First time here, loved it. Must be self contained, generators off at 8 or 8:30 pm, and the train is right behind you. Fun to explore on this beach, cool rocky areas as well as areas of sandy, swimmable beach. Cool bridge, fun little trail. It was really beautiful to be so close to the ocean.

Amazing place to enjoy the fresh air and ocean smell. People who frequent here are always nice and low key. Plenty of room to hangout. Benches. Grassy areas to picnic. Ride your bike. Bring a surf board. Throw a ball or fly a kite. We visit often when we are in town. A favorite for us.

Great spot to camp right on the ocean. I have driven by this place for several years and always wanted to stay we got site #77 and it backs right up to the sand and rocks. There are these great stone fire pits people have built and there's plenty of driftwood to use for kindling. The campground is very simple as you have to bring everything you need with you. Only RVs, trailers and self-contained vans are allowed. There is a train that runs close by the campground, but I usually slept through it. The highway is further up the hill, so the road noise wasn't bad. I loved falling asleep to the sound of waves. As people have noted, there are no services here like restrooms or showers. Great spot to watch the waves. It does get windy in the afternoon. There are plenty of great restaurants close by in Ventura to eat. The beach in front of the campground is Rocky, but you can walk just north or south to find some sand.

I’m not sure how this place qualifies as a campground. Site pads are listed as over 30’ long, but are all less than 10’ and clearly won’t fit a vehicle. They are rocky, unlevel, and slope into the ocean. I assume at one point these were actual campsites, but now that they’ve been destroyed, no attempt has been made to repair them and they should absolutely not be sold as being campsites in this condition. $40 is already too much for a place with absolutely no amenities. They don’t have water or restrooms. Even the entrance booth doesn’t have power. It might be safer to park on the side of the highway. Because there are no actual parking pads, people just park wherever they feel they won’t roll off into the ocean. Which means everyone is on the dirt and up against each other. Site numbers no longer apply, when you can even see them at all. Many people try for a long time to get up onto blocks and secure their rig somehow in whatever space they attempt to create, and then give up and leave. Some campers simply park on what’s left of the road, blocking traffic. Photos and measurements online are dishonest. It needs to be shut down and rebuilt. Photos- Site 55 is listed as 35’ but is more like 4’, Site 13 is listed as 37’ but is more like 8’ and for some reason full of boxes up trash. These two sites are representative of all the sites there.

Site #64. Camping right next to a crumbling cement wall so we can't see the ocean while seated in our camp chairs. Over the wall there's a 12 ft drop to the rocks and waves; the beach appears briefly at lowest tide but there's no way to access it. NO amenities except 3 porta potties at entrance to "park" which is about 1 mile away. Sadly this narrow strip of coastline took a big hit in the January storms. The road, campsites (generous parking spots), and beach are damaged. Hwy 101/1 and train tracks are very close, and the mesmerizing break of the waves cannot drown out their discordant sounds. Unfortunately the heavy fog that has persisted for days envelops the area in a cold dreariness. Park rangers are friendly and empathetic. Wish we could fly with the many troops of pelicans to more bucolic sands. My least favorite coastal campsite. Ever.

This is a great beach and fairly secluded too. When the tide is out, is has great tide pools and rock pools for kids to play in…. We also saw dolphins and seals swimming just off the waves too. There is a bike track that runs along the beach too . We did not camp here but there are some facilities for campers too

I really like it here, I live close by and like going during the week, as the weekend tends to get crowded especially on holiday weekends. There's a really long stretch of dirt parking right next to the road, with a few port a potties, but to get down to the beach you have to climb over large boulders, but it's not that hard. A little further north is a medium sized paved parking lot with restrooms and easy access to the beach by stairs. Beach is clean with pretty shells cool rocks, and soft sand. Day use only, & no overnight parking, but the good thing is no fee for parking or day use. Clear days you can see the Islands and with a trained eye, you will almost always see seals and large pods of dolphins playing past the break water. If you don't plan on getting in the water or sitting "on" the beach, then you can sit up on the strip where you park, wether you have a motorhome, 5th wheel, camper or car, a lot of people do that and set up their day camp there. A word of caution: No Lifeguard! So please be careful **The pictures show the beach when the tide was very very low**

Love this campground. Very primitive. No services but fabulous views. Look forward to getting back to Emma Wood.

