Nacimiento Lake Resort

This campground is crap. The tables are all spray painted on, the spaces don’t provide any privacy, and they won’t give you a refund if you don’t want to stay after having seen it. I think if you have an RV and a boat and don’t mind staying in a dirty parking lot, then you might be able to swing it, otherwise don’t bother. We forfeited the money and drove 6 hours home after checking in and doing a drive through.

Lake Nacimiento… My home away from home! I grew up on this lake as well as worked here and now happy to be sharing this gorgeous, serene lake with my kiddos. The campgrounds are clean, the rangers are great as far as boat inspections… But above all, the staff at the marina are amazing and friendly! Jacob especially! He is extremely helpful, always has a smile on his face while helping you! He is incredibly knowledgable in regards to boat rentals, and the layout of the lake! We have been there for multiple days and he stuck with us and took care of us as our liaison the whole time. Great feeling when ur traveling away from home! Thumbs up!

Me and the wife spent the weekend here camping. We reserved a pontoon boat for all day Saturday and had a blast. The marina staff were all very friendly and helpful. It’s dog friendly, which was great, because we had our retriever with us. She can be a little territorial and each time we came into dock she would bark her head of at Austin, the marina staff member who was helping us tie up, but he handled it very professionally. Would definitely recommend renting a boat and checking out the lake of heading there for camping.

We have been coming to Lake Naci for years. They never seem to disappoint either. Friendly gate staff and Rangers. I do realize that with the recent drought that conditions have changed. You can’t go back into the narrows as much and you can tell the campers who generally go to San Antonio and coming down so it gets crowded fast with a variety of group but every year they keep the noise under control and it’s great.
This year we ate at the new/​old restaurant. It was really good! Alyssa was our server and she was fun and pleasant. I ordered the tri tip salad and a Bloody Mary… YUM! Can’t wait to come back and enjoy for the many years to come!

Drove to naciemento from nipomo, came to Check out the campgrounds for next month when we go camping was pumped and excited with my wife and son, got to the gate was told it would be 15 $ to go in just to pick out a campsite… I then replied by saying oh geez we camped last month at Lopez and they let us go in for a half hour no charge. To look for a campsite. Then a abbrasive man sitting in the booth said «we are a resort» so its gonna be 15 $ and Lopez let you in for free to look around cause they are a lot lower on water and are desperate!!! Really? Bash on another lake??? Ummm last I knew they are all state owned there shouldn’t be competion. He was super rude!!! A 50 something year old man acting like a child!!! Anyway we gladley paid the money went in for I think it took 35. To 4o minutes. When we exited we stop to ask a few more question then the older lady that was in the booth with the 50 yr old man was there and got super short with me regarding prices I wasn’t understanding she had made a stAtement like «your not listening to what I’m saying «instead of being a little more patient … Who are theses peoples bosses… And why treat people this way???

We arrived Labor Day weekend, on Saturday, as a «first come first serve» at the first, public campground, so we expected it to be busy. The woman at the front gate said «people have been having a hard time finding a spot» — she did not say they were full. So we asked if we could use the bathroom. We drove in and found a parking spot and place for our tent right away. So I let her know our situation and we paid for the night. The nice part about our night is that our parking/​tent/​bathrooms were right next to each other and there were plenty of trees for shade. However, the campground was loud and the vibe was kind of ghetto. It is a quick 1 mile drive to the lake, but unfortunately due to the drought the lake was at a very low level, so not quite as pretty. At about 10pm 3 campgrounds started to play loud, obnoxious music. It was not a terrible place to stay, but it worked for one night, however I would not go back there.

It is odd to read the complaints. Camping requires being prepared. We as a family enjoy just being together.. Have fun or stay home…

The one big thing that disappointed me with our rental experience with the marina was the cosmetic appearance of the boat. For the price I paid, there shouldn’t have been so much duct tape holding the seats, and sun shade together. Ran great all day, but it’s a bummer seeing all that tape in my family photos. It wasn’t that cheap.

My family and I just came back from a camping trip here. Overall nice campsite with showers and rest rooms. Due too the severe drought in California the water level of the lake has drastically plummeted so the walk down to the lake was tedious and the climb back up was rather steep.
They play a movie every night. There is also a convince store at the park but everything is over priced so buy whatever you need at the town before you get there.
The showers were fairly maintained. Park rangers do enforce park rules but seem to only pass by once a night at about 10 pm. Very crowded campsites (probably because it’s the summer now) with volleyball and basketball courts. A definite family campsite.

