Totally spaced on this one….ooooops!We’d been itching to get to Pismo Beach for years. A cute little coastal town with a 100% dog-friendly beach walking distance from camp. Perfection! So, we planned our entire March route around it and figured we’d just roll into town and find a spot when we got there. No problem, right?
Well, we hit a teeny tiny snag -> we zonked and totally forgot about the big Spring Break holidays. Nooooooo!
If you’re a fulltime RVer and “beast” size to boot, this is nothing to laugh about. Not only do all the popular campgrounds fill up to the brim, but the whole CA coast becomes party central for holiday families and a bunch of drunken 20-somethings. Would we be able to find a site? And then would we regret it if we did?
The RV Travel Planning Dilemma
Yes, I am…sorry…How much planning is too much?The whole “will we find a site and will we fit” is a common stress problem for big rigs traveling the CA coast, and popular holidays like Spring Break (and Memorial Day, Labor Day, July 4th etc.) just compound the problem tenfold. If you’re a smaller rig (van, B-Class, C-Class) you can fit just about anywhere and worst case, just sneak a spot to park for the night. It’s not really that big a deal. But when you’re 33,000 lbs of metal box like us there ain’t no “stealth camping” and you really DO need to find a legitimate spot to stay.
Planning ahead will work of course, but in high season on the CA coast many parks book up 6-months or more ahead and if you don’t want to or aren’t able to plan that far out (or say, you forget) you might be cr*p out of luck. Plus planning ALL your travels will end up driving you crazy over time. What if weather keeps you in a spot for a while, or other unexpected things crop up forcing you to delay and change your next 25 consecutive bookings? Trust me when I say you do NOT want to live this way.
Part of the joy of fulltime RV travel is flexibility (following the weather, moving when you don’t like a place etc.) so preserving that flexibility is really important for both your sanity and overall happiness. So how much planning is too much? And where’s the balance?
The Road Of The Partial Planner
We are partial planners and like to nail down summer & the bigger holidaysWe’ve lighthouse hosted all summer for 4 yearsThere are ALL kinds of RV planners (AND unplanners) out there, and as I’ve written on the blog before there is NO single right way to travel. We’re pretty picky in where we stay, but we also value our flexibility so I would label us partial planners. Our normal mode of operation is to wing it through the low seasons but plan for summer and around the bigger holidays. So, before the beginning of each year we try to establish our summer plans and then nail down and book that and the big holidays. It’s bit of a pain, but it reduces our travel stress and ensures we end up in places we truly enjoy.
And since we started RVing I have to admit we’ve gotten pretty darn good at this.
For the past 4 years we’ve actually volunteer hosted every summer (on the gorgeous, weather-perfect OR/WA coast) and then we’ve planned mostly out-of-the-way private parks for the rest of the major holidays. This means we haven’t had to stress about ANY of our summer bookings and we’ve managed to “hide out” through most the big holidays, leaving the popular public parks & spaces for vacationing families. It’s worked out really well.
Un-Planning The Spring Break Surprise
Sadly, we’d forgotten about Spring Break. The past few years we’ve been in the desert boonies around this time meaning we haven’t had to worry about the whole Spring Break madness. The holiday had honestly completely fallen off our radar. Plus Spring Break is a complicated because it’s not the same days every year, or even the same in every city. Is it the first two weeks in March? Or the last two? Or the whole month? A quick Google of “when is Spring Break” reveals it could be anywhere from around mid-Feb to end of March, depending on where you go, and it changes some from year to year. That’s a big span of time to plan around, RV-wise and makes it all the easier to mess up.
So, what do you do when you’ve committed to a spot (say, the CA coast) and you’ve completely forgotten about the big upcoming holiday? Well, there’s a couple of options:
Beaches are nice, but Spring Break might just be a good time to go somewhere elseAvoid Big “Spring Break” Locations – The most obvious answer is just to switch up your plans and avoid the popular Spring Break areas altogether. It doesn’t have to be a big change either. Sometimes just driving 20-30 miles will take you away from the madness and give you a ton more choice. Beach towns (in CA, FL, TX) are prime Spring Break locations, so if you get off the coast and go inland you’re waaaay more likely to get your choice of spots. Big party towns, like Vegas and New Orleans also top the Spring Break list so getting out of the big city and into a smaller town will open up your options too. Sometimes a small change is all it takes.