Fantastic State Parks campground. No hookups, so be ready for off-grid camping. Spaces are a bit tightly spaced, but the sound of the waves is enough to block most of the noise from your neighbors. Make sure to check the tidal forecast so you don't end up parking your rig in the splash zone of the incoming waves. It would be very easy to get soaked if you aren't careful.

It was beautiful. My boyfriend and I had the best day. ❤️❤️

This is a nice primitive campsite. No amenities at all but awesome location. Come fully stocked and prepared and be ready to level. I suggest to lock everything up because there is lots of misc. foot traffic at all times of day

Love that Ca turned our old Hwy 1 into a state campground. We enjoy seeing all the rich history here.

Nice campground. Bit dangerous for little kids to play on some areas but my kids loved it. Stay for sunset. You will never forget it.

This is the best place to stop for lunch on your way up the coast from Ventura. No services. Be self-contained.

Fun relaxing weekend. The wave display at high tide was incredible. Back for another weekend. 02/2023. The ocean is once again lively and we love it!

Always a good time at Emma Wood, it's not super clean and I'm not sure there are lifeguards but there are stairs or a ramp down so you don't have to climb down rocks. Porta-potties are there but you probably couldn't pay me to use them. Parking can be limited on weekends.

Sometimes the big waves come in depending on the weather. you get a lot of surfers. parking can get difficult, and as far as the ocean there are dolphins that swim up-and-down the beach. and there's a lot of fishermen, they do catch fish. It has a nice and relaxing feel to it . no loud music. But there are a lot of people, teenagers, families,older folks that's nice.

Emma Wood State Beach Campground consists of primitive campsites on the shore with beautiful ocean views. Some sites have direct access to the sand, some have rocks or walls. Some sites are back in, some parallel the beach. In July 2022 we camped in site # 86. Large back in site on the rocks with a short walk to the sandy beach past site #90. The bike path is directly adjacent to the campground and we road south past the city of Ventura and north towards Carpenterilla. We enjoyed watching dolphin, sea lions, pelicans, jet skiers, boaters, and kite surfers from the comfort of our campsite. As with most campgrounds along the coast, noise from trains and traffic on the 101 can be an issue. The backdrop of crashing surf helped a lot with that. Emma Wood is only an hour drive from west LA so it is a nice weekend camping destination on the coast.

Friendly guy at the gate when we checked in and checked out. The site's we as described. Easy access to bike trail that takes you into Ventura. We all had a great time. The volunteer in the black jeep could have been a little nicer.

Great camping spot . Being new to pulling a trailer I found it easyish backing into to spot..there is no water or electric hookups so you are boon docking and no dump site..if needing to dump its free at Carpinteria Beach campground, 20 min drive north, with proof of stay at emma wood state beach just keep the paper from window as proof. Beach is close by, nice sand and has Porta potties near by lots of good waves that were not crazy people fishing. Really nice area and great for new travel trailer owners ..

Nice local beach. Easy parking during the week. A bit harder on the weekend. Great for families and kids. I feel safe there.

Parking was fairly easy and not far to walk. No bathrooms or lifeguards but there was 2 port-a-potty. However, not sure how clean because we didn’t use it. The beach overall was clean, not crowded and the water temp ended up perfect for the kids. The waves were also great for the kids and better than anticipated based on reports we checked before going. Other than finding pincher bugs around, Overall it was a successful beach trip.

This is my husband and I's favorite place now. We camped here and hiked to the beach twice lots of birds and beautiful rocks and sticks. At many entrances there's no ranger waiting and you have to pay by phone though so if you have no service in the area you may be forced to leave. Park maintenance does check and you could get towed for not registering your plate. It wasn't a problem for us because we had a parks pass from the library.