Great place to stroll. Saw some whales. The walkway was clean with beautiful flowers. The trail…read morewas easy to navigate gate. Spectacular views of pacific coast. It's a must. Wear comfortable shoes hats and water. Donation is optional. Free admission

On my annual trip to Cambria, this trail walk is a must. It's so beautiful! They have a very nice…read morewalkway that borders the ocean on one side and rolling hills on the other side. When your on the trail closest to the water, a lot of times you can find seals, or birds, or if you look way in the distance, whale spouts. Along the trail they have really cool driftwood made beaches for you to sit and just take it all in. The tide pools by the homes are fun to walk around and experience as well. It's just a breathtaking walk. On my last trip it was really neat to see all these people out painting. I loved watching them create their masterpieces. I would almost love to find out if they are for sale. Some of them were amazing that I would love to have in my home! I definitely recommend walking this trail. It's a very easy flat loop to walk.

Moonstone Beach is gorgeous, calming, clean, and unique, with the perfect Central California vibes…read moreand views. The beach has several really cool driftwood structures that visitors have built and continued adding to over time. My 6 year old son had a blast running through them and adding a few pieces of his own. There are also actual moonstones along the beach. I spent some time collecting a few since they come in so many unique colors and shapes and make great little souvenirs. Make sure to bring your phone or camera because you will definitely take lots of photos! The restrooms and parking are also close by, which is a huge plus. Will definitely be back on future Central California trips!

My family loves this beach. The parking lot is small, but we usually are able to find a spot…read more There's a public restroom connected to the parking lot. I've never needed it, but I'm glad it is there. Beach access is down some stairs that can be hard if you have mobility or balance issues. They are sturdy, and if you are able to navigate them slowly, it is worth it. The beach itself has driftwood that has washed up, and other beach-goers have fashioned into makeshift structures that are fun to explore. The sand is soft, and has tons of rocks and pebbles to investigate. As the name suggests, there are moonstones to find, if you have a bit of luck. Several times when I've visited, I've found these transparent clear and purplish/blue velella velella all over the shore. Other wildlife seen at this beach include moon jellyfish, sea lions (off shore), pelicans, seagulls, cormorants, and cottontail bunnies along the cliffs. There is a creek outlet that washes into the sea that can be a bit stinky, and tends to make traversing the beach hard past that point. Also along the water's edge, there can be some unstable sand areas, so tread carefully. This beach tends to have a nice breeze, and is refreshing even on hot days. If you are in the area and you can find parking, check it out!

Leffingwell Landing is part of the San Simeon State Park providing access to Moonstone Beach and…read moretide pools, northern starting point to the Moonstone boardwalk (walking trail), picnic tables, restroom, and gorgeous bluff views. Absolutely gorgeous views. And get this...parking and access is free. FREE! I walked down to the tide pools. I didn't venture out too far. It was low tide and I didn't see much of any marine life. But still fun. Then I walked up to the bluff and looped around the walking trail and portion of the boardwalk. Terrific views. Pretty native flowers blooming. There are several benches and picnic tables to sit and look out to the ocean... well actually 360 panoramic view. Ocean, beach, tide pools, meadow, bluff, treeline, people watching. Breathing in all this beauty and calm. If you go into the tide pool area. Please do me two big favors. One is to be aware of the tides. Don't get so engrossed that you turn your back on the ocean and kiddos. Second is that observe and no need to harm the marine life. Take a picture (physical or mental) and leave everything as is.

Great tide pools! We walked down the stairs and found tide pools up high on the rocks with all the…read moretypical tide pool wild life! Came around 1 since low tide was set to be 1230 on June 24th

I'm back. Back in the coastal town of Cambria and taking a gander at the historic fresnel lens…read moredisplay on Main Street. It's always a must stop for me to quickly look and marvel at historic antique lighthouse machinery. Amazing. It's free to view. The lens is enclosed in a glass case giving a 360 view. Very cool! From 1874-1949 the fresnel lens was at the Piedras Blancas lighthouse that's 6.5 miles north of San Simeon. The Lion's Club has been taking care of the lens display since decommission. A perfect example of community taking care to preserve local history. Thank you, Lion's Club!

We wanted to visit the point after the seal beach visit…read more But visitation is closed for the season

The first .5 mile has a wooden path but don't try to do the full loop! The trial is quite overgrown…read moreand poison ivy is all along it. There was a small sign that indicated a part of the trail was under maintenance but once on the trail there's little direction other than small signs that tell about the trail. With no warning, suddenly you're in a very overgrown part that continues onto a broken bridge. By the point we got here we assumed we were more than halfway and didn't wanna risk more poison ivy which he had hardly gotten past. I'm glad we chose to continue because after getting past the broken bridge which was blocked off at the end (not the end we had come on) it was open, far less poison ivy and we made it to a road intended for vehicles to grt to the campground I think? It had some beautiful parts but not the sort of thing to bring kids out ages. Very narrow path for most of it!

