Best Dog-Friendly Camping near San Jose, CA

Clean, bathrooms near by. Very relaxing and away from San Jose.

Lots of space with bathrooms very accessible.

Hiking and only minutes from San Jose. You feel like your in another world.

Check on-line for calender of fun events (when Covid changes).

Bring your own food and supplies. Because store is back in town, Los Gatos.

There's water and a communal kitchen which they just Re-Did.

Sand and paved Volleyball courts.

The Resturant is seasonal and only weekends.

Clothing Optional around the pool.

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.

Castle Rock State Park is located a few miles from the "Saratoga Gap", which is the junction of Hwy 35 ("Skyline") and Hwy 9.  Road and mountain bikers in the Bay Area will be familiar with this area, and on weekends the parking lot where these highways meet is busy with cyclists starting their rides.  There are two parking lots for this park, the first a few miles past the Saratoga Gap on Hwy 35 south.  This is the main lot where the ranger station is located.  If you have reservations for the hike-in campground, you'll need to stop here first and get a parking pass.  The parking lot for the trail head is just a bit further down Hwy 35.  When I visited it was the offseason and we had to unlock the gate in order to get access to the lot (the ranger gave us the combination to the lock).  I'm not sure if this is the case in the spring/summer/fall.

The campground is about a 2.5mi hike in from the trail head at the parking area. Although there was a fire road at the campgrounds that looked like it maybe could be used to drive in and drop off gear, I didn't see anybody doing it, so be prepared to carry everything on your back.  In other words, don't expect to get a Yeti cooler full of beer out to the campsites.  

The hike itself is great, offering sweeping views of the Santa Cruz mountains and the Pacific ocean to the west.  There's even a waterfall right at the beginning of the hike.  There are a couple of different trails you can take, but the most scenic one IMO is the one that follows a west facing ridge.  There's a couple of spots where you'll need to do some scrambling up the rock faces, but nothing to worry about.  I wouldn't bring a toddler on it, but anybody older should be able to handle it.

The campsites themselves are typical California State Park "primitive" sites.  There are pit toilets, fire rings, and picnic tables.  Fires are increasingly banned in the dry months (i.e most of the year) in California now, but in January, when I was there they were allowed.  Because carrying firewood on the hike would have been a huge effort, the rangers kindly stocked bundles of wood at the main entrance to the campground with an iron ranger for making payment via the honor system. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Although there is a communal water source at the campsite entrance, the water was deemed not safe to drink when I was there, and that had been the case for a while. The water tank apparently needs to be decontaminated.  So, we brought all our water in with us as well as water filters so we could get water from the nearby creeks.  Again, in winter, this isn't a problem. The way the drought has been going for the last decade in all of CA, I'd guess these creeks are running dry by mid May, if not sooner.  If you go in the summer, bring lots of water.

All in all, this is a great getaway for being so close to the megalopolis that is the San Francisco Bay Area.  As the crow flies, you're probably only about 25 miles from San Jose. But you'll feel like you're a lot further away.  And that's the whole point.

Why 4 stars instead of 5?  Please see this explanation of my ratings system.

5 stars - Worth traveling from far distances to visit.  Minimum of 3 night stay recommended in order to fully explore the area. A special place worthy of repeat visits. Example: Yosemite, Tahoe, Plumas

4 stars - Worth visiting if you're in the area as part of a larger trip.  For locals (i.e those within a few hours driving distance), a top tier spot, one that you'll visit regularly, maybe even annually. Example: Pinnacles, Lopez Lake, Lake Sonoma

3 stars - Convenient if you're a local. If coming from out of state, a convenient "home base" for nearby attractions, but not particularly beautiful or scenic itself. Example: Flying Flags RV Resort (Buellton), KOA Petaluma

Under 3 stars - Don't bother. It's an area that's not really worth exploring, or you can find something better in the same area.

This park has mostly long-term residents. It was super quiet, though there was a somewhat noisy road next to us. We were on the first site next to the road, so I suspect it would be a non issue for most of the sites.

The dog park is extremely well-maintained. Beautiful grass, very nice fence, a bench to sit on, water for your pets and plenty of space to run.

There a really nice stream to hike along. And underneath a bridge there are bat houses. We went under there at sundown and watched the bats come out. Strongly recommended!

The lady who runs the place was extremely nice and helpful.

Full hook-ups and relatively large, gravel sites with some shade. However, I needed to raise one wheel about 5 inches and another 2 to get level.

Short drive to downtown Morgan hill or Gilroy. And there’s a Camping World as well.

Pros: Lots of sites. Pretty area. Facilities well maintained. Cons: We stayed here several times because of its proximity to San Jose. Almost every time time, though, it was crowded and noisy. Also there are lots of wild pigs! In my opinion, it’s a last resort campground.

