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Wangtao L.
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TravelerDel Valle Campground — East Bay Regional Park District
It’s good. But not too memorable.
Equestrian Camping near Loma Mar, CA
1 campground with availability this weekend
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Joseph D Grant County Park - Horse Camp in San Jose offers dedicated equestrian facilities within Santa Clara County. The campground provides primitive campsites with amenities including potable water, toilets, hot showers, and picnic tables. Horse owners have access to specific areas designed for equine guests, with camping spots that accommodate both horses and riders. The park enforces a strict gate closure policy at 8:15 PM. Beautiful views of Mt. Hamilton and nearby hiking trails make this a popular destination for those seeking outdoor recreation with their horses. The campground is known for its large, clean sites situated near oak trees that provide ample shade.
The extensive trail system within the park offers multiple riding routes suitable for various skill levels. Trails connect to scenic viewpoints and eventually lead to a lake located a short distance from the main campground area. Equestrian campers should note that the campground requires reservations, and sites are available year-round. Facilities include fire rings, and firewood is available for purchase on-site. The park features a historic ranch house and museum that showcases the property's history. Wildlife sightings are common throughout the park, including occasional wild pigs in certain seasons. While the sites are primitive, the natural setting and trail access make this an appealing destination for those seeking equestrian camping opportunities near the Bay Area.
Best Equestrian Campgrounds near Loma Mar (15)
1. Anthony Chabot Regional Park
"Anthony Chabot Campgrounds sits high up on the Castro Valley Hills overlooking Lake Chabot. There are several awesome hiking trails going down to the lake as well as some equestrian trails."
"as usual some spots are better than others but most close to restrooms and/or water. lots of poison oak and star thistle right off trail. great deterrent for kids to stay out of tick areas but id worry"
Check AvailabilityCampground full this weekend
Get a text when availablefrom $25 - $200 / night
2. Del Valle Campground — East Bay Regional Park District
"This hidden gem hides behind the vineyard crested mountain range just due south of Livermore."
"Campsite amenities were great, easy access to water and bathrooms. Bathrooms were spotless the whole weekend, even though it was a holiday weekend and every site was booked."
Check Availabilityfrom $15 - $200 / night
3. Sunol
"I have never camped here but hiked many trails."
Check AvailabilityCampground full this weekend
Get a text when available4. Coe Ranch Campground — Henry W. Coe State Park
"This is a primitive campground, no showers only vault toilets and restroom near visitor center ( 2 min walk from campground) both decently clean. Water for washing dishes is available."
"There is a small visitor center close to the entrance, with a few souvenirs and some snacks and drinks. Visitor Center only takes cash."
Check AvailabilityCampground full this weekend
Get a text when availablefrom $20 / night
5. Alameda County Fairgrounds RV Park
"The Fairview RV Park is a great Bay Area location easy to find right off hwy 680, in the Alameda county fairgrounds. The staff are all pleasant to work with and the park and facilities are clean."
"If the Alameda Fairgrounds are having an event, you can't beat this location, it's on the property."
6. Joseph D Grant County Park - Horse Camp
"Hamilton and a lake up the road a way, there’s also a mansion & rose garden on the property, shower & bathroom are clean, there are nights to gather and stargaze.The tent spaces are sizable &"
"Good trails."
Check Availabilityfrom $15 - $400 / night
7. Joseph D. Grant County Park
"The bathrooms were a short walk down hill. They were clean with flushing toilets. There camp ground was quiet and it was mostly couples or small family groups."
8. Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park
"The lake is closed to any and all water-craft because the water level is too low. It is very clean and well maintained for the most part. Cell phone service for Xfinity/Verizon is spotty at best."
"Campsites are along the beautiful Coyote lake. The lakeside sites are mostly shaded as are the sites along the road. Sites 43, 44 and 45 would be the most secluded."
Check Availabilityfrom $34 / night
9. Grant County Park
"Clean, bathrooms near by. Very relaxing and away from San Jose."
10. Salinas-Monterey KOA
"Close to the highway with a fairly easy on and off the although it's a little confusing at first. All day/night highway noise but it starts to become white noise after a while."
