Gold Bluffs Beach Campground

Upon arriving, I was a bit dissatisfied due to the lack of views as it’s just a plain but we walked to the beach & it changed my mind. The drive in was a bit gnarly. Dirt road with lots of pit holes so beware. We had a BMW riding our butt the entire time down although we were constantly dodging cars coming up the other way, just trying to be cautious. I tried to move out of the way but it was congested because of incoming cars. My husband said I’m being a baby so take my opinion with a grain of salt 😂 he drove us back when we left. This site was cozy. Cement table, fire pit with grate & a bear box. Neighbors were awesome, quiet & considerate. Bathrooms were clean & close to our site. We saw elk poop but no elk. The walk to the beach from our site was about 3min & totally worth it! We saw seals in the water. We had hot drinks & watched the sunset after hiking fern canyon (my review for that is in that location). My kids had a great time & so did we. Would definitely come back here!

Amazing campground right on the beach, epic sunsets and foggy mornings, an incredible star watching experience as it’s super dark with no light pollution. An easy walk to Fern Canyon, and we saw some elk. The campsites are nice and spacious, the only bad thing is there are little prickers that stick into your shoes or sandals, you can’t walk barefoot there. Bathrooms are clean, with hot running water, showers were hot water. Cell reception is poor.

An amazing campground, it is so beautiful. I only stayed for one night but I wish I could’ve stayed forever. We stayed in site 12, which had an amazing view of the ocean. It was also pretty close to the bathrooms, but the campground is just a small loop, so most of the sites were close. With the wind and the ocean sound, you can’t really hear anyone else and there’s a few trees that block your views into other sites. The way down is about 5 miles of dirt road (our car was covered in it by the end) and a lot of turns and a couple big holes. Make sure to drive safely :)

We had campsite 12 for two nights. Full sun no shade or wind protection, be warned. 12 is oceanfront behind wide dunes and basically right across from 11. short walk to the bathroom, water, trash. Not too far or close. This site is very exposed to the main middle grass island. Nevertheless, having parked a minivan horizontally in the parking spot, it blocks you a bit for privacy and it never felt too public. Not too many sites so it can only get so busy. There are two places you could put a tent, one is next to a larger bush and the second is raised on a dune at the back of 12 closest to the beach. Great spot for sunrise/sunset and ocean sounds. Elk walked right past us. Watched the nearly full moon rise and stargazing from the picnic table. Follow trails directly from your site to the ocean. For hiking we did the longer James Irvine/miners/fern canyon loop directly from the campsite and that worked perfectly. Shorter hike would be to just do fern canyon which would be easy access from the camp, probably 3 miles total no elevation gain. Campground was clean, bathrooms clean and stocked. We did not use the showers. Road in was fine for a minivan, slow going and very curvy/occasional single track but few deep holes. There is a deeper creek crossing on the way to the fern canyon day parking but you will not cross it if stopping at gold bluffs day use or camping area. Absolutely recommend. This place is gorgeous, beachfront with redwoods close by. The loop hike direct from camp is excellent if you can do an easy 12 miles.

A must stop campground on your road trip. It starts off on a dirt, forest road but it's not too bad. It's well worth it as you'll end up on a nice campsite with a beautiful beach!