Ponderosa Campground in CA -- Campground & RV Camping in California
Ponderosa Campground in CA
U.S. Forest Service allows overnight stays only at the designated sites here.
Ponderosa Campground sits along the Nacimiento River at an elevation of 1,500 feet in the Big Sur mountains of Los Padres National Forest. The facility offers single-family sites for tents and RVs under a shade canopy of ponderosa pine, oak, madrone, and sycamore trees. Amenities include paved parking surfaces, picnic tables, campfire rings with grills, vault toilets, drinking water, and trash bins. Visitors have direct access to river swimming holes, wading, and trout fishing, with mountain hiking trails a short drive away.
The road in has not been measured -- unknown, not bad. Flat ground is scarce -- under a tenth of the terrain within a few hundred yards is level.
Exposed here -- the nearest through road is 0.5 miles off, a 23-site campground. Most of them shaded. Negro Fork Nacimiento River runs 0.6 mi off. Chalk Peak stands 1,561 ft above the site, 3.1 miles west. The nearest town, Pine Canyon, is 17 mi off.
September normals 54–88°F, 0.1″ rain. Monthly averages, PRISM 1991–2020.
Set by U.S. Forest Service. Stage 1 and 2 orders change within days -- check the current order before you build a fire.
fs.usda.gov