Camping in Big Sur Right Before the Landslides
Our campsite in Kirk Creek, Big Sur, CA.
Last weekend we returned to Los Angeles from a week of camping in Central California. We drove up to the beautiful wine country of Paso Robles on Monday and stayed in a nice, clean hotel called The Oaks. We just wanted to get north a bit and have one last night of comfy beds and morning showers before “roughing it” in Big Sur.
I grew up going camping every summer in Kings Canyon National Park. We were a family of six and didn’t have a lot of money for fancy vacations that involved flying anywhere. While friends and classmates returned every fall after spending the summer in Hawaii or Florida, I only had my camping memories to go by until next summer.
Kings Canyon is a beautiful park, but it’s pretty remote. You drive through Sequoia National Park first, past the giant sequoia trees that are known across the world as some of the oldest trees in existence, and then you drive deep into a canyon for over an hour before you get to the campsites.
The Big Sur River in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.
The drive is not for the faint of heart. The road hugs the curves of the canyonside. The first time we took my son camping there he started freaking out about how long it was taking to get to our campsite.
I didn’t remember all the endless winding from my childhood trips. That’s probably because I always got to sit in the front seat, squished between my parents in our Pontiac station wagon, enjoying the cool breeze of the air conditioning while my siblings and cousins roasted in the back. I used to get car sick if I didn’t sit up front. I’m sure my siblings are still bitter about this.
Anyway, that camping trip with my husband, son, and dad was fun—but it was hot that week. The nearby river wasn’t even respite enough.
This spring break we had been itching to go camping, so I looked online and saw that some of Big Sur’s most coveted campsites had availability for a few nights.
The beach just below the Kirk Creek campsite.
My husband and I drove up Highway 1, aka Pacific Coast Highway, during our honeymoon in 2008. We both had camped as kids, so I think it’s kinda cool that our actual first night of our official honeymoon was glamping in El Capitan near Santa Barbara. We made a campfire, cooked some smores, and downed it all with champagne. We visited the hot tub in the neighboring RV camp where we had privileges, and slept in a regular bed in our safari tent. I still think about the delicious tri-tip sandwich we had at the cafe there. It was so much fun! We continued on our drive up Hwy 1, through Big Sur, and saw several amazing campsites on our way to San Francisco.
On another drive through Big Sur, this time to camp in Santa Cruz, we took note of the actual campground names and vowed to return to camp there soon. The only problem is that the campgrounds are continually booked up. They are so highly coveted that we never thought the day would come when we’d get a reservation.
Perhaps because I was searching for availability on random dates during our spring break week I got successful. I booked two nights in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and one night in Kirk Creek—the pinnacle of California coastal camping.
The two days in Pfeiffer were spectacular. Our campsite was underneath a grove of redwood trees. The only problem was that it was on a slight slope, and completely covered in shade. If this were the middle of the summer that would be good, but in early spring it meant it was cold as soon as the sun went down. We didn’t sleep well on that slope either. And it rained on the second night! That wouldn't have been a problem except that our tent is on its last legs. The tarp-y floor of the tent has a bunch of cracks that we tried taping up, but some rain seeped in. And even with the rain cover the rain still dripped into the tent. Because of this, the three of us crammed into my husband’s Kia Sorento and slept there for the night. It actually was cozy! And warm.
Our girl Artemis finally got to each dinner with us at the table.
My son and I got the nighttime giggles, and our dog Artemis burrowed herself near our feet, keeping them warm. We fell asleep under the rainy sky that I could see through the rear windows. It was pretty magical even though it was anything but perfect.
During our two-night stay in Pfeiffer Big Sur we went on hikes, visited the Big Sur River—which my husband and son crazily dunked themselves into—and drove through town in Big Sur. We checked out the view from Nepenthe, an open-air restaurant on a cliffside, and marveled at the working red phone booth on the premises. There is NO internet or cell service in Big Sur, so we were off-grid. I was looking forward to this part of our vacation, and had made sure there were no loose ends from work to worry about. That’s the whole point of vacation, isn’t it?
We went to another hiking spot just north of our campsite to see the sunset, but the clouds were rolling in. There’s a lodge inside Pfeiffer that has a gift shop, cafe, and restaurant—and a roaring fire in the lobby. Man, that was nice.
With Pfeiffer camping we were nestled in the forest to get that true camping vibe, but we were still close enough to civilization and the ocean to not feel completely away from reality.
And did I mention that several of the campsite public bathrooms have warm water and showers? You just need to get a token from a machine outside—bring quarters!—and for $1 you get five luxurious minutes of shower time.
Camping in Kirk Creek was slightly different. The campsites are incredible. I mean, there are no words. There are 33 sites and they each have wonderful views of the Pacific Ocean. Some are located right at the end of the bluff overlooking the water, but ours was at the entrance to the campground, so a little further away, but still with an incredible, wide view of the ocean.
We had so much fun camping in Big Sur, CA!
However, there is NO running water in Kirk Creek.
This means we brushed our teeth over the fire pit and spit our gargled water into the fire. We used large body wipes I got on Amazon for taking “wipe baths” in the mornings.
As for going to the restroom, let’s just say that it was all number ones for the two days we were there, and even then I stuffed tissue in my nostrils to avoid catching the smells that emanated from the “vault toilets,” which I don't even know what that means except to say that they were a slight step above pit toilets. I just went in, did my biz, and came out as quickly as possible.
The ocean views and location made up for all of these modern inconveniences. I could’ve hanged for one more night at Kirk Creek, but there weren’t any reservations available to extend our trip. This turned out to be a blessing because little did we know that on the night after we departed Big Sur to return home most of Hwy 1 was closed due to part of the road falling into the ocean after it rained.
If we had stayed just a few hours longer we might’ve been stranded up there. Being stranded in Kirk Creek wouldn’t have been bad, but not having running water for who knows how long would have been.
We drove home on Friday after catching Interstate 5 from the 101. The 5 has gotten a lot more scenic in the past years due to vineyards and almond tree orchards popping up.
By the end of our vacation it was nice to be home. I missed my bed, and my shower. But camping in Big Sur for three nights and four days—off-grid and surrounded by forest and ocean—was the reset I didn’t know how badly I needed.