Leo Carrillo State Park Campground

I enjoyed a week here camping and working from my trailer. Verizon and ATT were nonexistent at my trailer, but Verizon worked at the beach and once back on 1. Starlink worked great from the trailer though! The sites are large with lots of trees for privacy. Some sites had more privacy than others though. Some were pull through if you don’t want to unhitch for the night too. There is easy access to the beach, to tide pools and I even saw a sea lion. The beach has plenty of sand for laying out, but also has huge beautiful rock formations and cliffs. The park has a great store in the center to get alcohol and quite a lot of other camp supplies. Showers are by tokens and are clean. There is a dog friendly beach you can walk to and trails not far to drive to that allow dogs on leash. The park itself does not allow dogs at their beach or trails, but they’re fine around the campground. I also drove into Malibu a few times and even LA for a day. I really liked the laid-back, old school feel of this park more than the night I stayed at Crystal Cove.

The campground is surrounded by beautiful mountains and the beach is across the street. However, the original trail to the beach is damaged and inaccessible unless you feel comfortable walking through rough terrain. We have a 25’ motorhome and barely fit in the site that I booked online that is listed as 31’. Most of the sites look very similar in size which is smaller than the online description. The park is also overgrown a bit with low hanging trees. The showers are typical for California state parks in that the shower facilities are token operated. The token machine was broken at the time of our stay but the camp host supplied them for the fee. The camp store is great for basics. We stayed 3 nights. We had no cell service at all but our Starlink worked amazingly well even with the tree coverage.

Leo Carrillo SB, Canyon Campground is very nice, with a lot of mature Coast Live Oaks and Sycamore trees to provide great shade. I posted a photo of our rig in site 81. Almost all of the sites have a pad about 16’ wide by 24’ long. They are all 90 degrees to the road which is lined with boulders in most places. It’s a little tricky to back a trailer into the spots. Our trailer is 26’ hitch to bumper so we fit okay but our truck wasn’t completely off the road when parallel parked in front. Park staff seems quite flexible as long as you are close. Many people with bigger rigs had their tires beyond the parking blocks at the back of the pad. There is no way to fit otherwise if you are over about 30’. Some sites, mostly on the eastern most road had power hookups. None of the sites have water or sewer. The dump station was closed (4/5/2024) due to the flooding this winter. Most of the water spigots are not threaded, but a few are. So you can fill your tanks if you hunt a little. There is no dedicated place to fill your water tanks with the dump station closed and blocked off. You are allowed to use the dump at the Sycamore Campground about 5 miles west of Leo Carrillo SP. Overall this is a nice state beach campground with a really nice staff. They don’t seem to enforce the rules much here which is good and bad. The huge shade trees all over and creek running along the western side of the campground were very nice. There is a little store in the center of the campground with necessities and snacks. It was a major gathering place in the mornings for coffee and the afternoons for treats. With Verizon, you are right on the edge of connectivity. I could make a phone call but there was little to no data connectivity throughout the park. But if you walk to the entrance you could get enough of a signal to browse or text with photos. Beach access takes a little hiking since the road and paths under PCH were flooded and full of dirt and rock. But not a big deal for anyone comfortable walking over river rocks and dirt paths.

We had a great time camping at Leo Carrillo State Park Campground. The campground is conveniently located close to Los Angeles and the ocean. Although it was affected by recent storms, the beach is still accessible, albeit through a rocky path from the campground. This turned out to be quite an enjoyable experience. The campground is dog-friendly and the staff is visible and attentive. The bathrooms are cleaned daily, and the campground store is well-stocked with snacks, ice cream, bread, and other essentials. They also sell firewood for around $10, including tax. At night, you can fall asleep to the soothing sounds of frogs from the nearby river, and wake up to the chirping of birds in the morning. The campground's atmosphere reminds me of the 100-acre woods in Winnie the Pooh, with its big trees perfect for climbing, hanging a hammock, or just swinging. The camp lots are very generous. Some are along the river that flows through to the ocean. The others face the beautiful mountains. It is gorgeous. Although I could see my neighbors, we had the privacy we needed. There are multiple access points to water for washing dishes or clothes. And access to electricity at at least 50 lots. There are also accessible nature trails to explore. Cell service is available near the entrance, but if you're staying past the store, you'll be unplugged for the duration of your stay. This could be a good thing! Cold showers are free but if you want hot water, use the token machine. It's basically one dollar for two tokens and each token is a 2-minute hot shower. It takes a while for the hot water to arrive. The machine also takes 5s and maybe 10 dollar bills. We definitely will visit again. :)

Love this campground! It has everything you need. It is only a short walk (or drive) to private dog-friendly beach. There are also trails leading out of the campground up the back-side into the canyon. Foliage between sites for some privacy. It has a general store, decent showers, and a dump station. Even though it is only a short drive south to Malibu or north to Pt. Hueneme and Oxnard, it feels very remote. Highly recommend!

