Veteran's Memorial Park Campground

I have family in Monterey, but can't see paying the higher prices for a hotel or home rental when I visit. This location gives you complete access to the beautiful surrounding area at a price that doesn't hurt. Showers, restrooms, tables and fire rings make it really sweet for the family on a light camping adventure. I dry camp a lot, and having the amenities is worth the fees they're asking. Your best bet to get a site is to show up a day or two early, if you can, due to a first come first serve policy for sites. The early bird gets the worm. No reservations can be made.

We were driving thru and needed a place to van camp. Found this location from the dyrt app. The camp site is located on park grounds. If you have little ones they’ll have fun on the playground. Parking was easy to pick for us. There’s also hot showers which is only open from 7AM to 9PM. Someone will turn the water access off outside of those time frames. They will also allow showers with no camping option which is $4. Overall for the stay being only $47, having the options of a hot shower, rest rooms and ability to have a fire pit and the convenience of the Big Sur, makes this site worth it.

Hilltop. Narrow roads. Overpriced.

Simple campground with a decent shower and bathroom. Lots of animals around, both dogs and deer and squirrels. Played the reveille both in the evening and morning.

A bit too expensive for what you get, but a nice location

We arrived around 11 and had no problem finding a camp spot (it is first come first serve)

Really nice campground in Monterey. $50 a night - max. stay 3 nights Self check in worked really well.

We stayed at this campground for three nights and had such a nice and relaxing time. The sites were plenty big for our camper van, the area around our site was clean, bathrooms with showers were old but cleaned on a daily basis, water was plenty warm. The proximity to Monterey was great. An easy walk down to town was maybe a little over a mile. The walk back up to camp was a little more difficult but easy enough. I highly recommend this campground and am looking forward to our next visit.

Interesting fact: there are horn noises played over a loud speaker at 10 pm and 7 am. Neither are loud or jarring, but it was unexpected. Great camping nearby everything we wanted to do. Big sites, and spaced out. Very quiet. No wifi. Reasonably priced for location.

Nice parklike campground run by the City of Monterey. It’s adjacent to a day use area with a big playground and some little hiking trails. You can walk to downtown Monterey’s restaurants and shops from here, about 1-2 miles away. The campground is on a hill though, so you’re going downhill the whole way down and uphill the whole way up. 

Cost is $44/night, plus a $6 surcharge for RVs. Sites are dry camping but there’s a dump station with potable water, free for campers, $12 for non-campers. Showers are free for campers as well! A rarity in California. Showers were clean and had good pressure, but the water was only warm, not hot.  

The website and the signs in the campground say there’s a 21ft vehicle limit. But according to other reviews it seems to be hit or miss if you get called out on it by the rangers. We are in a 26ft class C and decided to go for it and had no issues. I can see why there’s a length limit though, as the roads in the campground are narrow and full of overhanging trees. The drive through town to get to the campground was a little gnarly as well. UPDATE: Ranger spoke with us about the size of our motorhome and didn’t kick us out, but asked us not to come back. Fair enough. He was very nice about it. 

Cell service was really weak in the campground, and the cell booster did not help (this was for both Verizon and ATT). Lots of trees in the campground so our solar panel didn’t get much sun. Also most sites are iffy on flatness, but #30 was ok with levels.

The best part of this campground was its proximity to everything in Monterey. While I had no real attraction to the campground, I also had no complaints.

The campground: Located uphill from the rest of Monterey, the campground has lots of trees and deer. The bathrooms and showers were clean. Fires were prohibited when I visited. The staff were friendly.

The area: There are multiple roads you can use to access the campground; if you have a large RV I'd recommend looking at them ahead of time, because one was curvy and narrow. I had no difficulty navigating it in an SUV. It's a quick trip into downtown Monterey from this campground, and not much longer to the ocean. I really enjoyed driving down to the coast and sitting on a rock watching the sea otters float over the waves. Monterey is a lovely town with plenty of things to do.

Booking: In November, I showed up here pretty late in the evening and had no trouble getting a spot. Just stop at the front and pay once you know where you're staying for the night. It's a little pricier than I'd like for car camping, but I couldn't find anywhere else nearby.

Its a nice and clean campground with enough places under the trees or at the grass.

This place is a mixed bag. First, the good: it is super convenient. Literally minutes from any location in Monterey. It appears to be first come first served. I was able to find a campsite around 6 pm on a Friday night, and there were several other sites available. I was initially hesitant to camp inside the city, but the campground feels safe. There were lots of families around. It was somewhat noisy in the evening but then quieted down at night. The park plays taps at 10 pm to mark the start of quiet hours.

I skipped the crowded bathrooms on the west side of the campground and used the ones down the hill to the east. They were reasonably clean and well lit. The low-flow faucets provide only cold water and must be held down or pressed repeatedly.

