps for hikers, equestrians, and cyclists. The seashore is accessible from just about the entire campground, however the cabins are a number of the closest websites to the seashore entry level and only some minutes’ stroll away from the seashore.

There are eight horse camps within the park, making this location probably the greatest choices for these bringing pack animals. That features animals like donkeys and mules, and each horse camp is required to have at the very least one. There’s even an open driving space within the middle of the cape, south of the campground.

The seashore is a beautiful sight, in fact, however guests may head north alongside Cape Blanco Street to see the Historic Hughes House and Ranch, a Nineteenth-century cabin constructed by Irish settlers Patrick and Jane Hughes. The household connection additionally extends to the Cape Blanco Lighthouse, which was operated by one of many Hughes’ youngsters.

Rincon Parkway Campground sits within the infamous, lovely stretch of the West Coast between Ventura and Santa Barbara. The catch is that solely RVs are allowed into the park, and though there are various websites north and south of this location. These have rocky shorelines and fewer seashore entry.

There are just a few trendy conveniences right here; your RV ought to be self-contained with the mandatory facilities. Campers ought to be certain that they’ve ample provides and are ready for just a few days with out a dumping station or electrical and water hookups. The web site is not empty, and there are just a few moveable bathrooms maintained on-site simply in case.  

There’s little right here to distract from the stellar views of the lengthy, sandy seashore that appears to stretch endlessly into the horizon. The park retains quiet hours between 9 p.m. and seven a.m., which embody using mills, so there’s nothing to interrupt the sound of the ocean or your leisure stage. 

Because the identify implies, the Cedar to Surf Campground is a perfect place to take pleasure in each the forests and the seashores of coastal Washington. The whole campground is on the water’s edge, and several other of the out there areas are subsequent to the dunes. Campers can include an RV, tent, or hire one of many on-site cabins.

The Lengthy Seaside Peninsula can be a preferred vacation spot for day use, and other people come right here for year-round diversions comparable to mountaineering and seasonal actions, comparable to digging for clams. For many who prefer to fish and dig for clams, house is offered to scrub your catch.

There are many distinctive native points of interest inside a simple drive of the campground, just like the World Kite Museum, which is lower than 10 miles away. The Cranberry Museum is in the identical space, solely a 15-minute drive to the south and on the shore of Willapa Bay.

Canadians take pleasure in having fun with two “West Coasts.” The shores of the British Columbia mainland, which embody the town of Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast is the place Juan de Fuca Provincial Park is situated. 

Vancouver Island is accessible from the Canadian and U.S. sides of the border. The Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal is southwest of Vancouver and goes to Swartz Bay, and the Victoria Clipper from Seattle docks within the harbor of the province’s capital metropolis. This latter selection is the most suitable choice for many who need the shortest drive to the park, and it is nonetheless 90 minutes from downtown Victoria.

There are numerous campgrounds throughout the park which can be both proper on the seashore or subsequent to it. These embody Mystic Seaside, Bear Seaside, China Seaside, and Sombrio Seaside. Solely China and Sombrio have house for automobiles, and Sombrio has designated areas marked with tent pads. The three different seashore tenting areas permit company to designate their very own private campsite.  

Head south of the border to Baja California Norte (BCN) to seek out Alistos K58 Campground, a handy, scenic, and well-maintained venue that hosts tents, campers, and RVs. Many of the company deliver their leisure automobiles, or hire one close by, however there’s loads of room for normal tents, and there aren’t any guidelines in opposition to them.

The campsite is on a bluff overlooking the water, with an extended stretch of white sand on the backside, accessible by two barely inclined walkways. The seashore itself has loads of actions to take pleasure in, and surfingi s probably the most standard choices within the water.

The K58 Surf Store is conveniently on the left of the archway, the place company can stroll right down to the seashore, so there isn’t any want to move into the town for leases, primary gear, waxing, or ding restore. The shoreline right here can be good for swimming, however locals warning in opposition to disturbing the stingrays.

For these campers who’re feeling extra adventurous, journey even deeper into the misty inexperienced coronary heart of Vancouver Island to achieve Surf Grove Campground in Tofino. This is without doubt one of the final, wildest locations on the West Coast, and it is value seeing whereas it nonetheless exists.

The campground is nestled in Cox Bay Seaside Cove, and regardless of the identify, there’s much more to do apart from browsing. The Tofino Visitor’s Centre is just some minutes away in case you’re searching for extra details about the realm. 

Camping of virtually every kind is available here, from absolutely serviced RV websites to rustic campgrounds with few or no services. It is also an choice to hire an RV or A-frame cabin upon your arrival as an alternative of bringing your individual. There is not any tenting immediately on the seashore, however the campground is within the shelter of the close by forest and solely steps away from the sandy expanse.

Three American states line the West Coast, and all of them have varied campgrounds and RV parks that are perfect for tenting. These venues permit guests to remain proper on the seashore or only some steps away from it, a novel expertise on loads of trip bucket lists.  

For these campers planning an extended street journey and searching for some further selection, we have additionally included entries for the Baja Peninsula in Mexico and Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

Among the most incredible spots tend to be in California, which has probably the most sandy seashore house and is probably the most forgiving in relation to local weather. The Pacific Northwest additionally has so much to supply in relation to surroundings and seasons, though the wind and waves is likely to be on the cooler aspect. Generally these northern locations have an offseason when campsites are restricted or closed, so plan accordingly.  

Sources for our listing embody the Campendium and Roadtrippers web sites, and although most of this info favors RVing, these websites additionally embody info for tent tenting.