We stopped by Camp San Luis Obispo RV Park in March, 2007. Camp San Luis Obispo is the original home of the California National Guard. Originally called Camp Merriam, this old U.S. Army camp was dedicated in 1928. Beginning in 1941, MANY Army divisions received training here. Today, the National Guard still uses Camp San Luis Obispo, but on a very small scale. While most of the camp is deterioating, there's much history here. Fortunately, the California Center ofr Military History is working to restore and preserve much of the old camp. A driving guide of the camp and it's history is available at the check-in counter. We enjoyed this self driving tour and reading about the various historical sections of the base.
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| Billeting Office / RV Park Check-in |
The directions provided here are spot on. Just be sure to go to the Billeting office for check-in before going to the RV park. There's plenty of space for big rigs to park in front of the office. Our check-in went smooth. We didn't have reservations, but there was plenty of room available for us. During our week's stay, about 4 rigs were in the campground at once. Being a small RV Park, it was easy to meet the other campers. Especially since we invited ourselves to their "social" hour.
The RV Park is located in a quiet section of the camp (actually, the entire camp is quiet). There's only a dozen RV sites, 4 FHU and 8 with just W/E. Unfortunately, only 20amp electric is available at the sites. RV sites are dirt, which gets muddy in the rain. The sites have a concrete patio with picnic table sand fire pits. Gravel and grass seperates the sites with dirt roads in the RV Park.
There's very few amenities at the RV Park. There is a playground next door and restooms with showers. However, the showers and restrooms are WWII vintage. The men's restroom/shower isn't located close to the RV sites. I didn't look in the women's restroom/shower, but the men's is open bay. That's to say the shower is one room with space for 3 or 4 to take a shower at the same time (not my preference). The toilets are also in a single room with a few toilets lined up withour privacy walls. The building itself looks like it should be condemned.
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| Typical FHU Site | The RV Park |
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| The RV Park | Overflow and Tent Area |
You can borrow VHS tapes and books from the Billeting office. There's also a dial-up available at the Billeting office for computer connections. However, the Billeting office is over a mile from the RV Park. Being a quiet National Guard camp, there's not many facilities available. There's a small exhange and a nice base museum.
Despite the condition and lack of facilities, this RV Park is a nice and quiet get away. Just don't expect a fancy RV Resort. The largest highlight to the Camp San Luis Obispo RV Park is it's location. We visited one of the many street fairs and farmer's markets available in San Luis Obispo. We also visted the scneic Morrow Rock on the coast, not too far form the RV Park.
Campers visiting the RV Park while on official orders pay $3/night less than regular campers. There's also a 30 day stay limit within a 365 day period. We think this is a fair policy to prevent homesteading. Pricing is higher than what we feel a "benefit" should cost, especially for 20amp electric.
All said, we enjoyed our relaxing time here. When we're back in the area, we'll stay again.
