Pismo State Beach
A comfy campout with 2 to 5 mile hikes
Driving to and sleeping at a campground
Perfect for families with young kiddos
Pups are welcome at camp and on hiking trails
Trip · 3-day camping trip
For · Friends and new campers
Vibe · Relaxing and chill
Reservations · Yes, book a site at North Beach Campground
Drive · 3.5 hours from LA
Ideal dates · May to September
Pets · Welcome at camp, the beach and trails, but not in Pismo Dune Preserve and Oso Flaco Lake
Pismo State Beach (PSB) neighbors Oceano Dunes State Vehicle Recreation Area (SVRA), the only drivable beach in the country, but that's ending by 2024. The sand dunes will stay though, which is one of Pismo's many natural gems. Another is that from November to February, one of the largest Western Monarch Butterfly populations flock to Pismo SB's Monarch Butterfly Grove. This park is butterfly and Bewilder approved.
Main image credit: N/A
Each campsite comes with a:
Pismo State Beach has two campgrounds: North Beach and Oceano. They both have showers (token-operated), restrooms, drinking water, and firewood available on site, but North Beach is closer to the beach whereas Oceano is about a quarter-mile walk to the ocean. At North Beach., you're only a mile away from downtown Pismo, and if you visit between November to February you'll likely see Western Monarch Butterflies migrating to Pismo SB's Monarch Butterfly Grove.
Check-in: After 2 PM · Check-out: Before noon
Nightly Rate: $25
Pismo SB became a state park in 1934, and its sand dunes attracted mystics, artists, and philosophers called The Dunites. For real.
For more than 10,000 years, the Northern Chumash people lived along the coast and Pismo's sand dunes
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The name Pismo comes from the Chumash language word for tar, or pismu, which was gathered from tar springs near Pismo Beach
You won't be saving money, but you'll save space and weight with these camp sandals.
Clothes
Sleepover! This is a tent you can stand up in and have plenty of space for air mattresses, doggos, and more.
Shared Gear
A reliable, popular, and relatively affordable dual-burner camping stove that is fairly heavy, but performs well.
Kitchen
It's pricey, but the New York Times' Wirecutter recommended this attachment as a way for wheelchair users to navigate uneven terrain.
Essential Items
Instead of transporting stuff on your lap, use this storage bag to easily store items underneath your wheelchair.
Essential Items
Never dig around your pack to find some hand sanitizer. Instead, hang this one on the outside of your pack.
Personal Stuff
If you're an experienced backpacker, this is the lightest full-size, full-featured, frameless pack made.
Essential Items
Add a little magic to your experience by hanging these twinkling lights around your tent every night.
Shared Gear
Sometimes you just want a camp chair that gets the job done. Nothing glamorous or fancy. Well, this is it.
Shared Gear
The more you backpack the lighter your shelter becomes, and the lighter it is, the more expensive it can be.
Shared Gear
Camp underneath the stars and watch glorious sunrises in Joshua Tree National Park, the second largest national park in California.
