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Coast Camp - Point Reyes National Seashore
Category: Hotels & Travel Campgrounds Campgrounds [Edit]
1 Bear Valley RdCoast Trail and Firelane Trail
Pt. Reyes Station, CA 94956
(415) 663-8054
9 reviews for Coast Camp - Point Reyes National Seashore
9 reviews in English
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Review from Jonathan J.
Emeryville, CA
1/22/2011 5 photos
Stayed at Coast Camp in February 2010 and December 2010.
The best sites at this campground are 1-7. A little distance from the running water and vault toilet but worth it. You have privacy and better views.
I have stayed at sites 2 and 4. If you want an ocean view or hear the waves, you have to pick sites 1-5. Six and seven are better for groups but not as good of a view.
The nice thing about these sites are the privacy. Your grill and picnic table are in one section, and there is a nice flat section above there for your tent, hidden from the views of the trail.
Easy walk to the beach with awesome views. Been here in both the rain and sun, enjoyed both.
This one is a short hike from the nearby parking lot (I think about 1.5 or 2 miles) or about 6.3 miles from the visitor center. We came here from Wildcat Camp the last time. 8.5 miles along the coast, absolutely beautiful views. Took us about 3 hours.
If you want to have a good time "in the middle of nowhere" just outside the city, this is a great place to go. Nice spot to take a group (not too far to carry real food, some charcoal, and some wine. -
Review from Herbert S.
Davis, CA
9/25/2010
Who ever designed Coast camp did a great job. The sites are all well protected, and provide a fair amount of privacy, despite this being an incredibly popular camp-ground. From your private picnic table, it's difficult to see another camper, and from the tent spot, it's almost impossible. It's great to be able to be some place so popular, and still have a feeling of isolation.
Not only is the camp-site well designed, it's in a wonderful location as well. No site is more than a five minute amble to the beach. The sound of the sea can lull you to sleep, or more likely, you can go out for a midnight stroll along the beach. During a full moon (and low tide) you can see surprisingly well. If you're feeling adventurous, you can walk along the ocean to Sculptured Beach, which has an incredible...well, it's really indescribable, and photos don't do it justice, just go there yourself.
However, Coast Camp does have it's problems. They aren't major, but they are noteworthy. Wildlife abounds, so be sure to use the provided lockers. Most of it comes in the form of adorable baby bunnies ( I never saw an adult, I can't tell you why), and herds of quail grazing on leftover camping meals. While California Quail and baby bunnies may actually be a bonus, not all wildlife is cute. Anything you leave on the picnic table is liable to be walked all over by raccoons, and food will vanish. The lockers were put there for a reason, so use them.
While the raccoons are a mild hassle at best, Coast Camp does have one real problem: the weather. From about early evening to well after noon, Coast Camp is effectively underwater. The fog rolls in from the sea so heavy and thick that everything will get drenched. Set up your rain fly, and cover your pack. Don't leave anything absorbent on the table.
All in all, Coast Camp is a great camp-ground, especially considering how close it is to civilization. It's a great place to spend a weekend, just come prepared for cute pests, and possibly inclement weather. -
Review from Susanne J.
6/6/2009
I guess we literally started off on the wrong foot, making a wrong turn and hitting a loop that added another 40 mins onto the one hour walk-in we were already expecting. We also over-packed, making this unknown trek in the dark, through cougar country, that much worse. It was daunting indeed. I bit my tongue most of the way and felt relieved to finally make camp, dropping my bags and looking around the open space for the spot we'd reserved. Within seconds the raccoons we upon us, running straight for my pack. We spent much of the night fending them off. One of us would cook while the other stood on the table with a large stick yelling at them to get back (that would be me). They didn't listen.
All our food was packed nicely in the steel box provided so they did back down a bit, but I barely slept with thoughts of them ripping open my tent to find some lipgloss I'd forgot in my stash. You have to put nearly EVERYTHING in that box they'd warned, even deodorant, or clothes you've cooked in.
We woke to a blazing sun (no shade to be found) and realized we'd planted ourselves on top of some groundhog dens. It wasn't so bad, they were kinda cute, and the raccoons seemed to be history.
Ahh...finally a chance to hit the beach in my new bikini and relax! We couldn't see it from our spot but I knew it was close by. Once we got there I can't say I was all that impressed. It was okay. Nice cathedral sand cliffs, but coming from Toronto, home of the stunning Scarborough bluffs beaches it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Nor, had it warranted the type of trek we'd just endured.
We had two nights booked, so we'd get to just chill, but once we got back to camp for lunch and realized the mice had gotten into our food we had to make the two hour trek in and out of Point Reyes again to grab some more grub. Only real highlights for me were the grazing deer and bunnies I saw, and now being able to say I did it, even if I did end up grumbling about it. -
Review from Senor M.
