Camping in California's Central Coast

For such a short drive away, it is silly that this is our first time camping on the central coast. I usually gravitate towards national parks or the mountains when planning our trips, but knowing we hadn’t spent much time in this region of our state I was curious to plan something here. After a quiet winter followed by the pandemic this year, we were really excited to get out for a bit.

The campground we stayed at (Kirk Creek) is typically booked. However, I came upon a site open for two nights by chance when looking a few weeks prior, a total gift! Here is a little breakdown of the three days and two nights we spent up in the Big Sur area. All photos taken and edited by my husband Scott :).

x Jessie

Day 1

We packed up our car the night before and left around 6am for Kirk Creek Campground, about 5 hours north in Limekiln State Park on California’s central coast. It was a beautiful drive with lots of fog and cooler temps. This was the last week of cool weather before the heat of summer really set in here on the coast.

We made it to Sand Dollar Beach first, just before the campground, and ate our lunch sandwiches before walking the beach. Then we headed to our campsite and got settled, it was so beautiful there! The campground sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean, it is incredible.

We drove a little bit north to explore some of the coast and did an afternoon hike at Partington Cove Trailhead. The hike was amazing, wonderfully sunny and lots of richly colored green trees, ferns, and a creek. We got up high above the fog and warmed up in the sunshine before heading back to our car and driving to our first night of dinner, sunset, and s’mores at the campsite.

Camping in California's Central Coast by Jessie May

Day 2: Morning

Mornings when camping are the best. We sat for a few hours drinking coffee and having breakfast with the fog. There was a trailhead across the street from the campground and we decided it would be our morning adventure. It was beautiful and took us up really high, as you’ll see in the photos below. We cannot believe we were able to just walk to this :) and highly recommend when staying near Kirk Creek.

Day 2: Afternoon

We decided to drive north for the afternoon, and after passing through Big Sur, came upon Garrapata State Park. This is where we stayed for the entire afternoon, not by plan, but by such a happy coincidence! We really stumbled into this beautiful park and found a nice place for lunch, an epic coastal hike, and a beach to hang out at for a while. If you’re in the area, definitely make your way here if you can, the plant life and colors are mesmerizing.

On our way back down to camp we stopped at a viewpoint and spotted a whale, see if you can spot him below :).

Day 2: Evening

The last evening at the campsite was a lovely one. The fog completely broke and we had clear skies for dinner, sunset, s’mores, and star gazing. It was beautiful and so peaceful. Scott stayed up later than me, he said he spotted something like 12 shooting stars — woot!

Day 3: Morning

Whelp, we packed up and drove home this morning. So bittersweet! A little grungy, sunburnt, and sleep deprived, but so refreshed and full of life. Thank you to the people who have preserved this beautiful coastline for us to enjoy.

While I was doing some packing up Scott ran down a sketchy trail to the ocean for a few morning photos, here is what he saw. Thanks for reading about our trip here :) I hope you enjoyed seeing some of this coastline with us.