Revisiting Pacific Dunes Ranch
When we were on our first cross country trip back in December 2023, after a week of driving down the pacific coast we made it to California. For our third night in the state we were going to boondock at the Golden Gate Bridge rest area. However the night before I was reading reviews online about breakins and some other unsavory behavior occurring there and decided that no we weren’t going to subject ourselves to that.
So I went online and booked us a night at Pacific Dunes Ranch, just south of Pismo Beach. It was $80 which was the most we’d ever paid for a campground up to then, but to me it was worth it for the peace of mind. When we showed up we were both pleasantly surprised to be at a campsite backing up to the Pismo Beach Dunes Preserve, the weather was perfect and we had a great night.
Later we came to find out it’s actually part of RPI, which through our Thousand Trails membership we acquired afterwards, meant we could stay there for $20/night instead of the higher price. Since then we have been looking for an excuse to come back, and now we have!
We’re currently on our way back to Washington for the summer and after a fun day trip to Capitol Reef National Park, we are staying at Pacific Dunes Ranch for two nights. The whole time we’ve been on this trip back to Seattle I’ve been excited to stay here again because it was such a highlight of our first trip. Will it live up to the hype?
It both did and did not. Let me explain.
Last time we were on a site that backed up onto the dunes. This time we were on a pull through site that had RVs behind and in front of us. It felt very crowded compared to our last time, which to be fair was in December so it was probably considered “off season”.
But this time around our activities OUTSIDE the park were much better. We stayed for two nights and honestly I’m amazed we managed to pack so much in.
The first evening, after getting in and set up, we headed about 5 miles north to Mersea’s for dinner with Tim’s cousin and her husband and it was delicious! The company was also stellar. Th next morning we met his cousin again for coffee at Deltina’s and I bought a bag of beans to use in the RV because the latte I had was so good.
After saying bye to Tim’s cousin we cycled back to the RV and went for a walk out on the dunes. We’d hoped to make it to the ocean but it turned out to be a lot further than it looked so we turned back after half a mile. It was still cool to get far enough out to be completely surrounded by sand. The Dune soundtrack was playing in my head the whole time.
After resting up for a couple hours we hopped back on our bikes and cycled over to Palo Mesa for pizza, and wow did this pizza exceed expectations. When we walked in the guy behind the counter (who seemed to be the only person there?) seemed a bit harried so I was worried about the outcome but honestly it was top 10 pizzas I’ve ever eaten. Maybe even top 5. It was smoke mozzarella, pepperoni, garlic, basil, arugula, and olive oil. The crust was chewy and crispy at the same time. Absolutely delicious. We followed it up with a trip to an ice cream shop down the road where I got a scoop of black pepper pistachio that was delicious, but pricey. $8.50 for a scoop? Come on California.
We then cycled home and this morning we left and drove about 3 hours to Pinnacles National Park where we’ll be camped up for 2 nights while we explore the park, so subscribe if you want to read about that!