Pismo Beach – Scampgrounds

Searching for Monarchs on the California Coast

https://scampgrounds.com/wp-content/themes/osmosis/images/empty/thumbnail.jpg 150 150 gavin gavin https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/99f9cd14e6ca957f921a5ace7d1dcdf0fccde566155f0e4da610ff0b7f10e2b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g January 31, 2026 February 26, 2026

By: gavin

January 31, 2026

Searching for Monarchs on the California Coast
January 18th – 26th 2026 (8 nights)

After two weeks of strong winter storms, California was finally given a reprieve. Clear blue, sunny skies and warm conditions followed. The nice weather presented an opportunity to finally visit the Monarch Butterfly Grove in Pismo Beach. We had visited the Grove many times in the past, but only during off season (Spring, Summer, and Fall) when no butterflies were around. Peak season for the migrating Monarch butterflies is during the winter (with mid-November through December presenting the highest numbers). With good weather forecast for the next ten days, we planned a last-minute trip which included a visit to Pismo.

We made our first stop on our way up the California Coast in Santa Barbara (about a three and a half hour drive from our home in Carlsbad) to visit our cousin Jon and his family. We situated the Scamp 13′ in my cousin’s driveway for an overnight stay. After setting up the Scamp, we had a great lunch at the line-out-the-door Pang Zi Noodle Shop. We then walked off lunch along the waterfront (there’s an arts and crafts show on Sundays — ) and down Santa Barbara Stearns Wharf Pier.

After walking most of the afternoon, we were ready for dinner! We met my cousin Jon and his wife Ida at the Santa Barbara Public Market and had a chance to catch up with what’s been going on in each others’ lives. There are a number of restaurant stalls inside the Public Market, offering a variety of foods. We had excellent pizza at Ca’ Dario Pizzeria followed by some of the best ice-cream we’ve ever tasted at Rori’s Artisinal Creamery.

The next morning, we went for a long hike with our cousin Jon, his wife Ida, and dog Toby (a Sheepadoodle). We hiked through the beautiful Elings Park. It’s the largest privately funded non-profit park in America, at 230 acres. Everything was so green after all the rain. During our hike, we discovered the Santa Barbara Model RC club and their small model airport within the park and enjoyed speaking to some of the members and watching them fly their models. From Elings Park, we hiked through to the Douglas Family Preserve, a smaller park but with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean. After having a very fun visit with family, we continued our journey north to Pismo Beach to see the butterflies (and our good friend Jim)!

Pismo Beach North Beach Campground is a campground adjacent to the beach behind sand dunes in Pismo Beach. It’s a very popular campground, offering premium beach side campsites for only $25/night!!! There is good Verizon mobile phone reception here along with water spigots and a pay RV dump station (currently $10). We reserved site #83 (pull through site) at the last minute, which is one of the best sites since it is right behind the dunes with a short walk to the beach and Monarch Butterfly Grove. Sometimes great sites become available at the last minute as people often cancel for various reasons. The first thing we did after setting up our Scamp 13′, was to visit the Monarch Butterfly Grove next door. It was late afternoon and cool though, and the butterflies, we were told, were all sleeping!

The next morning we learned that the Monarch butterfly population is at historic low levels this year (down from tens of thousands a few years ago and hundreds of thousands in the 1990’s to only a hundred now). Some reasons given for the population downturn are increased pesticide / herbicide use, climate changes, and shifts in milkweed growth (the exclusive food source for Monarch caterpillars). The Monarchs seen at the Pismo Monarch Grove are the “migratory super-generation” that make their way over thousands of miles from Canada, down the coast of California, to the border of Mexico. A ranger mentioned that because of the heavy rain this past year, there’s a chance the numbers will rebound next year. There’s an app that allows tracking of some of the Monarchs (they are tracked with an extremely small and light bluetooth transmitter which is attached to their body).

We had a great lunch with our close friend Jim catching up and enjoying the excellent food at Old Juan’s Cantina in Pismo Beach. We revisited the Monarch Butterfly Grove after lunch and saw more Monarchs which were enjoying the sun and warm afternoon temperatures. We then walked from the campground down to the beach and along the boardwalk to the Pismo Beach Pier. The SLO Cal pro surf event was happening during our visit and we had fun watching the surfing from high above on the pier. Before leaving town for our next stop, we had to try the Old West Cinnamon Roll shop (established in 1972) as it is frequently mentioned as offering the best cinnamon rolls on the West Coast. It did not disappoint!

Our next stop, New Brighton Beach State Park Campground, is one of the most popular beachfront campgrounds in California. About a three hour drive north of Pismo Beach, the campground is located close to the cute beachside towns of Capitola and Santa Cruz (home to UC Santa Cruz), offering plenty to see and do. The campground is at the top of the bluffs, looking down at China Beach and the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary, with some premium campsites offering spectacular ocean views (a number with electric hookups). We had site #72 ($35/night) which is a good site with a partial ocean view ($50/night for premium sites). There’s a threaded water spigot nearby and we were able to connect two hoses to directly fill our fresh tank (also using a velcro strap to hold down the water valve). There is an RV dumpstation at the park exit which accomodates four RVs simultaneously (currently $10).