I love Lake Naci. I’ve been going there for the last 8 years now to wake board and it’s always a blast. I’ve never done the campground thing but I’m sure it’s fun. Presently the water is very low, 20 – 25 percent, but we still managed to get our water sports in. The best times to go out on the water is usually early in the morning when there is not that many boats. Great time. Can’t recommend it enough.

Water level aside, hey — it’s California, this place rocks! What a nice place! They inspect watercrafts carefully for muscles, campgrounds are clean, keep the bathrooms and showers clean, have porta-​pottys in convenient locations, wide launch ramps, allow night rights for properly equipped boats, gas at the dock, dump stations, and a convenience store with everything you need. Not sure how you beat a dragon shaped lake with all-​morning GLASS.

Campgrounds are pretty ok, the spaces are tight, but it’s a popular place. I stayed from Wed. ⁶⁄₁₈ — Sun. ⁶⁄₂₂. Clean, quiet, and well kept up on Wed, Thur, & Fri. Friday night it is party central, things get a little dirtier and less kept up. The rangers for the most part are nice and respectful. However, one lady checking us in was condescending and rude for no reason. Just a jerk. Otherwise my experience was great. (See review for boat rental at the Marina).

Thanks everybody for staying home this Memorial Day weekend! 2014 We had MGO and EGO to die for! Camp grounds nearly to ourselves! Perfect weather and clear water! You all missed it! Good!
Have been coming here for going on 40 years! All of them family and friends vacations! Always fun! Staff here always helpful and nice… Not expensive for good old fashioned water sports and family fun!
Sure I partied in years past, in college, oh yes and even now as an adult bringing my adult children, but still fun in a good old family way!
Can’t wait to come here again. Full to over flowing, or low to sandy beaches, its all good!

This review is for the staff not the campground. I called to make a reservation and was greeted by the most rude and unhelpful individual. She was very abrasive and short with me for the entire conversation. I was confused about pricing because on the website it says that camping is $ 30 but apparently they don’t honor that price. They charge $ 30 a night per vehicle and if you make a reservation they charge even more! It was almost $ 80 a night for our group with 2 vehicles. Just be warned that pricing on their website is wrong and you should call to clarify any hidden fees and definitely enjoy the very «helpful» staff there.

Always a great place to stay at Lake Naci… Always fun and rooms are big enough to throw a bunch of people in. The rooms are not updated at all but thats ok because we spend most of the time at the lake. I have been coming here for 17 years and its still a great vacation!

