California Central Coast 2022
August 20nd – August 27th, 2022 (7 nights)
Santa Barbara
When heading to the Central Coast, Santa Barbara is a great stop. It’s a beautiful place to visit and we have relatives there with whom we enjoy spending time. We left our home in Carlsbad early Saturday morning (a must to beat the Los Angeles traffic) and arrived in Santa Barbara in about 3 ½ hours (a quick drive). We packed breakfast so we could get right out and eat on the road.
On this trip, we visited Montecito, home to the rich and famous (including Meghan Markle and Prince Harry)! This tony city has a small downtown, called Coast Village, where there are swanky stores and tasty eateries. It takes about half an hour to walk up and down both sides of the main street. If you look closely, you may see some famous people (locals told us Ellen DeGeneres hangs out at the Starbucks)! But, we are more interested in seeing nature and animals, so we headed for the trails right up the road. One trail close to Coast Village, Hot Springs Canyon Trail, leads to natural hot springs where one can soak in multiple pools (the hottest at the top). We took the McMenemy Trail for a short hot August late afternoon hike; then dinner with relatives for some delightful paella.
Since check-in time at Islay Creek Campground in Montaña De Oro State Park, about a 45 minute drive up the coast, isn’t until 2 p.m., we had time on Sunday morning to take a hike at the Douglas Family Preserve with my cousin Jon and his wife Ida (as well as with their yellow lab, Charlie). It’s a beautiful public park high on a mesa above Arroyo Burro Beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Hope Ranch, another exclusive enclave, can be seen on the ridge opposite the park. Douglas Family Preserve, the largest area of coastal open space within the city limits of Santa Barbara, has over three miles of park trails (and dogs can run wild once inside the park).
We could have stayed in Santa Barbara much longer with so much to see and do, but we had reservations at Islay Creek Campground in Montaña De Oro State Park!
Montaña de Oro State Park
Montaña de Oro State Park is about two hour’s drive north of Santa Barbara and is very close to Morro Bay. With over 8,000 acres, including seven miles of shoreline, Montaña de Oro is one of the largest state parks in California. Because Islay Creek Campground within the park has no RV dump station, we dumped our tanks ($7.50) at the 76 Station on Winchester Road in Goleta on the way up the 101. We also filled our Fresh tank in Santa Barbara, which was good because the water spigots at the park are gravity fed from large drums and, thus, are very slow to fill water jugs. We arrived at Islay Creek Campground at around 3 p.m. We had site #16 ($25/night + $7.99 reservation fee). The spacing between sites is good and each site can accommodate RV lengths of up to 27’ (and tow vehicles can generally park side by side with the trailer). There is no cell phone reception within the park, but cell phones will work just a short five minute walk up the road to the beach. The beach is easily accessible and wide, but the surf can be rough with rip tides. At the water’s edge, there’s a large rock some like to climb onto (it can be more tricky than it looks because of slick sand) — great for photos above the rocks and sea. One of the first things we explored upon arrival was the Visitor’s Center, housed in the historic Spooner home. The home was owned a rancher family and has beach views and great docents anxious to tell the history of the place.
Being right inside the park, Islay Creek Campground is the perfect base to explore the many trails that Montaña De Oro State Park has to offer. The most popular trail, the Bluff Trail, is high up on the bluff and goes on for a couple of miles (about two hours round trip from the campground). There are spectacular ocean views on the Bluff Trail, featuring dramatic rocks towering high above the rough ocean below as well as pelicans and gulls constantly flying by. We also had a chance to go into PG&E property (sign in required at entry) and explore the Point Buchon Trail (open 8AM – 5PM, Closed Tuesdays & Wednesdays). Similar to the Bluff Trail, the Point Buchon Trail has other unique aspects, such as a large sink hole which features an ocean cave and beach! Security inside the PG&E property is high as the Diablo Canyon (Nuclear) Power Plant is just miles down the road. We were advised that if we didn’t check out by 4:45 p.m. that a security detail would be sent to get us. We made sure we were back in time!
