This WAS the best place to camp back when I first started camping here in the ‘60s. It is a shame what it is now, just an overcrowded tourist stop. The parking lots are ridiculous and beach is crowded. It used to be a walk-in tent camp area with a few beautiful ocean view sites and others in the ancient forest with massive spruce and hemlock trees. Camping was a dollar a night with rangers coming by each morning to collect. First come first served. I had been there during sunny, rainy, sleeting and even snow. It was some of the most enjoyable times. They had wooden wheelbarrows at the south parking lot to use to carry your gear down and also carry wood for camp fires. They would dump wood off the bank at the lower lot for campers use. Pushing those wheelbarrows back up was a chore. It is worth a walk down from the south lot through the old growth forest, just not my thing to be with hundreds of people on the “ Short Sands” beach anymore. Miss those good old days @ Short Sands.

Day Parking

This is just car parking for the beach. All small spots, just day use. We didn’t attempt an overnight.