We had plenty of things to do during our two day stay at New Brighton Beach State Park. There’s a trail which goes down to the beach from the campground, along the water and then up a stairway back to the campground (about a mile loop). We saw sea birds and dolphins on our morning walks. We explored the little town of Capitola (with attractive beach shops, restaurants, and pier). There are some colorful photo-worthy Mediterranean townhouses (24) and a hotel (17 units) near the pier called the Venetian Court. They were built in 1924 and represent one of the first condominium style developments on the California coast! Next, we drove to the town of Santa Cruz, walking along the wharf (recognized as the longest wooden wharf/pier on the West Coast of the United States). Hundreds of sea lions hang out under the pier on the rafters. They put on a show, barking loudly and playing. The sea lions are a lot of fun to watch. At the end of our visit to Santa Cruz, we enjoyed touring the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center. Lastly, we hiked The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, a nature preserve with over forty miles of hiking trails. The Marks family of Salinas, California deeded more than 9,000 acres to the State for use as a public park in 1963. It’s a forest of dense coastal redwood trees that cover most of the park which provide a peaceful experience.

Visiting family in Oakland was the final stop on our coastal adventure. Just under two hours from Santa Cruz, “The Town” offers a myriad of fun things to do. We always enjoy walking in the redwoods, visiting Alameda Island (posh eateries, architecture, and walks), playing pickleball at the local Montclair courts, riding the Bart, and enjoying celebrating birthdays with family and friends. This time we celebrated a birthday by taking some scenic walks (one through a district with historic Queen Anne style homes), going to our favorite bakery (their almond croissants are phenomenal) and playing pickleball.

On the journey home, we stayed near Bakersfield at the Buena Vista Aquatic Recreational Area campground to break up the eight hour drive from Oakland to San Diego. Our lake front site (#41) with full hookups cost $33 for the night. It’s a relaxing place which we’ve enjoyed before. Just make sure to avoid visiting in the summer as it can be very hot in the Central Valley that time of year.

We had such a great time on this trip, even though it was planned last minute and we didn’t see that many butterflies. It shows that sometimes following a goal can lead to detours that become the highlight of the journey!

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Lake Tahoe, California Coast & Beyond

By: gavin

July 19, 2025

Lake Tahoe, California Coast & Beyond
June 25th – July 7th 2025 (12 nights)

Our first major Scamp trip was at DL Bliss State Park, Lake Tahoe about five years ago. Since then, we’ve taken 43 trips at 162 locations and have spent 290 nights sleeping in our 2020 Scamp 13′ travel trailer. And, we’ve seen and learned a lot along the way — observing fascinating things, tasting good food, meeting interesting people and making great friends. When we heard Nevada Beach Campground in Lake Tahoe ranked as the hardest campground to get a reservation at in the United States in 2024, we thought it was time to return to this beautiful oasis in the high Sierra to see Nevada Beach Campground for ourselves.

Lake Tahoe is a large fresh water lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains straddling both California and Nevada. The lake not only has beautiful beaches with crystal clear water but also popular ski resorts. And, on the Nevada side of the lake, there are casinos as well. Emerald Bay State Park, on the southwest shore, is famous for the 1929 Nordic style mansion called Vikingsholm. Lake Tahoe is also well known for outstanding hiking trails, mountain biking, and other outdoor activities (such as boating, kayaking, waterskiing, stand up paddle boarding, fishing, and horseback riding).

The process to get a reservation at Nevada Beach Campground can be challenging. The camping season is typically mid-May to mid-October. To have the best chance at getting a campsite it’s best to reserve six months in advance. We wanted to be at the campground over 4th of July weekend to watch the popular fireworks show (fireworks are launched from a barge right off the beach close by). We used numerous strategies to make it happen, but even still luck was involved. To get a more detailed look at the strategies we used to successfully book reservations, see our article “How to Play Master Chess on Recreation.Gov”.

Our cousin Rebecca and her husband invited us to stay at their cabin in Pioneer, California (between the coast and Lake Tahoe). So, we drove north along the coast (staying at a few campgrounds along the way) and then crossed inland in the direction of Pioneer and Lake Tahoe.

Carpinteria Campground
Located just south of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria Campground, in the charming coastal city of Carpentaria (known as “Carp”), is on the beach. Many of the campsites are close together, so make sure to check out the campsite map before reserving. Check-in is 2 pm., but they let us in at 1 p.m. We were lucky and were able to reserve site A121 ($45/night + $8.25 reservation fee) at the last minute. It’s a great campsite as there’s a lot of space around it (a frequent camper at this campground told us we got the best campsite in the entire campground!). However, to fit into this 24’ campsite, we had to park our car perpendicular to our Scamp 13’. It’s allowed to hang the trailer over the pad as long as the rear wheels are not on the grass. We were able to hang about a third of our Scamp over the grass! The beach and wooden boardwalk are just a short walk across the “day use” parking lot. The Verizon cellular service was good while we were here. There are water spigots (no threads) within the campground. We used the free RV dump station when we left the next morning. The train runs behind the campground, but the noise didn’t bother us during our visit.

