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This primitive campground is approximately 1 mile inland from the beach on a plateau overlooking the Santa Lucia mountains as well as the Pacific Ocean. Washburn campground can be accessed from the San Simeon Creek Campground entrance station. Facilities here include a fire ring and picnic table at each campsite. In addition, shower facilities are available to registered campers. This campground has an additional 68 sites.
San Simeon State Park is located 35 miles north of San Luis Obispo on Highway 1, and 5 miles south of the Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument Visitor Center. The community of Cambria is located 2 miles to the South and offers gas stations and grocery stores.
December, 2023 stayed 3 days and enjoyed our stay. The parking pads are big enough to pull our van (20 foot long) into and have room in front of it. There were an array of different size rigs there. There are only pit toilets, not flushing toilets. There was a water spicket on between the toilets. The rest were off for Winter. You can drove or walk down to the shower houses for flushing toilets and a warm shower. The take tokens that can be purchased in front of the shower house. $1/USD gets you four tokens. One token gets you 3 minutes but it does take one minute for the water to get warm. We used two tokens per shower.
The park is clean and well maintained. There are a couple lots have have an "Ocean view". If you stand on the picnic table you could see it. Lol! You can hear the waves at night when traffic dies down. The Campground is close to some shopping and restaurants. Its alo not far (maybe 6 miles) from The Elephant Viewing parking lot. Our stay was lovely and we'll come back for sure
Breathtaking views! The campgrounds are closed, but we hiked up from the parking lot by the 1 and we’re glad that we did. The views of the ocean and forest are amazing from the Washburn campground. There are several easy hiking trails around the area, with the main trail (about 15 minutes down from camp) to the beach, where we enjoyed a picnic on a log. Each campsite had a fire pit and some had water spouts. The sites are close together like most campgrounds, but I don’t think any of them missed the views, as the grounds are atop a bluff overlooking San Simeon and the ocean. The bathrooms/showers were locked so no idea what it’s like inside, but the buildings, grounds, and trails all seemed well cared for from what we could tell. Glad we checked it out, as we’ll be back to camp as soon as possible. Note that the Hearst winery is up the 1 north about 10 minutes and it’s worth checking out.
Stayed here 2 nights at the Hike and Bike area, on a long bike tour. Showers, restroom, water, and easy access to the ocean beach. Cell coverage not great in the campsite, but worked near the highway.
Returned to San Simeon this year and stayed at the Washburn Campground. This is a primitive campground, which means no showers and vault toilets. There is water access throughout the campground if needed.
The area is beautiful and close to a hiking trail that takes you to the beach. The campsites are fine, but not equally spacious. If you want more room, book a site on the outskirts of the campground. I stayed at site 234 which gave us an awesome little peek at the ocean.
Didn't see the camp hosts much, but the ranger drove through daily. I'd definitely return.
