Glamping vs. Camping

Finding a camping spot at Big Basin Redwoods Park used to be easy.

“No reservations required, you just pop in, you stay. Now it’s you gotta book 7 months ahead to find a spot,” said Big Basin Manager, Carrie Klair.

You can blame part of that lots more people on the Central Coast and the Bay Area , but also on a trend called glamorous camping, or glamping.

“We have tent cabins here, and we have actual beds in there, and we also supply the campers a lot of items to stay, as far as bedding, towels, propane, lanterns, cook stoves,” said Klair.

Glamping makes it easy for those who like the idea of camping but not necessarily all the work that comes with it .

“People like to be serviced. I mean, they like to have things done for them. And a lot of people don’t want to go out and purchase camping equipment because it’s not something they’re going to be doing on a regular basis,” said Klair.

North along Highway 1, Costanoa Lodge in Pescadero might be the epitome of a glamping resort.

“It has more of a resort feel, hotel, campground, mixed use and I think in the onset it kind of boggled the original operator’s sort of mind in ‘what are we’?” said Costanoa Manager, Trevor Bridge.

The kind of place that you can go from camp to glamp in a matter of minutes.

“You can feel like ‘well I’m done with the marshmallows and crackers for now, I’m going to go have some abalone,'” said Bridge.

Experiencing the great outdoors sure has changed; campfires, hiking, pitching a tent…

“20 massage therapists on staff, horseback riding, we have kids camp with face painting, tie-dying,” finished Bridge.

Back to Big Basin where one family has done both, but decided to tent camp on this occasion.

“Tent camping with the girls and the family, it’s getting away from electronics, tv, phone, back to nature,” said Bob, a Camper at Big Basin.

“The girls, they spend all day outside, they love it. About the time that I want to be done they decide they want to live here forever,” said Bob’s Wife, Ranji.

There’s no right or wrong answer to which is better, but this family prefers camping over glamping.

“I like the roughing it and organizing and everything. It’s a little more work, but it’s more rewarding rather than just showing up and having everything done… I like to put the work in and reap the rewards rather than just show up and have the work done for me,” said Bob.

So does that make glampers a group of wimps?

“Wimpy’s kind of a strong word but I would say wimpy, yes. Those that don’t want to put the work and effort in but still say they slept in a tent…but as long as they tell everybody what kind of tent it was,” said Bob.

More importantly, are glampers missing out on the true camping experience?

“You’re still amongst the redwoods and the wildlife and the s’mores and the campfire, you just don’t have a back ache when you’re done camping,” said Klair.

But whether you’re camping of glamping, there’s one universal way to keep the kids happy.

“I like S’mores when we’re camping because you can have chocolate and marshmallows and graham crackers together and I really like that combination,” said Mini Camper Chiara.