Best Tent Camping near Aptos, CA

Recent Tent Reviews in Aptos

616 Reviews of 19 Aptos Campgrounds

• 

  Michell C.

  Ranger

  

  Nov. 25, 2024

  Half Moon Bay State Beach Campground

  Very nice beach camping spot

  The atmosphere here is wonderful. It’s quiet and right on the beach. Some RV spaces with hookups back right up to the sand/vegetation. Bathrooms and showers on site. We stayed in a spot without hookups and it was $35 per night. Gate staff was friendly and helpful. No dogs allowed in the beach in the park but a short walk away there is a public beach that is dog friendly, so that was nice for our doggo.

• 

  michael D.

  Guide

  

  Nov. 19, 2024

  Dumbarton Quarry Campground on the Bay

  We liked this extremely clean and well maintained Park.

  We stayed here for 12 days while visiting relatives in the Bay area. This campground, while in the heart of Fremont, feels remote and safe in spite of being close to town. Sites are not huge, but arranged in such a way as to feel private. It is in the Coyote hills regional Park. There are many many trails for hiking and biking, and wildlife is plentiful. Our RV is small and we used the showers and bathrooms quite a bit. They are cleaned daily and we're always in great shape. The laundry is run by an outside organization, and the change machine was always empty, but everything worked well.

• 

  Wendy S.

  Guide

  

  Nov. 18, 2024

  Laguna Seca Recreation Area

  Perfect for our needs!

  We were just traveling through since part of 1 is closed. Found this spot for $51 and it was great. It is hilly, which made it cool to walk around for views. The water is not potable, but bathrooms were very clean and the staff were so kind. There was not a race, but there were some cars running the track the next morning. Which was pretty cool!

• 

  Alana S.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 27, 2024

  Dumbarton Quarry Campground on the Bay

  Great for first time campers

  The staff was amazing. Tent site was spacious. Not too crowded. Clean bathroom and shower. Several trails to walk. Close to town in case we forgot something.

• 

  Amy M.

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 26, 2024

  New Brighton State Beach Campground

  Close to beach, but still in town

  Location is great. Easy access. Noise from the freeway. Heard sirens.

• 

  Amy M.

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 16, 2024

  Sunset State Beach Campground

  Close to beach

  My husband and I love to stay here because of the nice walk to the beach. Restrooms and shower are dated , but clean.

• U

  UT801

  Ranger

  

  Oct. 16, 2024

  Coyote Valley RV Resort

  Buttoned up, formal atmosphere RV resort

  High priced. Nice people at desk. Damon who helped us park was very friendly. Almost entirely high-priced big rigs, some of whom seem settled here but it's clean, 'orderly,' very quiet. Rigid rules keep the order; nice that no political flags/signs allowed. 2 dog parks and lots of grassy areas to take for a walk. Showers in locker-room/bldg, bathrooms nice and clean. Green grass. Also has laundry with 2.50 wash and.25 dry for 8 min. Skunk wandered by site in the night. Cool train sounds from nearby tracks at night. Was probably the most convenient to San Jose, otherwise we likely would've been in mtns. and too far away from town for our needs at the time. Would not be a regular choice for us.

• K

  Korey Y.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 8, 2024

  Salinas-Monterey KOA

  Parking lot with a pool

  Pretty basic place. Level, noisy highway. Very friendly staff clean. I enjoy more of the outdoors so not really my cup of tea. Very narrow spaces.

• 

  Joseph R.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 3, 2024

  San Luis Creek Campground — San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area

  Pretty good camping

  Camping spot was clean and a tall fire pit a good distance from the water and bathroom at site 22. Was hot af was the only issue for us, 103 and the sun just hurt. There were plenty of fish and fishing folks on the shore and boats all were catching.

• 

  Laura M.

  Legend

  

  Sep. 30, 2024

  New Brighton State Beach Campground

  Love it here

  There are a ton of reviews for this place already so I will try to keep it short and only add info that I didn't see mentioned in previous reviews.

  Showers are $0.25 per min ($0.50 min to start).  You don't get to adjust water temp, but it was pleasantly hot. Showers are non-gendered and individual.

  Dump station is no longer free; all California State Parks are charging $10 to dump now, even for campers.  You pay at the dump site with a credit card. There are 4 dump holes and a potable water fill as well.

