Two Harbors Campground

Two Harbors Campground

Catalina Island, Ca.

October 20, 2012

We decided to go to Two Harbors camping for my birthday because, why not, it's Catalina Island, and secondly because you get a free boat ride over and back. We have been to Avalon but never to Two Harbors and now that we have been here, Never again to Avalon! I LOVE TWO HARBORS! I did a lot of googling for this place, and really didn't come up with much with the exception of a few photos and whatever their website had to say, which wasn't very helpful, in all reality. 

Here is what you NEED to do to camp at Two Harbors.

1. Check their website (HERE) as well as The Catalina Express (HERE) website simultaneously to make sure both are available. Reserve now.
2.  Pack what you can, each passenger is allowed 2 pieces of luggage, no larger than 37x23x23 and weighing no more than 50 pounds each, to be stowed in the luggage compartment. You also get a carry-on, however the time of year we went, we could have brought LOTS more. We had a wheeled cooler (loaded our beer directly from a cold fridge and our food in a small insulated bag with small ice packs, so no ice weight, we bought it there), a large tupperware container, two large backpacks and two carry-on day packs. I strapped the tupperware to the cooler which they rolled onto the rear deck of the boat. They put the backpacks down below, very easy.
3. When you get there, roll your cooler off of the boat and wait for them to bring up your backpacks (or whatever you brought). Walk to the head of the pier to the visitor center and wait in line if there is one. They will check you in, give you your camping/hiking permit and send you to the truck just to the right of the bldg. as you face the pier. Leave your luggage by the truck, but DON'T load it yourself, one guy got an ass chewin' by the driver. They will take your luggage to the camp and drop it very near your site. If you reserved wood, charcoal, tents or anything else, they will bring these later. I asked him if I had time to get ice for the cooler before he left, so I ran to the store, bought the ice and charcoal, returned to the truck and loaded it up before he left which save us having to carry it.
4. Go to the Bar/Restaurant and have a drink and/or something to eat. Despite the descent reviews, the daytime "restaurant" ain't that great, in my opinion, but I have had worse. Next we bought any remaining items from the store and walked to the trail to the camp.

The Campground:

  The real only downfall of this place would be the porta-pottis, but in my job I have to use these daily. Let me say that despite all the reviews that state how bad these are, they are the cleanest of these types that I have used. Granted no one likes to use them, but I was impressed.

    Each campsite has a table, sunshade, raised charcoal grill and a fire pit. The sunshade doesn't completely shade you, but the few sites that were missing them looked lacking. It did get a little misty here our first night and the table got a little wet, so the next night I attached a tarp under the sunshade with some cord which at least kept the table dry from falling rain, if you can rig it up, see picture below. I can't say which sites are the best only staying here once, but I can say that all sites rule and only a couple lack a view. Some reviews say that the tent cabins are anything but desirable, but I would stay in them anytime if they were cheaper. They were clean as far as a tent can be, these would be advantageous especially when the weather gets worse, however I think that they don't rent them during the winter.  

   Like any other campground, this one empties out on Sunday morning at 11 AM, and at $9 a tiny bundle, firewood is at a premium! One quick walk around this place we picked up about 4 bundles worth of new wood and several logs that were started the night before and quickly put out. Lots of free wood for our Sunday night AND a $2 fire-starter. 

The Wildlife:

Beware of these GIANT ravens!! You can actually hear the wind that their huge wings make all night long, "FOO, FOO, FOO", an unforgettable sound. When we came back from our hike that day the fire-starter was gone! After further investigation, I found that something had removed the wrapper and started to eat the mini-duraflame, had to be a crow. WATCH YOUR FOOD! These monsters are FAST, HUGE and RELENTLESS! All day AND night we saw deer running wild, you could actually throw a rock and have LOADS of venison jerky! Our last night we heard a bizarre squeaky sound, turned out to be a baby deer calling for the mama, such a sad sound. Apparently there is a real problem with raccoons, they shouldn't be here! There are loads of posters with a hotline number if you see one (I wonder if they actually return your calls on this VoiceMail??)

My Suggestions of what to bring:

1. A tablecloth and cord to tie it down.
2. A tarp and cord to weatherproof your sunshade
3. Camp chairs.
4. Your own TP!
5. Ice chest.
6. Cell phone charging apparatus.

Pros:

• Great views from most campsites
• Ease of travel and luggage transfer
• Clean, spacious and awesome sites!
• Water spigots every few sites
• Great wildlife sightings

Cons:

• No flushing toilets
• Loud partiers at night
• Expensive supplies

5 Star AT&T 3G Coverage Everywhere! (Almost)

	Spot 29 [Map]		Dinner! [Map]
	Bathrooms near spot 29 [Map]		Deer [Map]
	Ranger view [Map]		"Comfort" Station [Map]
	From the top of the campground [Map]		On the upper road [Map]
	The sign [Map]		Ranger station [Map]
	Shower [Map]		The trail above, higher and steeper than it looks [Map]
	At the bottom [Map]		Front 3 spots [Map]
	Sink, shower and toilets at the bottom [Map]		30, 31, 32 & 33 [Map]
	Tarp [Map]		Scavenged wood [Map]
	About $36 worth of wood, scavenged [Map]		Steep trail [Map]
	Fork in the trail [Map]		The town [Map]
	Beach area [Map]		Restaurant menu [Map]
	Pier, express and camping check-in [Map]		8 bucks a gallon! [Map]
	The other harbor [Map]		Didn't see any, but saw lots of buffalo prints [Map]
	From the trail [Map]		Spot 29 approaching twilight [Map]
	Dinner view [Map]		Trail and campground from the boat [Map]

