Our second camping trip in the 2015 camping season was at Stillwater Cove Regional Park. Stillwater is a 210 acre park that offers a short hike to the nearby Fort Ross and an easy walk to Stillwater Cove. The area offers a multitude of quiet beaches and coves that are perfect for a nice picnic or a dive for abalone!
Stillwater Cove Regional Park – July 2015
Rating: 2 out of 5
Location: Located in Jenner off of Highway 1, between Bodega Bay and Sea Ranch.
Amenities: Flushing toilets and showers ($2 for 5 min).
Pets: Allowed for no additional charge.
Site: 6 (Site 10 is the only site worth reserving, 15 is in full sun but a large tent can be pitched under trees, 16 is small and muddy, 20 has poison oak)
Pros: The campground is centrally located in the heart of the Sonoma Coast. As with Salt Point State Park, there are many coastal areas to visit beginning from Bodega Bay all the way up to Gualala. A quick hike leads to Fort Ross and Stillwater Cove, which is a perfect spot for a picnic lunch or to dive for abalone. Although the campground is right off the highway, it’s pretty quiet traffic-wise and you can hear the waves of the ocean crashing on the shore. There aren’t any issues with mosquitoes or bees, which is nice because there’s no way we could fit the screened canopy on our site. Restrooms were pretty clean and lit at night.
Cons: Campsites are very small (barely fit one large tent), close together, aren’t very private, and most are in the sun! There are a few shaded sites within the inner loop; however, there’s absolutely no privacy and everyone has to walk in between the inner loop sites to get to the restroom. Our site was so small that we had to share a tent and place it partly on the grass and the asphalt parking spot. It’s also very hard to tell where your site ends and the other begins!