Looking to find an RV campground, RV park, or private campsite near Santa Cruz? Finding a place to camp in California with your RV is easier than ever. Each RV campsite offers quick access to one or more of Santa Cruz's most popular destinations.
Nestled in the trees just minutes from Scotts Valley and Santa Cruz, our resort serves your RV vacation needs. Since the days of California's first inhabitants, Scotts Valley has been a popular place to stay. On Santa Cruz Ranch RV Resort are many Indian Grinding Rocks that were once used to grind acorns next to Carbonero Creek, which winds its way past our RV park. Santa Cruz is well-known for watersports such as sailing, diving, swimming, paddling, and surfing get active during your Santa Cruz RV camping vacation! It is the home of O'Neill Wetsuits, Santa Cruz Surfboards, Santa Cruz Skateboards, and Santa Cruz Bicycles. While enjoying Santa Cruz RV camping , turn up the fun at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk - California's oldest amusement park. An easy trip from Santa Cruz Ranch RV Resort, you'll have great ocean views from the 1924 Giant Dipper roller coaster and 1911 Carousel together a National Historic Landmark. Santa Cruz RV camping in a well-known area for watersports Whether you're planning a retreat for the whole family, a group of friends or a getaway for two, there's no shortage of unique activities to explore at Santa Cruz Ranch RV Resort. Plan activities upon arrival or visit this page before your departure to plan ahead. Looking for more? Our friendly staff can fill you in on all of the great ways to make your stay a memorable experience.
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.
Welcome to Cotillion Gardens RV Park. Nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains, right next to Henry Cowell Redwood State Park, our secret little garden is hidden amongst the massive redwood trees and waiting for your arrival.
Morgan Hill RV Camping , a Thousand Trails RV campground in California , offers all of the famous views and vineyards that draw visitors year after year. Surrounded by the rolling hills of the Santa Cruz Mountains in the southern end of the Silicon Valley (Santa Clara County), this 66-acre RV campground preserve is a perfect home base in California for touring many of the popular attractions and destinations in the Central Coast. More than 20 wineries and vineyards inhabit the local area, and there is a train depot only six miles from Morgan Hill and the RV camping preserve. Additionally, Uvas Creek flows through the campground, offering scenic views. At Morgan HIll RV Camping , you'll find plenty to do on-site as well as have access to nearby hiking trails and fishing areas that connect to our RV campground in California. Scenic RV Campground in California Whether you're planning a retreat for the whole family, a group of friends or a getaway for two, there's no shortage of unique activities to explore at Morgan Hill RV Resort. Plan activities upon arrival or visit this page before your departure to plan ahead. Looking for more? Our friendly staff can fill you in on all of the great ways to make your stay a memorable experience.
Located in Carmel Valley, we are close to everything connected to your Carmel/Monterey vacation. 10-15 minutes gets you to Carmel and Monterey and the Pacific Ocean. Pebble Beach is 15 minutes away. Hiking? Garland Regional Park is less than 10 minutes down the road and beautiful Point Lobos is only 15 minutes away. Big Sur, just down the road on US 1 about 30-40 minutes. Great food and wine? We are surrounded by it in every direction.
Propane fire pits are welcome. Sorry, Monterey County does not allow wood burning fires.
We have great Wifi and our new Business Lounge is open for you remote workers. Monthly rates are available in our winter season from October thru April.
We are an RV-only park with sites to accommodate upt o 40' rigs. Our neighbor, Saddle Mountain offers tent camping.
Come stay with us once and we will make sure you come back. Thank you and Safe Travels.
$110 - $235 / night
Scout
Birds, trees, flowers, grass. Doesn’t have that jammed together RV park like some Thousand trails parks (ahem Cottonwood and Yuma AZ )
ScoutWe 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.
GuideThis location is a fairly convenient distance to Pinnacles National Park if you prefer not to stay at the national park campground. A little more expensive since we are not Thousand Trail members but has a laundromat, small store, pool, showers – though some were out of order. It looked the place needed a tune up, not bad, just a little run down and things needed to be fixed. I would stay here again. Compared to the campground at Pinnacles where we were going, we feel this is the better option. Pinnacles is mostly day hikes so this campground is perfect.
The staff were friendly and helpful. We had quiet, wildlife (saw a bobcat and heard owls at night), and a pretty flat and roomy tent site. Our site was shady enough, though not all sites appeared so lucky. It seemed like there were lots of activities for the kids. We were only there one night and did not check out anything else the campground has to offer so can't comment.
It is a big campground, and I can't recall the site number we had. It was a little confusing as to what we could take or not. There seemed to be quite a few long term campers in the Rv area.
TravelerThis 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.
Guide
We happened upon this RV Park as a drop in when our other park was not available. What a pleasant surprise! We’ll be making this our go to spot when traveling through the Gilroy area from now on.
