Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Santa Clara, CA

Mount Madonna County Park has 4 campgrounds. I've been camping in this park since the late 70s. I've seen some changes over the years...ahem...decades. There's something for everyone here, RVers, tenters, and those who want to rent tent cabins. There are plenty of trails to hike, as well as equestrian trails. No bikes on trails though.

There are several micro climates in this area and temps can vary, besides our weather varies from day to day.

There are trails offering views of the Santa Clara Valley, and trails offering views of the Monterey Bay. The park is above the fog line (most of the year). We don't get rain in the summer here. The park is situated at the County lines of Santa Clara County and Santa Cruz County and is part of the Santa Clara County Parks system.

No stores or markets in the park, but you can easily run into town, either Watsonville or Gilroy. It's slightly closer to Watsonville where you will find a gas station/market on 152 (Currently a Valero), or go into Gilroy on 152 for Safeway and more.

There's a small cabin (ranger's station) with a history exhibit and the white reindeer up from the kiosk. My favorite campground in the park is the Tan Oak campground at the top and through the day use area. There are plenty of Geocaches on the trails.

The bathrooms are generally clean. I say generally because I prefer the off season when I have the campground to myself and the bathrooms are super clean, but when the campground is full, like any public bathroom they can need more attention. (Or maybe people just need to clean up after themselves) I've never used the showers, nor the tent cabins. I like the sites because overall they are separated by trees so you don't feel as crowded as more open campgrounds.

Despite signage warning of mountain lions, I have never encountered a single one in all the years of camping here. I've had raccoons and skunks (so lock up your food and belongings), turkeys and deer.

Weekends, especially a holiday weekend such as Memorial Day weekend, can be full. (Not my favorite) I have also stayed for the 4th of July when it fell midweek and had the campground (Tan Oak) literally to myself.

Leashed pets are allowed (2 per site) and 2 cars and 8 people per site.

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.

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.

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.

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.

First let me say RV parks are my least favorite places to stay, thus 4 stars. But when a heatwave comes through I need hookups for AC. I stayed 2 nights. Very clean grounds. Several shade trees. Lots of little kids. Wi-Fi was great. Could work and stream TV. Facilities (bathrooms and showers) were nice. Pool was wonderful. Staff were super friendly. Gave my dog a treat! Lots of dogs. Tiny dog park, gravel, but grassy areas around too. Right behind shopping center with Walmart, Target, Lowe's and much more. Only negatives were, even though it was a week after the 4th of July, both nights someone was shooting fireworks, sounded like in the park, so my poor dog was terrified. It also smelled like sewage. Someone said Gilroy often has a bad smell. My spot wasn't too bad but my sewer line was right in front of this other camper's front door. I was backed up inches from their slide-out. Rates were reasonable, considering full hookups, a pool and the Wi-Fi. I'd stay again if I'm in that area.