The highlights of our stay in Carpinteria were walking the bluff trail to the seal rookery (about 3 miles round trip) and exploring the town of “Carp” (walking down Linden Avenue). There are plenty of nice shops and restaurants to enjoy when visiting. Make sure to grab a bite at The Spot (very popular with locals) during your visit! The beach is known as the “World’s Safest Beach” due to its naturally calm waters. The Channel Islands, along with the Santa Ynez Mountains, help to protect Carpinteria from strong winds and waves, creating its relatively calm and safe environment.

Pismo Beach
Our ride up the California coast would never be complete without a visit with our good friend Jim. He has a policy that welcomes visitors—“if you ever visit Pismo Beach, lunch is on me”. Since we don’t make it to the Central Coast very often, we enjoy catching up with our friend Jim over lunch. Our go to lunch place is Zorros in Shell Beach for great Mexican food. After lunch and spending time getting caught up, we made our way north to Hearst San Simeon State Park Campground (about an hour north).

Hearst San Simeon State Park Campground
Hearst San Simeon State Park campground is spread out between higher and lower elevations. Our campsite, #24 ($35/night), is high on a hill looking out over the Pacific and probably one of the most spacious sites within the campground. There was no Verizon reception at our campsite, but it could be had at the top of the stairs close by (as well as near the ranger station entrance). Water spigots (without threads) are available. There’s an RV dump station here ($10, we skipped it).

During our stay we visited the Elephant Seal Rookery (lots of giant elephant seals sunning on the beach), the kite surfing beach, Moonstone Beach (moonstones and other gems), and San Simeon Pier (opposite of Hearst Castle). We’ve seen Hearst Castle many times before, so we skipped it this trip — but, if you haven’t been, definitely go!

We needed to backtrack south on the coast for about twenty minutes and head up the 41 Freeway since the coast highway was closed going north (it’s been closed for a while due to a landslide). In order to continue our journey to our next campground in Monterey, we took the 101 Freeway.

Monterey Veterans Memorial Park Campground
Monterey is about three hours north of Hearst San Simeon State Park. The campground is first come first serve and only has thirty campsites suitable for trailers (21’ limit), so it’s best to get there early in the day. We arrived at the campground on a Friday morning in late June and there were several open campsites. Our first choice, campsite 6, which is adjacent to a large grass field, was one of the open sites! To get the campsite, park your trailer in the open site you want to occupy and then walk down to the iron ranger, fill out the form, and put cash/check in the envelope and deposit and place the detached portion of your campsite receipt on the post at your campsite. Campsites are currently $54/night. There’s slow Verizon mobile service. We didn’t see any water spigots, but there is a freshwater hose bib near the top bathroom. There’s a free RV dump station just outside the campground which we used the next morning when leaving.

To honor veterans, Taps and Reverie are played by loud speaker throughout the campground at 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. every day.

There’s a steep road going from the campground to downtown Monterey, so it’s best to drive into town. The campsite is very close to the major attractions. (e.g. charming downtown Monterey, Fisherman’s Wharf, Cannery Row, …). We enjoyed riding the free trolley from Cannery Row to Fisherman’s Wharf. The wharf was crowded with tourists enjoying the pier and all its shops and eateries. We walked back from the wharf to Cannery Row and saw many harbor seals along the way. The famous Monterey Aquarium is a must see attraction if you’ve never been.

Pioneer
Located in a wilderness mountain area between the coast and Lake Tahoe, Pioneer is in the Sierra Nevada foothills at an elevation of around 3,000 feet. Our cousin Rebecca and her husband Matt recently purchased a cabin here and invited us for a stay. Their property is on about 10 acres with plenty of room for us to set up our Scamp 13’. After a tour of their beautiful cabin and property, which includes a river, underground stream as well as a Frisbee golf course, we were treated to a cave adventure at Black Chasm Cavern National Natural Landmark. The cavern is in the town of Volcano which is about twenty minutes from Rebecca and Matt’s cabin. It was a warm summer day, so it was nice to descend deep into the cave where the temperate is always 57 degrees. A guided tour (about an hour) is necessary to enter the cave and take the steep stairs down into the cavern. The tour descends about 100 feet deep into the cave! The cave itself is 225 feet deep, with an underground lake system at 200 feet below ground. Black Chasm Cavern is known for its spectacular displays of rare helictite formations. There is also a beautiful blue lake 80 feet below the second chamber viewing platform. We greatly enjoyed this cave tour. After the tour, we had a delicious dinner at Volcano Union Inn Restaurant and then explored the quaint town of Volcano.

