Best Campgrounds near San Carlos, CA

My wife and I have stayed at this campground three years in a row. It's a great place to use as a basecamp for exploring the myriad of hiking trails that exist in the redwoods and nearby coastal hikes. 

         The Pros

• The staff does an excellent job at keeping the place spotless and cleaning  the bathrooms and showers. 
• There is a camp store should you forget some essentials.  Even Wifi for the phone addicts at the main office.
• Ample trash and recycling bins within easy walking distance.
• The water out of the spigot is great fresh tasting drinking water.(Ive been to campgrounds where the water was not near as good as this place)
• Most every campsite is going to be in deep shade during the day, which is nice in summertime. 
• Coastal hiking trails are a few minutes drive from the campground, choosing your daily adventure of which trails to hike and beaches to visit is the best part of coming here.

           The Cons

• I like camping miles away from people and not seeing or hearing them. It's just not possible in campgrounds. This campground can be tightly packed at times with a neighbors tent pitched just 20-30 feet away. 

• It can get very noisy at times, caterwauling drunks, people scream talking late at night etc. Usually its dies down around 11pm. 

Despite the noise and close proximity to other tents I still plan on coming to this campground in future years. The beauty and greenery, and hundreds of miles of hiking trails make this place and the surrounding area a real natural treasure.

Midweek in June the park, which is fairly large, is still nearly empty. The sites are fairly close to each other, which matters because one of the other campers is right next to mine (46) and doesn't understand basic camp etiquettes like not using generators all night or letting their dog wonder through other sites and the bathroom areas off-leash. Still the campsites all have decent views–though best ones abut the lake on the map. They look close to the lake on the map but they are actually way up high above it. 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.

Lots of birds and wildlife–beware says the sign...all the signs, but I mostly only saw turkeys and a few water birds. Because the camp was empty, I moved over to site 56 when it was clear my neighbor was a camp d-bag. It was a pull through with a downhill slope in the site but not in the drive. The views and solitude over here were great with the setting sun through the trees, and the knowledge that the Bay in the distance.

There were a few other weird vibes in the park, namely some e-bikers charging up phones at the bathroom drinking 40s and smoking joints, while watching very loud sitcoms on the charging phones. They seemed mostly harmless, and were gone well before dark.

The warm waters* of Lake Chabot was beautiful and tempting as a siren, but don't touch it, or let your dog touch it, unless you want to get mutated like the Ninja Turtles...

Actually, that is a bad example. That would be awesome. The water will make you sick or your (or your pets) skin break out in a real not fun way. It is toxic. It will not make you a Ninja Turtle.

The showers were great. Hot and FREE!

Finally, this is a well-kept park with proactive rangers only limited by their working hours, and despite it being quite accessible to Oakland, the park felt like camping in the wilderness, even though I could hear cheers echoing through the canyon from a graduation somewhere below.

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.

*I don't know if it was warm. I didn't touch it.

Pantoll would be one of my favorite campgrounds of all time if not for the noise levels. One would think that quiet time would be respected in a backpackers campground, but not here. This is a major party campground, especially in summer. Don't let the fact that it's behind a ranger station fool you-- they clock out by 10pm, and if you have an issue after that, good luck. Last time I camped here the dude on the site next to me would not stop pointing his light into my tent. I was in my 1 person backpacking tent with the rainfly off. So irritating. But the campground itself is so beautiful. It's just a few miles uphill from Muir Woods, and you don't need additional reservations to hike in from the campground. Like Bootjack this is a first come first serve tent only campground. Pantoll is closer to Cardiac Point and more trails. You could hike pretty much anywhere in Mt. Tam from here. No camp hosts but the Rangers are available from about 9-5, some of my favorite rangers outside Yosemite. Wifi is available at the ranger station.

This is one of my favorite campgrounds I've ever camped at. Bootjack is a tent only, walk in campground. You park your car in the parking lot, and then carry your stuff uphill to your site. The site closest to the bottom is reserved for disabled. Many of the sites feature beautiful historic stone grills. Some of the sites are two levels. Many are next to the creek. It's usually quiet and peaceful. Pantoll Ranger Station is only .4 miles away and there are endless hiking opportunities from there. This campground is first come first serve only. Maximum stay 14 nights per year. The only major downside is there is no camp host. Rangers come through once per morning to power wash the restrooms.