Central California Coast Camping et Cetera?

[MarkBC]

Though I'm a native born Californian (before I became a naturalized Oregonian) I've never -- ever -- been anywhere on the California coast between Monterey and Santa Barbara.
I'm thinking I should check it out. This would be sometime between mid-May and early June this year.

Any recommendations for places to see, explore? Campgrounds, camping spots? Et cetera...?
(Could even include recommendations for indoor lodging)
I think I'm mostly interested in places near the coast, but that could include Coast Range -- not just the beach.

I should mention that this trip will likely be in my little car with tent -- not truck camper -- so I won't be able to take roads more gnarly than smooth-graded gravel.

Thanks, guys.

 

[ETAV8R]

Oh it is amazing. Gotta do at least one tour at Hearst Castle. Lots of camping along the coast. Prewitt Ridge is nice. Can be buggy and windy but amazing views looking down on the fog laden coast down below.

 

[Espresso]

Keep in mind a bridge is out on Hwy 1 south of Carmel. You can't drive from Carmel to Hearst Castle on 1.

 

[Backroad Joe]

Do keep in mind that is the foggy time of year. What we call May gray, June gloom.

 

[NivekD]

Just returned from a Central Coast trip, stayed a night in Cambria and camped at San Simeon campground. Went to Morro bay and did some whale watching. Great area. As Espresso stated, you can only go as far as Ragged Point on the PCH. Make sure you check out the Elephant Seals.

 

[MarkBC]

Thanks guys, and more input is still appreciated.

Fog: I hadn't thought of that... I'd checked the temperature and precipitation and both of those parameters looked good, but I didn't check fog or cloud-cover in general... Hmmm -- need to look into that further.

 

[OpenSpace]

Heads up that we drove from Santa Barbara to San Fran a few years ago mid-summer and couldn't find ANY camping along the coast. Reservations are required for most areas and they go fast. Brilliant drive though.

 

[MarkBC]

Though I'm a native born Californian (before I became a naturalized Oregonian) I've never -- ever -- been anywhere on the California coast between Monterey and Santa Barbara...

OK, turns out this isn't quite correct. I just talked to my mom, and she told me that we did camp on that part of the CA coast, near Hearst Castle, when I was about 2 years old. She says she has a photo of my dad surf fishing and me in underwear on the beach... Thanks Mom.
Nope, I don't remember anything like that.

 

[ntsqd]

Pictures or it didn't happen! Notice how that works both ways.

Now that Spring Break is mostly over and if you're there during the week you *might* be able to score a camp site in Carrizo Plain and catch the trailing end of the Super Bloom.

There's a campground or two on the backside of the ridge going East past Prewit down the Nacimiento-Ferguson Road that might be in the middle of their own Super Bloom. I'd expect that Ft. Hunter Liggett has some bloom going on and that road would be a good way to see it.

I've recently been told that at San Simeon I've been passing a not well kept secret for years. Though I'll bet they're pretty on-guard about people bivouac camping in their parking lot.

The Pinnacles are also right in the area, worth the stop, and there's camping at the East Entrance.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Headed to Montana del Oro next Tuesday. Several spots open mid week.
Frank

 

[ETAV8R]

Headed to Montana del Oro next Tuesday. Several spots open mid week.
Frank

That's a good place too!
Lots of crafty raccoons there so watch your food. I had a bag of chips stolen off the top of a table while I was about ten feet away. Little masked ninjas came in without a sound. They had a stockpile of stolen items in the hedge nearby.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

That's a good place too!
Lots of crafty raccoons there so watch your food. I had a bag of chips stolen off the top of a table while I was about ten feet away. Little masked ninjas came in without a sound. They had a stockpile of stolen items in the hedge nearby.

Thanks for the heads up.
Last time we camped there there was a bobcat,(the animal not camper) near our site during the morning.
It's a nice place with the ocean just there.
Frank

 

[Foy]

X2 on Cambria/San Simeon area and of course you must see the elephant seals. Only drove through once and did not overnight, but Cambria immediately became a "place to return to when we can stay a few days".

Foy

 

[slickrock steve]

I recommend the Montana De Oro camping also. We take our horses, and camp at the south end in Hazard canyon, and then ride all the park from Diablo to the mountain top. If you take a mountain bike, it has so many trails you cannot see them all in one weekend too!
I also second the raccoons, as well as pesky deer that steal from the table tops and the coons can even open cheap coolers!!

 

[Backroad Joe]

And with massive landslide on Hwy 1, 6o miles south of Monterey just a couple of days ago I'd forget the coastal route for this year at least.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/24/us/california-landslide-scenic-highway/

 

[MarkBC]

And with massive landslide on Hwy 1, 6o miles south of Monterey just a couple of days ago I'd forget the coastal route for this year at least.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/24/us/california-landslide-scenic-highway/

Even before this recent big slide, CA 1 was already fully closed in 3 places between Big Sur and San Simeon (approximately), according to the CalTrans map. Clean-up/repair from a couple of previous slides and the bridge work already mentioned.
So... a fully-on-CA 1 trip was already not in the cards.

Nevertheless: In 2 weeks I plan to head that way anyway, even if I can't do the 'definitive' central coast drive. It's only 600 miles to Monterey from my house (yes, "only" ) so not a big investment in time and in my car not a big investment in fuel, either.
I don't have an itinerary yet (other than my first couple of nights at friends/family homes), but thanks to all for the input on what to do, where to go.