Lake Tahoe – Fallen Leaf Campground (6,332’ elevation)
The drive from Pioneer to Lake Tahoe was about 1 ½ hours. We stopped at the Kirkwood Ski Area for lunch as we had some time before the 2 p.m. check-in at Fallen Leaf Lake Campground (South Lake Tahoe). Kirkwood Ski Area is a beautiful place with a small village at its base. It resembles a scenic European ski town. There was still some snow visible at the top of the mountain during our visit in late June. Since the ski resort no longer offers summer mountain biking, the area was very quiet during our two hour visit. Most of the stores and restaurants were closed. We enjoyed the solitude, nice weather and mountain views from our Scamp while we ate lunch!

Fallen Leaf Campground is on the south shore of Lake Tahoe. It’s a large campground consisting of 206 campsites. Our campsite (site #169A, $47/night, 50% off with a Senior America the Beautiful Lifetime Pass) is right in the middle of the campground and, in turn, exposed to a lot of activity. Since we reserved last minute, we didn’t have many campsite choices. In the future, we will reserve a campsite on the perimeter. Our friends Kat & David recommend campsite #21 if bear viewing is desired. They said bears came to this campsite every day during their visit (see their video here). There are threaded water spigots here. There’s an RV dump station ($10). There’s no Verizon mobile service at the campground.

This is a great campground to which to bring bikes. There are numerous bike paths that wind along the edges of Lake Tahoe. There are also several great hikes here, including one with waterfalls (called Glen Alpine Falls) that flows into Fallen Leaf Lake. Since our stay here was just one night, we chose to hike Maggie’s Peak (considered one of the best hikes in the area). Our friend Bruce came down from Zephyr Cove to join us on this early morning hike. Maggies Peak is in the Desolation Wilderness Area and a permit is required to enter (free at the entrance to the hike). We parked just off the main road at the Bayview parking lot and walked up to the trailhead. This hike is considered challenging. There are plenty of steep sections and switchbacks, taking from 3 – 4 hours to make the round trip hike (4 miles total with 1800 feet of elevation gain over 2 miles). The payoff is an outstanding panoramic view of Emerald Bay. We even ran into some pack goats on our hike! There’s a private resort next door to Fallen Leaf Campground called Camp Richardson. Their ice cream shop is a short bike ride from the campground and their ice creams are very refreshing on a hot day (and free Wi-Fi can be had at their hotel – just go inside and ask for the code)!

Nevada Beach Campground (6,100’ elevation)
It’s a 45 minute drive from Fallen Leaf Campground to Nevada Beach Campground. To get here, you cross the state line and enter Nevada. Nevada Beach Campground was named in 2024 by the popular online camping website The Dyrt as the hardest campground at which to get a reservation in the entire country! To learn more about how we secured a reservation, click here.

We stayed at campsite #10 ($47/night, 50% off with a Senior America the Beautiful Lifetime Pass) for six nights. It’s a prime campsite with a lake view and a short walk to the lake. There is good Verizon mobile internet as well as water within the campground (threaded water spigot near the bathroom). There’s no RV dump station here, but there is one a few minutes down the road at Zephyr Cove Resort ($10). We did notice many people using outdoor showers within the campground so as not to fill up their grey tanks. A ranger I asked said this is OK as long as biodegradable soap / shampoo is used (since the shower water falls directly onto the ground).

This is one of the most beautiful campgrounds we’ve ever been too – the combination of striking views of Lake Tahoe with dramatic snowcapped mountains in the background and awe-inspiring trails through meadows and pine filled forests is amazing. And, the beach is very beautiful. Dogs are even welcome on part of the beach! Even though we stayed through Fourth of July weekend, the campground, with only 54 campsites, never felt crowded. Definitely bring your bike (our new rack worked out really well) as there are fantastic paved paths through wonderful pines to enjoy. Walking is fine too if you don’t ride. You can even ride your bike or drive into town and do some shopping at The Shops at Heavenly Village.

We made some new friends, Kat & David, who were camped next to us in their Airstream. They were extremely generous, and when they learned that I strained my back lifting a 6 lb. water jug (over 50lbs filled) to fill fresh water into the Scamp, they gave us a specialized water transfer pump! The device allows water to be quickly pumped from the jug at ground level to up and directly into the travel trailer. So, with a dolly and one of these pumps, heavy lifting is not needed. This is a game-changer and we will only use this method for fresh water fill in the future. We enjoyed spending time with Kat & David. Kat enjoys working with plants and is an avid birder. And, David is extremely knowledgeable on all things camping and the environment. David pointed out to us what appeared to be a “T” on the mountain (Mt. Tallac) across the lake from our campsite. The “T” on Mt. Tallac is a cross shaped snow formation visible in spring and summer associated with interesting folklore, particularly among the Washoe people. The Washoe people considered Mt. Tallac sacred. One legend says that if the snow melts out of the cross completely then a harsh winter will be coming to Lake Tahoe. This natural phenomenon is particularly famous because it was used as the backdrop for the opening sequence of the classic TV show Bonanza (aired 1959 – 1973); the specific location where the opening sequence was filmed was Nevada Beach!