My campsite was not ideal. The ground was dry, dusty, and hard packed, making it difficult to drive tent stakes and dirtying the tent besides. There was also a fair bit of garbage lying around, mostly bottle caps but also an abandoned sandal. My site had zero privacy, and it looks like this is the case for most of the other sites. Lastly, the registration fee was considerably higher than at the state parks I visited previously, where the campsites were better.

This spot is located close to all the tourist activities yet you feel secluded and safe. You can hear the barking sea lions in the morning, the waves crashing from afar yet nestled in the trees on the hillside. I’ll be coming back again. It’s first come first served and we had no problem driving in on a Sunday afternoon securing a prime spot.

Great place for only $40 a night. It has all the essentials for your stay. First come, first served. Very clean showers and restrooms! Showers are included in the price. No need to buy annoying tokens. (You can also shower for $3 if you aren’t staying over night). This campsite is located in the middle of Monterey so you aren’t far from all the touristy spots. The campground also has short hikes to a nice view! A lot of deer come out at night so I suggest packing your food away in a container. I suggest checking this place out for yourself.

There were still plenty of spot at 4pm.

Easy checkin, lots of sites available. Bathrooms, showers, and shaded areas a plenty. Be aware, that will be price is $40, not the advertised $30-$35 online. The ranger also makes frequent rounds to be sure that your camping dues were paid.

"Vets'" Park is a campground run by the city of Monterey, Ca. It has a dump station, two bathrooms, one with showers. It also has a playground, picnic area and a group area. Half the sites are in a wooded area & half in the open.

VMCG was recommended by a friend as we were passing through Monterey. We really enjoyed it’s location, nice facilities and friendly host, and appreciated the hike up the stairs right next to the campground. Wonderful place to stay for a night, or even a few days if you’re exploring the Monterey and Carmel area.

This is a great campground near Monterey. Only about 10-15 minutes from downtown. Though you still here the sounds of the city in the early evening, the sounds taper off deeper into the night. First come, first serve and $35/night, you will not find a cheaper place to stay while in Monterey. 3 night max but you can hop to another site and start that clock over again. Clean and some of the sites are surprisingly quiet as there are plenty of trees in the campground.

Close to town, I stay here when attending Cali Roots festival, nice campgrounds. Love coming to Monterey :)

Great campground. Payment is cash or check only. It has flushing toilets, potable water, and a bonus sink for washing your dishes. Showers are available but you have to pay. Sufficient shade on each site. Large grass area available to anyone to use, along with a playground.

This location offers a great sense of primitive camping with commodities here and there. From my understanding, there are two bathrooms, a playground, and a hiking trail. Check in is self serve and easy.

The city is close enough, one can pick up groceries or utilities in less than 10 min.

Overall it was a great camping experience for the price!

Pros: Secluded yet within walking distance of popular tourist areas. Can hear taps played at nearby Fort Ord at 10 pm. It’s magical! Pretty nice sites. Showers available. Cons: No reservations so need to arrive early if camping outside of winter. Bathrooms not the best but convenient and decent.

This first come first serve campground is amazing! It’s only $35 a night with one extra vehicle costing only $9 more. RVs are limited to 25’ and smaller and They don’t have any hookups but a pump out and potable water fill station is available below the lower restrooms by the entrance. Super easy self registration with availability on most weekdays and weekends if you get here before mid afternoon. Oh and They’re are deer on the field every night. Definitely recommend staying here for up to three nights at a time.

My family and I enjoyed a day in Monterey, and we camped here the night. It was very nice! Clean bathrooms, clean warm showers! Friendly neighbors from all around the world. Even saw six deers walking around.

Right in the middle of town, we were there for a quick overnighted on a road trip. Bathrooms were clean, campsite was spacious, but lots of city noise. (Middle of town on a hill)

There's a hefty grade to get up the hill to this campground. It's a nice spot and it has a park and hot showers. It's about a mile to walk into town and it's back down the hill you just drove up. They have a limit of 21 feet for RVs.

Easy access to the town, free showers nice campsite even saw deer

This was my third visit to the park. It’s in a very picturesque location. Close to downtown but you feel secluded at the same time. My only real complaint is that the bathroom is very small and not very clean.

We have camped here many times. The spaces are small but there's a great playground with a large area to run around for the kids. If you're lucky enough to get one of the 8 or so sites along the field the kids can just run and play while we cook dinner, set up camp, etc. It's near the city but far enough out you would never know it when you are there.

It can be noisy at night with cars driving in and out. And despite going on a Tuesday the campground was filled by late afternoon.

Nice spot right near downtown Monterey. I live in the area, but when friends or family come into town, we usually stay here. Sites are first come, first serve, so get there early if you want to camp on a weekend in the summer. Dog friendly, and there is a big lawn area they can run on off leash, as well as a small playground for kids. There is access to a few hiking trails as well.

One thing to note is that in the dry season they do not allow campfires. If that's a deal breaker for you, call ahead of time and double check whether or not they ate allowed when you want to camp.

Overall, it's a fun, cheap alternative to the overpriced hotels in Monterey and only about a 10 minute drive from downtown.