★★★

Gold Bluffs Beach Campground

26 car camping sites $35/night

California > Redwood National and State Parks > Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Site 15
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This popular campground is on an open grassy plain. Some sites are practically on the beach and have ocean views (somewhat limited by a slight rise on the beach). The redwood-topped bluffs make an appealing backdrop. The huge, deserted beach is the main attraction, but a few yards in the other direction is the old-growth Miners’ Ridge Trail, and the popular Fern Canyon is a mile up the road. Elk occasionally graze on the grass around the campground.

The Beach campground tends to attract younger, louder campers than the Elk Prairie campground, so late-night noise is more of an issue here.

The campground is completely exposed with no shade or trees at all, but given the ever-present marine layer and the chilly North Coast location, cold and wind are more of an issue than heat.

The loop road near site 16

Best campsites

First choice: 7 and 19 face the ocean and are well-separated from the other sites. The drawback is that they’re the furthest from the bathrooms.
Second choice: Any of the sites facing the ocean: 9, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17.
Third choice: Any of the sites facing the bluffs: 20, 21, 23, 25, 26. The views aren’t quite as nice, but these sites are partially screened by trees so you get some extra privacy.

Site 16

Hike/bike area

There’s a large hike/bike area next to the campfire center at the southern end of the campground, a few yards away from the car campsites. The area has 5 picnic benches and 2 bear boxes, and is supposed to accommodate up to 2 groups of 8 people. The hike/bike area is very popular and usually fills up.

To camp in the hike/bike area you need a free backcountry permit, which is essentially a reservation. Permits are only available online between 2 and 28 days before your visit, and the maximum stay is 5 nights. When you arrive, you also have to pay a $5 per person per night fee at the interpretive sign near the bathroom building.

Hike/bike campers aren’t supposed to park at the campground, but in a special area way back around the Elk Prairie visitor center, then they have to actually hike or bike to the campground.

The hike/bike area was created in 2013 to replace Prairie Creek’s three backcountry campgrounds. The old campgrounds were a lot nicer but also more expensive to maintain.

The hike/bike area

Campground details

The campground is a five-mile drive from Highway 101 on a dirt road. Depending on how recently the road has been graded, it may be almost indistinguishable from asphalt or it may be rough with potholes. The road runs right next to the base of some cliffs; during rainy periods the cliffs sometimes collapse and close the road, sometimes for months.

There are 26 campsites. From the week of Memorial Day to the week of Labor Day, sites 1 and 2 are first-come, first-served, while sites 3 – 26 can be reserved. At other times, all the campsites are first-come, first-served; since the campground still fills up on nice fall weekends, the usual technique is to show up in the morning and wait for someone to leave.

The campground is really designed for tent camping. You can’t pull into the campsites; you have to park parallel to the loop road in small pullouts. There’s also a small overflow lot outside the campground. RVs up to 24 feet are allowed, but trailers are not allowed.

There’s a little building with bathrooms and showers. The showers are free but since there’s no gas or electricity in the area, they’re solar heated, meaning they’re often cold in this usually-cloudy area.

The loop road and the bathroom and shower building; campsite 13 on the right

It’s not allowed to leave coolers, cookware, or any food or drinks out. This is true of all state park campgrounds but for some reason it seems to be more of a problem at Gold Bluffs Beach, either because more people leave food out or the rangers are stricter.

More information

Reservations can be made through ReserveCalifornia.
Here’s the campground’s location in Google Maps.
The entire campground is on Google Street View, including a herd of elk camped out at campsite 24.
TripAdvisor reviews

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