Our friends Bruce, Gracia, and their dog Ben just moved into their newly completed condo next door at The Tahoe Beach Club. Bruce is an avid hiker and made sure we were up early every morning to complete a hike from his favorites list. In addition to hiking Maggie’s Peak, we hiked up Round Hill (awesome views of Lake Tahoe) and walked around Spooner Lake. We also enjoyed playing ball with Ben each morning – he loves to retrieve his ball from the lake. One of the highlights of our trip was having lunch with Bruce and Gracia at their condo beach club (The Tahoe Beach Club). We enjoyed burgers on the outside patio with spectacular views overlooking the lake. And, watching the 4^th of July Fireworks show from the campground was the cherry on top!

It was hard to leave our friends and Nevada Beach Campground. We had such a beautiful time. We plan to come back next year if possible.

Instead of making our way back to the coast, we chose to return home the more direct route on the US395. Our next stop, June Lake, is a three hour drive from Nevada Beach Campground.

June Lake – Oh Ridge Campground (7,600’ elevation)
June Lake is often called the “Switzerland of California” due to its stunning alpine scenery and similar characteristics to the Swiss Alps. June Lake is in the Eastern Sierra Nevada and surrounded by dramatic granite peaks, including Carson Peak. The June Lake Loop is known for its four pristine glacial lakes (June Lake, Gull Lake, Silver Lake, and Grant Lake).

We stayed at Oh Ridge Campground and had campsite #27 ($38/night, 50% off with a Senior America the Beautiful Lifetime Pass) — one of the prime campsites up on a hill directly overlooking the lake. The views of the lake and granite mountain peaks from the Scamp were amazing. The water spigot near our campsite was painted red, so we assumed the water was not drinkable (although there were no explanation signs and no ranger warnings). We used it for washing and showering. There’s also a central RV dumpstation ($10). The Verizon reception was good during our stay. During our one night stay, we had a chance to walk down the hill to explore the beach. It was a warm day and people were having a good time swimming and boating on the lake.

This trip was filled with many fun locations, extreme natural beauty, good food, and a blast of a Fourth of July. We enjoyed seeing friends and family along the way as well as making new friends at the campgrounds. Like all trips, this one left us with some ideas for future adventures. We definitely want to go back to Lake Tahoe as well as try some new high elevation campgrounds in the Sierra (such as Big Pine Creek Campground). Picking intriguing locations always sets the stage for new exciting experiences. Travel writer Rolf Potts expressed this idea well when he said, “the secret of adventure is not to carefully seek it out, but to travel in such a way that it finds you.”

California Central Coast 2022

By: gavin

September 6, 2022

California Central Coast 2022
August 20nd – August 27^th, 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!

Central California

By: gavin

September 3, 2021

Central California
August 22nd – August 29^th, 2021 (7 nights)

This adventure was put together at the last minute after plans for our Mammoth Lakes trip were scrapped due to poor air quality (as a result of summer fires in California). The locations were chosen based on towns showing good air quality on the AQI air quality map, the amount of time we had available for travel (7 days), and campsite availability. We also had just purchased new bikes and a bike carrier for our Scamp 13’ and wanted to go places where we would be able to ride.

Santa Barbara
Whenever we head north, we make it a point to stay over a night in Santa Barbara (a 3 ½ hour drive from our home in San Diego). Not only is it a fantastic location with great scenery and plenty to do, but our cousin Jon lives here and he lets us camp in his driveway! This trip was a little different though. When we arrived, we discovered a car in his driveway. Jon’s son, Melvin, was in Italy and his car keys were nowhere to be found! What to do with the Scamp?!!! Fortunately, my cousin’s next door neighbor saw us and realized what had happened. He generously offered to let us stay on his property (and even provided electric and water hookups)! Phew!

On this trip, we visited the Old Santa Barbara Mission and walked around downtown Santa Barbara to eat lunch at our favorite Mexican food restaurant, Taco Pipeye. We also rode our new bikes from my cousin’s house all the way down to the Goleta bike path, past the end of the runway of Santa Barbara airport, and toured UC Santa Barbara! We also had a great dinner with my vegan cousin Jon and enjoyed his ocean view while we ate on his balcony. Overall, we had a very enjoyable and busy 24 hours in Santa Barbara.

Pismo Beach
Just about an hour and a half north of Santa Barbara lies Pismo Beach. Campsites in this beautiful beach town are very difficult to get. However, we got lucky and two of the best possible sites at Pismo State Beach North Beach Campground just happened to show available when I was looking (likely last minute cancellations)! In order to stay 3 nights though, we had to move from site #27 after the first night to site #29 for the remaining 2 nights. Both of these sites are premium sites and right next to each other and directly in front of the beach. The only downside with splitting the reservation is paying the reservation fee ($7.99) twice and being required to completely leave the campground between Noon to 2 p.m. the day the next reservation begins (for campsite maintenance). “Rules are rules” is what we were told by one of the camp hosts! So, we packed up after our first night and headed to a nearby horse lot where we ate lunch before returning to check in for our second campsite at 2 p.m. On our way back to the campground, one of our tail lights on our Scamp 13’ blew out (our tow vehicle gave a warning on the dashboard showing short circuit). Fortunately, there are two fully equipped RV supply stores right across the street from the campground and had the bulb we needed for less than 3 dollars a pair!

