I had a pleasant stay at this campground. Our site was paved and level and surrounded by trees. I found the trail to the beach a bit tiring as it was a steep climb over the soft sand dunes. There could be more trails created with easier beach access. The beach itself was not unique: plain with no tide pools or rock formations, except for a distant out cropping. I made an on-line reservation for this campground through the contracted Reserve America system. The system showed the campground was full, except for just two sites next to one another, for the whole month of September. I thought that unusual, so I telephoned the campground to check with the ranger on actual site availability. I was told yes the campground was full and if I had found an open site I should reserve it right away. The day I arrived at the campground I discovered that many sites were still open. The ranger said that 1/2 of the campsites were on a first come first serve bases for the entire month of September. Online rules indicated that the first come first serve practice did not begin until October. I questioned the ranger about why that information was not available on line. He did not seem to know about the reservation process. I told the ranger instead of raising the campsite rates as the state is going to do, it might be better to consider the reservation system display the correct site availability instead of indicating full when the campground is not. That would probably generate more revenue than raising the rates, and make us campers happier too. I could have saved the $6 reservation fee if I had known about the first come first serve policy for September. The ranger did not show any concern or indicate he would bring the matter to attention of his superiors. We camped here in a Truck Camper.
This is the 3rd or 4th time we've stayed here and it's been a good experience every time, well, we did get chased out last January by a severe weather warning for ice and snow storm, but that's to be expected. It's a great location for visiting the area of the coast from Tillamook up to Astoria and there is a great little winery up the river from Wheeler.The only problem that I had was that there were single tents in some of the longer sites and that cuts them out for the bigger rigs. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
A beautiful location right next to the beach. Excellent camp hosts: friendly and armed with good dog treats! They even drive a little cart around to sell you firewood--how convenient! It turned out to be too windy for us to enjoy having one, but handy service. This would be a great place to spend some time, given the proximity of the beach and the great little towns in the area. We picked up some of the freshest fish ever at Ecola Market in Cannon Beach (don't miss this) to have at our campsite. Perfection! We camped here in a Motorhome.
This campground never fails to please. On our latest visit it would appear that all the hard surface areas have been re-sealed and are in great condition. There are no shortage of sites to accommodate large rigs and because most of the sites have trees that top out just about roof height, satellite dishes on top of a rig work great. Wireless internet is available in nearby Manzanita (about a 5 minute drive from the park) at the public library either inside or in their parking lot when they are closed. We also found other "hot spots" around town one could use as well. If you plan to visit during the busy summer months you had better make reservations early. The park can also be a real zoo during the busy months which is why we prefer to visit in January or February. We had the park mostly to ourselves besides the campground hosts. This is just one of those parks that keeps us coming back time and time again. Also, be sure to visit Doogers Restaurant in nearby Cannon Beach for great seafood and awesome clam chowder. We camped here in a Motorhome.
A beautiful state park with lots of trees and great access directly to the beach. Apparently, reservations are required for the "A" loop (which is the closest to the beach) year round, even if it doesn't look busy. If you don't have reservations, the signs specify that you are to proceed to the other loops (even though at this time of year it is "self-registration"). When I was there, half the spots in the "A" loop were empty. I obeyed the signs and picked a site in the "C" loop. Later, I asked the camp host if the "reservations required for A loop" is enforced when it's not busy, I was told that the requirement is enforced. (There is a valid reason for it.) The sites, which are all paved blacktop, are water and electric only, 30 and 20 amp. However, if you are towing a car, not all spaces have room to park the car. All vehicles must be parked on the blacktop, and that is where you won't have much room for a tow car. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. If you are planning to stay more than a couple of nights, you might want to consider using a plastic tub for washing your dishes. The park provides "sink water pit drains" for throwing your sink water out. Some of the sites (too many to list) are near the walkways to the showers. Try to avoid those sites, although it is not a big issue in the off season. Showers are free! They were adequate, about what you would expect in a state park. My only complaint about the showers is that the showers themselves didn't have a curtain. My dry clothing got splattered in the small changing area outside the shower. The park has a pay phone in case your cell phone doesn't work in this area. If you aren't carrying a satellite, you still get great reception from six "over the air" channels in this area. Lastly, this park has a great recycling station to help cut down the garbage for those that like to contribute to this ecological effort. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The campground is well designed and it is only a short walk to the beautiful beach. Although the campsites are spacious, there is very little in the way of shrubbery to separate the sites. With a full campground and many big rigs and extra vehicles, some areas seemed very crowded. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This is a great park. We have not been hear in a long time and the trees have really come in and shaded the sites, and added privacy. The close walk over the dune to the beach is great. Also having Manzanita so close you can be in town in 5 minutes. Can't wait to take my trailer here next time. We camped here in a Tent.
Reservations are essential virtually any day of the week. We arrived on a Thursday, with a reservation for Friday through Sunday, and were lucky to get in. Sites are well spaced and private side to side. The bathrooms and showers are immaculate and quite close to all the campsites in a given loop. Would definitely stay here again. With electric and water hookups, this is a top notch state park. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This was a great state park. Sites are spacious and trees are trimmed nicely for easy parking. The beach is very nice. This is a very busy park with hundreds of kids on bikes! There is even a nice playground for the younger ones. The amphitheater provided "Ranger Talks" while we were there and some acoustic bluegrass musicians put on an impromtu concert. There are no sewer hookups but the dump station is big and easily accessable. We would return to this park. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
This was a great state park, one of our favorites. There were kids everywhere, but we wanted that since we have three under ten. Our kids rode their bikes around and I felt safe letting them do so. In back of our site, our kids found what they called an "enchanted forest" which was really a neat spot under a cluster of trees. Everyone was friendly. My only wish is that it was closer to the ocean. There is a trail over the dune but it is a tough hike through deep sand, which can be strenous holding a toddler, lawn chairs, beach toys and cooler. There are no ocean view sites and we couldn't hear the ocean at night. But all in all, it was a great campground. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
We enjoyed this park, but parking our 38' motorhome in our 49' site was a chore. The trees had not been trimmed lately, and were hanging over the site. We got special permission to park with our right side wheels on the ground so that we could put our slide out. We had a great location, with the beach right behind us, on the other side of a sand dune. Leaving the park was also a problem, as the trees were hanging over the road. On a good note, the entrance and the parking area were definitely big rig friendly. It was the campground itself that was not, in my opinion. We camped here in a Motorhome.
A beautiful state park - our favorite. Many of the sites are long enough for big rigs. Just have to watch the overhead branches. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The park is very scenic, lots to see. The fact that you can take your horse is a big plus. That feature enables me to go further and see much that I physically couldn't do on my own. Fishing and crabbing are nearby. Very nice. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Great place to camp - quiet, spacious sites, easy access to beach, lots of biking - only downside is no sewer hookup for extended stays. Recommended. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
State Park that puts RVs next to tents. In the four days we stayed at this park we had new tent neighbors each day on both sides. The sites have little or no screening so the sites seem to be one large dirt site. Because there are no defined borders, people just walk through the middle of your site. LOUD, DIRTY and NOISY. This could be a nice park if they would segregate the tents from the RV's Will not return. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Our new favorite Oregon State Park. Most sites are moderately isolated. Bathrooms and
showers are clean and the water is hot. Nice bike trails. Big ampitheater. Playgrounds. And best of all close access to the beach. Our kids found a "secret" path to a "secret" spot to overlook the beach. We watched the sunset there. Incredible is to simple a word to describe the sight. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.