Bluff Parking/ Cave Landing Rd | Wild Camping

There are indeed some 'no camping' signs but when we arrived at 9pm there were a couple of cars parked and the kids blasting EDM. But they turned off the sound at 9:30pm and no cops came so camping spot was great for a night! Beautiful place

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Slept overnight here. There was an incident where a man called out for help and explained to an overnighter that his truck had just been stolen with all his belongings! Police came and took him away. Weird start to my roadtrip! Also some dude was blasting EDM out of his van all night :(

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Uneven dirt parking lot with beautiful bluff view. Two different paths to beaches and a little path to a rock cliff view. I didn't stay here but talked to some people who have been in this area. At 6-7am rangers or police came by with little yellow warning tickets saying they've noted your plate and they "caught" you camping here (no fine) . At 7pm rangers came to pick trash and looked like they might have been looking at plates. Apparently the recent crack down is a transition from police to county jurisdiction. It sounds like if they notice the same plates frequenting overnight they may fine or kick you out. A sheriff also passed through at 5pm but didn't stop or anything, but police and rangers may stop by at time noted outside of what I know and wrote here. Signage wise it says no camping or fires, no parking 2-6am.Nevertheless, definitely worth a stop by and park at your own risk!

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Great to sleep 💤 it’s open and has some signs but it’s fine to sleep some cars and vans around I think is only for small vans and cars

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This place is permanently closed.

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Told by a few people here that the county has recently begun cracking down on overnighters, saw 2 no camping signs on the way up, apparently police come through every night at 10 to empty the lot. too bad, seemed like a nice spot!

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This place is closed as of 5/12/2021 it is a construction site, for park improvement. The beach is acceptable from Shell beach Cave Landing trail. Cave Landing Road is going to be closed until the construction is done. Check pictures for the notice I was given.

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Can’t say enough good things about this place. We came for one night, and have stayed almost 4 weeks. The views and people are amazing, if you’re a free spirit looking for a good time you found the right spot.
However the county plans on kicking everyone out and beginning paving the lot on May 19th. Wanted to give everyone a heads up that it will be closed beginning that date! Hopefully they will let the pirates come back but it’s all pretty unsure.

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Please go down to the cave and beach!!!!! yes there is some people leaving here probably full time but this is the most beautiful place I've seen so far! so
much to discover around! ocean view + sunset view + sunrise view 😍 There is a bug and I can't give 5 start but this is definitely 5 stars spot.

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Cul-de-sac full of good energy and welcome arms. Like others have said, get here before the sun goes down or your RV's days may be over.

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Some pretty scetchy people playing music and being loud but they cleared out around 8. Pretty unlevel with lots of cars. Make sure to go slow

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It's a huge dirt lot, not very level, lots of ruts! Be careful if its raining. Lots of homeless, van/car living, and tourists. Stayed 1 night here with no problems.

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This spot was very busy on New Year’s Eve... but I’m sure it’s good on other days ... very popular spot at sunset... once the sun sets people start to leave ... I suggest get there really early or come after sunset but best to come when light because the wash out on the bluff has some deep washout points . (Very very bumpy) also there are some permanent campers here... friendly but people come in and out to visit them.
Really cool pirate cave to view the sunset !! So pretty !!! All in all was a good spot to stay. And free !

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Beautiful views and great location but definitely some shady characters and loud music and yelling early/late :( lots of trash and tp and poop. Would have stayed up closer to the road but level spots there were not plentiful

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pros:
🌱beautiful views! you can see the sunrise every morning on the ocean and the sunset.

pro: cops came up our 1st night; there was a guy that was blasting music super loud and revving at 11pm and they told him to leave and be respectful of people staying here, which was really cool to see.

pro: the campers and rvs that stayed here were chill so the neighbour's are good.

cons: people coming in and out all night until 1am. this is a popular spot for the locals to come and hangout so it was packed most of the day and night.

check it out! the area is beautiful and theres a doggie beach down the street. 🥰

check out our travel ig: @celestial.travelers 🌿

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This was an absolute no go. It wasn’t kids that were the problem- it was homeless crack head camp central. We felt unsafe just looking for parking and left. Broken windows everywhere and old men scouting out who was pulling up.
Couldn’t make it up theb4x4 roads that are talked about.

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Amazing spot. There are campers here that watch the native land. Nude beach down the trail along with a cave. Many hiking trails. Easy to hard. Beautiful view. Dog friendly. A lot of college students during the summer. If you need assistance, ask the people who are stationed there. They can Help with resources.

Would not recommend when it rains. You will slide and possibly get stuck. Witnessed the people stationed there, help and push visitors vehicles out.

All around a good time. Sometimes quiet and sometimes loud.

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Amazing overlook over the ocean. Access to trails. Lots of overnight RVs and vans. Lots of trash. Dirt road has lots of pot holes so be cautious. Full cell service.

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Great views... Also lots of "expedient toileting" along all trails. We stayed a Friday night and the joint was jumping with loud music and drouthy neibors until 0500. We parked right by the trail head down to the cave/beach. If I had to do again I would just park up on the road. It's flat up there and farther from the excitement.

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nice spot, could hear seals & birds in the distance. There were some high school or College aged kids having a party there when I arrived, but they shut down the music and packed up around 12am.

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great spot overlooking the cove. easy walk down to the beach. not very crowded during the week...stayed 2 nights with no issue.

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Personally, I thought this was a pretty rad camping spot and I would totally park here again. I did have the fortune of being here on a Monday night, so maybe that was the reason for a lack of shenanigans. Definitely a popular place for locals to watch the sunset and check out the stars. It’s certainly a parking lot for kids to come and smoke weed and possibly partake in other drugs as well. However, nobody bothered me so I don’t care what others are up to.