Pismo State Beach North Beach Campground is fantastic. The campsites are very spread out and the beach is just over a little hill adjacent to the campground. There are no hookups, but there are water spigots and a central dump ($10 at this time). We had no problem staying 3 nights (even with the two of us taking a shower each night) by using our solar panel briefcase to recharge our batteries during the day and 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 glorious view north of the Pismo pier. There are some nice walking paths that are on the perimeter of the campground. One goes south above the beach toward Oceano. Another leads 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. Although we saw Monarch butterflies on this trip, we did not see even one at the Grove (not the right time of year)!

Bringing bikes to North Beach Campground is definitely recommended. We had a blast riding our mountain bikes up the coast along streets, bike paths, and dirt trails. We pedaled almost all the way to Avila Beach (stopping right before the steep drop into town) – about 8 ½ miles each way. We used Google Maps for directions and selected “Walking” so we would be off the main roads whenever possible. Every day, we enjoyed cool ocean breezes and sounds of the waves from inside our Scamp 13’ so much that it was hard to leave after just a few nights. We met one nice couple in an Airstream that reserves a spot here every summer for 2 weeks at a time as an affordable family yearly gathering spot!

Solvang
After using the central Dump on our way out of the Pismo Beach North Beach Campground, we drove about an hour south and inland to the quaint Danish town of Solvang. We stayed at a Boondockers Welcome location, a home just a couple of miles from the center of town. Our host location was part of a parcel that was once a large farm. We stayed in their large driveway and the hosts provided us electricity and water ($5/night). Our hosts were very friendly and gave us fruits and vegetables from their farm as well as shared bicycling tips for good routes throughout this wine country. The only noise we heard in the evenings was the loud chirping of crickets!

The days were hot (90 degrees) but the mornings and evenings cooled down considerably (high 50’s). We rode bikes in the early morning and late afternoon and relaxed during the day to avoid the heat. The quiet country back roads of the Santa Ynez Valley are magical and we cycled passed beautiful vineyards and farms. If you are in this area, we recommend these neighborhood streets to bike on: Calzada, Samantha, Robler, and Baseline, with the winery called Bridlewood being the caketopper highlight (on Baseline). We also had a chance to explore the Danish town of Solvang with its Old Mission Santa Ines and Danish shops and bakeries. After a couple of nights and days of exploring, we bid our generous hosts goodbye and headed toward the ocean again.

Oxnard
Our last stop before heading home was to see our friends Cheryl and Hugh. They were scheduled, with us, to go to Mammoth Lakes / Silver Lake before that trip was cancelled. Instead, they invited us to stay in their driveway at their home near the beach in Oxnard (about 1 ½ hours south of Solvang). The temperature really dropped as we drove up and over the mountains down to the coast. The searing heat was replaced with cool foggy air – a welcome relief from the hot temperatures of the Santa Ynez Valley. Our Scamp 13’ easily fit at the side of our friends’ driveway along with our tow vehicle. They even have a Dump port in their driveway which we used to dump our Grey water! Oxnard is a beach community with a harbor with shops and restaurants. Cheryl and Hugh live only a short walk from the sand.

Our friends Cheryl & Hugh are super generous and treated us like royalty. They fed us a great lunch, took us on a tour of downtown Oxnard on their new golf cart (with the Beach Boys music cranking on the stereo), and later treated us to a fantastic seafood restaurant dinner! And, Cheryl made her famous gluten free Lava Cake (dark chocolate cake with molten chocolate oozing everywhere) for dessert back at home (of course there was vanilla ice cream on the side)! To top it all off, they even gifted us plates with images of camper trailers on them for our Scamp 13’! We are always blown away by their hospitality. We had a fantastic visit with Cheryl & Hugh. And, we also thoroughly enjoyed playing with their Havanese dogs, Avatar & Gidget. On our way out the next morning, Hugh made sure we took a couple of King Salmon filets that he caught on his recent trip to Alaska (which we ate a couple of days later and were delicious)! We drove back to our home in San Diego (3 hour drive) early enough to get our Scamp cleaned up and ready for our next trip!

Why it’s Smart to be a Zen Boondocker, Even if You Never Plan to Go Off-Grid

By: gavin

April 27, 2021

Why it’s Smart to be a Zen Boondocker, Even if You Never Plan to Go Off-Grid
If you plan on using your small travel trailer anywhere other than at a RV park or home with hookups, it will benefit you greatly to have the skills to go off-grid (even if you never plan to do serious off-grid camping). Many National and State Parks (as well as regional parks) offer no hookups (although shared water spigots are very common and sometimes central Dump stations are available). On a recent visit to Joshua Tree National Park, we discovered some water spigots at the entrance, but no hookups at the end of the long road at the Jumbo Rocks Campground. Taking ample water supplies for our kitchen and shower along with fresh drinking water made the trip there very pleasurable. And having solar panels and a separate battery power station meant we didn’t need to worry about running down our Scamp’s onboard 12-volt battery. Propane provided power for our gas stove, refrigerator, water heater, and furnace. And, using our Holy Grail Portable Grey Water Tank Solution effectively doubled our Grey Water tank capacity and, in turn, staying capacity to about 5 – 6 days!

