Rincon Parkway Campground

Rincon Parkway is camping right on the side of Highway 1, so there is nothing separating you from the traffic. On the upside, it comes with a fantastic view of the ocean and the best price for camping in the area.

The train tracks are right next to the side of the road and it's really loud, but not so frequent that I wouldn't come back.

This isn't the best spot for our dog, since we have to walk on the highway, but otherwise we're pretty happy here.

(My price includes $1 extra/day for our dog).

We absolutely loved staying here in April 2014! Our favorite part is that you parallel park so your RV door completely faces the ocean, then our truck parked perpendicular to block our view with our neighbors to the left. Our neighbor on the right also pulled his truck in the same way so we were blocked on the right as well -- seclusion!

The waves are incredibly loud (and soothing, in my opinion) and they help to block out the road noise. Yes, you're right on Hwy 1 and yes, there are train tracks right on the other side of that, but honestly we were never bothered by it because the waves drowned it all out.

Another reason we enjoyed this place was because of it's proximity to Ventura which we found to be a great little town with a fantastic Farmer's Market.

This is dry camping however there are dumpsters available for your trash. Once a week a sewer pump truck comes by as well as a fresh water truck and you can pay for those services if you'd like to stay longer. However, beware of the camping restrictions. During certain times it's only 5 nights and other times of the year it's 7 nights. The paystation will have signs about it.

You need to be fairly agile to climb down (and back up!) the rocks to the beach, although I do believe some spots at either end of the parkway have easier routes. We were near the center and it required a bit of effort - but so worth it!

Locating a camping spot at Rincon Parkway on a weekend can be dicey at best, as this renowned central coast jewel is a favorite with the locals...but there is a very good chance to secure a site during the week. You will be parked parallel with the ocean on a 47’ paved RV pad below Highway 101. Running below that highway are rail tracks that carry up to 27 trains in a 24 hour period. And finally, at beach level, there is Highway 1 which defines your site boundary...so road noise is prevalent. However...the sound of the constant surf pretty much drowns all that "static" out and the spectacular views make your stay worth it.

Rincon Parkway is a linear campground that spans enough beach to provide 127 primitive, but paved RV parking spaces…only for RVs, no tents. To get your toes in the sand, you need to do some easy rock hopping about 10’ to the beach below. And although each rig is parked bumper to bumper, you have some privacy on your patio, as your vehicle and that of your neighbor provide “walls” front and rear. For those wanting have a longer stay, sewer and water pump trucks drive by a couple of times during the week.

This is one of our favorite getaways and for camping on beach front real estate...a bargain!

We'd heard about Rincon from several people and I figured it would fit the bill. My trip planning instructions were to follow the coast as closely as possible, and you can't get much closer than this. All we had to do was survive getting across LA which was much easier than I expected. The campground was about half full. We picked a spot in the middle of a string of empty spaces at 12:30 p.m., and still had the empty spaces around us when we went to bed.

I was concerned about noise, but the only train that was noticable was a long freight train, and traffic is minimal after dark. Easy in & easy out. I suspect the place would be crazy in mid-summer, but it worked very well for us in mid April.

I just have a couple of things to add to what others have said:

1.) There is a rule that you cannot re-enter a Ventura County Park without a 7 day lapse between stays. As I understand it, this applies to ALL of Ventura County, inland parks as well, not just the beach parks. The Camp Host at Tapo Canyon told me they could officially deny my stay at Rincon Pkway if they chose to enforce the rule. Thankfully, they didn’t. I believe it is to prevent locals from parking for the summer, so perhaps they don't enforce the rule with out of state plates. But just a "heads up" if you are coming from one of the other parks like Tapo Canyon or Dennison...especially if you have local plates.

2.) If you have a neighbor to the north who loves campfires, this can get a little smoky. Ostensibly, campfires are not allowed, but rock fire rings have been built all up and down the parkway, so people use them. If you have a choice, choose a site next to one where no fire ring has been built into the rock ledge.

Otherwise, views and sound effects of the ocean make this seem like the beach house I never had...

Over the past two years, Kerri has always spoke so highly of camping at Rincon Parkway in Ventura. I’ve driven past the place a few times and always wondered why anyone would pay to camp there. Not only is it barely out of town, it has a major highway and a busy railway running within feet of the camping. Only an idiot would chose this place to camp, even with the crashing waves of the Pacific right out your front door.

Hey now, I can admit when I am wrong you know. As it turns out, Rincon Parkway is a great place to camp if you do not mind the $28 per night price tag for no hookups and more rules then you could possibly violate in a single week. The ocean is the star of the show, only feet away and thundering 24 hours a day, it can be hard to hear the traffic over it. The trains that pass by only 25 feet away turn out to be near-whisper-quiet (mostly).

With the trailer parallel parked just off the roadway, the door opens to the West. This means our awning also opens to the West, away from all the distractions. Under the awning and with a folding chair, a cocktail, and my sweetheart the evening sunsets could hardly get any better (with the exception of Baja sunsets). Through out the day pelicans fly by in pairs, only millimeters off the water, and dolphins are seen multiple times each day as they pass by the campground. Considering we are only a few miles away from one of the nations largest metro areas, there is a lot of nature to be had here.

Wow, what an experience! We had heard fantastic things about this campground from friends, but when we first drove past it we were somewhat unimpressed. But we made a last-minute decision to come here and we are so glad we did. The ocean is literally right outside your door and the sounds of the waves mostly drown out the car and train traffic right on the other side. We saw whales and dolphins every day - we loved it here and will definitely return someday.

A couple of things to note: as of April 1, 2017 the rate has changed to $30/night. There is a 5-night limit, and once you leave, you can't return for 14 days (for other Ventura county parks, you can return after 7 days.)

It's somewhat hard to walk your dog here. The beach is dog friendly, but it's only easily accessible from the county parks on either end. (You can scramble down the rocks in front of your RV if you're adventurous, but we only trusted one of our dogs to do this - the other 2 are too old to attempt it.) If you walk your dog on the other side of the RV, the ground is covered with pesky foxtails. Also you have to be on constant high alert for traffic. There are however several dog-friendly places to walk them in Ventura.

We heard a lot about how strict they were with the rules here, but we had the misfortune of being parked next to a group of 3 RVs who were all together, and who were in constant party mode. When their music was so loud that we could hear it inside our RV, and over the sounds of the waves and our noise machine, and it was 11:00 pm - we called the sheriff. They showed up quickly and had them turn off the music, but quiet hours start at 9 and no one said anything to them until we called. So maybe they don't patrol here at night?

Overall we loved our stay here and will return. Hopefully this time with quieter neighbors. :)

Make sure you lock up your generators at night .

This was totally my style of RVing...nobody on either side...falling asleep to ocean waves...walking out the door and down the rocks to the beach. Just perfect.

$30 for the view and $1 to have the dog. Not bad for dry-camping near/on the beach. Sleeping with the sounds of the surf and smell of the sea is awesome. The train going by behind us was hardly noticeable.
Verizon has 4 bars and there is a nasty outhouse nearby.

After 0ctober 31 you have to reserve online. Sad. Nice to be able to pull up and grab a spot on this off-season night.