A nice trail that's part nature walk, part moderate hike. The distance ranges from 3.5 - 3.8 miles…read moreit's a loop trail that goes around Sam Simeon State park/Campground. If you're staying at the camp ground you can easily get to the trail by following the park map. If you're not visiting the campsite there is a pullout area across the campground entrance on the other side near the beach where you can walk the trail under PCH. Coming from the beach trail around the loop you'll get around 450 feet of elevation gain, the trail is pretty simple to follow but if you're looking for direction to follow online there is a map on All Trails under "San Simeon trail to Washburn Campground Loop"

Nice as far as it had friendly host, regularly cleaned bathrooms, and shower availability. But be…read morecareful about getting campsites closer to the water - it gets windy during the day and can be a little miserable. The upper campground - Washburn is further from the water but with nice views of the mountains. In between is nice too, just avoid the high hundreds numbers - 131. 132,133 for wind. Beach access was cool. Lots of green rocks and driftwood for kids to build with. They also had an amphitheater and we saw a ranger talk on great white sharks. Also a nice home base to go your Hearst castle or do wine tasting. Cambria and Harmony are cute nearby towns to see.

April 18, 2025 The…read morelocation of this state park can't be beat. Located on the coast, it is near many "must-see" attractions, such as Hearst Castle and the Elephant Seal viewpoints. This State Park has a day-use area and two campgrounds: Washburn Day Use Area, San Simeon Creek Campground and the more primitive Washburn Campground. San Simeon Creek Campground is closer to the ocean; Washburn Campground is about a mile or two inland, overlooking the Santa Lucia mountains. The day-use area is open from 8AM to sunset, and is easily accessed from Highway 1, has picnic sites, parking, restrooms, water faucets, barbecue grills, and easy beach access (unless you are a dog...) One star down from an excellent rating for two reasons: The beach, sadly, is NDA (no dogs allowed), and the day use picnic tables are located next to the highway.

Love this, what I would consider, dog park gem in Cambria so much and so do my dogs! If I could…read moregive it six stars I would as everything is wonderful, especially the coastal weather and location. They have small and big dog areas, and the big dog section is huge. Plenty of space for launching a dog ball as far as you can and it still says within the fence (which my little one loves)! Keep in mind there is no grass. It is all thinner pieces of bark, which is pretty standard for this area. Let's talk about the location. It is absolutely perfect. It's just a few minutes from the coast so it's super breezy and refreshing, and the weather is great every time we visit. It's also located a minute away from lots of cute shops and restaurants in Cambria! Always enjoy taking my dogs here!!

Wood chips. Not worth the risk. It's big and in a nice area but no wood chips for my dog.read more

While driving about the cute main touristy streets of the coastal town Cambria. We decided to drive…read moreonto the streets around those sections to see what else Cambria has to offer. We found the Greenspace Reserve that houses the Creekside Native Garden, Chinese Temple, and open space to the Santa Rosa Creek. Good use of conserving open green space. The Reserve is on Center Street across from. The Cambria museum. Up front is the Creekside Native Garden. It's a "demonstration garden that brings together a botanical garden, a habitat garden, and forum for education. The garden itself is very small. The native plants provided de habitat, food, shelter and nesting material for the local wildlife. " The garden is tiny but mighty. And at first glance not very impressive. But after reading the info boards, I got a better understanding of the garden's purpose to educate about the benefits of native local plants and the biodiversity. I was able to take a slow day in life and just look, actually look at the plants and vegetation. When I did that, I not only saw the physical beauty but the interaction of the vegetation with wildlife. Birds were in the trees chirping away at each other. Bees were buzzing about taking pollen from the anthers.. I was able to see that via my phone zoom while getting a close look at a safe distance. Mosey on beyond the garden deeper into the lot. Back yonder is the Chinese Temple with open field surrounded by tall trees that provides a breaker from the Reserve to the Santa Rosa Creek. We didn't venture past the tree line as it seemed desolate and definitely unknown territory for us. Visibility is lost from the Reserve past the trees. So we played it safe and didn't venture beyond the grove of trees. But did sit on one of the benches and enjoyed the tranquility as several others were doing. When I was at the Reserve, there were two volunteers preparing starter plants and planting. The garden relies on a volunteer staff. Kudos to all the volunteers! Your work is truly appreciated.

Checked out the Chinese Temple. Quaint little place with a small red temple and gong. I was only…read moreable to see the outside of the buildings, however. I appreciated the informative placards that helped give me a piece of history and background of the place. I do look forward to their future preservation efforts.