“walk in” (W) or first-come-first-serve camping is great for un-planners (or forgetful planners)Beat The Crowds In First-Come-First-Serve – If you don’t want to change your plans (for whatever reason) and you’re not able to book ahead your next best bet is to try and beat the crowds in a first-come-first-serve spot. Many of the CA State Parks (and the County Parks too) are “walk in only” this time of year which means they don’t take any reservations and sites are given out to folks only when they check in. So if you arrive before the first big tide of school holidays, you have a very decent chance of nabbing a spot. Then you just take advantage of the 14-day stay limit and “squat” your site until it’s all over. The key is to nail down the Spring Break dates for your particular area and then plan to arrive a few days beforehand. It’s not a guarantee, but it’ll give you a major leg up on the local influx.
Our three overnight spot finder subscriptionsPlan For 2nd And 3rd Back-Ups – When we travel through popular spots without reservations we always have back-up plans. We typically aim for a primary spot (the place we really want to stay) and then we plan 2 backup spots just in case. Of course if all the private parks in the area are full that reduces your options quite a bit, but there’s typically some kind of overnight spot that will let you park for the night, giving you a bit of respite to search again the next day. We’re not big RV club membership people but we nonetheless keep three different resources for overnight parking (Escapees Days End, Overnight RV Parking and Harvest Hosts) for exactly this purpose, and we usually reference all of them when we’re in serious backup mode.
Our “Beastly” Spring Break Escape
We’re in!And yeah, the beach is pretty darn nice!When we realized our Spring Break brain fart and started calling around, our first attempts were not encouraging. All the private parks in the area, after they were able to stop laughing, politely informed us they were completely booked out (even waiting lists were maxed!), so none of them would be an option. There’s well-known beach boondocking in Pismo, but it’s OHV-central (can you say crazy noisy?!) and we were just not willing to drive the “beast” onto sand. Nope, not gonna happen.
Our absolute best bet was the local State Park which is still first-come-first-serve at this time of year. Although officially a 36ft max campground we’d heard reports that we could potentially squeeze into some of the sites. So, we stacked up the odds in our favor by targeting to arrive in Pismo full two days before the start of the very first local Spring Break holiday. Our backups were going to be a couple of Elks Lodges and a few overnight spots.
And the results? We rolled in mid-week and managed to nab one of the very last sites that could fit us. Phew! We were in!!! And the campground, despite Pismo being a popular Spring Break destination was relatively peaceful the whole time we were here. I guess all the party animals were over in the OHV area? Either way it all worked out, at least this time around. And next time we forget a major holiday? Well, we’ll just do the same thing all over again.
Coming up next -> What we got up to in Pismo/SLO area and another scintilating campground review
I have a 60′ front driveway in Morro Bay with electric and water that you can use for up to three days. Pull through. I designed it for 2007 Diplomats. Just a 1/2 mile walk to the bay.
Hey Luke – Would you be open to renting that space every once in a while? I rent my trailer on RVPlusYou, delivered and set up at their destination campground. Most have reservations but some want Avila Beach. When I can’t get in there, I need a back up for them. Any interest?
BTW, just delivered the trailer to Pismo Coast Village. Yes, it’s a Spring Break zoo right now, but it’s mostly a young kid’s zoo. The adult zoo, where the real crazies will be, is at the dunes;-)
BTW, good post Nina. My wife and I are about 6 months away from dipping our toes in the full time water. Your map is what I visualized our route to be. Thanks for the confirmation.
I think you’re right. There were more families in the State Park campground than the 20-somethings and adult party folks. Of course we still heard some evening parties and smelled some “special” smoke coming from a few of the campsites, but overall it was relatively calm the park rangers did a good job of controlling the madness. We biked over to check out the OHV area and that was NUTS! Definitely the adult playground over there.
BTW, they normally charge you a $5 day-use fee to go out on the dunes, but if you’re camping at one of the other State parks in the area, they waive that day-use fee.
