Looking for the best Santa Clara pet-friendly camping? With The Dyrt, it's easy to find campgrounds near Santa Clara that allow pets. These scenic and easy-to-reach Santa Clara campsites are perfect for camping with dogs.
$7 - $35 / night
CAMPGROUND CLOSED DUE TO FIRE:
Public access to Big Basin has been severely impacted by the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire and ongoing fire recovery work, but the park is now open for limited day-use access. Reservations for parking are not required, but are encouraged due to the limited amount of first-come, first-served parking available. Reserve a parking space. The parking fee is $6 per vehicle plus a $2 reservation fee or $10 per vehicle without a reservation. No reservations or fees are required for visitors arriving by foot, bike, or bus. Read the FAQs for more information on the reservation system and visiting Big Basin.
Established in 1902, Big Basin Redwoods is California’s oldest state park. In the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Big Basin camping's biggest attractions—literally—are its ancient coast redwoods. Some of these giants are more than 50 feet around and as tall as the Statue of Liberty. At 1,000 to 1,800 years old, some may predate the Roman Empire. The park also offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean, lush waterfalls, and a fascinating natural and cultural history.
The park has more than 80 miles of trails. Some of these trails link Big Basin to Castle Rock State Park and the eastern reaches of the Santa Cruz range. The Skyline to the Sea Trail threads its way through the park along Waddell Creek to the beach and adjacent Theodore J. Hoover Natural Preserve, a freshwater marsh.
The park has a number of waterfalls, a variety of habitats (from lush canyon bottoms to sparse chaparral-covered slopes), many animals (deer, raccoons, bobcats) and lots of bird life—including Steller’s jays, egrets, herons and California woodpeckers.
$35 / night
New Brighton State Beach is one of the most popular beachfront campgrounds in California, offering over 100 developed campsites, including 11 RV hookup sites. With bluff top views of the the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary, a visitor center museum, shade ramada for group picnics and special events, and campfire center with free summer programs, it’s no wonder New Brighton State Beach is such a favorite destination!
$35 - $185 / night
$33 / night
Anthony Chabot Family Campground, overlooking Lake Chabot, is a year-round getaway only 35 minutes from downtown Oakland and Oakland International Airport. The campground features 53 drive-to tent campsites, 10 walk-to tent campsites, and 12 RV/trailer campsites with full hookups (sewer, water, and 30 amp electrical). All sites have a picnic table and fire ring with grill. Restrooms include hot showers. Firewood and charcoal are available for purchase. The campground provides access to miles of hiking and mountain biking trails, along with fishing at nearby Lake Chabot.
Anthony Chabot Regional Park features seven group camps ranging in capacity from 35 to 300 campers, reservations required (a minimum of 9 people to use the group campsites). All group camps include picnic tables, BBQ, fire ring, water, and chemical/vault toilets. Equestrian camping is available by reservation at Bort Meadow Group Camp. For reservations, call 1-888-EBPARKS (1-888-327-2757), option 2. Group campsites cannot be reserved online.
Visitors may choose from 116 drive-in and walk-in reservable campsites spread throughout four campgrounds. Each site comes equipped with a barbecue pit, food locker, and picnic table. Showers are also available (no coins needed) for campers (camping fee required for use of showers), as well as 29 partial hook-up RV sites. Yurts are also available for reservation. These domed-tent like structures come in three different sizes - 16', 20' and 24' offering bunk beds with mattresses, fold out futons and a wrap-around deck.
Overnight camping is one of the most popular activities at Mt. Madonna. View here for more information about tent, yurt and RV camping. There is no longer first-come, first-serve camping sites.
Francis Beach has a campground with 52 individual sites, some suitable for tent camping, others for trailers or recreational vehicles. Some campsites have electrical hookups. Water and sewer hookups are not available, but there is a dump station ($10 fee) and a water filling station. Rental RV’s are not allowed to be dropped off or picked up from the park. Coin-operated hot showers are also available. (approximately 2 minutes per quarter)
$35 - $165 / night
Ben Ries Campground
$35 / night
Del Valle campgrounds will be closed until further notice, due to storm damage.
Deep in a valley framed by oak-covered hills, with sailboats and sailboards skimming over its waters, Del Valle is like a lakeside resort only 10 miles south of Livermore.
The centerpiece of the park is a lake five miles long with a variety of water-oriented recreation, from swimming to windsurfing and boating, surrounded by 4,395 acres of beautiful land for hiking, horseback riding, and nature study. Del Valle also is the eastern gateway to the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, 28 miles of scenic back-country trail.
Family Campground: The Del Valle Family Campground has 150 sites (two accessible), 21 of them with water and sewage, and electrical hook-ups (120 volt, 50 and 30 amp). The sites are served by centrally located toilets and shower facilities.
Group camps: There are several group campsites for groups of 11 people or more.
