Saturday, August 11, 2012Fernwood 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] |
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