  We love staying here as it's so convenient to Capitola. We were able to park our RV in Capitola and walk to the shops. We got last minute reservations (it's really hard to book a site here in the summer), but had to move sites in between days, and so we used that 2 hour block between noon checkout and 2pm checkin to drive the RV to Capitola. It seemed like it would have been too much of a hassle to try and get to move to the new spot before checkin, so this worked out fine.

  We love all the state parks along the beach in California, and I'm sure we'll be back at some point.

• 

  Elizabeth S.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 30, 2024

  Sunset State Beach Campground

  Quiet nice views

  Campground is quiet except those who run their generators all day and play the radio loud. It is spread out. (But still close, you do see your neighbors.) The camp ground is between fields and the ocean. Site 25 has amazing views but also can be breezy. Or windy. Old but clean bathrooms with coin showers. Water close to sites.

• 

  Laura M.

  Legend

  

  Sep. 25, 2024

  Medeiros Primitive Campsites — San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area

  Great for a stopover

  This place always comes through for us when we need a quiet place to stay when traveling in the area. It's $20/night, there seems to always be room, and it's always been nice and quiet when we stay here.

  Sites are hit or miss, so drive around until you find one that suits you. One of these days we'll nab one of the sites to the right of the fork when you enter the campground, but they always seem to be taken.

  Good cell reception, pit toilets, trash dumpster (no recycling).

• J

  Jason R.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 20, 2024

  Joseph D Grant County Park - Horse Camp

  Gate closes 8:15pm

  Nice bathrooms no tokens needed, hot water, clean sink for dishes. Lotsa shaded oak spaces. Good trails.

• 

  CJ S.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 8, 2024

  Enchanted Forest Mountain Redwood Retreat

  Not great for the price

  The pictures here are very deceiving. Driving in, the first 4 campsites are occupied by broken down trailers, an overturned couch and broken BBQ pits. We stayed in site #6 which was probably one of the best sites. Great shade and car was able to be parked nearby (you walk down non-maintained "stairs" with rotted tree branches as the steps).  

  Overall, I had high hopes based on the description here especially reading: "Our onsite staff will go around and enforce the rules." but this is clearly a non-maintained campground that was probably very nice 45 years ago. No hiking trails are maintained, the bathrooms are "rustic" which is fine--nice to have running water when you've got little ones to clean. But the floors were rotted and I was afraid we'd step through the floorboards. 

  If you are a true car camper who can lock your doors at night, this is probably the spot for you. Running water, showers and washing machine. If you are a tent camper with small kids like me, this is not where you want to stay. I'm disappointed I paid the price I did to stay here, I'd pay $25/night because this is essentially a parking space in a poorly maintained campground.

• S

  Stacy W.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 8, 2024

  Portola Redwoods State Park Campground

  It sucks. Don’t go there.

  Cold. Foggy. No amenities. Don’t go there.

  -Coastside Local

• 

  Meleny M.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 1, 2024

  Medeiros Primitive Campsites — San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area

  Loud people

  Loud music playing at this hour clearly says quite time is at 10 pm and it’s so loud

• 

  Yihan H.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 31, 2024

  Beach RV Park

  Yeye

  Happy

• 

  Jason M.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 25, 2024

  Gilroy Garlic USA RV Park

  Great Layover

  We had a quick three-day trip here to visit family. The pool is small, yet well-kept and we had it to ourselves every time we went each day. The park was perfect for the kids biking around through the short- and long-term areas.

• K

  Korey Y.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 23, 2024

  Laguna Seca Recreation Area

  Hidden jewel

  No crowds late August. Great staff and price. Views, trees and TRACK. Some air traffic. Quiet.

• E

  Edward F.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 22, 2024

  Basalt Campground — San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area

  It’s currently closed construction and will be closed for few months

  Park is closed for few months according to security officer at the entrance/toll booth.

• 

  Michael O.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 2, 2024

  Saddle Mountain Ranch

  In between camping and glamping, but somehow neither

  So, if you’re looking to be in nature and have a proper camping experience, this ain’t it. If you want a resort style vacation, this isn’t it either… yet somehow it’s a little of both. I wouldn’t recommend tent camping because you’re literally right next to your neighbor camping and isn’t really in the “woods”. Suggest you get a delux tent which includes a bed, fire pit and bbq. That’s why I’ve rated it high because it’s what I needed for one night. Plus the pull and games (corn hill, ping pong) are nice additions. Just know what you’re in for.