There are also some great back country trail hikes right above and behind the campground. We hiked the Oat Peak Trail, Beebee Trail, and took the Badger Trail through Rattlesnake Flats back down to the Bluff Trail. Some of the trails go on for over 30 miles. There are certainly plenty of trail hikes to keep an avid hiker busy for days!
Pismo Beach
Just about forty five minutes south of Montana De Oro State Park (or an hour and a half north of Santa Barbara) is Pismo Beach. Our favorite campground here is Pismo State Beach North Beach Campground. We reserved site #29 for four nights – it’s a premium site directly in front of the beach. To get this type of site, one usually needs to reserve it right when the reservation window opens six months in advance. This stretch of beach also has a number of private campgrounds, but the campsites at the private campgrounds are generally very tightly spaced together (but many have full hookups). There are also two fully equipped RV supply stores right across the street from the campground, so if you need any parts for your RV, this location has you covered!
Pismo State Beach North Beach Campground is fantastic. The campsites are very spread out and the beach is just over a little sandy hill adjacent to the campground. There are no hookups, but there are water spigots and a central dump ($10 at this time). We set up our solar panel briefcase to recharge our batteries during the day and used our “Holy Grail Portable Grey Water Tank Solution” to drain our Grey water tank after a couple of days. The beach in front of the campground is very wide and beautiful with a great view to the north of the Pismo pier. There are some nice walking paths that are on the perimeter of the campground. One goes south on a wooden boardwalk above the beach toward Oceano. We saw many whales feeding close to shore while walking along this path (look for a “feeding frenzy” – this is when there are swarms of birds low over the water and indicates a run of sardines or anchovies)! We could see whales popping their heads out of the water as well as blow spouts. Don’t ever paddle into a feeding frenzy or this could happen! Another trail from the campground goes into the Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove. This site hosts over 10,000 butterflies annually. The Monarch Butterflies flock to Pismo Beach from late October through February, seeking shelter from freezing northern winters. The butterflies cluster in the limbs of the large Eucalyptus trees that tower over the grove.
Walking over the sand dunes from the campground onto the beach and taking long walks is a favorite activity for many campers here. We enjoyed walking the sand from the campground to the pier and strolling out to the end of the pier. Exploring the town of Pismo Beach is also entertaining. There are a lot of shops and restaurants and plenty to see. For example, we enjoyed perusing the toys and kites at “The Sky’s The Limit” on Dolliver Street.
We met with my brother-in-law Bob for a couple of days during the trip, and then we needed to replenish our food supplies. San Luis Obispo County has a number of farmer’s markets and we went to a couple on a Wednesday (Arroyo Grande & Pismo Beach). We were able to buy farm fresh fruits and vegetables from various farmers. There are also popular food stores close by, such as Trader Joes and Sprouts markets.
Other notable places within a short drive (or bike ride) of the campground which we enjoyed are Margo Dodd Park and Eldwayen Ocean Park. Both are ocean front bluff parks which offer great sea life watching, including birds and sometimes whales. There are giant rocks that rise high out of the ocean which the gulls and pelicans roost on. We also drove over to Harford Pier, a commercial pier which also has some recommended restaurants on it, and enjoyed walking down the pier. We saw a playful sea otter diving and surfacing and swimming on his back right below us! Here’s some video we took from Pismo Beach.
We didn’t stay long enough to explore everything this area has to offer and we definitely would like to come back sometime in the Fall to see the Monarch Butterfly migration. Our friend Jim who lives in Avila Beach gave us some additional places to visit for next time, like exploring the Architectural Graveyard on the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus, taking a walking tour of the old Victorian houses in San Luis Obispo, enjoying a docent led tour of the Mission of San Luis Obispo, going to the Mission Plaza, visiting Cave Landing, and having lunch at Fat Cats or Mersea restaurants. Until next time!
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