We did a similar oops last summer when we re-routed to the coast for the summer and had no reservations for July 4 as late as June 14! Did eventually find a spot in Brookings, OR, that worked out fine – but whew!! Spring Break started in the Southwest March 6 and goes as late as April 12 – geeeez! At least it’s not a particularly popular area for breakers.
I was in the Pismo Beach area last month on my way north to Oregon-had planned to go to a KOA but it was closed(after trying and failing to get my dates to show up on the calendar-I finally looked at the campgrounds website and realized the problem was me not the computer). I ended up at the Pacific Dunes Ranch RV Resort-it overlooks the beautiful dunes and I got great sunset pictures there including several of a horse and rider silhouetted against the sunset.
I love your articles on planning and have had to start doing more of it especially with the holidays. This is my first year on the road and as a solo traveler I am grateful for all the extra tips. I am going to plan a trip to Glacier,Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons for later this spring-guess I should start planning and making reservations now.
Sounds lovely. That particular campground wasn’t one of the ones we looked at, but it looks like a decent location and is priced about the same as other private parks in the area (~$50/night or so).
You are going to LOVE the Tetons & Yellowstone. In the Tetons, Gros Ventre Campground is first-come-first-serve so you can go there without reservations. For Yellowstone if you want to stay inside the National Park you definitely need reservations, but otherwise there is a first-come-first-serve Forest Service campground just outside of town on the West side of Yellowstone. I have reviews of BOTH of these spots in my blog posts from last fall.
Oh goodness… we always oops on this too. Forgetting the spring break season, summer holidays, etc. When I went to book some favorite campgrounds on our way into Florida this week (hoping for some beachfront spots)… all gone. So, we went inland and found what will hopefully be a great place to ride out Easter weekend.
Knowing how to find those first come first serve places, and what campgrounds keep some walk-in sites available is a key to success 🙂 As is having those backup plans. Great advice Nina, in fact, I think we gave a lot of similar tips in last night’s video chat.
I’m a plan a header, but it does get tiresome. I do accept the idea of loosing a few deposits if plans change. That has only happened a few times when something great came up. I guess it is time to start looking at Memorial Day and the Fourth of July week. With lower gas prices I think all the parks are going to be very full all summer. We are seeing it already. No problems getting a reservation a week or so ahead, but the parks look very full on weekends. Travel mid week does seem to help.
Yup I think that’s the case. Things were already heavily booked up in Canada when we started nailing down our summer plans a few months ago. With gas prices still as low as they are I think it’s going to be a big RV year.
Spring Break is a bear to miss being it goes on so long and different in so many places. Looks like you scored. I’ve screwed up the holiday stuff too many times.
We have the same issue in Florida during the winter, so its been interesting the past few months. Many northerners and Canadians spend the winter here so it is crowded. We find it hard to get into State Parks and some County parks because many places allow reservations up to 11 months in advance. But we’ve been able to find a mix of good spots all around this winter — it just took a little bit of flexibility and effort.
Winter in FL is definitely a challenge. We found that out our 1st year on the road and we’re already seeing it for this coming winter too. We never plan winters in the West since we end up boondocking most of the time, but out East it’s a requirement.
Being an Elk is a great fallback! We ended up squeezed out of North Beach SP @ Pismo on Thanksgiving and spent a week at the Oceano Elks. Worked out perfectly! 🙂
The Oceano Elks location is quite lovely. We biked over there to check it out from North Beach Campground. Nice and quiet there too, despite being so close to the OHV beach area.
We ran into this exact same problem during our first year of RVing in spring 2011. We were on the Texas coast, but got lucky and found a spot, then reserved the rest of the weeks ahead in the Florida Panhandle, again getting lucky and getting spots reserved.
However, you may feel disadvantaged with your “beast”, Nina. We have a 31-foot fifth-wheel trailer which requires about 60-70 feet of turn access to either back into a spot or to unhook as the truck and trailer have to be aligned to unhook. THAT’S why we prefer desert boondocking!
If you have a chance while in that area, check out a great playhouse called the Great American Melodrama in Oceano. We have visited that area a few times and try to hit this playhouse on our visits.