The first time here, we put a table cloth and some small items on the picnic table at our site, then left to run an errand. When we returned, someone else was camping in our spot. :0/  Luckily, there was another spot available so we moved and all was well. Still surprised that someone would do that, though.

We had a very nice stay for a long weekend. The pull through spaces are extremely tight to the point that our slide out was hitting vegetation and our neighbors awning was about two feet from our Rv. But, if you expect that, it’s a great place to stay. Very clean, well maintained, and about a 20 minute walk to the ocean. Decent takeout from the restaurant and great cocktails! Very convenient dog park. We had almost the entire row to ourselves after checkout on Sunday. We will definitely return for the full experience when all restrictions are lifted, but will leave our two big dogs at home as there wasn’t much space for them.

Medium sized campground. Huge roomy sites. Busy little park with lots of vehicles going in and out all the time. Nice walking trail by creek for you and your furry buddy. Dog park was large and ours loved it. Close see to Morgan Hill which is a quaint friendly little town. We made a booking mistake and they were actually able to move some people around to accommodate us. Laundry room was extremely small but clean and functional. They have propane available. Friendly and very helpful staff. Would stay again if in area.

We visited the first week of December 2020.  The staff was helpful and the grounds were well maintained.  Flat easy pull through with full hook-ups.  Definitely in a canyon around the corner from Thousand Trails.  You can see the stars at night and it is a very quiet campground.  We were surprised at all the high-end rigs there, some full-timers.  A nice dog park area and a stroll along the creek - our dog loved it.  They recycle and are very environmentally aware. No pool or playground but lovely nature away from the hustle and bustle of silicon valley.  It is about 6 miles to shopping and many restaurants.  A very easy drive off the highway if you take the Tennant Road exit.

No matter what site you reserve, all the site are amazing! We had #108. Near the bathroom, wash room, garbage dumpsters. The only con was the windy road! I eat sour patch kids to help with getting car sick. Easy to find. The site is pet friendly. You can only walk the dogs at paved areas, no trails. Our dogs still had fun. The redwood trees were amazing! Definitely an experience you will never forget!

this KOA has everything you need. the streets are wide and the pull-ins are easy to access. the Wi-Fi here is good enough to check email but not for streaming or anything intensive. however you can get a good starlink connection and over 100 megabits per second. it is pet friendly and has a store filled with pretty much anything you would need. they also give cookies to guests and treats to dogs.

Lots of activities for kids, convenient location for area attractions, pet friendly. Local roads to the KOA were in pretty bad condition.

This campground is very nice. It’s a good place with large spots, flush toilets, hot coin showers, place for your dish, pet allowed and calm.

We stayed here with our 2 dogs last November as a nice winter getaway from L.A. We got one of the tent cabins, which are just adorable and so cozy. The sites are nice and distanced from each other, bathrooms were in great shape and it was pet friendly. We got a package with the tent cabin that came with bedding, cooking utensils and firewood, so were pretty much set once we got there. The beds are comfy and the wood burning stove (photo attached) is the only source of heat. It is neat but BE WARNED...it gets COLD on those winter nights so make sure you a) have enough wood; b) are good at keeping fires going throughout the night; and c) have lots of dry wood. The wood that was left for us as part of our package was really wet and wouldn't burn so we had a very chilly night even with loads of sleeping bags and blankets. Other than that, we had a great experience and got to take the dogs for a great walk on the paved trails in the State Park. Can't wait to go back!

We rarely make reservations to camp in California Beach Parks, as they are usually filled up weeks or even months in advance. While meeting up with some friends in Half Moon Bay we happened along the campsite and simply enquired if they had an open site for the night. They did, and we ended up staying for 2 nights due to a cancellation.  It never hurts to ask!  

The campsite is a nice quiet stretch of grass, live oak trees, and beach shrubs about 30 vertical feet above the Pacific beach shoreline.  While you get away from the blowing sand, you get to hear the pounding ocean at night. I can’t imagine a more gentle lullaby, frankly. The sites themselves are a little close quarters, but all provide just about enough space for a long camper and a tow/towed vehicle as well.  For a small camper like us, there’s even enough room to have a friend visit. 

The sites offer electrical and water hookups, additionally there is a dump station just as you exit the camping area. Showers and flush toilets are available, but also used by all the beach goers in the area, so you know what they look like....never clean.

The town of Half Moon Bay offers pretty much everything you need in terms of restaurants or grocery stores. Riding your bike, or walking along the path toward town for a well-earned brunch should definitely reach the top of your to-do list while you’re there.  We had brunch at Mavericks Creparie and dinner at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company.  Both are absolutely fantastic!

Beachcombing, sunbathing, swimming, horseback riding, and skim boarding during the warmer months also are great ways to fill up the day. The beach path goes for miles in either direction so you can get some exercise off of the main roads.