Big Sur Camping - 2022 Trips

Having lived near the coast my whole life, I’m surprised I never went camping near Big Sur until recent years. With Highway 1 washing out in early 2023 due to heavy storms and mudslides, I can’t help but reflect on my two camping trips to Big Sur in 2022. This area remains a favorite of mine.

A few years before our first camping trip here, B and I managde to book a cabin out in Big Sur, but a torrential rain event flooded out the entire area. Every year following up to this year we could never secure a campground out there, and so we always filled our camping trips with national park trips, such as Yosemite and Lassen National Park.

Looks like 2022 was finally the year for Big Sur, because we actually managed to camped here twice this year!

The first trip was in April:

We snagged a small (the smallest, I think) secluded site at a very popular campground. It barely fits 2 small backpacking tents. To be honest, it probably only fits one small tent, if you plan to stake it down and use guylines and have some camping chairs.

It has a small view of the ocean, though a big portion of it is hidden behind the bushes.

For only 2 people and a dog, it was peaceful, and cozy! Of all campgrounds we’ve taken our dog to (must be over 15+ now), this was his favorite, and remains the one where he feels most relaxed at.

Plus, there was a nearby trail to the beach. The trail is pretty overgrown and full of poison oak, but if you wear long sleeves and pants, you’ll make it through just fine.

The beach is my dog’s happy place, so watching him run around, dodging the waves was a real highlight. Since the trail was overgrown and most folks didn’t want to trek through it, we had the entire beach to ourselves.

Catching the sunset from our campsite (I stood on the picnic table)

Bixby Bridge, from when Highway 1 was completely open:

September

This time, we invited along our two go-to camping friends. We managed to reserve a slightly bigger site this time (with a better view of the sunset) but it was pretty exposed and a little slanted.

We also found a different, much bigger beach a few miles away from our campsite. It was empty when we went, and it had free parking that day. I’m not sure if the low crowd level is the norm, or if it was less crowded because of the funky overcast weather (we went again this year and it was PACKED) — or maybe it was the insane amount of sand fleas that were present that day haha.

Our dog having the time of his life again:

Despite the overcast weather, it was pretty warm outside. After spending a couple hours in the hot sun, we had lunch at the picnic area by the parking lot before taking a much needed very relaxing nap on the lawn.

The pup was pretty pooped out after the beach, and continued to nap at the campsite later on when we started prepping for dinner:

Dinner

One of the best parts of the September trip was cooking home-marinated KBBQ over the campfire. B had prepared a plethora of different bbq meats, includ pork belly 3 different ways: garlic marinade, red wine marinade, and original (an homage to one of the first korean restaurants we went to together before we started dating).

Deliciousssss:

Instant rice has been such a great addition to our camping trips.

Nothing beats having korean bbq during golden hour with a view of the beach in perfect weather.

Unfortunately, B woke up feeling extremely under the weather on the last day (spoiler alert, it was covid) — we decided to cut our trip short and drive home early. While it was a disappointing end, it didn’t take away from the good times we had!

I’m looking forward to returning to Big Sur again soon — hopefully with fewer bugs and no health issues!