Pacific Dunes Ranch RV Resort

This is our 4^th stay here and we normally stay for two weeks at a time. Each time we have stayed, we have noticed that it gets trashier than the last. Too many full time residents that the feel is a trailer park. They are not made to follow the rules, as we are given at check in. The one that stood out to me the most was the RV at the end of the main road, with the 2 corvettes. They are permanent residents and let their medium sized, white dog with black and brown spots, run wild to poop and pee wherever it wishes. I called the office to inform them and a male did come out about 10 minutes later but the dog was gone by then. It is impossible that they don’t know who’s dog that is, it’s been here for years. Also same residents race in and out at a high rate of speed with radio blasting. There are no organized games, no mini golf, no pool or jacuzzi. There is nothing to do in the «campground.» I decided to use the shower without checking it out first. That was a mistake. There are plumbing problems that haven’t been dealt with, hence the signs that limit your toilet paper use. Toilets will overflow if you don’t use only a specific amount. The shower was disgusting. Dirty is putting it lightly. There is a shower room, half is for dressing in and the other half is the actual shower. The dressing half had dirt, sand, rocks, hair and even a cigarette butt on the wet floor. After showing, you must step out of the shower with clean, bare feet onto this disgusting floor. While showering, the water kept going freezing cold to burning hot about every 30 seconds. Lastly, people off the streets (non residents/​non campers) are allowed to just drive in for free, and use guest parking to access the beach. Due to this, there are people that are entering and exiting at all hours of the day and night with their dogs, that are off leash and allowed to poop and pee freely. They also use the restrooms as if they are public restrooms. The feel is more of a state campground than a private campground. I would not recommend this place, save your money and find somewhere else to stay.

We planned to stay at the state camp ground but it was full when we arrived. So it was late when we finally arrived here (about 8pm). Office was closed but map on window showed the open spots. We picked a pull through spot near the entrance to the dunes. Very easy to get into even in the dark. The dunes were amazing. Kids loved sliding down them and running back up. Staff seemed nice. It was very quiet. The sewer hook ups and electric were great no problems.
There are a lot of full timers here. Gravel and pavement everywhere almost no plants or tees. The trees that are there are palm trees so no shade. You can have camp fires but you have to bring your own fire pit (we didn’t have a pit so no fire for us). Ended up costing us $ 120 for the two nights we stayed. Which seemed steep for the amenities they have.
Overall good trip. We might stay here again if the state campground is full. But it is expensive and not very pretty.

We used to come here all the time 10 years ago and this was a great place to camp and have a great time with your family. We made reservations in November for my husbands 40^th birthday. We wanted a spot with dune access for the kids. We were put in a pull through quite away from the dune entrance and were told we were lucky to get our spot cause they were full. What they didn’t tell us is that they had become a live in trailer park. The residents are rude and make it a point to talk about any wrong doing that they felt you did in front of you to other residents. They could have the balls to say it to your face. On Saturday we were told to be quiet by a resident at 8:30 because his wife was really sick. Yet earlier she was completely fine while walking her dogs. If you plan on being quiet at all hours and don’t want to have any fun then by all means make a reservation. Otherwise stay away! The residents are rude and the price isn’t worth it. This place deserves a negative 5 stars!!!

We are coast to coast and RPI members and in this area this is the only park that is a coast to coast or RPI so we stayed here and if you camp as much as we do and you aren’t a member of one of these you are paying way too much for campsites. We had to do one week coast to coast and the second week RPI but that was fine and like most resort towns they don’t honor those rates during peak season and we came when it wasn’t.
We actually found this place to be off the beaten path and nice because it backs right up against the famous Pismo Dunes which our dogs found extremely fun to run off leash and have a hay day!
The sites were gravel and level with full hook ups no cable and you had to pay for wifi. There are quite a few full time tenants but it wasn’t that creepy looking park with those kind of rigs. The lady that runs the place was very friendly and she was right on the folks that decided to blast their music till way past midnight. They do have restrooms with showers and laundry facilities that my husband took a peek in and said looked clean, but we have no need to use.
We already have a reservation to return because you can hear the ocean right from your site and that is a plus!

