Originally Posted by
fourfa
My recollection of CA state hiker-biker sites is that they don't have a max allowed number, ie they don't fill up. This is logical since you can't reserve a spot, there's no way for the park system to know how many people are touring through, and camping anywhere outside the campgrounds is generally illegal in Big Sur.
On busy weekends it might be cramped. But I recall from staying at the H/B in Pfeiffer Big Sur that there's room for maybe 25 tents so I wouldn't worry
When I have been in coastal California hiker biker sites, they were not usually too crowded, but when they were it sometimes was because the campground used regular sites and assigned however many the camp host or ranger deemed necessary. In some cases they really packed us in to allow as many other campers to get sites as possible. In a couple cases I think we ran across a camp host who apparently just hated cyclists and did whatever they could to inconvenience us. They'd pack us in tight even if the sites weren't full Fortunately that was rare.
When three of us were travelling together there was at least once when it was cheaper to pay for a regular site. In Yellowstone they questioned whether we were allowed to stay in a regular site. I insisted that there was no reason they should discriminate against us because we didn't arrive by car. The hemmed and hawed and said something about calling their supervisor. I don't remember if they actually called, but they eventually gave us the site. Also there may be times when you might prefer to be in a regular site. That could mean you'd be displacing a car camper from the last vacancy though.
Not a hiker biker site, but I recall another time/place where they had a "special rate" for cyclists that was per person. It basically meant that the van full of people (two adults and 5 or 6 kids) would pay less that we would (we were on one site in one tent). The guy kept insisting that it was a special rate and he was on our map. We said no thanks, went up the road a ways and were treated like gold at the next place with a real cyclists discount. They apologized that the bunkhouse was rented out and said normally they'd upgrade us to it for no extra fee. They gave us a discount on awesome meals in their dining room. I was sad years later that they were no longer there in the same format and were bought out by someone who changed it to an RV resort.