We all love roasting marshmallows over a campfire—and you can often still do that while cabin camping in Mendota. Find the best information on cabins near Mendota, including photos, reviews, and tips. You're sure to find the perfect cabin for your California cabin camping excursion.
Pinnacles Campground is located in the unique Pinnacles National Park, 32 miles south of Hollister, California. The park encompasses 26,000 acres of spectacular rock formations and remnants of an extinct 23 million-year old volcano. Hiking and rock climbing are very popular activities in Pinnacles, as is watching for the majestic California condor overhead. Pinnacles National Park is a nesting place for the endangered soaring bird, the largest in North America.
Pinnacles National Park has more than 30 miles of trails, ranging from easy to strenuous. Many trails intersect, allowing for a short loop or a longer all-day hike. Popular destinations include Bear Gulch Reservoir, High Peaks and the Balconies area. The Bench Trail provides direct access to the park from the campground. Visitors enjoy exploring Balconies Cave and Bear Gulch Cave, which houses a large colony of Townsend's big-eared bats. Bring a flashlight! Rock climbers flock to Pinnacles for the variety of climbing routes that range from easy top-ropes to the multi-pitch climbs along Machete Ridge.
Pinnacles National Park has more than 30 miles of trails, ranging from easy to strenuous. Many trails intersect, allowing for a short loop or a longer all-day hike. Popular destinations include Bear Gulch Reservoir, High Peaks and the Balconies area. The Bench Trail provides direct access to the park from the campground. Visitors enjoy exploring Balconies Cave and Bear Gulch Cave, which houses a large colony of Townsend's big-eared bats. Bring a flashlight! Rock climbers flock to Pinnacles for the variety of climbing routes that range from easy top-ropes to the multi-pitch climbs along Machete Ridge.
The campground is situated in a rolling landscape dotted with shady Valley Oak, Blue Oak and Coast Live Oak trees. A gentle, seasonal creek runs through the grounds. Springtime finds Pinnacles bursting with a wide variety of vivid wildflowers that line every trail and fill entire meadows with color. Deer and wild turkeys roam the area, and condors can be viewed from within the campground. The park ranges in elevation from 824 feet along South Chalone Creek to 3,304 feet atop North Chalone Peak.
$129 - $154 / night
Almond Tree Oasis RV Park is only 1 minutes off Highway 5. Easy Off Ramps and On Ramps to and from I-5 Northbound and Southbound.
Flat Pull-Through RV Sites with full hook-up, 30& 50 amp. Free Basic WiFi.
Large Washers and Dryers
2 swimming pools with salt filtration
Shower houses with free hot showers
$53 - $63 / night
A historical resort in central CA that offers 19 therapeutic hot tubs, dry sauna, geo-thermally heated mineral water swimming pool & accommodations. Offering 10 cabins, 2 airstreams, 9 tent sites, and 10 RV sites!
$70 - $185 / night
Stay in a cozy cabin for you and your family and friends or camp in your tent or RV. For horse owners, have your horse in a bedded barn stall, paddock or large pen. Enjoy the Dining Hall with full kitchen, full baths and hot showers. A fire pit and bbq area for gathering with your group. Guided Trail Rides and several arenas available. Come relax and play with or without horses.
Traveler
I didn’t enjoy this campground for years — I’d always drive home, to my cooler coastal home. It is WICKED hot in the summer. But one time, I joined my daughter, who did have a summer reservation, and I changed my mind! They have a pool! The kids are thrilled! There are beautiful tucked away campsites in the shade, by a creek. Really enjoyed cooking in the evenings outside and settling in. By day, of course, the trails are wild, like a moonscape. In spring, it’s a wildflower fantasia.
I was selfishly a little sad when Pinnacles became a national monument, instead of a regional secret. But I’m so glad they got the money, they deserve it! Note: I discovered it because my kids were in rock climbing classes in town, and “this” was the field trip. So exciting to see their first climbing and bouldering outside.
TravelerCampground is fine. Very hot and very dry after June. No camp fires after June bear gulch caves are also closed after June. Seen a ton of wildlife and over all wasn’t very crowded. Great for star gazing.
