Welcom​e to Uvas Canyon County Park. This lushly wooded park of 1,147 acres, is nestled in upper Uvas Canyon on the eastern side of the Santa Cruz

Mountains. This mountain park offers hiking, camping and picnicking opportunities throughout most of the year. Enjoy your visit today and return often to experience the many features of Uvas Canyon County Park.

Uvas Canyon County Park

A nice small campground nestled in the eastern side of Santa Cruz Mountains, west of Morgan Hill, easily accessible off of Highway 101\. Short hikes along the Uvas Creek and Swanson creek are right next to the campground. Trails are narrow and steep at some places but mostly shaded. Small waterfalls are the highlights of the trail, but kids will enjoy playing in the water on hot days. The 25-site campground is relatively small, so camp sites are not big. That means this may not be for campers who like more privacy or quietness. Reservations are required. Very family friendly so expect it to be crowded on weekends and a level of noise and foot traffic by your site as well. Saw mostly tent campers and some pop-up trailers. Not sure if it can handle longer recreational vehicles and the road leading to the campground itself is quite narrow. If you plan to sleep in your car, you may want to take leveling blocks as I found the car parking spot to be not leveled at all. Well maintained/clean facilities. Restrooms and showers were clean, and some even have baby changing stations. Park ranger and County Maintenance's presence was there periodically to pick up trash and to clean facilities, etc. A little buggy in the afternoon and found some mosquitoes so take bug spray. Lots of birds. Good to be disconnected, but if needed, Verizon cell service worked at the campground. As of June 30th, camp fire is still allowed in the pits. As a fan of quiet camping, I would recommend this campground for a week day get away where you can enjoy more quiet surroundings and its nature sounds.

Nice little campground in the woodsy canyon

Getting there: From San Jose it took me about 40 minutes. The road is windy, narrow, and not for the car sick. Be prepared to pay $6 for parking.

Campsites: The campsites are nicely maintained. Plenty of area to pitch a tent, all the sites have a BBQ, fire pit, and picnic table. The sites are close together to maybe bring ear plugs in case you have loud neighbors. 

The Park: Really pretty, really small. I would say in 1 full day you can explore 100% of this park. No need to make an entire weekend out of this place when you can do all of the pretty stuff in just a few hours. 

What to do: Go see the waterfalls. With the current California drought all of the falls were at little more than a trickle but still something to see. To hike to each fall it's about 6ish miles with just a few hundred feet of total elevation gain. The trails are large and well defined for an very entry level experience. 

Uvas Canyon County Park https://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/parkfinder/pages/uvascanyon.aspx is located about 15 miles west of Gilroy, on the east side of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Get any supplies you will need before you head out, as it is a long, winding drive to the campground and there is no cell service (at least for ATT) when you are there. The ranger does sell firewood though. Each campsite has a picnic table, storage locker and firepit/grill combo, but some campsites are much larger and more private than others. There are also clean bathrooms and showers, and drinking water available throughout the campground. It is tucked back in a canyon so once the sun goes down it can get cold quickly. The website above has a link to a map of the campground, as well as the trail network that runs through the park. Generally, the campsites on the outside of the loop will be larger and more private. There are a number of trailheads that start in the campground, or close by, that lead you to a collection of waterfalls and streams, and I highly recommend doing at least the waterfall loop, if not taking a whole day and exploring all the trails. Only downside is you can't get in the streams. It is a great campground, and even though you aren't far from the madness of Silicon Valley, it is quiet, peaceful and very beautiful.

Hiking and Waterfalls

During less crowded times (winter) this campground is one of the best. Extremely beautiful &amp; peaceful surroundings. Lots of trees. Rock walls heavy with moss. Facilities well constructed and maintained. Off the beaten path. Once we were the only campers there. Heaven! However when the campground is filled, it’s noisy and there’s no privacy.

There are hiking trails that we haven't yet had time to explore.

Lovely area 

This is a great spot for people looking to get away and camp but not trying to drive for 3-4 hours to do so.

Made a reservation night-of on a Friday, wasn’t going to make it there before sunset, so I called and they gave me a gate code in case the gate is closed by the time we arrived.

There’s 25 camp sites, and some are quite close together. We camp in a roof top tent and wish we had been more selective on our site, as parking space and the incline at each site are different. We were on a bit of a slope and quite a ways away from the fire pit and picnic table at our spot. The bathrooms, shower, and water access are great. Garbage cans will be super close by your site no matter which spot you pick.

If you have a roof top tent, we scoped out a few sites which are more flat, and also have the picnic table near the parking spot. They are: 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 12.

I highly recommend the Creek Trail by the campsite if you are here in Fall, it’s magical! 

A close and easy spot for Bay Area campers

Pretty camp ground, large spots. Bathrooms and shower. 

Good time

This place is clean and family friendly. There were many families with small children. Many waterfalls along the trail. 

The sites are a bit close to each other. You will want to bring insect repellent in the summer.

The camp host is super friendly and helpful.  

Family friendly site with scenic trail

The campsites are nice with lots of shade.  There's little separation between adjacent campsites- it's nice if you are in a group.  The campsites and bathrooms are well maintained, and the camp host sells firewood.

The campground map shows a creek, but there is a pretty steep drop between the campsites and the creek so it's not something you can play in easily.

We went in April and there weren't many bugs.

We had good Verizon coverage and there is wifi at the bathrooms.