Glad you managed a save! We’ve never been totally unable to find something. We love being flexible and generally are. But there are certainly places that need months or even a year reservation ahead, like Florida! We even made our Maob reservation for this April when we left last April so we could have the same site for the whole month. But beyond mid May we have no reservations nor do we know where we are going!! Haha! We chose Bluff, Utah for Easter week/spring break. We figured there would be no crowds. Why lock yourself into a plan so far ahead. You never know what will come up that looks like a great place you didn’t know about.
I really enjoy your writeups, and will definitely be putting them to use when we retire and hit the road. For now, we get out whenever we can, and Pismo State Park North Beach is one of our favorites! We have a 42-foot class A and can squeeze into some of the sites there. And we live close by on the Central Coast, only a 40-minute drive to Pismo!
Yup, that’s what we found too. We’re 40-foot (officially), but actually measure about 41.6′ and we were able to squeeze into some of the sites in the North Beach State Park Campground. If you can get in, I think it’s a great place to stay.
So picturesque at Oceano Dunes! We drove the car on the beach! I saw a class A motor home along there that looked like they were having Fun,FUN, FUN. Later in the day I saw a class A motor home being winched out of the sand at the Oceano Dunes OHV area… looked like a nightmare! The sand’s moisture content changes quickly and soft spots are always forming, beware! We had to push the car out in a couple places too… Pacific Dunes RV Ranch is on the back side of the dunes. We stayed there. We took a nice long hike down to the beach and rented some ATV’s from Steve’s (recommended), we had a blast!!
Oh how we can all resonate with this post. I have just spent the last few months working out a 6 month north east coast trip. We’ve been told that we have to book everything as it’s a lot busier than the west coast. I can’t actually book anything yet because it all depends on what date immigrations stamps in our passports in 2 weeks when we come back into the US. There is one place that we only have one option to chose from, who are already half booked and when you book you have to pay a 50% non refundable or non transferrable deposit. Anything could go wrong in the 2 months before we get there. I love being able to stay or move when we want to or going to places that people recommend along the way, so this is really stressing me out.
I have to admit that’s part of the reason our travel map has a big gap in the NE. I know there are far less options for us up there and so we need far more detailed planning & booking. It’s tiring stuff!
SO agree with planning ahead for holidays and spring break which sometimes is a challenge. Even if we had been on this kind of planning routine, spring break is usually the one that we missed.
Fear not, we’re doing reservations for FL. Unlike the West that’s an area that really requires reservations for winter. We’ve already got most of Nov booked and are working on Dec and Jan right now.
[…] the New Year holiday! And today, another couple blogged about how they didn’t realize it was spring break time when they arrived in Pismo Beach, California (again not […]
This website uses cookies to improve your browsing experience Got It!
To find out more, or learn how to change your cookie settings, click here Read more
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Nice save!
I have a 60′ front driveway in Morro Bay with electric and water that you can use for up to three days. Pull through. I designed it for 2007 Diplomats. Just a 1/2 mile walk to the bay.
Hey Luke – Would you be open to renting that space every once in a while? I rent my trailer on RVPlusYou, delivered and set up at their destination campground. Most have reservations but some want Avila Beach. When I can’t get in there, I need a back up for them. Any interest?
No. It is limited to Quartzsite Monacoers.
Luke
Well wow! We’ve got our plans sorted for now, but I may keep your email handy for a future drive through. What an awesome offer!
Nina
Don’t forget people – Boondockerswelcome.com does the same kind of thing! (individuals offering overnight stays for various rigs/sizes)
It does indeed. We haven’t used the service, but know others who enjoy it.
Nina
Happy to hear you found a safe place to spend Spring Break.
We totally lucked out, and we ended up LOVING this campground too. Double luck out!
Nina
BTW, just delivered the trailer to Pismo Coast Village. Yes, it’s a Spring Break zoo right now, but it’s mostly a young kid’s zoo. The adult zoo, where the real crazies will be, is at the dunes;-)
BTW, good post Nina. My wife and I are about 6 months away from dipping our toes in the full time water. Your map is what I visualized our route to be. Thanks for the confirmation.