Traveler
I Van Camped at Mercey Hot Springs for 5 days. When I arrived the nights were hot so I decided to take an AC Cabin #10 where I could park right next to the cabin and slept comfortably. I moved to a RV camp site #5 when the temps at night were a more comfortable mid 60s. I love that the hot tubs are available all night long. It allows for long soaks while star gazing. The therapeutic water is magical some of the best I have found. As soon as you enter the pool or hot tubs you feel the smooth water on your skin. The hot tubs are all oversized privet bath tubs that you fill with mineral water of your desired temperature. This is a completely off the grid resorts that has good energy and tranquil atmosphere. It is very clean with clean bath rooms and showers. When I was there in June 2024 they did not have the restaurant open yet but one looks like it is in the near future. They do have snacks, cold drinks, coffee, ice cream and Ice in the front office for purchase. I took the short hike up the hill to see the solar array, while up there I discovered a most amazing triple Labyrinth circle walk that was very mindful experience. I have never seen such a neat labyrinth as this. Truly an amazing stay, I will be back.
RangerThey have had some flood damage, so repairs are going on. Beautiful spot, great trails, showers, general store. Didn't get to see any condors. I'll stay here again. AT&T was acceptable coverage.
Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because of the maintenance going on, once that is complete it's a 5 Star.
GuideJust driving here was worth the visit, but get out on the trails to really appreciate the diversity.
TravelerBathrooms were a bit of a distance apart. Great views. Very dark at night which is great for star gazing. Good distance from any other stores and the camp store closes promptly at 5.
LegendNot a bad campground, very open. Dry desert area, would not want to come here in July, though it was basically full on a Wednesday.
They have a pool, but it's small. No way am I getting into it with all the potential people. You are in middle of nowhere so they had a decent camp store.
I had a bar of reception but you can also purchase internet if needed.
Spot was not level, so definitely needed blocks. Did see two deer hanging out.
Only a couple of showers but glad they had them. Only two per gender.
ScoutGenerators or vehicles are not allowed to be running anytime any day to recharge phones or any other electrical devices or doing anything without paying for a hookup and too many flies to stay outside enjoying things!
GuideOur camp site was located just by the entry, which was a bit noisy but at least close to toilet and shower. Had a quite dirty pool and a lot of young kids that also were quite noisy. Worst toilet paper so far on our 2 month trip around the US
LegendIt was horribly hot in July, the campground pool was an oasis. Our first time to this unique national park, what a hidden gem!
Guide
It’s hot!! In the summer this place is very hot. However, there are full hookups to run your AC and there are two saltwater pools to jump into. We stopped at this park for one night, twice as a halfway point between southern and northern California. Right off the I-5 freeway next to a Shell and Valero gas station. All sites are pull throughs and we found the gravel to be very level. We did not unhitch for a early morning exit. Bathrooms and showers are cleaned regularly. A rain and windstorm came through in the middle of the night and palm and almond tree leaves were in the pool but by 9am it was cleaned up. The staff is friendly and responsive, and they have a little store that includes some RV supplies such as hoses. Want a quick meal? There is a Baja Fresh and Subway in the Shell gas station next store. Great park to get some shuteye and be refreshed for your next adventure.
TravelerThe camp store was a life saver. We left our tent poles at home but were able to buy some at the camp store. The staff were all friendly and helpful. The pool guy was funny too.
TravelerGreat place, hidden gym. Store and pools hours are dumb. 5pm store and 6pm pool. Showers were great. It had body soap and shampoo. The caves were closed though for 4 stars.
RangerAs a tent, van or Class C camping location, I think this campground would be just fine. This is NOT a campground you want to pull your bump-pull trailer or Class A into. There are no turn arounds. The pads are facing the wrong way for backing in. The loops that the sites are on are rough roads with branches, logs and rocks that make turns damaging to your rig. It's tight back there, people! Go to an RV park outside the park or get a smaller rig. You've been warned.
GuideWe had a reservation for site 59 but did not stay. recreation.gov says that this site can accept trailers with a max of 37 ft and while that may be technically true, I think that could only be accomplished if you could somehow have your trailer carried in and dropped into the site by a helicopter. The loop road around the campsites is simply too tight to back a trailer into this or pretty much any of the other sites along these loops. The actual RV sites are 82-112 so stick to those.
For reference, we have a 30' trailer and tried going at it from both directions, but the road and the bounding trees are just too tight to make the turn without scratching up your truck or trailer. The people in spot 60(right next door) had a tiny R-Pod trailer and said that the only way they could get their trailer into their spot was to make a circle by driving through 59 and then around into 60(technically driving on vegetation that would probably break some NPS rules). We ended up canceling our reservation and driving way back down the road to Thousand Trails San Benito.