"The location is very secluded as bd far from stores but fairly close to the sea. Have visited a few time and enjoy the stay. Not many issues. I’m looking forward to the Upgrades!"
Drive Time
- 49 min from Santa Cruz, CA
- 1 hr from San Jose, CA
- 1 hr 4 min from San Francisco, CA
- 1 hr 27 min from Salinas, CA
Equestrian Camping Reviews near Loma Mar, CA
119 Reviews of 15 Loma Mar Campgrounds
- WWangtao L.Traveler
Anthony Chabot Regional Park
Great site! We have camped here more than any other sites in the Bay Area. Clean bathroom
- TTwindaddy
GuideDel Valle Campground — East Bay Regional Park District
East Bay Parks - IYKYK
Like most/all east bay parks, this is well appointed for the masses. It’s also surrounded by rolling hills and close to suburbia. For many, these are positives. As an east bay resident they are for me as well. Del Valle is a bit more removed than many east bay parks. From my location in Fremont, it’s a one hour drive. A pleasant drive for the most part. I camp to get away for a bit and almost always to mountain bike. As such, I seek parks that have trails. Del Valle has a map of many trails. They also appear on many of the mapping services used by mountain bikers. Review those and digest them if this is also your intention - these are east bay parka style trails. In other words, mostly steep and loose fire roads, with many “social trails” sprinkled between. If you are compelled to stay legit/legal trails, bring an ebike. Now on to the camping. I picked a spot as far removed from any booked spot on the map. I triple checked this up until the day before I arrived. I want solitude! When I arrived Thursday afternoon, I was surprised to see the sites just 3 spaces away, on both sides, occupied. This is a fairly compact area. And while I’m sure they’re lovely folks, this isn’t what I expected on a Thursday. Saturday? Sure. Anyway… be aware that these reservation services aren’t completely reliable in that regard. The bathrooms and showers are amazing! Clean, smell good, cared for. Noteworthy is the hot showers in the camp grounds are free and your one push of the button provides water for two minutes I'd guess. Very nice! The space, 135 for me, is okay. A couple trees for shade, a nice table and fire pit. It’s now dark and the noise is minimal - mostly from the group campsite just down the hill. I’ll update this with more details in the coming days since it’s a 4 day visit.
Update 1: it’s my first morning here. Using starlink as there is no cell signal to be found. What I noticed last night was that this park is directly below the flight path to the local airports. Every couple minutes last night, a plane would fly overhead. According to flight aware, they’re at about 10,000 feet. If this will ruin your getaway, you’ve been warned.
Update 2: On Friday night, the majority of the spots were filled. Many large groups of people with varying degrees of consideration, but to their credit almost all (except the barking German Shepard) were quiet by 10PM. It was a bit more crowded come Saturday morning. Some friends came to visit for a mountain bike ride, and we set off at about noon. I had been complimentary of the facilities and bragged that I'd be taking a nice shower after our ride. Unfortunately, upon our return, there was no hot water and no lighting in the showers. And, sadly, someone decided to remove the tags and hangers from their TJ Maxx haul and leave them all over the floor of two of the showers.
Verdict: I'd only come back here in the springtime when it's likely to be green and have some water in the arroyo and only during the week. The density and composition of the people here was akin to being at Costco on a Saturday, and I only did that once.
Stuart K.
LegendLas Trampas Regional Wilderness
Come for the Solitude & Stay for Those Ridgeline Views
Las Trampas is one of those wonderfully odd camping experiences that almost feels like you’ve discovered something you weren’t supposed to know about. Despite sitting on the doorstep of Danville and San Ramon, this 6,050-acre preserve quickly trades suburbia for steep ridges, oak woodland, grasslands and some terrific views across the East Bay. And camping here is decidedly primitive: the Corral Area is a single reservable group campsite for 17–50 people, rather than a conventional campground with individual sites. That means lots of privacy, lots of space and very little resembling a traditional developed campground.
While my earlier review goes into considerably more detail, I thought I’d revisit this campground with a quick topline of HIGHLIGHTS and LOWLIGHTS - along with a fresh batch of photos.