Equestrian camps: The Little Chaparral horse camp area has 4 small paddocks. The reservation of one paddock includes space for 1-2 horses, 4 people maximum, and parking for one trailer and rig only. Equestrian groups should reserve the Caballo Loco equestrian group camp as Little Chaparral is not designed for group use. Please note that horses are not allowed in developed areas of the park.
Santa Cruz Redwoods RV Resort is nestled in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Situated on the beautiful San Lorenzo River, and backed by Henry Cowell State Park, our clean and well maintained RV Park and campground offers guests a year-round, family-oriented, place to relax. Or a comfortable base camp for your outdoor adventure. We welcome families, groups, and RV clubs of most sizes. Experience the richness of Santa Cruz County where a hiking journey begins in an old-growth redwood forest, winds past graceful waterfalls, and ends on a pristine beach. Great outdoor fun awaits you with hundreds of miles of trails for hiking, horseback riding, and mountain bike riding. All RV sites come equipped with full hookups (electric, water, & sewer) and cable TV. There's also a spacious clubhouse on-site, clean bathrooms, hot showers, and much more.
Scout
Good spot to spend the night. Rocked up at around 8pm, pretty busy at least 10 other vans and rvs there for the night. Couple of food vendors, great view of Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Weren’t hassled at all, left around 9am.
ScoutNice spot close to the Golden Gate Bridge
Traveler
I’m very confused by the boojie negative reviews, what do you expect?
This is an absolutely great spot! Restrooms and showers are clean and the staff is great. Will be back often.
Not a far drive to the city either. Price is higher than other places but this close to the city with all of the amenities a pretty good deal.
Scout
The staff was amazing. Tent site was spacious. Not too crowded. Clean bathroom and shower. Several trails to walk. Close to town in case we forgot something.
Traveler
Location is great. Easy access. Noise from the freeway. Heard sirens.
Scout
The coordinate given are Not valid. It is a residential area and not an RV nore an campsite! Reservation per phone with none refondable possibility. Be carefull! Dont book!
Scout
I hope you keep giving the community great material age of war
Traveler
My husband and I love to stay here because of the nice walk to the beach. Restrooms and shower are dated , but clean.
Ranger
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.
Guide
Pretty basic place. Level, noisy highway. Very friendly staff clean. I enjoy more of the outdoors so not really my cup of tea. Very narrow spaces.
TravelerGreat location overlooking the city, has facilities like toilets and drinking fountains. Very busy when I was here on a Saturday night with locals, tourists and Mexican street vendors. Can’t complain because it’s free and close to the city
LegendThere are a ton of reviews for this place already so I will try to keep it short and only add info that I didn't see mentioned in previous reviews.
Showers are $0.25 per min ($0.50 min to start). You don't get to adjust water temp, but it was pleasantly hot. Showers are non-gendered and individual.
Dump station is no longer free; all California State Parks are charging $10 to dump now, even for campers. You pay at the dump site with a credit card. There are 4 dump holes and a potable water fill as well.
We love staying here as it's so convenient to Capitola. We were able to park our RV in Capitola and walk to the shops. We got last minute reservations (it's really hard to book a site here in the summer), but had to move sites in between days, and so we used that 2 hour block between noon checkout and 2pm checkin to drive the RV to Capitola. It seemed like it would have been too much of a hassle to try and get to move to the new spot before checkin, so this worked out fine.
We love all the state parks along the beach in California, and I'm sure we'll be back at some point.
TravelerCampground is quiet except those who run their generators all day and play the radio loud. It is spread out. (But still close, you do see your neighbors.) The camp ground is between fields and the ocean. Site 25 has amazing views but also can be breezy. Or windy. Old but clean bathrooms with coin showers. Water close to sites.
TravelerI’m not sure that this can be considered established or even legal camping since it is a rest stop. The location is awesome considering it’s right beside of the Golden State Bridge, but it also makes it a popular spot for a lot of people to hang out at and watch the sunset and other tourist attractions and even local activity.
Guide
Feels very off grid. Camp experience was smooth and the sun was shining.
Guide
Nice bathrooms no tokens needed, hot water, clean sink for dishes. Lotsa shaded oak spaces. Good trails.
ScoutThe pictures here are very deceiving. Driving in, the first 4 campsites are occupied by broken down trailers, an overturned couch and broken BBQ pits. We stayed in site #6 which was probably one of the best sites. Great shade and car was able to be parked nearby (you walk down non-maintained "stairs" with rotted tree branches as the steps).
Overall, I had high hopes based on the description here especially reading: "Our onsite staff will go around and enforce the rules." but this is clearly a non-maintained campground that was probably very nice 45 years ago. No hiking trails are maintained, the bathrooms are "rustic" which is fine--nice to have running water when you've got little ones to clean. But the floors were rotted and I was afraid we'd step through the floorboards.
