Van Damme Campground

Campsite and tent were burglarized in middle of day. They stole equipment, food, clothing but were interrupted before taking the ENTIRE tent, they already had about half the stakes pulled.

There is a ticket booth upon entry but that gave me a false sense of security. We had to end trip that day since we no longer had clothes, sleeping bag etc

Tent site 9 on the lower loop. Site 9 was 90% shaded and was closer to site 8 than I expected. (FYI-Site 8 is complete exposed). It was about 90% RVer's on the lower loop, which made for a lively background atmosphere. Everyone was respectful of the quiet hours. Locals say lower loop is the quieter spot.

Site 9 appeared to have some poison oak along the edge of the site. Stay in the maintained areas. There's a marsh directly behind the site, and a lot of mosquitos.

The grounds, bathrooms, and showers are very well taken of. Had hot water! Interactions with staff were good. We hiked a bit on Fern Canyon Trail. Would come here again to do more hiking but maybe would try for sites 14-30, which looked bigger and a little more private

Across from the ocean it has hiking and bike trails. Bring warm clothing even summers can be cold. Lock your ice chests up, especially Abalone season they disappear.

Bring extra layers, you're in Northern California so it can get cold when the fog rolls in.

This place is fantastic during the off-season.

We stayed at site 11 in the lower loop with a dog. Unfortunately, they are not allowed on any of the trails though, so we only managed the short hike around the very overgrown Bog Trail. Sites with roomy with a food storage locker. I would like to stay in the upper loops if I went again. Beach accessible across the way filled with abalone divers but the green space just north of that has easy hiking we took the dog on down to the cliffs. We also drove up to Big River and the wide fire road there is dog friendly and beautiful by the river.

Beautiful spot located right across the street from the beach! Didn't even need much notice to get a spot :]

The lower area is quieter, with nicely spaced sites along a creek. Watch out for mosquitos though. The upper area has a lot more action. Sites are a bit close together. The looping road and field in the middle provide great recreation space for kids to ride bikes, throw frisbees, etc. Weather is hit or miss in the summer. We've stayed on beautiful sunny days but also visited at times when it was cold and foggy the whole time. Overall, a great campground.

Jonesing for a fire? Head 2.5 hours north of SF to the lovely, damp forest at Van Damme. Stop at Lemon's Market on 120 en route for pickled asparagus--this is non negotiable.

Sites are 35$ per night and there are over 60 of them, if you don't mind rubbing elbows with RVS and being lullabied to sleep by the sound of abalone divers pounding their catch for dinner. The park is dog friendly, but unfortunately you can't take your pet back to the environmental sites, which are like a backcountry dream only 3 miles from a parking lot.

There's even a pygmy forest complete with science-y fact boards for us nerds and you can pull a quick 9 mile loop through the trails and be back in time for s'mores (and asparagus).