We stayed a total of 14 hours. The last 10 minutes were very strange…
We pulled in at 7:30pm Friday night. The office was closed without specific instructions, so we drove around speaking to visitors and residents. Everyone agreed we should just park up at a spot and check-​in the next morning. This was also mentioned as an option on the office door. There were many open spots.
The next morning an angry man told us we had to leave immediately or he would call the police. We tried to explain that we would be happy to pay whatever the nightly rate was for our one-​night stay – but he wouldn’t even let us finish the sentence! He was extremely rude, started yelling about calling the police, if he ever saw this van again etc. etc. and quite literally chased us out of the park on his golf cart. Why treat us like fugitives? they didn’t just lose out on our future business, they lost out on our CURRENT business. What a weirdo!

Good facility and lots of spaces. Only stayed one night. Lots of full timers here which was fine. If we did it over again we would have camped right on the beach at the Oceano SVRA on the other side of the dunes. Overall this place provides us a nice pull through site. The sites are close together and also be careful not to miss your turn off in the park on the way to your space because turning around is a super chore.

I’m writing about the RV Park, not the Dunes, which are spectacular. The «Resort» is in grave need of attention. Everything from the property signage, to the laundry room equipment & restrooms are rusty, old & tired. The laundry rooms & upper area restrooms are filthy, and wreak of sewer. The fencing around the staircase to the dunes is falling over, there’s one fire pit, I guess for groups?
The interior & exterior group meeting area is outdated with junky old chairs, weeds & delapatepted benches, etc. The windows in the group meeting room were filthy, which our group took notice of because as the sun blared in during our dinner meeting there were no window coverings to cut the light.
They charge for WiFi.

So, let’s head up north during the week and hangout somewhere cooler than Los Angeles! Yay! Let’s check out the SLO area, Morro Bay, maybe Pismo? After searching through the few remaining «state» campground sites which run $ 45 a night with zero hookups, we decided on a private campground sitting right on the Pismo Beach dunes for just one dollar more. What could be better? I did notice that there were 19 spots still available — I wonder why? More on that later…
So, we book through reserveamerica like I do most state campgrounds and after-​the-​fact totally forgot about my 10% Good Sam discount which cannot be applied through this website. Oh well, what’s another $ 5 dollars? … oh yeah — a gallon of gas!
Anyway, we head up to the campground and check-​in. They have no reservation for us at all. I mentioned how I reserved the spot and they rolled their eyes knowing exactly the problem. Now, I don’t know who’s fault it is, but I really don’t care, I just want to camp. Anyway, after me showing proof that I did reserve and pay for a campsite here, they quickly sent me off to campsite «7» which was just a hundred feet from the office. We get in the care and couldn’t believe where we were about to stay for $ 50 a night. This had to be close to the crappiest site available. We *did* get out, walked the dogs around, tried to figure out how this was going to work and decided we needed to ask for another site. We walked up to the top of the hill and noticed that the view was fantastic here! There were plenty of open sites available (at least 19) and we came across one that we really liked.
We headed back down to the office and asked if we could move to 208 or 204. Reluctantly, they looked at their books and after a bit of hemming and hawing decided it was okay that we did that. It WAS Thursday for God’s sake and we were ONLY staying ONE night plus there had to be at least 20 open spots available when we left Friday. WTF people? Wouldn’t you want to put a new visitor in the best possible spot you have if it’s open? if I didn’t push (and I really didn’t push hard) they wouldn’t have done it. Now, I gotta give them credit, they DID give me the new site and I was happy. Unfortunately, they could nothing about the 10% discount that I should have received (my bad) for this site. I won’t hold that against them.
So, we try to level out (it’s all rocks, dirt and sand at this campground), plug in and settle down for the evening. Power worked fine, water flowed, the sewer was right in reach. The picnic table had little to be desired but it was functional. No fire pits. We located ourselves within 50 feet of the bathroom, where you’ll find Men & Women’s bathrooms each with a toilet and shower. Nothing fancy, but it was clean and they did have hot water, toilet paper, and paper towels.
From our location, we couldn’t see the water, but there were some real pretty dunes. Someone there said the ocean was a mile away — hard to believe but possible I guess. There was NO WAY I was going to walk a mile in these steep and loose sand dunes to get to the Pacific Ocean. I already knew what that looked like. This person also directed us to a parking lot nearby that we could drive to and have better access to the beach. We were only staying overnight, so we didn’t really have time for that anyway.
That all being said, this is an okay place to stay however if you compare it to what you get at our nearby state campgrounds, this place is a dream! All in all, I might stay there again but I wouldn’t bet on it either. The dunes are pretty! Cowabunga!

