SoCal Camping ideas? LA beaches north to san fran? help

will be taking a road trip from colorado>lake tahoe>la>big sur>san fran>tahoe>colorado in 2 1/2 weeks and looking for a place to stay by the beaches saturday the 4th...

i have a place to stay in l.a. for friday night, then saturday i was going to take my lady to the beaches and cruise up and down the coast near l.a./venice/santa monica then end up in big sur sunday (i have camping reserved up there for sunday night)

so i'm looking to find a place to setup camp for that saturday night before heading up the PCH on sunday morning..

anyone have a camping location or general direction that they could share?

it'll be one vehicle and a tent so the spots don't have to be big...we'll be road trippin' in my fiance's murano, so accessibility is not as great as i'd have with the tacoma, but can still get to some spots in the mountains if there's any good spots just north of the city...

also looking for suggestions around the san fran area for when we explore that area as well....we'll be heading up from big sur to san fran monday-wednesday...

thanks for any suggestions! can't wait to get out there!!

 

Pismo Beach

http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=1207

 

Pismo would be sweet in the Taco, but I wouldn't take a Nissan Murano loaded with people and cargo onto the sand.

No where really to camp along the beach in LA...closest beach camping to the south is Bolsa Chica State Beach, and then probably north of Malibu.

If you want to stay somewhere between LA and Big Sur, my suggestions in order of preference would be:

Lake Cachuma (near Santa Barbara)
El Capitan State Beach (near Goleta)
Refugio State Beach (near Lompoc)
San Simeon State Park (near Cambria)
Montana de Oro State Park (near San Luis Obispo)

All are great sites that are easily accessible and right along your route (assuming you're taking the 101 North, to 154 North (san marcos pass), to the 101 North again and to Hwy 1 (PCH) to Big Sur.

Have fun! That is considered one of the, if not THE most beautiful and scenic drives in the world.

Oh and if you have time/never been, I HIGHLY suggest you head south on the 395 from Lake Tahoe through Tioga Pass into Yosemite Natl Park and then to Fresno>LA. I have been there over 20 times, but it still takes my breath away each time I visit. Easily the amazing place I've ever been.

 

Jalama beach north of Santa Barbara a bit? Place is badass! An estuary river mouth with a tresel train bridge, full store/grill. Also a great spot o surf at south end called tarantulas, just watch out or the locals in gray suits.....mean mother fers!

 

thanks for the suggestions guys!

a murano on the beach at pismo also has me worried...if my gas mileage wasn't so shitty compared to her truck i'd be taking the tacoma out there, but that would nearly double the gas funds..

added Tioga Pass to the itinerary!

checking out those camping spots you guys recommended...

if i show up to cachuma lake or jalama beach on a saturday do you think there will be campsites open? it says they're on a first come first serve basis but they have 400 sites at cachuma and 98 at jalama

el capitan, refugio are booked for that night..

the other two are getting too far north...we'll be hitting up the beaches for the day saturday and would still need to drive to camp that evening/night..

some amazing state parks you guys have out there though..the more i look at them, the more points of interest i add to my trip haha

so much to do, so little time...

really the only place we have to be along the way from long beach to san fran is at plaskett creek on sunday night...the rest so far is up in the air..

i've already extended this trip by 1.5 days for added points of interest

 

Take pictures

 

sure will...just got a new lens for my camera to help with landscapes and will have 32 gb of cards to fill