Camping on the Mendocino Coast

After years spent working in the petroleum business for his own company and for others, Jim Lawrence was looking for a change.

“I got tired of the corporate life and wanted to get back into business for myself,’ Lawrence said. His criteria for his new undertaking were simple: “I wanted to live in a pretty place and I wanted to be in a business where people were in a good mood.”

That, and a background as long-time RVers, led Lawrence and his wife, Jo Ann, to the Manchester Beach KOA, which they bought nine years ago and have operated ever since.

Manchester Beach is on Northern California’s rugged Mendocino Coast. The campground is on the shore side of Highway 1, surrounded by Manchester Beach State Park. It sits amid lush gardens and Monterey Pines and offers direct access to a five-mile stretch of sandy beach. The roar of the surf can be heard in the campground.

It is not a swimming beach, but is ideal for walking and combing the beach, where lots of driftwood washes ashore.

Lawrence said Manchester Beach easily met his desire to find a pretty place to live, noting, “It’s one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world.”

His desire to work with people in a good frame of mind also has been fulfilled at the Manchester Beach KOA, where vacationers arrive in a relaxed mood, and the Lawrences and staff do everything they can to keep it that way. “We have an incredible staff,” Lawrence said.

During the busy summer season, the park offers daily hayrides, a hay wagon shuttle to the beach, treasure hunts, entertainment, a fence-painting contest for children, and a Sunday breakfast. There is also a heated swimming pool open from mid-April to mid-October, a hot tub, and wine-tasting events.

Although summer is the busy season, the Manchester Beach KOA is open year-round. Fall offers an opportunity to enjoy clear, crisp weather and autumn foliage. The campground also attracts many visitors through the holidays.

Lawrence said some campers have been coming to the Manchester Beach KOA for 30 years or more. It is a popular site for family reunions and other large gatherings.

The park has 125 RV sites and 28 cabins and cottages. Since it is an older park, established 35 years ago, the RV sites are big and wide, mostly with grass, in the old tradition. Full hookups and 50-amp service are available. “Big rigs love us,” Lawrence said.

A large natural area is set aside for tent camping. There are one- and two-room cabins as well as cottages that are equipped with bathrooms, showers, kitchens and even fireplaces.

A new recreation hall was built three years ago, and the park also has a store and laundry room.

The park is five miles north of Point Arena and 30 miles south of Mendocino. It is an area rich in attractions. You can watch for whales, dive for abalone, hike, bike, fish for steelhead and salmon in Brush Creek and Alder Creek or take a canoe or kayak on the Gualala River.

You can also visit lighthouses, including the Point Arena Light and Museum five miles away. The Point Arena lighthouse was built in 1870, destroyed by the earthquake of 1906, and rebuilt in 1908.

Other nearby attractions include the picturesque town of Mendocino on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens at Fort Bragg, Fort Ross State Historical Park, and Anderson Valley, with its orchards, vineyards and majestic redwoods.

The Manchester Beach KOA is one of the oldest franchises in the Kampgrounds of America system, which began more than 40 years ago with a single RV park in Billings, Montana. Today there are nearly 500 campgrounds in North America that have qualified as KOA franchises by meeting standards that include cleanliness, safety and affordability.

For more information about Manchester Beach KOA and other KOA campgrounds, see www.koa.com. For reservations or other information about the Manchester Beach KOA, call (800) 562-4188 or (707) 882-2375.