Plaskett Creek Campground
1Heads up1 fire 25 mi away
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 15:47 UTC
- A night
- $45From, per site
- Sites
- 45All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Plaskett Creek Campground offers a beautiful location just minutes from Sand Dollar Beach, one of the largest and most popular beaches in central California. The campground gives visitors access to a variety of outdoor activities, including water play and exploration of the surrounding hills and forests. The family-friendly campground offers comfortably equipped sites, allowing anyone to enjoy a relaxing stay in the Los Padres National Forest. Keep reading
Recreation
A short walk leads to Sand Dollar Beach, a very popular spot for surfing, fishing, swimming, exploring, sunbathing and more. Fishing permits are required for anyone over age 16. Anglers can expect a catch of yellow perch and other coastal surf fish. The beach is dog-friendly, as long as dogs are leashed and waste is picked up. A variety of trails exist along the beach, which lead to the bluffs that overlook the beach and coves in the area. Additional hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding trails can be accessed within a short drive from the campground, and offer scenic views of waterfalls, redwood groves and mountain meadows and streams.
Facilities
The campground offers single-family sites, as well as three group campsites, for tent and RV camping. Group sites can accommodate up to 40 people and 10 vehicles. Extra vehicles will be charged an additional fee. Utility hookups are not available. Individual campsites are each equipped with a table and campfire ring with grill. Flush toilets, sinks and drinking water are provided throughout the campground. An accessible flush toilet is located near Site 10. Group sites are equipped with several tables, grills and campfire circles. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided in the group area.
Natural Features
The campground is located in west-central California, on the east side of Highway 1. Sand Dollar Beach, the largest sandy beach in the Big Sur area, is just south of the campground. The Pacific Ocean borders the campground to the west and the surf can be heard at many campsites. The campground has a park-like setting, under a scattered canopy of mature Monterey pine and cypress trees. Cedar trees provide a fragrant aroma. All sites are grassy. The campground is situated at an elevation of about 200 feet in the Los Padres National Forest. Wildlife in the area includes fox, bobcat, deer and raccoon. Mountain lions and bears are occasionally seen in the area, although they have never entered the campground.
What the agency tells you
In order to contact our offices, please use the email: customerservice@pmcparks.com or view our website: CampOne.Com for answers to frequently asked questions.
Poison oak is abundant in the area.
Water spigots are located throughout the campground.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Limit of 2 vehicles per site; additional vehicles are not permitted.
Reservations can be made three days in advance. All single campsite reservations are good for 6 people and 1 vehicle.
Maximum number of people per single site is 8 ($10.00 additional charge per person per night after 6 people). Maximum number of vehicles per single site is 2 ($10.00 additional charge for 2nd vehicle per night). Extra vehicle and person fees will be charged at the facility.
Click here for more information on the Los Padres National Forest.
Don't Move Firewood: Protect California's forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. For more information visit firewood.ca.gov.
No Cell Service in Area
No Public Showers in Area
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 45 · 3 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 50 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets · Vault Toilets
- “…a table and campfire ring with grill. Flush toilets, sinks and drinking water are provided throughout… / …tables, grills and campfire circles. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided in the group area.…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…with grill. Flush toilets, sinks and drinking water are provided throughout the campground. An…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Creek, Beach, Coast, Meadow
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 253rd darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 2
Full this Saturdayread 15:47 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 37 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 19 are free on Tue, Oct 20. read 15:47 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 16
What you actually pay
“Maximum number of vehicles per single site is 2 ($10.00 additional charge for 2nd vehicle per night).” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $45 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking, plus the agency’s published $2 weekend rate on Friday and Saturday. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 15:47 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
46 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 41 mapped sitesAll 46 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 41 of the 46 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 45 of the 46 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| PLAS | GS1 | group standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 256 ft | 3.9 mi | 190 ft | $150–$200 |
| PLAS | GS2 | group standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 202 ft | 3.9 mi | 67 ft | $150–$200 |
| PLAS | GS3 | group standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 202 ft | 3.8 mi | 264 ft | $150–$200 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 001 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | $45 | |||
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 002 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | $45 | |||
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 003 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $45 | |||
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 004 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | $45 | |||
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 005 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $45 | |||