HIGHLIGHTS: (1) Remarkable feeling of seclusion considering you’re only minutes from the suburban East Bay, with Oakland lying just beyond; (2) Having essentially one primitive group camping area makes this feel more like your own private campground than a conventional campsite; (3) Picnic tables, BBQs, food-storage box and a drinking-water spigot provide just enough infrastructure without spoiling the primitive experience; (4) Direct access to a huge trail network with Rocky Ridge reaching 2,024 feet and panoramic views toward Mt. Diablo and the surrounding valleys; and (5) Abundant wildlife, seasonal wildflowers, grazing cattle and those beautiful rolling East Bay hills make the setting the real amenity here.
LOWLIGHTS: (1) This is group camping only, with a 17-person minimum, so it simply doesn’t work for a couple or small family looking for an ordinary campsite; (2) No hookups, showers or flush toilets - here, primitive means primitive; (3) Water at the campsite should be considered unreliable, so bring your own rather than betting the weekend on the spigot; and (4) Many of the best trails are steep, exposed and short on shade, which can make hot-weather hiking considerably more strenuous than the beautiful scenery initially suggests.
Insider’s Tip: Bring more water than you think you’ll need and make time for a ridge hike. Las Trampas is one of those places where climbing a few hundred feet completely changes your perspective especially when the suburban Bay Area seemingly disappears beneath you, which is precisely what makes camping here so unexpectedly special.
Happy Camping!
Chris C.GuideJoseph D. Grant County Park
Pleasant!
Very nice for a one night stop. Very windy road to get to the park. Sites are well kept and have a solid amount of room. Super clean bathrooms and good free showers. Lots of wildlife to see and hear (coyotes). Didn’t get 5 starts cause it was quite busy with loud neighbors!
Chia-Chia W.GuideJoseph D. Grant County Park
3.5/5 – Arriving Next Day is Okay
Called on 7/14/26, they said "we won't cancel any reservation due to arriving late or next day"
- TTheodora G.Traveler
Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park
Turkeys and hills
Very reasonable $36 per night for rv hookup. Off season is cheaper and less crowded. Turkeys and deer. There are wild pigs, but I haven’t seen any. Bathrooms are clean, showers are free. I had several sites to choose from when I arrived-without a reservation.
- LLGuide
Coe Ranch Campground — Henry W. Coe State Park
Nice little campground
Coe Ranch Campground is small, clean, and well run, with plenty of nearby toilets and garbage cans. Sites aren’t terribly private but not too close together either. Some reviewers complained there wasn’t a level site in the whole campground but Site 13 was perfectly level for our truck camper down at the bottom. Maybe research your options here and on CampsitePhotos.com beforehand to see if they fit your style of camping. (The more exposed sites and the two sites by the bathrooms wouldn’t work for me.) Views are excellent from the campground parking lot, as well as from some sites, although those sites have little privacy. It’s a twisty 13-mile drive up to the campground but worth the effort if you’re looking for a quiet getaway for the weekend. Coe SP has miles of beautiful trails, loads of wildlife, and hike-in campsites that make a stay worthwhile, even if you decide the campground isn’t for you.
- HHelen F.Guide
Anthony Chabot Regional Park
Lovely site, really close to San Francisco!
On visiting San Francisco we were looking for a site that wasn’t a car park. This really met the mark! Beautiful place with great sites. Nice picnic tables & fire pits! Was very quiet
Guide to Loma Mar
Joseph D Grant County Park offers extensive equestrian camping opportunities 15 miles east of San Jose. The equestrian camping area provides dedicated spaces for horse owners with sites that accommodate trailers. Located near Mt. Hamilton at 2,500 feet elevation, the park spans over 10,000 acres of oak woodland. Temperatures vary seasonally, with summer highs reaching 90°F and winter temperatures dropping to near freezing at night.
What to do
Trail riding: Multiple trail routes connect directly from the campground through oak-studded hills. At Anthony Chabot Regional Park, campers note "There are trails running throughout the park and around the lake that are a mix of wider open trails and narrower, through the woods, but groomed trails with plenty of up and down to make for a good hike." The extensive network offers options for riders of all experience levels.