I was REALLY looking forward to this trip because Lake Nacimiento has a lot to offer, such as:
–Cabins: They looked really nice on the outside and the decks overlook the lake. You can walk down a steep hill (I believe on stairs) to the water.
–Restaurant: We didn’t eat there, but if you don’t feel like cooking one night, enjoy a nice dinner overlooking the lake.
–General Store: The biggest general store at a lake that I’ve seen (a little bigger than a 7 – 11), but it felt like Wal-​Mart because they had everything! If you forgot something at home, don’t worry, you can get it at the store. And the prices were very reasonable.
–Boat Rentals: Self explanatory.
–Beautiful lake with lots of coves. Smooth water for skiing/​boarding unlike other bigger lakes.
–Shady camp grounds: Compared to some other lakes, this one had a lot of trees & shade. The weather was great too. The heat didn’t feel so dry like other lakes.
–Swimming Pool: Honestly, I was pretty underwhelmed with the pool. It didn’t look very nice at all and when I heard it was $ 5 per person, I was talked out of it very quickly.
Campgrounds:
There are 6 campgrounds with the first one (Quails Roost) about a mile away from the water. Each site on the following list gets closer to the lake with «Pine Knoll» being within walking distance.
1. Quails Roost (First come first serve) — Lots of nice campsites and this is where we stayed.
2. Oak Knoll (Reservation only) — Appears to be mostly for people with RV’s/Campers. Unfortunately almost all of the sites are right next to ditches/​cliffs that would be extremely dangerous for any wandering toddlers.
3. Rocky Canyon — Also mostly cliffs/​ditches. Only tent campers allowed.
4. Sandy Point (Reservation only) — This area has a private sandy beach that can only be accessed if you have a reservation at Sandy Point. But once again, most of these sites are right next to cliffs/​ditches and is not suited for families with small kids. There are a few sites in the center area that have green grass, look nice and are ok for kids.
5. Eagles Ridge (First come, first serve) — You have to park your car, grab all your stuff, and hike down to the sites. Not good if you have a lot of stuff and/​or small kids. Most of these sites appear to be on the edge of cliffs once again.
6. Pine Knoll (First come, first serve) — This one is within walking distance to the lake and there are no cliffs! There are 120 sites here. During the week this is probably a good spot, but on the weekends it is PACKED. I mean super packed. I’ve never seen strangers camp so close to one another. I couldn’t tell where one site ended and another started. It looked like one GIANT group of 600 people. Only have a conversation with someone if you want 4 other families in the area know your business. Make sure to shower so you don’t offend your neighbors. Get the picture?
Swimming:
If you’re hoping to swim, your options are the ridiculously overcrowded rocky «beach» with tons of cars parked right on the beach (how attractive), you can also swim right next to the Marina docks or the ramp where all the boats are launched and apparently the beach was so crowded that a lot of people actually used these spaces, the «Motel» swimming pool ($ 5 a head), a private beach (if you have a reservation at Sandy Point), or out in the lake if you have a boat.
Our Experience:
We went the weekend of 7÷27÷12. Our party included me, my wife and our 4 young daughters. We were Tent camping and did Not have a boat.
We arrived on Friday at 11am on July 27 (Not a holiday) and Pine Knoll was already totally filled so we had to go up to Quails Roost. There were lots of spots available and we took a nice big shady site that had 2 tables and 2 firepits. Very nice. As the day progressed the rest of Quails Roost filled up. But then all the families and friends of the people around us started showing up. And since the campgrounds were full, where did they camp? Well they just parked their cars where they could find space and set up about 10 tents wherever they could find space. Apparently this isn’t well monitored by the Rangers… people don’t have to stay within their site’s «boundaries» and there’s no limit of people per site. You only have to pay «per car», but after that, it’s pretty much a free for all. So the people across from us had about 30 people with 10 tents and the people to our left had about 30 people with 10 tents (I only counted because there were so many frickin people… i usually camp with 15 – 20 and I thought THAT was a lot).
That same night around 8:30pm, we started our campfire to make S’Mores & tell stories when all of a sudden we hear the sound of a GENERATOR super loud. It was the people across from us. They were powering a HUGE bright light that made everything seem like day time. They had it on until 10pm, which is quiet time. The Ranger asked them to turn it off and they were pleasant about it and turned it off.
Continued…

We liked this place a lot. They upgraded us to a cabin with a fireplace, the views are beautiful, staff was friendly… Only down side is that it’s about 20 mins to downtown but we would stay here again as long as we were not drinking downtown because it would be way too long of a drive back. Also, if you rent a cabin you have to leave a $ 500. Deposit.

I really liked this place! There were no bugs, it was clean and restrooms and showers were easily accessible.
The view of the lake from every camp site was awesome. Each site felt really cozy. there is a great little general store that has good prices.
I like that at 10pm, the rangers walk around make sure nobody is playing loud music, etc.
I love how accesible is it with no mountain driving. The view of the stars is AMAZING. Overall, i would definitly return!

The lodges are great, really clean, nicely maintained, access to the lake by way of some steep steps, beautiful views and away from the masses. The lake is pretty full this year, so few water hazards to kill your prop.
The campsites are OK if you are there mainly for the water, but they can be loud as you are packed in really close to other campsites. If you want to drive further north there are much nicer places, but for a short weekend on the water, it is the closest decent sized lake we have found. During the week it is a very different place, both the campgrounds and the lake are much quieter — go then if you can.
The way you pay is different from most campgrounds — $ 30 per car vs. a fixed amount per site. If lots of you drive, it isn’t cheap to camp.
The staff is very nice and the new marina is great. Super nice docks ($ 30 per night though), 4 gas pumps at the marina, 2 multi lane boat launches, very rare you have to wait. The winds come up around 2 every afternoon, so do your skiing and boarding early.

No bugs
but a woodpecker bombed a chicken leg on my head and a blue jay
shat my shoulder.
Camped in the shade, anchored in a cove, wined on Zins in vineyards
and feasted on ghost-​chili, kebabs, potters, grapes.