To make things even more interesting and enticing to be a Zen Boondocker, there is also often a significant daily rate difference for sites with and without hookups for campgrounds which offer them. We discovered this on our visit to Oceano Dunes Campground in Pismo Beach. Hookup spots (Electric & Water only) at this campground were $40 per night and only $25 per night without hookups at the time of our trip! While it’s tempting to select campsites with hookups over ones without if they are available, there is often another substantial benefit other than monetary to choose a non-hookup site instead. Hook-up sites are sometimes at newer locations within a campground which may be less scenic and/or with sites much closer together than older sites farther away from the utilities. For example, at Oceano Dunes, the hookup sites were much smaller and closer together all clustered at the front of the campground in a parking lot near the entrance. And, the non-hookup sites were much farther back from the entrance in their own section with much more green space surrounding them (each with a picnic table and fire pit!) and alongside a scenic lagoon and walking trails. So even when visiting campgrounds with hookups, it’s still a great benefit to be able to choose a non-hookup site and go for a few days without having to plug into an electric outlet, hookup to a water hose, or connect to a dump line.

Another great benefit of being a Zen Boondocker is that it makes staying on friends’ and family’s driveways and Boondockers Welcome sites nice and easy (even if they don’t have a water hose or electrical outlet at the driveway). No problem! We’ve found that for longer trips (e.g. travelling from our home in Carlsbad to northern locations like Lake Tahoe or even Oregon) stop overs at family homes in Santa Barbara, Oakland, and even Boondockers Welcome locations provide great break points to reduce overly long tiring drives. So, being able to easily spend a night or two with no concerns about water, power, or dumping makes our small travel trailer truly self-contained and very useful.

Site availability is another factor which allows Zen Boondockers with small travel trailers more campground options. It’s not uncommon for the larger sites with hookups to completely book out very quickly, often leaving the smaller non-hookup sites as “scraps”. However, we’ve found these “scraps” to not only be more likely available but also often ideal and more desirable. For example, at D.L. Bliss State Park in Lake Tahoe, we skipped the larger hookup sites farther from the lake, and, instead, opted for a tiny 15’ spot in the tent camping area. The site we chose was the closest to the lake and had no hookups. However, there was a water spigot close to the site and we were able to set up our solar panel. It turned out the site was fantastic and we could see the water from our bedroom! After looking over the entire campground, we felt our site was probably the best one because it was so close to the lake and had a fantastic view.

Factors for Zen Boondocking
Here are the essential factors to consider in order to become a Zen Boondocker and enjoy all of its benefits:

Conservation
We try to use water sparingly, but are not overly obsessive about it. Many boondockers are super conscious about catching water and reusing it, taking bird baths or only bathing once per week, …. Our philosophy is to be comfortable during our trips while still being able to extend our stays without having to relocate. We do try to rinse our dishes outside if water is available and it’s allowed at the campsite. But, we also take short hot showers at the end of each day and brush our teeth at the sink. In order to compensate, we plan our trips so we are not dry camping more than a few days straight which means with the measures taken below it’s possible to be a Zen Boondocker and glamp out (2 showers a day, etc.) at the same time!

Food & Water
It’s helpful to know how long you will expect to be gone on your trip to help plan out your food and water needs. Provisioning (e.g. store shopping) during the journey may be necessary if it is a long one. We’ve found that for a 10-day trip, we can carry all the food and drinking water we need in our SUV. However, we do need to resupply our fresh trailer water reserves during the 10-day trip around every four days (assuming we are carrying our two 6 gallon jugs of resupply fresh water for sink/shower/toilet).

Food
We always map out our trip before leaving and write down every meal for each day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). We turn on our Scamp’s refrigerator a couple nights before our trip and then fill it the day before we leave (our Scamp is stored in our home’s garage and has electricity). We load most of our food into cardboard boxes and store them in our SUV. We can carry up to 12 days (enough for 2 people) of food in cardboard containers within our SUV.

Drinking Water
We always bring two 4 gallon BPA-free water jugs in the back of our SUV for all our drinking and cooking needs when we go on a typical 10-day trip in our Scamp. We fill these tanks at home by using our reverse osmosis system. By carrying an additional 8 gallons of fresh water in our tow vehicle, we are effectively increasing our Fresh water tank supply by 67% (12 gallons Fresh increased to 20 gallons)!!! This gives us a lot more fresh water supply. Health experts typically recommend a person drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day (8×8 rule), which is about ½ gallon of water per person per day. So, by using this rule, two people would bring 10 gallons of water on their 10-day trip (1/2 gallon/day x 2 people x 10 days). We tend to drink slightly less water than this amount because we also drink coconut water, macadamia milk in our cereal, oat milk in our tea, sometimes soup for lunch, and we eat a lot of juicy fruits (like oranges). So, for us, bringing 8 gallons of fresh water on a 10 day trip works out great (we always have extra water when we return home).