• 

  Laura M.

  Legend

  

  Jul. 26, 2024

  Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park Campground

  Gorgeous - and so much poison oak

  This is a gorgeous campground! It's big and it's busy, but the sites are mostly very private and lush and green. Each site has a different configuration, but this place books up fast, so you have to look at photos online and the dimensions of the site and hope it works out.

  We were a little worried when we arrived in our 26ft class c, we worried that we wouldn't make it through the narrow roads and overhanging trees, but we were ok. Not sure that this place would be good for giant rigs though. Getting into our spot was a bit tricky, and when coming out a ranger truck was blocking our road (he was cleaning the bathrooms, I believe), which made leaving very tricky as well.

  There are beautiful hiking trails all over this campground, but there is so much poison oak - everywhere. All over the camp sites, trails to the bathroom, hiking trails, etc, it was everywhere.

  Showers and toilets looked clean, showers are coin operated, $0.50 for 2 min.

  If you arrive before checkin they will have you wait at the day use area several miles away - heads up.

• 

  Vincent B.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 23, 2024

  New Brighton State Beach Campground

  Good spot with availability

  Despite the website showing every site booked, we drove in about 4 pm to a decent number of sites. Entry ranger was available pretty late. Site was $35 I believe, and has paid showers and restrooms. Site had a fire pit, paved parking for a larger vehicle, table and decent amount of shade. Lots of families and lots of kids. Cool weather along the beach, can't ask for much more.

• 

  Chris N.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 21, 2024

  Veteran's Memorial Park Campground

  Affordable Monterey/Carmel Access

  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.

• M

  Monica M.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 9, 2024

  Enchanted Forest Mountain Redwood Retreat

  This was an excellent getaway

  Booked this as a last minute escape from the heat where I live and it didn’t disappoint. Towering Coastal Redwoods provide for tons of shade and really nice campsites. Definitely a dry time of year but there were still some beautiful wildflowers to be seen. There’s a lovely easy trail that takes you to a stream along a mostly shaded path. I imagine that during the spring you’ll get a greater runoff but it was still really nice. Saturday was pretty bust with campers but Sunday was almost all vacant so it felt like I had the whole place to myself and the wildlife showed up. The hosts were communicative and descriptions and directions were great. Zero cell service with Verizon but it was nice to just unplug. I would definitely recommend this one. Happy camping!

• 

  Laura D.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 6, 2024

  Manresa State Beach Campground

  Right on beach!

  First time visiting, We stayed at site 63 for two nights June 30 and July 1st. Sites are very private and seperated by bushes and trees. The loading zone was a short walk to our site. It was an easy 5-7 minute walk down to the beach. Beach was clean and not crowded. Beautiful sunset views. Only complaints are that the bathrooms were filthy. One of the showers wasn’t working and robbed us of $2. They need to put a quarter change machine for coins for the showers. We had to drive to KOA to get change to shower. We will definitely come back !

• L

  Leonard H.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 30, 2024

  Pinto Lake City Park

  Small City Park... Good Option for short and/or Longer Stays

  Small city park with RV Parking on grass between lake and baseball fields.  Sites almost level; however, might need to use a few blocks.  Park was busy with locals using pavilions for birthday and other parties when we visited on a Saturday in June.  Adjacent baseball field was busy on Sunday morning with little league game and parking lot was full.  Cars were being parked in unused RV spots.  Many people were fishing from the shoreline.  Many Candian geese (with poop) were in the dock area and alone the shoreline.  Some ducks made themselves at home in the shade under our RV.  Temperature was considerably cooler versus the very hot temps only a few miles further inland.  Nice that each site has electric / water / sewer hook-ups.  Two rest rooms (one by lake and one by baseball field) were a little dirty due to heavy use.  Unfortunate there are no showers and that you can only walk around perhaps 10% of the lake shoreline.  Quiet at night as they lock the park gate... they give you an access card ($25 deposit req'd) if you need to leave and return after gate is locked at night.  Called and requested my $25 credit after refund was not automatically received a few days later.  Credit was immediately made.  A good option especially if parks along the coast are booked and you want reasonably cool temperatures.  Would stay again.