Usal Beach Campground — Hotel in Fort Bragg

This is a great beautiful place to camp with family, friends, as a couple, or even peacefully alone, particularly during the week when the place is practically empty. There is no cost to stay and all sites are on a first come basis (no reservations).There are a variety of campsites to choose from, from secluded to out in the open and from small to as large as whatever the size of your group is. It's not the easiest place to get to but the narrow dirt road leading there, I feel, adds to the allure of a more authentic camping experience. The campground is NOT accessible to RVs, travel trailers or 5th wheel trailers. I have seen small pop-up tent trailers and also some utility trailers in the campground but I think that would be the limit. Be sure to pack in EVERYTHING you will need for an enjoyable experience including, firewood, drinking and washing water, enough ice to last for your entire stay and toilet paper or, preferably, flushable hygiene wipes. The outhouses are for the brave and tolerant. In my opinion, it's better to dig a hole. Since this campground is not maintained, please take care to leave your campsite in better condition than you found it. If you packed it in you need to pack it out so bring plenty of garbage bags. There are no garbage cans or collection points. Not all camping sites have picnic tables so to be safe bring your own folding tables. There is no running water unless the creek is flowing or you capture water from another small creek near the campground entrance. There is no cell service in the campground however I accidentally discovered cell service on the beach on the right side around the corner from the parking lot. If you walk far enough down to the right side of the beach during low tide you may even get 3 bars of 4G LTE. Also there is 1-3 bars of 4G about 10 min (3.5 miles) further north past Usal on the dirt road that leads to the village of Shelter Cove. There are no showers. When it rains the road, which is steep at points, may be muddy and therefore may be difficult for two wheel drive vehicles to safely traverse. AWD/4x4 vehicles are recommended in this case. Vehicles with higher ground clearances will find the road leading to the campground more tolerable than low vehicles. However, I have seen a Prius and an old Civic down there before so I assume any vehicle can make it with extra care and determination when the road is dry. Weekends, as would be expected, are busier and noisier. One time while I was there there was a live band and large party. Another time there were people letting off large mortar fireworks. Last time I was there, over memorial day weekend, there were a couple of park rangers patrolling during the day but I dont think that's typical particularly during the week. In addition to birds and squirrels, I have seen elk, deer, raccoons, foxes and moles there. I also heard late at night on one trip what I believe was a mountain lion looking for a mate roaming the campground. I also read someone saw a bear but I have not seen a bear there myself. There are a lot of stinging nettle plants around some but not all of the camp sites.They look nice but can be a bit irritating if you dont have or make a wide enough walking path...

Been here a handful of times. I think I’m done with it on the weekends.

Week days it’s been quiet, no party crowd. Weekends are another story. This last weekend I was up there with my 2 year old, her first camping trip. Sure enough about 8:30 someone walks by, asks if I mind if they have fireworks. What do you say to that? Don’t be an ass hole? Don’t burn down the mountain? Respect your neighbors.

Sure enough, they blow a few off. One of the other campers with a dog has their dog run away. My toddler is real scared. We climb into our tent. And thankfully she falls fast asleep.

Then 30 minutes later, it starts up. Probably a hundred fireworks. Thankfully she sleeps through it, and I spend the next hour covering her ears hoping she doesn’t wake up in terror. I hear their group screaming with happiness. Belting out songs like the national anthem and such. They leave the beach covered in fireworks trash. What’s patriotic about being so inconsiderate of other campers. Or risking burning the mountain?

During quiet weekdays I’ve seen lots of massive elk. (Of course they are t around when people do this stuff.) Big fish in the drying up river. This is a beautiful place, and I’ve had awesome quiet weekdays here. I just wish it wasn’t what it is on some weekends. I’m done with weekends here. Maybe done for all time.

Weekdays when it’s quiet. And people haven’t left garbage everywhere, it’s 5 stars. This...

If you come before they do annual maintenance on the road in late spring there is a decent chance you will damage a lower clearance vehicle and may get stuck without at least AWD. I’d recommend at least Suburu (8+ inches) clearance year round and more in winter and spring. We came in early April and we’re glad we had a capable lifted off-road vehicle with 11 inches of ground clearance as there were deep ruts and holes from winter storms. We saw a few folks having a lot of trouble on the way in and saw a large handful of people stuck on the beach. Most did not know how to or did not have the compressor to air down tires on the beach. One truck pulling a trailer onto the beach area was so far bogged down it took a pair of rescuers several hours to get them out.

The area is beautiful, campsites are rustic, and the outhouses are truly scary. Bring a shovel, hike well away from the creek, and make your own bathroom. Bring enough water as there is no clean water source.

The worst part of this site is that you are at the whim of folks who believe that it is their right to treat this as an OHV area burning around in their 4 wheelers and motorcycles until late at night. I believe in less enforcement but folks like this wreck these areas...