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It’s hard to find a flat spot, there were a bunch of people already there and the washouts make most areas extremely uneven. Also fine despite the slight angle but someone rolled in blasting their music at 3 am. The sunrise made it worth it and how close it was to the dog beach at Avila

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Avoid this place at all costs! Kids here are blasting their music, popping pills, drinking, and just blatantly being ignorant, wasting their lives. The kids are aware that the police patrol this place on the reg, so they’ve takin note of this and now get out of their cars daddy bought and walk in about 20-30ft from the parking lot so they aren’t visible in plain site. I don’t know about you guys, but I actually care about what my rig looks like, I’m not going to park in a place where I know $h!t is going down and wake up to one of these kids throwing a rock through my windshield cause they’re all high and about ready to split... just common sense y’all???

Also, aside from the kids, the regulars that stay here don’t look like very reputable folk. Their trailers are on their last leg and barely holding together. I’m sure they’re staying there cause they’re on meth, or something of the sort. The garbage that is thoroughly dispersed evenly around the parking lot shows this.
There was another spot to camp up the hill a little ways, but the hill is almost at a 55-60% grade. I’d of went to this spot up the hill if It wasn’t scheduled to rain the next day. Granted, I have a Jeep rubicon.. good tires, lifted, lockers and sway bar disconnect. Even with all those off road gadgets, I’m 98% sure you wouldn’t make it back down on all 4 tires in the rain, you’d end up sliding down, turning sideways, and rolling your rig.

If you plan on coming to this area, check the weather, and bring a 4WD and go for the spot up the hill, not the parking lot.

I ended up driving 17 miles north to tv tower road. Once the pavement stops the road gets a bit rough, but rough, or not! It’s 1,000,000 times better than bluff parking lot. The view I have tonight, Oprah couldn’t even afford, look for my waypoint on iOverlander and check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Those of you that don’t wanna test the limits of your rig, tv tower rd has plenty of turn offs. So depending on how ballzy you wanna be, your payoff will be justified.

Oh yeah.... and the best part........ it’s FREE!!!!

🍻my fellow overlanders.

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As others have said, dirt parking lot at end of paved road. Seems popular with local kids at night but they eventually clear out. Not too noisy (the kids). About 4 camper vans and about 4 car campers last night. Not a but spot and you do not need 4x4. A little dirty though.

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Not much of a view, evening or morning.
Spent a night here, no legal problem. There were about 15 other camper cars.
The road could be challenging for non-SUVs and Trucks - Be very careful.
Noise: some people played very loud music at midnight too, as others have commented before. And there were loud noises of new comers stuck in the rut, tire struggling noise - can be very scary.

Cannot recommend to everyone, but maybe it’s worth to some.

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Nice overlook of the ocean and access to the beaches. The parking area does have large wash outs but in light and taking it slow you can manage fine, due to all the recent rain a couple sections are pure mud so unable to park there. There are lots of people coming and going from lot at all times of day/night even on week night so I wouldn’t recommend weekend but weekday no problem! Couple vans & long term RV while I was there.

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Nice views but was loud on a Friday night with locals coming and going all night. Had someone park right next to us at 3:30 am for about an hour playing really loud music. Also as previously mentioned very rutted but manageable, just try and get here before dark so you can see the ruts

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awesome place. no problem at all. definitely recommend.

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You cannot stay here with a large RV... the cops knocked on our door and kicked us out, said we would get a “hefty” fine for camping. We have a 32 ft travel trailer. Ok to park large RV during the day to explore the beach and cave area but you have to drive around outside of the lot as inside is extremely washed out. The camper vans and more discreet vehicles seem to be fine overnight, officer didn’t say anything to them.
The views are incredible! Beach is just a short walk! Worth the stop for sure!

Check out our travels on Instagram! :)
@happyapertures

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Stayed here 3 nights whilst visiting SLO. 15 minute drive to downtown. Very quiet, safe, and scenic. Cops occasionally cruise through looking for ill-doers but didn’t bother us or the several other travelers.

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Like others said its pretty washed out. I arrived in the dark and managed to set up no problems in a 2wd. Sherif was questioning a car that just arrived for a while, no problems and they left. Didn't notice any police after 11 pm on a Sunday. About 3 other vans, few more cars just parked.

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stayed on friday night , v busy lots of difrent types of people , somw long termers , one guy had been there 3 weeks wirh no issue , cops came in 3 times in the night to deal with others there and check in . seen us and another sprinter each time and said nothing.

in short

-good views
-no problem staying as far as cops go
-busy on weeknds with intersting mix of people , no one bothered us
-i would stay again , worth checking out

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This is a popular spot during sunset for lots of people. There we lots of people here when we pulled in I agree with the previous poster that you don't want to get here after dark because there are large ditches in the lot. There were several people that were obviously camping there with a couple looking like they'd been there for quite a while. In the end we decided against staying here.

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Nul! Parking défoncé! et en pente! Dommage car la vue est belle.

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Tried staying here this past Friday night. Super busy with high school kids blasting music until fairly late unfortunately. We ended up leaving. There is also a small no parking 2am-6am sign on the road just before it ends at the lot so not sure how legal this spot actually is. Maybe midweek would be better. Great view and close to the beach though if you can deal with the noise.

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Big dirt parking lot at a dead end (road gate). If you arrive in the dark be careful where you drive as a part of the lot has extremely deep washouts. You still can park here with any vehicle, big RV’s might have issues to find a spot. I spent a peaceful night here with over 10 others. This is a popular spot, lots of people park here during the day to visit Smugglers Cave and Pirate’s Cove (nude) beach. At night once everybody has settled in it’s quiet. The views are amazing! And it’s fun to hike around the bluffs and see the cave and beach. No facilities, no fires, pack out your trash.

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