Wildlife viewing: Early mornings are optimal for spotting native animals. "Lots of birds and wildlife–beware says the sign...all the signs, but I mostly only saw turkeys and a few water birds," reports one visitor to Anthony Chabot. At Del Valle Campground, campers observe "incredible wildlife views" throughout the property.
Historic sites: Visit the historic ranch house and museum on weekends from 10am-4pm. Learn about early California ranching and the property's past. The museum displays period furniture and agricultural tools from the 1800s. "There is an interesting Ranch House and Museum that showcases the life of Joseph Grant and his offspring, with many eccentric and macabre details of their history in the area," notes one camper.
What campers like
Clean facilities: Hot showers and well-maintained restrooms receive consistent praise. At Joseph D Grant County Park, a visitor notes "The bathrooms were a short walk down hill. They were clean with flushing toilets." Another adds, "Camp host was friendly. They also sell ice which was nice to grab for the cooler."
Privacy between sites: The campground layout provides adequate space between camping areas. "We had a great site and there was no one on either side of us," mentions a camper at Joseph D Grant County Park. This differs from more crowded campgrounds in the region.
Seasonal wildflower displays: Spring brings colorful wildflower blooms to the hillsides. At Henry W Coe State Park, which shares similar terrain with Grant County Park, a visitor notes "beautiful wildflower displays in March and April, and also numerous opportunities for enjoying the beauty of the plants and wildlife seen along the hiking trails."
What you should know
Gate closure times: The front gate closes strictly at 8:15pm. Late arrivals cannot enter the campground after this time. "Beautiful park with hiking, great views of Mt. Hamilton and a lake up the road a way," one camper notes, but adds you must be aware of the gate closure policy.
Wildlife precautions: Store food properly to avoid attracting wildlife, particularly wild pigs. At Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park, a nearby park with similar wildlife issues, a camper advises "There are food lockers since wild pigs come out at night. Be sure to lock all food up! They will roam through the camp ground all through the night if anyone has left any food out."
Limited cell service: Most providers have poor or no reception in the campground. A visitor notes "No internet" at one of the nearby parks. Prepare for limited connectivity during your stay.
Water availability: While potable water is available, during drought conditions some spigots may be turned off. Bring additional water containers if camping during dry periods.
Tips for camping with families
Plan for varied temperatures: Pack layers for all family members. Daytime temperatures can reach the 90s in summer while evenings can drop significantly. A camper at Sunol Regional Wilderness notes the area can be "hot now" in summer months.
Kid-friendly exploration: The meadows near the campground provide safe spaces for children to explore. Short, flat trails suitable for young hikers start directly from the camping area. "Plenty of room for kids to run around," notes a visitor to a nearby park.
Wildlife education opportunities: Bring binoculars for bird watching and wildlife spotting. Morning hours offer the best chance to observe deer, turkeys, and numerous bird species. "The woodpeckers were busy storing acorns," notes a camper who visited in November.
Allow extra travel time: The winding mountain roads to reach the campground can take longer than GPS estimates suggest. A visitor advises, "The road in is fairly winding with a bit of a drop down the cliff. If you're heading in at dusk or dawn, go slow. You will see deer stepping through the road."
Tips from RVers
Limited hookup options: Only a few sites accommodate larger RVs, and none offer full hookups. Water is available at central locations throughout the campground. Prepare to dry camp and manage resources accordingly.
Site selection for leveling: Choose sites carefully as terrain is uneven. At some nearby parks like Henry W Coe State Park, campers note "if you do not have an adequately thick sleeping pad, the ground may be uncomfortably hard to sleep on." Similar conditions exist at Grant County Park, so bring leveling blocks and stabilizers.
Generator restrictions: Observe noise limitations and generator hours, which are typically 8am-10am and 5pm-7pm. The quiet atmosphere is valued by all campers. "The campground was quiet and it was mostly couples or small family groups," notes a visitor.
Frequently Asked Questions
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campsite near Loma Mar, CA?
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Loma Mar, CA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Loma Mar, CA is Anthony Chabot Regional Park with a 4.6-star rating from 30 reviews.
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equestrian camping near
Loma Mar, CA?
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Loma Mar, CA?
TheDyrt.com has all 15 equestrian camping locations near Loma Mar, CA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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