I think you’re right. There were more families in the State Park campground than the 20-somethings and adult party folks. Of course we still heard some evening parties and smelled some “special” smoke coming from a few of the campsites, but overall it was relatively calm the park rangers did a good job of controlling the madness. We biked over to check out the OHV area and that was NUTS! Definitely the adult playground over there.
Nina
BTW, they normally charge you a $5 day-use fee to go out on the dunes, but if you’re camping at one of the other State parks in the area, they waive that day-use fee.
We did a similar oops last summer when we re-routed to the coast for the summer and had no reservations for July 4 as late as June 14! Did eventually find a spot in Brookings, OR, that worked out fine – but whew!! Spring Break started in the Southwest March 6 and goes as late as April 12 – geeeez! At least it’s not a particularly popular area for breakers.
Wow…that’s a loooong Spring Break. Glad you guys weren’t caught out this time around.
Nina
Great (as usual) article.
What is meant by OHV and SB ?
Thx
Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) and State Beach (SB).
Nina
I was in the Pismo Beach area last month on my way north to Oregon-had planned to go to a KOA but it was closed(after trying and failing to get my dates to show up on the calendar-I finally looked at the campgrounds website and realized the problem was me not the computer). I ended up at the Pacific Dunes Ranch RV Resort-it overlooks the beautiful dunes and I got great sunset pictures there including several of a horse and rider silhouetted against the sunset.
I love your articles on planning and have had to start doing more of it especially with the holidays. This is my first year on the road and as a solo traveler I am grateful for all the extra tips. I am going to plan a trip to Glacier,Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons for later this spring-guess I should start planning and making reservations now.
Sounds lovely. That particular campground wasn’t one of the ones we looked at, but it looks like a decent location and is priced about the same as other private parks in the area (~$50/night or so).
You are going to LOVE the Tetons & Yellowstone. In the Tetons, Gros Ventre Campground is first-come-first-serve so you can go there without reservations. For Yellowstone if you want to stay inside the National Park you definitely need reservations, but otherwise there is a first-come-first-serve Forest Service campground just outside of town on the West side of Yellowstone. I have reviews of BOTH of these spots in my blog posts from last fall.
Nina
Oh goodness… we always oops on this too. Forgetting the spring break season, summer holidays, etc. When I went to book some favorite campgrounds on our way into Florida this week (hoping for some beachfront spots)… all gone. So, we went inland and found what will hopefully be a great place to ride out Easter weekend.
Knowing how to find those first come first serve places, and what campgrounds keep some walk-in sites available is a key to success 🙂 As is having those backup plans. Great advice Nina, in fact, I think we gave a lot of similar tips in last night’s video chat.
Great minds think alike. I’m off to watch your chat now!
Nina
If your still in the area go to the Elks in Santa Maria Friday night 5:30 for cook your own… Great place and awesome people…….. Plus a HUGE BAR……
Lee
CHEERS! We’re currently staying for a few days at the SLO Elks. Lovely bar here too (even a pool and hot tub!)
Nina
I’m a plan a header, but it does get tiresome. I do accept the idea of loosing a few deposits if plans change. That has only happened a few times when something great came up. I guess it is time to start looking at Memorial Day and the Fourth of July week. With lower gas prices I think all the parks are going to be very full all summer. We are seeing it already. No problems getting a reservation a week or so ahead, but the parks look very full on weekends. Travel mid week does seem to help.
Yup I think that’s the case. Things were already heavily booked up in Canada when we started nailing down our summer plans a few months ago. With gas prices still as low as they are I think it’s going to be a big RV year.
Nina
Spring Break is a bear to miss being it goes on so long and different in so many places. Looks like you scored. I’ve screwed up the holiday stuff too many times.
We have the same issue in Florida during the winter, so its been interesting the past few months. Many northerners and Canadians spend the winter here so it is crowded. We find it hard to get into State Parks and some County parks because many places allow reservations up to 11 months in advance. But we’ve been able to find a mix of good spots all around this winter — it just took a little bit of flexibility and effort.
Winter in FL is definitely a challenge. We found that out our 1st year on the road and we’re already seeing it for this coming winter too. We never plan winters in the West since we end up boondocking most of the time, but out East it’s a requirement.