If you are a true car camper who can lock your doors at night, this is probably the spot for you. Running water, showers and washing machine. If you are a tent camper with small kids like me, this is not where you want to stay. I'm disappointed I paid the price I did to stay here, I'd pay $25/night because this is essentially a parking space in a poorly maintained campground.
ScoutCold. Foggy. No amenities. Don’t go there.
-Coastside Local
Scout
We love to camp here for barbecuing, mountain biking and hiking. We always do it during 7/4 holidays except for this year when the park canceled our reservation due to high heat. So we booked for the Labor Day weekend. Temperature was perfect and biking and hiking were enjoyable as usual. This year we had two new types of visitors to the the site. A couple of wild turkeys came to pick up the dropped food on the ground. We were able to take a closeup look at them and they were beautiful birds with big eyes spotting tiny bits of crumbs. They come and go from one site to the next quietly and gently. Very cute and we took pictures with their presence. Then came the aggressive yellow jackets. We never had yellow jackets in our previous 7/4 outings here. Oh boy, they fought for the meat relentlessly. At the end of the outing, both my finger and my wife’s were stung. We reported the experience to the attendant at the gate when leaving. She said the park is looking for a solution. In the meantime, she suggested contacting them early on so they might be able to provide another site. Hopefully, next year, we won’t encounter so many nasties.
Guide
We had a quick three-day trip here to visit family. The pool is small, yet well-kept and we had it to ourselves every time we went each day. The park was perfect for the kids biking around through the short- and long-term areas.
ScoutAfter weeks on the road, we were so grateful to find a last minute spot a short, beautiful, and whimsical walk away from the beach!!! The campground itself is simple but full of good vibes with FREE showers and ice cream two minute stroll away!
Guide
Nothing fancy but very nice park for tent camping, RVs. Electric and water included in price. The park gates are locked at sundown but they give you the combination (the combo changed routinely). Free open WiFi is provided but recommend a security app just to be safe. The Mountain Winery is 2 miles from the park, fantastic views and they host concerts all the time.
Scout
test
Legend
This is a gorgeous campground! It's big and it's busy, but the sites are mostly very private and lush and green. Each site has a different configuration, but this place books up fast, so you have to look at photos online and the dimensions of the site and hope it works out.
We were a little worried when we arrived in our 26ft class c, we worried that we wouldn't make it through the narrow roads and overhanging trees, but we were ok. Not sure that this place would be good for giant rigs though. Getting into our spot was a bit tricky, and when coming out a ranger truck was blocking our road (he was cleaning the bathrooms, I believe), which made leaving very tricky as well.
There are beautiful hiking trails all over this campground, but there is so much poison oak - everywhere. All over the camp sites, trails to the bathroom, hiking trails, etc, it was everywhere.
Showers and toilets looked clean, showers are coin operated, $0.50 for 2 min.
If you arrive before checkin they will have you wait at the day use area several miles away - heads up.
GuideThe rest area was surprisingly quiet given its location. There was ample parking, and thankfully, the parking spots weren’t illuminated by bright street lamps, which was a nice touch considering we stopped her to sleep. However, the bathrooms were filthy during our stop, which was quite disappointing. Another downside was the lack of vending services; if you’re in need of caffeine or snacks, be sure to bring them along.
An important point to note is that you can only access this rest area when traveling northbound off the bridge. If you miss it, you’ll have to cross the bridge again, which costs $9-10 each time you head south into San Francisco. This is a significant consideration for those planning their stops carefully.
Also, cold here in the summer. Pack for fall weather.
GuideDespite the website showing every site booked, we drove in about 4 pm to a decent number of sites. Entry ranger was available pretty late. Site was $35 I believe, and has paid showers and restrooms. Site had a fire pit, paved parking for a larger vehicle, table and decent amount of shade. Lots of families and lots of kids. Cool weather along the beach, can't ask for much more.
TravelerBooked this as a last minute escape from the heat where I live and it didn’t disappoint. Towering Coastal Redwoods provide for tons of shade and really nice campsites. Definitely a dry time of year but there were still some beautiful wildflowers to be seen. There’s a lovely easy trail that takes you to a stream along a mostly shaded path. I imagine that during the spring you’ll get a greater runoff but it was still really nice. Saturday was pretty bust with campers but Sunday was almost all vacant so it felt like I had the whole place to myself and the wildlife showed up. The hosts were communicative and descriptions and directions were great. Zero cell service with Verizon but it was nice to just unplug. I would definitely recommend this one. Happy camping!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dog-friendly campsite near Santa Clara, CA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly campground near Santa Clara, CA is Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park Campground with a 4.5-star rating from 42 reviews.
What is the best site to find dog-friendly camping near Santa Clara, CA?
TheDyrt.com has all 105 dog-friendly camping locations near Santa Clara, CA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
