Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground

Awesome campground. Massive redwoods, loads of wildlife, and beautiful sites nestled in the woods and along the river. Main camp is much nicer than the South Camp. Big Sur Lodge is well stocked, and check out Big Sur Bakery for great coffee, and Fernwood diner & deli for food, drinks, atm and wifi. Henry Miller library down the road is great for book nerds!
Make sure you do the Pfeiffer Falls hike, and if you're up for it, the Valley View. It's spectacular, but windy! The campfire centre here was built in the 30's, and is beautiful.
Firewood for sale at Ranger booth, along with $1 tokens for the mercifully hot showers. All in all, a great campground!

Camped under the redwoods, near the back of the campground. It's much quieter back there and the creek runs right alongside the tents. Wonderful all times of the year, including in the rain. Stayed in campsites #60 and #105 which were both shaded by redwoods and perfect for a relaxing visit.

We camped here in September 2015 and really enjoyed the variety of nature available. You can walk, hike, or drive to the beach but can also walk to a really relaxing river. The river is almost better than the beach as it's not usually as crowded as those beautiful Big Sur beaches are in the high seasons. The bathrooms and showers are high society compared to other camp sites I've been to! There is definitely poison oak, so it would be hard to keep kids away from it, but it's easy to spot.

Loved the proximity of the sites as well: not too close to hear your neighbors, but not a really far walk if you want to camp with your friends and occupy a few spots. We had two down the "street" and it was only a 10 minute walk.

Big sur! Its one of the coolest places but avoid the weekends and holidays.

Reserve far in advance! A short walk from road but AMAZING! Closest I have ever been to migrating whales and their calves.

Possible to overstay your welcome after the sun sets (it can be hard to find last minute camping in Big Sur!) but it always comes with the possibility that you'll get a knock on the door to ask you to get going.

Plan ahead, as of March 2017 the Pfeiffer Bridge collapsed and access to this area is very restricted.

parts of the campground are beautiful, but parts of it are shoddy

campsites too close to each other

It was the quietest camp ground I've ever been to, surprisingly since it seems to always be packed. Reservations fill up months in advance but sometimes you can call and get lucky if someone cancels last minute!
There were a ton of trails and sites to see around the state park. We hiked up to Pfeiffer Falls and Valley View. Up hill for most of it but absolutely worth it. The redwoods are beautiful and the falls is so pretty.

Be aware though, there is tons of poison oak so make sure to scope out your site.

Right on the beach!

Not sure

Amazing camping!

Traffic on Hwy 1 can be an obstacle.

come early and try to snag one of the walk-in spots. $35 a night, not bad for big sur.

get a spot on the river

Gorgeous, can't get enough of this place!

Usually quite well populated.

Pfieffer Big Sur Campground allows you to be in the heart of nature among the redwoods (and near a river/stream) without having to hike in or be too removed from civilization. I loved being able to take a stroll on paved paths in the morning from our campground to the cafe for a latte.

Andrew Molera State Park is nearby and totally great.

Big Sur is just one of those places.

The area is gorgeous, but restrooms are few and far between and campsites are very small and close together. There was almost no barrier between the edge of my site and that of my neighbors.

Very nice view

I recommend reserving a site beforehand. We got lucky and were able to snag one of the last sites without making plans ahead of time. I would definitely make a reservation in the future.

hike up to the falls

it's unbelievably beautiful here.

Try to reserve a spot on the river if possible, totally worth it!

This place is beautiful and will always recommend for a classic campsite!

Crowded in the summer but beautiful spot.

Don't make any more reservations! They take your money, and the reservation disappears into thin air!

We got lucky on a last minute reservation and was able to book campsite #49. While Big Sur is amazing, it wasn't very private compared to other campgrounds I've visited before. I wasn't aware of how close the sites are in the South Camp area but there were a few in this area that seemed like it could be a bit more private. Bathrooms/Showers are very clean.

Note: Cell phone signal/reception is low to non-existent once you drive deeper into the campgrounds. So if you have other parties following it can be difficult to coordinate and let them know where you are.

It can become quite cool at night here. A sleeping mat is essential in this damp environment.

Beautiful camping amongst some ravishing giants. It gets pretty hot in the indian summers but other than that nice layers for morning to evening are great to put on and take off throughout the day.