KIRK CREEK CAMPGROUND-HWY 1
Camping along HWY 1 sans Kids - Celebrating 10 Years of Marriage
FINDING KIRK CREEK
In the spring of 2013 before Kyle and I were married, I ran the Big Sur Marathon. It was an absolutely stunning race along the coast on Hwy 1 from Big Sur 26.2 miles up to Carmel-by-the-Sea. On the drive up to Carmel a few days before the race, Kyle and I drove past Kirk Creek Campground. We instantly noticed its picturesque location on the water, and said we wanted to come back here and camp on day. A wedding, 2 kids, a camper van purchase and 10 years of marriage later, we booked Kirk Creek as our anniversary camping trip location.
At the time when we booked the site (about 6 months out), we were not sure if the campground would be open. Several rockfalls, mudslides and landslides earlier in the year had wiped out a huge section of HWY 1 and closed the road from south of Big Sur to Carmel. We went ahead and booked three nights hoping the road would open to allow cars up HWY 1 far enough to reach the campground by the time our reservation date arrived.
Thankfully, the road was repaired enough to allow Kirk Creek campground to open. HWY 1 was still closed about 3 miles north of the campground for the next 35ish miles into the Big Sur area. This meant the campground was basically next to where the road deadened and the only cars driving it were Caltrans work trucks in the morning and at the end of the day. It was so quiet! This is unusual for HWY 1 since it is such a tourist attraction—especially the stretch of HWY 1 from Cambria to Carmel. It turns out this stunning 100 mile full stretch of HWY is not projected to reopen until 2025. Continuous cracking at the repair sights has made this a 2+ year road closure.
Dinner in Morro Bay on the way to Kirk Creek Campground
KIRK CREEK CAMPGROUND
We arrived at our campsite after dark—this is not ideal, but with the 6+ hour drive to get there it could not be helped. A couple things to note about Kirk Creek Campground: there is no running water (like not even a water spigot), the toilets are all vaults and there is zero cell reception in the area. You need to arrive at Kirk Creek with plenty of water stored. We filled up our van’s water tank on the way in at the state park in Cambria.
Kirk Creek - Site #33
Overlooking the Pacific from our campground
CAMBRIA
Kyle had one work meeting he needed to take while on our trip. After a leisurely breakfast our first morning, we made the trek back down to the adorable town of Cambria so Kyle would have cell reception to join the meeting. No complaints from either of us in having to drive HWY 1 again. It is so beautiful!
One of the continuously gorgeous views from our van while driving down HWY 1.
Cambria is a great small town about 40 miles south of Kirk Creek with several vintage clothing stores, garden centers, boutiques and restaurants.
One cannot come to Cambria without getting the berry pie at Lynn’s! It is the best and definitely a right-of-passage when coming here. 10 years ago, we spent the second week of our honeymoon driving up the coast and stayed in Carmel. We both have such fond memories of stopping in Cambria along the way and getting pie. It was nice to be back there all these years later.
Ragged Point, HWY 1, Big Sur
DINNER IN CAMP
Typically meals while camping with the girls are more rushed. We are often out playing when we suddenly realize it is dinner and we need to get moving (which isn’t a bad thing until the girls go from 0 to hangry in a matter of seconds). On this trip without our girls, we were able to take our time and fully enjoy our camp meals without having to get up and down a ton helping the girls with dropped forks, spilled milk, lost napkins, etc. Kyle and I have never been fancy restaurant kind of people. We are more of the pack a meal and go find a bench/picnic table outside kind of people. One of Kyle’s love languages is eating outside in a beautiful place. I cannot count the number of simply sandwiches we have eaten outside. With the girls gone, we made sure to take full advantage of the location of our campground and the uninterrupted time we had to prep meals and enjoy them. And it never ceases to amaze me that food really does taste better outside.
HIKING IN LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST
Day Two we went for a hike in the Los Padres National Forest—the trailhead was conveniently located across HWY 1 from our campsite. I carried my iced coffee for the first mile, so although it was uphill, we were not doing anything too strenuous.
ONEWHEELING DOWN HWY 1
After dinner on night two, Kyle got to Onewheel down HWY 1. Normally this would not be possible with all the cars, but with the road closed above our campground there were next to no cars. Kyle was in Onewheel heaven! (I did insist he wear a reflector vest just in case.)
FINAL MORNING AT KIRK CREEK
For our final morning at Kirk Creek, we made Chilaquiles and enjoyed a walk down to the water. We could stay for another week, but we’re also looking forward to getting home to the girls.
DIRT ROAD DETOUR
The frosting on the cake for our fabulous anniversary trip was Kyle getting to drive on a dirt road for part of our drive home. There was tons of traffic on the 15 fwy, so Google rerouted us onto a side dirt road—Kyle was thrilled.
This trip definitely confirmed that our 19ft van is the perfect size for two adults. 2 adults + 2 kids… it is for sure doable, but tight. This trip also reconfirmed what Kyle and I already knew—we love roadtrips and we love being outdoors together. Our goal is to get as much use out of our van as possible. For as long as we have it, we will be forgoing hotels and making use of our van instead whenever we can. There are many dreamy places to stay in Big Sur and Carmel, but camping at Kirk Creek was just right for us.
HIGHLIGHTS:
All our delicious meals cooked in camp
Getting to explore Cambria once more
Our beautiful hike overlooking the ocean
Kyle getting to Onewheel down HWY 1
LOWLIGHTS:
Joy’s irrational fear of mountain lions
We would have loved to have gone up to Carmel, but with the road closure it would have been a 6+ hour roundtrip detour. The detour forces you to go back down and all the way around to the north and then come down to Carmel by way of Monterey.