Thanks a lot, recreation.gov for the inaccurate information, the frustration, and the wasted time.
TL;DR If you have an RV, do not book into any sites here other than the designated RV sites, which are 82-112.
GuideEDIT: During the last days of our stay, our Southwire surge protector threw an "open ground" error. This is a super dangerous issue than can lead to hot skin on the camper. Maintenance assured me that it was just my new equipment not liking their old wiring...but didn't have an answer when I told him that my surge protector worked at other podiums around the campsite. MAKE SURE YOU'RE USING SURGE PROTECTION WHEN YOU STAY HERE. And have a backup spot in case you can't use their power. We went without heat for big parts of three nights.
We spent almost two weeks in site 112 with 30 amp, a water spigot about 80’ from our inlet, plenty of solar, and a large open space on our left side. Spot was level and plenty room for our 27’ rig and truck. A favorite roosting tree for a couple dozen buzzards was right behind the site. Nice show from them each night.
Two quirks here: first, dump station is free, but requires you grab a key from the camp store during business hours. Budget some extra time waiting in line—the store stays busy. Second, site numbering isn’t clear. You might want to stop by and ask about your site before you roll up. It’s mostly families and retirees here, as you’d expect at any reasonably developed campground.
Plenty of good birding to be had around the campground and adjacent hiking trails, which are flat and easily accessed.
RangerCute little campground, but I imagine it gets pretty warm in the summer due to the lack of tree cover. I love that you can hike from your campsite, and the little river that runs along some of the campsites really creates a wonderful space. Watch out for the raccoons! One little bugger was quite brazen and climbed up on our stuff even with us sitting a few feet away at the campfire.
GuidePlaces fairly clean. Probably 95% semi full timers. Pool was closed and half the washers were broken. Very convenient off highway. Pretty easy booking online the day of stay. I would only do 1 night travel stay, but that's me and it's great for that. Garbage and recycling available.
ScoutBTW you can’t hear the freeway!
Nice people, flat sites
Didn’t use restrooms or showers but close by.
WI-FI was good right up until 5pm or so when people got home/ checked in, then it slowed way down,
Such nice people - we left a pair of glasses in the office while checking in, and by the time we were parked they sent a nice man in a golf cart to our site with the glasses! Above & beyond.
Definitely will stay here again.
LegendGood size sites with table and fire ring. Sandy gravel, fairly level sites. Beautiful setting with active condors in view.
TravelerJust stayed here for a night, easy online reservation, easy campground which has all you need
RangerClean, well maintained, friendly, and easy - perfect place to stop along I-5!
GuideBest friends and I went camping and hiking and I got to paint big! Campsite was clean and shady with some trees near.
GuideProbably 1/2 the sites here are in a wide open lot with no shade. There are several that are nice. Site 55 is basically in the lap of site 54. Neighbors super close. Overall not many bathrooms and services. I am about a 2 min walk from the bathrooms and trash. Super busy place and honestly not sure why this place is a national park. We wouldn’t come here again and would recommend anyone going out of their way to come here.
TravelerWe stopped here for an overnight on our way to Oceanside. Easy in and out. We were able to top off our propane here as well. I will definitely stop here again.
GuideGreat for tent camping and hiking. RV sites have 30 amp hookups. No water or sewer hookups. Dump station was available. RV sites are all gravel and fairly flat. Paying after the store closed at 6pm was an ordeal. Could never make it happen. We tried to log in for 3$ to pay online but it failed and we were never able to connect. Tent sites were secluded, many under shade trees, and well dispersed. Bathrooms were few and far between. Mostly vault toilets. There is a pool that families will enjoy. There is a small store. Walks and hikes are what is available. For a National Park it underwhelmed.
ScoutCampground is well equipped. Has store and pool and ranger station. Group site 129 is awesome and shady which is great as it gets hot there in summer. Great hikes and shuttle service to trail heads.
Cabin camping near Mendota, California, offers a unique blend of relaxation and adventure, with several well-reviewed options that cater to various preferences.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular cabin campsite near Mendota, CA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular cabin campground near Mendota, CA is Pinnacles Campground — Pinnacles National Park with a 4-star rating from 84 reviews.
What is the best site to find cabin camping near Mendota, CA?
TheDyrt.com has all 4 cabin camping locations near Mendota, CA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
