The Best Beach Camping Parks in California

There are many beautiful beaches in California. Although most of these have many activities available for day-use, not all of them provide facilities for camping and allow overnight stays. This article lists the best beach camping parks in California and gives you some of the hightlights of each park. We have broken the beach camping parks out into three sections: Northern California, Central California, and Southern California, so that you can locate beaches in just the region you desire.

Northern CaliforniaClam Beach County Park is located just south of Little River State Beach, north of Eureka. It is one of the few parks that allows camping right on the beach. Beachcombing, clamming, fishing, picnicking, camping, kite flying, and building sand castles are all popular at this beach.

Gold Bluff Beach is within Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The campground is located in the dunes along a beautiful 10-mile stretch of golden beach. The campgrounds lie between the Pacific Ocean and a bluff thickly covered with Redwoods. It is located about 50 miles north of Eureka.

Westport-Union Landing State Beach covers over 3 miles of rugged and scenic coastline. There are approximately 100 campsites located on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is located about 19 miles north of Fort Bragg.

Central CaliforniaHalf Moon Bay State Beach offers 4 miles of broad, sandy beaches. This picturesque setting is ideal for sunbathing, hiking, biking, fishing, picnicking, and camping. It is located near San Mateo in the San Francisco Bay area.

Manresa State Beach is a large, beautiful sandy beach, which offers surf fishing, surfing, swimming, and camping. It is located on Monterey Bay just south of San Francisco.

New Brighton State Beach is located in the town of Capitola, just south of Santa Cruz. This beach camping park offers swimming, fishing and a nearby forest. The camping area is located on a bluff overlooking Monterey Bay.

Seacliff State Beach is best know for its fishing pier and concrete freighter just offshore. There is swimming, fishing, camping, and hiking trails. It is located on Monterey Bay near Aptos.

Sonoma Coast State Beach is one of California