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Fernwood Resort, Big Sur

  Saturday, August 11, 2012
    
Fernwood Resort is located 30 miles south of Carmel on Highway 1 in Big Sur. From San Francisco they're about 150 miles and from Los Angeles (Canoga Park) they are exactly 270 miles according to my odometer, about 6 hours taking the 1 from San Luis Obispo. It is inland, so no beach or ocean views but there is a creek that runs down the middle of this campground complete with crawdads and an inner-tube chute. They have 13 tent cabins (inside), 16 tent sites, 30 sites with water and electricity (15 & 30 amp), 3 adventure tents, and 6 cabins, complete with kitchens, bathrooms and showers, which is nice because there are only 3 mens toilets for this ENTIRE campground, ridiculous! There are also 12 motel rooms, some with a hot tub, a restaurant, general store, camping supply store (complete with guitars) and a bar.

  We camped in a tent with family and friends in sites 17, 18 & 19 which all had water and electricity hook-ups and all were along the creek. The weather is perfect in August, pretty warm during the day, and it cools down at night just enough to sleep well. We saw raccoon footprints in the morning, but never did see or hear them. Be careful with your belongings, because the birds here are very brave, if you turn your back they will take your stuff right off the table, or even go through your trash. You can hear traffic from the road above, but not bad, however noise generated in the campground bounces all around and can get a little loud. This campground is very dusty during summer months, especially when a vehicle whizzes by. Everything had a nice coating of dust by the time we left. All sites have a table and a nice low fire pit, how they should be. Near RV sites 12 & 13, there is a pretty nice beach to hang out in or near the water.

   There is a restroom/shower on either side of the creek, but they are both always full and not very well kept. There were several articles of clothing draped over the stall and on the floor the entire weekend. Be prepared to wait in line. The showers on our side of the creek work on quarters and are single rooms, but the showers across the bridge are free, and are all in the same room with curtains. There is a dishwashing station complete with dish-drainer at the bath house across the bridge as well as a volleyball court. This is where their dump station is, but they charge $20 per dump. They claim that this only covers their cost to have it pumped out since they can't have a septic system due to the close proximity to the creek, makes sense.

   There is a trailhead near cabin 28, we followed it for a mile or two and it is a very nice walk but watch out for poison oak, lots of it but you can get around it .......mostly. There are tons of intersecting trails back here, some of which we had to turn back because the P.O. completely engulfed the trail. There is a hike-in campground a mile or so south of Fernwood right off of this trail, a nice place for a pit-stop. We saw LOTS of birds back here and I caught a glimpse of something that resembled a mongoose running along a fallen tree, and almost stepped on a small garter snake, but no harm done. We returned on a different trail that passed cabin 31"Waterfall" which was very secluded and looked to be the best cabin here.

   Later that night we walked up the stairs to the bar to watch the band and have a drink , but we couldn't hear them until we got to the backdoor of the bar, completely quiet in the campground, nice! They have decent priced drinks and the music was very good. The grocery store has all the camping food you need to survive on, somewhat overpriced but that is to be expected at any camp store. They even had (Frozen in the tube) ground beef, bacon, eggs, hot dogs, cheeses, etc. They sell beer (Very expensive) and a pretty good selection of wine, which they claim to sell at their cost. The camp store at the south end of the bldg. is small but packed full of anything and everything you need to camp, including several acoustic and electric guitars, and you can't camp without electric basses and bicycle tires, can you? I can't comment on the restaurant, motel, cabins or tent cabins because we didn't use any of them, but you can read all about 'em on Yelp.

Overall, we had a great time, I recommend staying here, just wish they had more facilities. They say it is a great winter camping experience due to more moisture, higher water level in the creek and the smell of the redwoods, so we may do that.


Rates:
$50.00 - Camp site w/ electric (2 people, 1 vehicle)
$5.00/extra person
$5.00 pets
$5.00/extra car

$45.00 Tent site (2 people, 1 vehicle)
$5.00/extra person
$5.00 pets
$5.00/extra car

Cabin Rates:
$195.00 for two people
$10.00/extra person - 6 person maximum per cabin
Check In: 3:00 PM
Check Out: 11:00 AM

Tent Cabin Rates:

$75.00 for 2 people, 1 vehicle
$10.00 per person for extra people. 4 person maximum.

Pros:

• Soothing sounds from the creek to fall asleep to
• Beautiful setting
• Convenient stores, restaurant and bar
• Wi-fi at the store
• Hiking trails
• Great workout climbing the stairs

Cons:

• Lack of facilities and not well kept
• Very dusty in the summer

**Not so good, but usable AT&T cell coverage.**

	Sign [Map]		Sign [Map]
	Resort [Map]		Camp store [Map]
	Grocery store [Map]		Grocery store [Map]
	Stairs down from store [Map]		The office [Map]
	Tent cabins [Map]		Behind the tent cabins [Map]
	Restrooms [Map]		View from my tent [Map]
	Creek view [Map]		Cookin' area [Map]
	Under bridge [Map]		Under bridge [Map]
	Tube chute [Map]		Cabin with stage [Map]
	Trailhead [Map]		$20 dump station [Map]
	Dump [Map]		Dishwashing station [Map]
	Spot 63, across the bridge [Map]		Friends [Map]
	My site from across creek [Map]		Innertube chute [Map]
	Spot 50 across the bridge [Map]		Tent sites [Map]
	Volleyball court [Map]		Spot 19 [Map]
	Trail [Map]		Wildlife [Map]
	Cabin 31, waterfall [Map]		Restroom [Map]
	The one and only toilet [Map]		Shower [Map]
	The bar [Map]		Restaurant/Stage [Map]