Pismo Beach PSA - CALL BEFORE GOING

[dp351]

Don’t make my mistake and go to Pismo Beach without first checking to see if the off road vehicle area is open. I didn’t anticipate any problems because it hadn’t rained for several days. But because of the heavy runoff, the river crossing the beach was not passable, so the OHV park was closed. And it’s not likely to reopen anytime soon thanks to upcoming storms.

I had planned this trip for months, packed up the family & dog, made the five hour drive, booked a hotel for two nights, etc. I got up at 6:00AM, left the family sleeping, hit the EA charger, and went to the park gate where I got the bad news. To say I was disappointed is an understatement.

Fortunately they did allow driving on an about one mile long section of the beach. This has a 15 mph speed limit, but there is some soft sand and a little bit of challenging terrain to play with. Although this was fun, it was really a tease of what I was missing out on.

Since there was almost no one around at sunrise, I tried to have a little bit of fun with my truck on the beach. That got shot down quickly by an a-hole cop straight out of the movies who seemed to enjoy rubbing salt in my wounds. Coulda been worse though, he didn’t write me a ticket.

I was able to take some beautiful photos of my truck at the beach at sunrise, and we had a nice day at the beach, so not a bad trip overall. Next time I’ll double check that the OHV park is open.

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[ohseedee]

Ugh, I’m planning on going next week. I booked 1 night to camp on the each with the truck, but was planning to hit the dunes. I’m still going to go but the trip just got a lot less fun.

 

[the long way downunder]

Don’t make my mistake and go to Pismo Beach without first checking to see if the off road vehicle area is open. I didn’t anticipate any problems because it hadn’t rained for several days. But because of the heavy runoff, the river crossing the beach was not passable, so the OHV park was closed. And it’s not likely to reopen anytime soon thanks to upcoming storms.

I had planned this trip for months, packed up the family & dog, made the five hour drive, booked a hotel for two nights, etc. I got up at 6:00AM, left the family sleeping, hit the EA charger, and went to the park gate where I got the bad news. To say I was disappointed is an understatement.

Fortunately they did allow driving on an about one mile long section of the beach. This has a 15 mph speed limit, but there is some soft sand and a little bit of challenging terrain to play with. Although this was fun, it was really a tease of what I was missing out on.

Since there was almost no one around at sunrise, I tried to have a little bit of fun with my truck on the beach. That got shot down quickly by an a-hole cop straight out of the movies who seemed to enjoy rubbing salt in my wounds. Coulda been worse though, he didn’t write me a ticket.

I was able to take some beautiful photos of my truck at the beach at sunrise, and we had a nice day at the beach, so not a bad trip overall. Next time I’ll double check that the OHV park is open.

It hasn't been like this in years. Not that I want my new toy full of sand in the window seals and salt in the underbody, but it would be nice to tow the jet skis onto the beach like the good old days.

In about 6 weeks, Pismo will be great for a few weeks, then the RVs will arrive and about 1% of those visitors are reckless idiots on quads and sand rails and that makes Pismo dangerous for the rest of us in a different way …

 

[the long way downunder]

Ugh, I’m planning on going next week. I booked 1 night to camp on the each with the truck, but was planning to hit the dunes. I’m still going to go but the trip just got a lot less fun.

Really unlucky timing. If you know any locals, there are other beaches and off-road destinations. Still, nothing beats waking up on the beach to the sound of the surf. Takes you back to a time …

 

[ohseedee]

Looks like they post status updates on Twitter. 24 hours ago it was open.

 

[dp351]

Looks like they post status updates on Twitter. 24 hours ago it was open.

I don’t believe that, because when I was there on Saturday they said that the soonest it would reopen would be Thursday (tomorrow), if they didn’t get any more rain, which they have. Based on that info and the upcoming storms in the forecast, I wouldn’t expect it to be open for another two weeks or longer.

I‘m thinking that the local ATV rental shops might be a good resource for local knowledge. I tried calling the phone number on the official website and got a recording that didn’t say if it’s open or closed.

 

[ohseedee]

They just posted on Twitter that it's now closed due to rain. Seems like they are on top of it update wise.

 

[shift4]

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