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 006 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | 85 ft | 3.7 mi | 134 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 007 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | 24 ft | 3.7 mi | 75 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 008 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 24 ft | 3.7 mi | 53 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 010 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 30 ft | 3.7 mi | 144 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 011 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 30 ft | 3.7 mi | 117 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 012 | standard nonelectric | 47 ft | 48 ft | 3.7 mi | 160 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 013 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 48 ft | 3.7 mi | 180 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 014 | standard nonelectric | 47 ft | 32 ft | 3.7 mi | 175 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 015 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 32 ft | 3.7 mi | 202 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 016 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 23 ft | 3.7 mi | 219 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 017 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | 23 ft | 3.7 mi | 240 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 018 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 41 ft | 3.7 mi | 274 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 019 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 26 ft | 3.7 mi | 280 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 020 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 26 ft | 3.7 mi | 305 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 021 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 130 ft | 3.7 mi | 236 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 022 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 92 ft | 3.7 mi | 254 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 023 | standard nonelectric | 44 ft | 60 ft | 3.7 mi | 195 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 024 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 60 ft | 3.7 mi | 138 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 025 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 40 ft | 3.8 mi | 65 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 026 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 40 ft | 3.8 mi | 63 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 027 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 33 ft | 3.8 mi | 77 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 028 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 33 ft | 3.7 mi | 104 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 029 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 18 ft | 3.8 mi | 148 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 030 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 18 ft | 3.7 mi | 162 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 031 | standard nonelectric | 37 ft | 90 ft | 3.7 mi | 260 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 032 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 81 ft | 3.8 mi | 137 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 033 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 76 ft | 3.8 mi | 138 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 034 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 24 ft | 3.8 mi | 150 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 035 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 24 ft | 3.8 mi | 171 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 036 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 32 ft | 3.8 mi | 165 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 037 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 32 ft | 3.8 mi | 165 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 038 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 52 ft | 3.8 mi | 200 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 039 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 52 ft | 3.8 mi | 192 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 040 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 40 ft | 3.8 mi | 232 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 041 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 40 ft | 3.8 mi | 227 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 042 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | 52 ft | 3.8 mi | 254 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | 043 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 52 ft | 3.8 mi | 220 ft | $45 |
| PLASKETT CREEK CAMPGROUND | Host 009 | host pad | 45 ft | 71 ft | 3.7 mi | 80 ft | $45 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It names it a host pad. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
25 of 46 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Kirk Creek CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 5.4 miPonderosa CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 7.2 miNacimiento CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 7.2 mi
Ponderosa Campground7.8 mi
Memorial CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 14 mi
Escondido CampgroundLos Padres National Forest · 16 miHwy 1 is TEMPORARILY CLOSED from the Monterey area
From San Luis Obispo, travel north on Highway 1 for approximately 65 miles to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Fort Hunter Liggett, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 80°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 37°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Plaskett Creek Campground is in California’s 19th congressional district. Its representative, Jimmy Panetta (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyJimmy PanettaU.S. Representative · California’s 19th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationAdam B. SchiffU.S. Senator · California
- Your senator, on the same appropriationAlex PadillaU.S. Senator · California
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Plaskett Creek Campground, Los Padres National Forest, California
Dear Jimmy Panetta, I’m a constituent in California’s 19th district. I tried to camp at Plaskett Creek Campground, Los Padres National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 45 sites at Plaskett Creek Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 37 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Plaskett Creek Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Plaskett Creek Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Plaskett Creek Campground (Los Padres National Forest, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Plaskett Creek Campground, Los Padres National Forest, California
Dear Adam B. Schiff, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Plaskett Creek Campground, Los Padres National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 45 sites at Plaskett Creek Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 37 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Plaskett Creek Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Plaskett Creek Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Plaskett Creek Campground (Los Padres National Forest, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Plaskett Creek Campground, Los Padres National Forest, California
Dear Alex Padilla, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Plaskett Creek Campground, Los Padres National Forest, California, and couldn’t. All 45 sites at Plaskett Creek Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 37 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Plaskett Creek Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Plaskett Creek Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Plaskett Creek Campground (Los Padres National Forest, California) via campanac.com