My site 112 was listed as a "pull through" but it's really just a wide spot on the road and my 22' vintage Airstream barely fit with my vehicle. I think this site and others like it would be better for Tent camping because the majority of the site is up the hill from where you park and there was a flat spot for a tent under a cool looking tree where you would feel like your in the woods. It's an awesome beach, especially if you surf and/or do wind sports. The hiking trail from the campground is beautiful with views. Nice to have the store on site as there isn't much else near by. I was working so I needed a signal. It's was crazy cause there for 3-4 bars in the day use lot, that disappear after a few steps into the CG. The showers take "tokens" which was kind of a pain...taking quarters is enough of a hassle. All in all, I had a magical stay and will be back. The staff were very friendly and helpful.

This is a busy campground near Malibu that’s right across from the beach. The spaces are nicely spaced but the pads are small. My rv Is 25 feet and I had to hang the end over the curb. Not sure how they let larger rvs in here but the kids running the kiosk did not seem to care. There is no cell service unless you walk down towards the entrance. Lots of liter around the campground and the views are trees and brown Southern California style hills which are not that great. But the beach is really nice and to the north it’s dog friendly so that’s a plus. … nice little store if you forgot anything.

This is a tight campground. You'll want to pay close attention to the pad size when selecting a site. Don't assume you can squeeze in an extra couple of feet. Odds are you can't. They seem to be measuring distances from the axle to the hitch so you'll need to back in with your rear over the cement curbs. On the positive side, the parking pads are double-wides so you may be able to squeeze in an additional vehicle. If you can't, there is overflow parking easily accessible near the entry kiosk. Our site, 103, was large and private (despite the short parking pad). That did not appear to be the case for many other sites. The park makes up for these deficiencies by being a very short walk from multiple lovely beaches. The main beach closest to the campground gets crowded and has a litter problem. However to the northwest are a few secluded beaches and the very large dog beach which are worth the extra five minute walk. There is also a nice loop trail that begins near the entrance kiosk and heads up the mountainside to a great overlook.

If you have a larger rig I would recommend scoping out the dump station before pulling into it. It's a tight loop but I did see large rigs make it through unscathed.

We stayed here in August 2020 with our puppy at site 128, which is about a 5 minute walk to the beach and a 10-15 minute walk north to the dog beach. You're camped in a canyon without highway noise, unlike many other beach campgrounds in Southern California that are basically parking lots next to PCH. The spots near 128 are small, very tight or too small for a 25'+ trailer or motorhome; we stayed in a rooftop tent on our pickup truck. We reserved for Summer 2021 in the sites further inland (Site 64), which appear much larger and shaded with big trees. I've stayed at several state park beach campgrounds, and this is my favorite (or at least a close tie to South Carlsbad State Beach). Very nice campground to walk around, and the camp store has tons of necessities like coffee and other things you might forget to bring with you. The reason we chose to go here again is because there is a dog friendly beach within walking distance, something that is pretty rare among state beaches. Cell service is very spotty in the campground itself, but if you walk to the main parking lot or near the entrance to the campground it is full 4G high speed internet on cellular (T-Mobile and Verizon).

We wanted a beach that our dog could enjoy with us. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon, beach very crowded, Monday morning, blissfully deserted and easy walk from campground although North beach area (for leashed dogs) can be challenging to access. Site 139 close to bathrooms but not too close, it was a bit challenging to back in our 16 foot Bambi but we just managed it. Sites are roomy and some with electric hook ups but still not much privacy. Bone dry for our visit, dusty and be careful with storing food due to aggressive squirrels and ANTS. Lots of kids on bikes, scooters make the place bustling, wouldn't say it's peaceful and or particularly scenic due to heavy use but its ok. This wave of campers mostly good neighbors, lots of tents and RV's, surfers, families, rules to keep pets on leashes and on leads in the sites mostly observed, one woman told us her dogs were attacked by a dog not properly restrained. Very important to come prepared to properly restrain your dogs given the volume of people and pets to keep everyone safe. At night quiet hours observed. Covid precautions? Mask requirement posted, many wore masks, some did not. Limiting numbers of campers at the sites, not so much. Read prior review that said rangers will help in extending your stay, but the rangers we asked weren't super helpful even though plenty of empty spaces, said we could only extend our spot, which was booked, but would not offer to book us into another available site. On a Monday? No cell service for AT&T, not the place to work remotely. Would camp here again in a pinch, best for groups or family beach experience.