10/17/2010
We had to make our reservation three months in advance and boy was it worth it! We brought in out stove and some charcoal to use in the grill for smores and real food. My family doesn't do ramen. We ran around on the beach, told stories and had a great time. I highly recommend coming here to camp.
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Review from Jennifer C.
Greenbrae, CA
12/3/2007 1 photo
This is a terrific hike-in or bike-in campground in Pt. Reyes! It's the shortest distance to travel of the walk-in campgrounds at Pt. Reyes (1.8 or 2.7 miles, depending which way you come), so it's great for families. We loaded up our Burley trailer with two 2 year olds, tons of stuff (very Ma & Pa Joad), my husband drove the bike (pulling almost 100 lbs!) and I rode my bike with a regular camping backpack on. We were quite a sight I'm sure. But it's only about a 30 minute (slow) ride on a mostly flat, pretty wide dirt trail (Coast Trail). You can also hike in on a shorter trail, but it's hilly and not for bikes.
Once at the campground, you are in a pretty scrubby and exposed area. No trees. But at least at our campsite (#1) we were in our own little cul-de-sac with a view of the ocean! You get a food locker to keep the critters out, a picnic table and a grill (brickettes only, no wood collecting!) Note that the food locker heats up in the sun, so your food will get pretty steamy in there during the day. We didn't have any critter issues at all, despite some pretty stern warnings attached to our picnic table. We did see a lot of the fallow deer - we called them doats, since they look like some unholy cross between a deer and a goat.
There are well-maintained, clean restrooms (pit toilets, but on the nicer side as far as it goes) and clean potable water.
And it's a short 5 minute hike down a trail to the beach, which is basically the south end of Limatour beach - wide, very fine sand, LOTS of wind in the afternoon. Gorgeous to hike down the beach to Sculpture Beach and tide pools. Miles and miles of beach hiking, or you can continue to hike on Coast trail around the coast. The beach was empty the whole time we were there, even though the campground was pretty full.
Some of the sites are up a canyon in the scrub, so they're more private. Others are just in a flat, grassy field - they looked pretty noisy and close to your neighbors. We felt very secluded in #1, as would the other campsites in the canyon I think.
We had great sunny weather in June for most of the 2 nights, 3 days we were there, but it was foggy the last morning. Unpredictable, as always, and often windy, so dress in layers! -
Review from Bob S.
San Bruno, CA
4/20/2011
2011-04-01, Thurs. Night #3 of 3: hiked in from Wildcat Camp on the Coastal Trail. Lots of up at the beginning into a nice pine forest. Then down and across a good flowing creek for lunch at Arch Rock. A little more uphill but the views are more overpowering. Across a few more creeks and we arrived at Coast Camp: 9 miles. We were in site #1 and happy to find the food locker filled with fire wood and mesquite charcoal. We set up camp, took a quick rest and then hit the trail again. We took the Fire Lane Trail over to Clem Miller Education Center; 2 miles. We parked a car full of supplies here back on Wednesday. We also met 2 friends joining us for the remainder of the weekend. We took the Coastal Trail back to Coast Camp; 3 miles. Along the way we came to a section of trail that was completely flooded 2 feet deep x 20 feet across x 100 feet long. We took what we though was a bypass up on the hillside that eventually ended just short of the flooded section but not before we were all surrounded in poison oak. We ended up doubling back and wading across ;-(. Once we reached camp it was all good: bbq'd fillet Mignon's and enjoyed some cold brews. We did not mean too be, but due to the excitement of being a Friday night and having two new troops join us we ended up being loud. In my opinion the camps are too close together so that's my partial justification. We had a great time here and in total accomplished 14+ miles in the day!!!
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Review from Zachary R.
San Francisco, CA
1/10/2010
In my opinion, the best backpacking site within this distance of San Francisco, therefore 5 stars. There are multiple different routes in; make sure you look a a trail map before you go. It fills up fast on warm summer weekends, but when it's a bit colder or during weekdays, it's pretty easy to just show up last minute. No matter which trailhead you start at, you have to get permits from Bear Valley Visitor Center. There is potable water, and a decent bathroom at the campsite - a true luxury for a "backcountry" site.
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Review from Dan F.
Torrance, CA
4/9/2011
great camp, lots of wild life .
don't get site #2 poison oak surrounded, growing up everywhere.
sites 4,6,7 are the best of the private type.
evening moisture , and critters are the only other concerns.
beautiful spot . -
Review from alyson w.
Walnut Creek, CA
6/11/2008
site #3 is a great site because you can see AND hear the waves from the comfort of your private picnic table or tent.
there's a small grill if you're that adventurous, but some people like to use backpacking as an excuse to eat more ramen. also there are raccoons so USE the site's locker if you still want that bagel to be there for you in the morning.
and if you're wondering about bring along that bottle wine or other alcohol since it means carrying a little more weight, i say go for it, since the hike is not too long (2.5 - 3 miles). you'll be happy you did.
