The 5 Best Beaches In California For Winter Camping, According To Reviews

From the surf waves of Malibu to the mist-gathering redwood forests of the Big Sur and the utopian land of lagoons and beaches that is the Point Reyes National Seashore, the California coast holds many of the most striking shoreline wonders in America. It's a wanderlust-stoking region, made even more tempting by the fact that it's possible to camp right beside the ocean. And in winter, too. In fact, winter is a great time to go camping in California because the weather is cool and comfortable and you won't have to deal with the summer and fall crowds.

On top of this, there are stacks of campgrounds in the Golden State that promise year-round pitches within earshot and eyeshot of the rolling Pacific waves. In this guide, we've sought out the very best of them, by scouring leading blogs and online reviews, and adding in a sprinkle of first-hand knowledge of this incredible corner of the country. In this list, you'll find a good mix of winter camping options, from bluff-top spots on the Big Sur to surfing beaches in Santa Barbara. Of course, all of the campgrounds chosen remain open in the depths of winter, and they are all within easy walking distance of a dash of good old California sand. Wherever you pick, make sure to check ahead to see if reservations are necessary and be prepared for sudden weather-related closures, which can happen in the stormier months.

Leading the way with not one, but two separate mentions across all our source blogs on the subject of winter camping in California, the Kirk Creek Campground is your ticket to the legendary Big Sur, a part of the Golden State coast that's all soaring mountains, lush redwood stands, and whale-splashing waters. The campsite itself is tucked into the edge of the Los Padres National Forest, just beside the salt-spraying Pacific Ocean. The location makes it the perfect pitstop on a beach and city road trip up California Highway 1, an epic route that can take you 650 miles from sunny Orange County in the south to the redwoods of Northern California. The campground is open all year, and comes with the usual basic facilities like fire rings and tables. There's space for RVs and tents alike, though don't expect any showers or utility hookups. Toilets here are basic pit loos.

The Google reviews for this one are glowing to say the least. The spot scores a 4.7-star rating with 450 reviews and counting. One user waxes lyrical about what's there: "One of my favorite places on Earth. Gateway to Big Sur primeval! Nice grass campsites. Unbelievable views up and down the coast." Pitching a tent here means pitching on a plinth 100 feet above the ocean, offering sweeping views. The Big Sur around Kirk Creek Campground can be a stunner in the wintertime, with big storms lashing against the coast (have the camera ready) and way fewer crowds than you get in peak summer months.

The Sonoma Coast State Park gets plaudits for both of its winter campgrounds from bloggers, but there's one specific site here that sits smack dab on its very own beachfront: Wright's Beach Campground. Wright's beckons with 27 campsites just a whisker away from where the waves roll in. Seriously, unzip the tent or push the RV door, step out, and you can be on the sand in a matter of seconds.

The campsites are spread across two main loops, with the ones to the west of the toilets and the parking lot — those numbered one to 18 — boasting the best proximity to the great big Pacific blue. Just be aware that big storm surges in the wintertime can close the more exposed sites. What's more, there are no showers here, though there are some on offer down at nearby Bodega Dunes Campground, a 10-minute drive south.

One of the big selling points of Wright's has to be the Kortum Trail, which runs right alongside the beach. It's a 3.7-mile there and back trail that begins in the campground and wiggles north, delving straight into the Sonoma Coast State Park to offer visions of high rock bluffs jutting out of the whitecaps.

Head to the Jalama Beach County Park if you're looking to set up camp steps from the soft sand of the Santa Barbara County coast. According to one past visitor writing on Google, where this site scores a laudable 4.7-star rating, "being able to camp right by the shore is always an amazing experience ... This place is pretty isolated so you really have the beach for mainly just the camper or whoever wants to make the long drive through the mountains to get to this beach."

This coastal California county park has over 100 scenic campsites with unmatched ocean views. Each site gets its own fire pit, table, and grill, and there are shared hot showers on offer to boot. Just know that only a dozen of the overall campsites actually face the ocean, so you'll want to reserve early to secure one of those. Meanwhile, there are only 31 sites that come with full electrical hook-ups. Beyond the beachfront sites, tent and RV spaces spread back over five rows, with a single shower block and multiple toilet units speckled throughout the campground. 

The beach defines the whole space. Here, you can spend your time wandering north or south from the campground, appreciating the rolling, crashing waves, often occupied by surfers. You can also go looking for rare plant species like saltbush and rocket in the surrounding dunes. Another area where Jalama can shine for winter visitors is on the weather front. This corner of the Cali coast gets loads of sun all year round, and the whole Santa Barbara coast empties of crowds and sunbathers, so you should get more space to yourself in the winter season.

The second campground in the Santa Barbara County orbit that comes recommended by bloggers for a winter trip to the beach is the El Capitán State Beach Campground. It sits on a little wedge of land just west of Santa Barbara town itself — just over 20 minutes in the car will get you there.

The site, which scores a 4.5-star rating on Google, ranges from a tree-lined creek to a long, ocean-facing beachfront where rock pools meet the crashing waves. There are 132 campsites here in total (including tent and RV spaces) with a few extra group sites. Visitors are permitted to stay a maximum of 15 days between December and February, and just seven consecutive days between March and the end of November.

You'll be right on the doorstep of El Capitán State Beach here. It's a serene enclave of powdery sand haloed by woods of oak and eucalyptus. You can spend your days hiking the bluff-top trail that weaves along towards palm-dotted Refugio State Beach, which feels like a slice of Hawaii. Or you can take the Bill Wallace Trail for a 12-mile romp through low-lying coastal hills that rise 1,000 feet above the ocean. For surfers, camping on El Capitán Beach in the deep winter can be a doozy, since this is the season when the big west swells that are required to get the waves working push on through. This time of year, you'll go from tent to surfing line up in a matter of seconds.

Just about slipping into the top five here, Costanoa garnered a single mention across the leading listicles related to the best winter camping in California, plus an overall Google rating score of 4.4 stars. Then there's my personal love for the spot — I spent two fantastic nights enjoying the sound of the Pacific breezes against the pine woods, exploring seal-spotted beaches, and cozying up by the fires here in the spring of 2025. It was wonderful.

The Costanoa setup is less rustic campground and more boutique glampsite. Past the main check-in building, which itself is a charming timber-clad West Coast lodge, there are four loops that can house big RVs. They sit opposite clusters of semi-permanent tent structures and a few smaller grassy areas for those who bring their own canvas. Everyone gets access to spacious toilet blocks, warm showers that are part outdoors, communal fireplaces, and even saunas.

The location? This one clings to Highway 1, roughly an hour south of San Francisco International Airport. It's a great spot, with the beaches and coves of the Año Nuevo State Reserve within walking distance of the entrance to the campsite. It's a truly remote section of the Cali coast where you can hike along the sandy shore looking for elephant seals and whale pods.

To find the best winter camping beaches in California, we scoured the internet for publications and blogs that picked out the finest year-round campgrounds in the whole Golden State. We cross-referenced each mention of a specific campsite across multiple sources, adding in firsthand knowledge of various coastal locations across the state from past camping trips of our own. That gave a shortlist, from which we eliminated any campgrounds that weren't within close proximity to a beach. Finally, we picked out the campgrounds with the best Google review scores to get the ranking seen above.