Located in the small beach community of Oceano, just south of Pismo Beach, this is a place of spectacular beauty. There are sweeping sand formations as far as the eye can see, a view of the ocean to the west, and the sound of the wind… transcendental.
Climbing those sand dunes, I felt like I was in another world. I just couldn’t believe this place existed, just minutes west of PCH, such an ethereal experience. So glad my friend shared this special place with me.
Then, I heard this sound…
It was the sound of ATVs and other vehicles tearing up the dunes in the distance and the shore below. I could not believe it. I felt tremendously sad inside. HOW could the state of California allow for this to happen? Don’t people know that such behavior destroys the habitat of creatures living in the area? And don’t they know that the oil and asbestos coming from these vehicles contribute to the pollution of the oceans?
Pacific Dunes is not part of the California State Parks. That other park where the vehicles are allowed to destroy the terrain, is part of the California State Parks. But why? Because it brings in MONEY. But I digress.
The Pacific Dunes RV Resort is an independent facility, and not part of the state parks system. As its title indicates, this is a place for RVs. But you don’t have to own an RV or even bring one to enjoy this place (personally, I’m opposed to RVs).
The lot for RVs is, thankfully, is at a distance from the dunes itself. It’s easy to immerse oneself in the dunes and forget the RV part is there.
I was told that this is a popular vacation spot for people from the rural parts of our state. And from what I was able to observe, people had pitched their RVs and pretty much just relaxed. People should not expect this to be Disneyland. It’s not meant to be. It is a place of rest and solitude. There are no swimming pools. I mean, why would you need one when there’s the ocean? Oh, that’s right. I forgot. There are those damn ATVs tearing up the beach. But there are the dunes. They are great for exercise and for being amazed.
Do be careful, as we were told that people let their dogs defecate on the dunes (disgusting – beyond ghetto). I didn’t see anything. (People, please pick up after your dogs). Oh, that’s another problem – dog poop that ends up in the ocean can give swimmers, especially surfers, serious problems. If you know what I mean.
I would give this place five stars (excellent work, God!), however, with the presence of the RVs and sounds of the ATVs in the distance, I’m giving it a four.

Off the beaten trail of Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Dunes is very easy to get to, even driving a 45-​foot motorhome with a tow vehicle. Coming from 101 Southbound, we took the Halcyon Exit, followed Halcyon street until it ends at PCH, right turn on PCH to 22^nd street (immediately past Pismo Sands RV Park). Left turn onto 22^nd. Then right turn onto Silver Spur Place. It is located right against the sand dunes, but not a close walk to the beach. You can get to the beach across the sand dunes, but it is a tiring and long walk. Nevertheless, the sand dunes are beautiful. The resort does not have a swimming pool nor does it have a playground for children. They are very dog-​friendly, even allowing larger breed dogs. When we were there, there was a Great Dane puppy (still huge!), as well as several small breed dogs. There was also a Rottweiler, who unfortunately got loose from his owner and was quite threatening to other dogs in the immediate area. His owner quickly retrieved him, but it was still a bit unnerving. There are several pet stations at which you can get plastic baggies for your pet’s ‘deposits’, however, look out for ‘deposits’ while walking in the sand dunes. People don’t pick up after ‘Fido” in the sand. There are no fire pits at the rv slots, so you have to bring your own if you want a campfire. The place is clean, neat and even offers horseback riding; kinda pricey though at $ 50/​hour. Kids can borrow sleds from the office for sliding down the dunes. It was quiet in the evenings and during the day, we were comfortable allowing our children (ages 8 and 11) to play at will. For us, there is not a lot to do at Pacific Dunes, we stayed there because it was the only place available when we made our reservations, but if you’re looking to just chill out for a few days, walk in the sand dunes and just enjoy, it’s really great for that.