Getting your
Trinity Audioplayer ready...MARINA – The May revision of the 2026-27 state budget includes an increase of $3.6 million for operations of the Fort Ord Dunes Campground. The increase comes as part of the the Outdoors for All initiative, which aims to give equitable outdoor access to all Californians.
“Every Californian should have an opportunity to swim in a lake or ocean, marvel at nature, or simply spend time in a nearby park,” says the budget summary. “These experiences should be available to everyone, regardless of background, location or income.”
Construction on the campground off Highway 1 began in June 2025 and is expected to be finished in another year. Once complete, the campground will include 98 new campsites total, including four accessible RV campsites, two accessible traditional campsites, two accessible traditional double family sites, two accessible hike/bike campsites and accessible restrooms and showers.
The project lies just off Highway 1, but is conscious of not disrupting the landscape, sitting largely outside of the “viewshed” from the highway and including a 200 foot “wildlife corridor.” It will take up 130 acres total, 17 of which will undergo development.
The campground will include beach access via an elevated structure, allowing visitors to access the beach without damaging the dunes.
It will also feature more developed structures like an overlook providing a view of old Fort Ord, Monterey Bay and the cities of Monterey, Seaside, Marina and Sand City, a visitor’s center connected to the trails and campground, and an “interpretive walk” containing information on the history, culture and land including Indigenous Tribal ancestral lands and the African-American history of Fort Ord. Another will walk along the front of the bunkers and provide information on the camps military history.
The approximately $33 million campground project is funded by Proposition 84, the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006.