Fresh Water for Trailer
In addition to bringing drinking water, we also will fill two separate 6-gallon jugs if we are heading straight for a dry campsite (no water or water spigots nearby). We use these to refill our Scamp’s fresh water tank (12 gallons + 6 gallons in hot water heater tank) when it runs low (usually after a couple of days with 2 people showering daily). We stayed at a Boondockers Welcome location right outside Joshua Tree National Park which had no hookups. Having the extra 12 gallons of fresh water to fill our Scamp’s Fresh water tank made a couple day stay smooth. And, with our portable jugs, it was easy for us to refill them at a visitor’s center close by without having to relocate our Scamp. We can go about four days before having to refill our Scamp’s Fresh water tank.

Electricity
It’s best to start your journey with your small travel trailer’s 12-volt battery completely charged. We plug our Scamp into our 110-volt outlet in our garage a few days before we leave and keep it plugged in while we run our refrigerator before the trip. The trailer’s 12-volt battery will also charge while we are driving since the Scamp is plugged into our tow vehicle and receives a charge. To keep our 12-volt battery charged when we are at the campsite without hookups, we bring a 100-Watt solar panel briefcase and hope the sun is shining. The solar panel does a great job of keeping our batteries fully charged during the day and provides enough power so our 12-volt battery can easily last the night. We can still go a couple of days without the solar panel if we are careful to just run the essentials sparingly (LED lights, water pumps, fan, etc.). To help reduce the draw on our Scamp’s 12-volt battery, we also carry an auxiliary battery power bank (which we also fully charge before we leave home). Our Jackery 500 is a 518Wh lithium battery which we use for charging our phones, cameras, drone, television, and an electric toothbrush when boondocking to reserve all of our Scamp’s 12-volt battery power for essential devices/functions. On longer trips between campgrounds, we usually place the Jackery 500 at the back of our SUV and charge it with the tow vehicle’s 12VDC port so the Jackery 500 energy is replenished during our drive.

Propane
Propane does a great job of powering all our appliances which can run on this gas. Propane is efficient and can last a long time. Appliances in our Scamp that can run off propane are the gas stove, refrigerator, furnace, and hot water heater. The great thing about propane is that you can carry a lot of it (we always carry 2 Viking composite propane tanks) and it can be run without hookups. One just has to take care to follow proper safety protocols when running propane. Small travel trailers are usually outfitted with combination smoke / carbon monoxide detector alarms. The one in our 2020 Scamp 13’ is located near the front door under one of the dinette seats. It’s essential that every small travel trailer have one of these alarms because smoke and carbon monoxide exposure can be lethal.

Holding Tanks
These are the tanks that hold the Fresh, Grey, and Black water.

Fresh Water Holding Tank
The Fresh water holding tank has already been addressed above within the Food & Water section.

Grey Water Holding Tank
The Grey water tank is generally the Achilles heel for small travel trailers. This is the place where used fresh water goes (e.g. waste water from the sink and shower). For us two people (taking 2 showers each night), our Scamp’s twenty-one gallon Grey tank fills up in about three days. To extend our time off-grid, I developed the Holy Grail Portable Grey Water Tank Solution. Using this solution (which utilizes four 5 gallon jugs), we are able to almost double the off-grid capability of the Grey water tank. And, it certainly is nice not having to limit campground visits to only 2 – 3 days due to Grey water tank size. For the Scamp’s 21-gallon Grey tank, this system effectively doubles time between dumps from 2 – 3 days to 4 – 6 days (depending on water use). And, it’s also really great not having to pack everything up and drive to a central Dump in the middle of a trip and then have to drive back to the campsite to set up the trailer all over again (which we had to do in the middle of our 3-night stay at D.L. Bliss State Park at Lake Tahoe).

Black Water Tank
This is the holding tank for the toilet – it holds sewage and waste water. In our Scamp, we’ve found that the 9 gallon Black tank takes much longer to fill than the Grey tank. Our Black tank usually takes about 6 days (two people) before needing to be dumped. There isn’t really a clean way (pardon the pun) to extend the time between Dumps for the Black tank. Some people dump this biohazard material into portable containers to extend their time off grid, but we choose to only drain Black Water at a Dump station. In turn, our Zen Boondocking needs to be refreshed with a Dump every 5 – 6 days.

Conclusion
Being a Zen Boondocker will open up new worlds for you and your small travel trailer. You will not only be able to go to remote off-grid locations, but, more practically, enjoy the many advantages of choosing campsites without hookups and extend your stays at these locations. For example, you might be able to stay at more scenic and roomy campsites for longer periods of time at a lower cost than campsites with hookups. And, visits to places without hookups (such as Joshua Tree National Park) will no longer be limited to just an overnight stay. So, find your center, and become Zen with your Boondocking spirit!