San Onofre Bluffs Campground

Very quite camping ground, But very noise freeway and train. Nice beach and a lot of rock. We camping at holiday and is very quiet. The trial to the beach is a good walk. We see Many surfers. The tide come and go. If you have been there for the low tide, you can walk a long the beach. But If the high tide come, you have to walk on rock, lots lots of rock. Get some shoes, or else is hurt to walk without it. The night was somewhere quite to sleep, expect the train and the freeway, If you can bring some earplugs.

I’ve stayed at many state owned campgrounds and this one is one of the worst. Super noisy and the bathrooms are gross. Spaces are right on top of each other with no clear lines so everyone is in each other’s space. No access to the beach from camp sites. Spot BF004 has a huge crater so the spot is pretty useless. Bring ear plugs. The freeway and train noise are really loud at night. Would not recommend or go here again.

I have been going here since a child. I love the ocean views and untouched beaches. The sites are not private as they are stacked next to each other and it’s a roll of the dice if you have quiet fellow campers. There are bathrooms and outdoor showers 200 yards or so.

Not ideal for families. Noisy traffic, tiny sites directly next to each other, rough waters, high tides First - Tiny, all sites crammed in a row. The campsites are just large enough for your tent, and the picnic bench. We could just cram in a 4 person and a tiny tiny backcountry tent. They are so small that we were worried about the campfire being too close to the tiny tent. Your car backs up to your site. Your neighbours are literally directly next to you. It’s basically a parking lot with an about 15 feet deep strip in front of it where everyone lined up their tents. Second - No view. Our area was behind a bluff so no ocean view. Third - Noisy! It’s next to the train tracks, with the freeway behind that. The 3am freight trains are very noisy and probably take 10-20 minutes to pass by. Maybe not that long but at 3am it definitely feels like it. When there are no trains, there is freeway noise. Fourth - Rough waters. Great for surfers. Not so much for younger kids. The beach is quite narrow and at high tide you can really only find the odd jutting out ledge by the bluff to sit on and hope tide doesn’t rise more. Check tides before you go! It’s also a bit of a hike down to the beach. Nothing crazy but long enough you might not want to set up a beach shelter and then pop back up for lunch. Plus if you didn’t check the tides your beach shelter may have gone awol by the time you return.. Hope this helps. I think it’s ideal for surfers, and it’s certainly beautiful, rugged and private. We aren’t luxury campers by any means but the parking lot strip of lined up tents feels more suited as a crash pad for accessing some great waves on a rugged beach than a relaxing camping trip with nature and views (and an iota of privacy).

We’ve camped here for years just for the surfing. They just started charging to use the dump station even if you’re camped here, and of course one was out of order. The old ones were just simple holes in the ground and a water spigot, tough to break that. The new ones have solar panels so I’m sure it won’t be long before they chop down the beautiful trees that shade us while we get the job done.