Nina
Being an Elk is a great fallback! We ended up squeezed out of North Beach SP @ Pismo on Thanksgiving and spent a week at the Oceano Elks. Worked out perfectly! 🙂
The Oceano Elks location is quite lovely. We biked over there to check it out from North Beach Campground. Nice and quiet there too, despite being so close to the OHV beach area.
Nina
We ran into this exact same problem during our first year of RVing in spring 2011. We were on the Texas coast, but got lucky and found a spot, then reserved the rest of the weeks ahead in the Florida Panhandle, again getting lucky and getting spots reserved.
However, you may feel disadvantaged with your “beast”, Nina. We have a 31-foot fifth-wheel trailer which requires about 60-70 feet of turn access to either back into a spot or to unhook as the truck and trailer have to be aligned to unhook. THAT’S why we prefer desert boondocking!
No doubt boondocking is easier, especially in the desert. We do love boondocking in winter.
Nina
If you have a chance while in that area, check out a great playhouse called the Great American Melodrama in Oceano. We have visited that area a few times and try to hit this playhouse on our visits.
Nice tip! Thank you!
Nina
Glad you managed a save! We’ve never been totally unable to find something. We love being flexible and generally are. But there are certainly places that need months or even a year reservation ahead, like Florida! We even made our Maob reservation for this April when we left last April so we could have the same site for the whole month. But beyond mid May we have no reservations nor do we know where we are going!! Haha! We chose Bluff, Utah for Easter week/spring break. We figured there would be no crowds. Why lock yourself into a plan so far ahead. You never know what will come up that looks like a great place you didn’t know about.
Bluff should be perfect. We were around that area for Easter a few years ago. It’s nice and remote.
Nina
Following Ms Autumn north to south is one of my favorite things. 🙂
Box Canyon Mark… ridin’ out the wind in Moab 🙁
I really enjoy your writeups, and will definitely be putting them to use when we retire and hit the road. For now, we get out whenever we can, and Pismo State Park North Beach is one of our favorites! We have a 42-foot class A and can squeeze into some of the sites there. And we live close by on the Central Coast, only a 40-minute drive to Pismo!
Yup, that’s what we found too. We’re 40-foot (officially), but actually measure about 41.6′ and we were able to squeeze into some of the sites in the North Beach State Park Campground. If you can get in, I think it’s a great place to stay.
Nina
So picturesque at Oceano Dunes! We drove the car on the beach! I saw a class A motor home along there that looked like they were having Fun,FUN, FUN. Later in the day I saw a class A motor home being winched out of the sand at the Oceano Dunes OHV area… looked like a nightmare! The sand’s moisture content changes quickly and soft spots are always forming, beware! We had to push the car out in a couple places too… Pacific Dunes RV Ranch is on the back side of the dunes. We stayed there. We took a nice long hike down to the beach and rented some ATV’s from Steve’s (recommended), we had a blast!!
Oh how we can all resonate with this post. I have just spent the last few months working out a 6 month north east coast trip. We’ve been told that we have to book everything as it’s a lot busier than the west coast. I can’t actually book anything yet because it all depends on what date immigrations stamps in our passports in 2 weeks when we come back into the US. There is one place that we only have one option to chose from, who are already half booked and when you book you have to pay a 50% non refundable or non transferrable deposit. Anything could go wrong in the 2 months before we get there. I love being able to stay or move when we want to or going to places that people recommend along the way, so this is really stressing me out.
I have to admit that’s part of the reason our travel map has a big gap in the NE. I know there are far less options for us up there and so we need far more detailed planning & booking. It’s tiring stuff!
Nina
SO agree with planning ahead for holidays and spring break which sometimes is a challenge. Even if we had been on this kind of planning routine, spring break is usually the one that we missed.
I noticed your map that indicates Florida as your destination for Winter. Florida in the winter without solid reservations is really adventuresome.
Fear not, we’re doing reservations for FL. Unlike the West that’s an area that really requires reservations for winter. We’ve already got most of Nov booked and are working on Dec and Jan right now.
Nina
We always have a backup plan in case our first choice non-reservable site is full! Never fun to turn back home or find a place when it’s dark out!