For starters, the staff is wonderful. So friendly. Just an FYI, if they have open spots after the office closes they put out packets for up to 2 pull thru and 2 back in spots for late arrivals without a reservation.
Pros
Cons:
Traveler
This is our favorite place to camp, Redwoods everywhere, 9 miles from Santa Cruz, kids love this place we have camped in the group area with 8 trailers and other spots on site great weather
ScoutThis is a great RV resort for extended stay or overnight if traveling through. Lots of pull through sites for long RVs which are OK here. In the summer, there is a strong coastal influence so it stays cool here! Amenities include a pool, very clean bathrooms and showers and a small store.
GuideOnly about 8 minutes from Santa Cruz beach/boardwalk. Off a quiet street. Reasonable price for the location.
Scout
This campground is very nice! Nothing fancy. An older campground but we’ll maintained. We had to change our dates, and it was an east phone call to do that. They also let you checkin and pay online which was seamless also. Close to 6 Santa Cruz county state parks and Santa Cruz beaches and town. We will stay here again! Side note. Don’t use hwy 9 south from Santa Cruz towing. The road is too winding and narrow. Use hwy 17 to Mount Herman road
Ranger
The hike and bike area is next to the RV hookup sites, and it can get a good bit of foot traffic. Restrooms/showers were dirty, but that seems to be from the day visitors to the beach. It was cool and breezy, but still enjoyable on the beach.
Guide
Nice lots on a cliff above the beach protected from the wind by some doug firs and eucalyptus. Beach is long and expansive with very few people on an average day. Nice place to take a stroll and relax. Not far from Santa Cruz, maybe 25-30 minutes depending on traffic. Sometimes there's a decent sandbar for surfing. Always had a good time at this campground.
Traveler
Moss Landing RV park is a small, tight park close to Salinas Beach. Lots of great food close by. Cell and WiFi have been ok to good this past week, with a couple nights not being able to connect or stay connected. 20-30 drive to downtown Santa Cruz or downtown Monterey. Lots of trails, hiking, kayaking available. One of our favorite RV parks while traveling in this area.
Guide
We love Marina Dunes RV Resort! This was our first stay here and we thoroughly enjoyed it! We love the proximity to the beach and the beautiful dunes. The park was very clean and well-maintained. The staff was great and very welcoming. Thank you to Christy who made our stay extra fun! We will definitely be back! Thanks guys!😎💗
Legend
The fairgrounds RV park is located as the name suggests on the Monterey Fairgrounds. It's centrally located and allows for easy access to the town via Bus Route Jazz A or B or a local bike path down the street. The RV spacing is tight so you will get to know your neighbors. Beware the park is next to the airport. The staff has been really friendly. I gave it 4 stars because its an interesting place to stay.
There's a Dennys, Sushi and Italian restaurant within walking of the campground.
Traveler
This was a nice RV resort. It was clean and had bathrooms and showers! We were “placed” in a spot that held all the tree clippings and debris in a trailer. It backed up against 2 apt buildings with a baby that cried all night!! We were told no campfires unless we had a proper fire pit! That was the icing on the cake! 65$ for this spot but beggars can’t be choosers and when your camping in northern Ca make sure to have reservations because the old school ways of pulling off the side of the road and roughing it are over! Reservations are a must or you get what you get and you don’t pitch a fit!!!!!! But maybe consider campfires cause after all, what’s camping w/out a campfire?
Traveler
This park has full hook ups. Sewer, water and electrical. No cell phone service or WiFi or cable. It’s in a gorgeous location and they have to short trails into the wild.💕
ScoutIf you want to park in a parking lot here’s your chance. 95% long term occupancy. Only sites available for short term is the parking lot with a shrub on a stick they call a tree.
GuideWe stayed at Smithwoods October 18-20. We were in site J, on the point. It was nice and big. Full hook ups. We had a great view of the San Lorenzo River and Henry Cowell State Park. The staff is great and helpful. We had a small issue with our cable tv(no fault of theirs) and they came right over and fixed our issue. The place is dog friendly. We had our two dogs. Be ready for no cell or WiFi. We occasionally got 1 bar of cell service in our site if we stood in a certain spot. (AT&T)There was WiFi up at the office but it was inconsistent. Our son did his online school and he kept dropping off. But we worked through it. It was a short nice hike to the state park and the train through the red woods. Fun experience on a real steam locomotive. We would stay there again next time we are in the Santa Cruz area.
GuideWe 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.
Scout
Back in only. Very few sites and no amenities other than full hook ups and 30 amps.
Guide
We just got back from New Brighton, stayed in site 108. Love this State Beach! Our site was large enough for our big truck and 26 ft trailer, plus a 2nd small SUV. There was plenty of flat area for my sons tent as well. Not a ton of trees, so this particular spot didnt get a lot of natural shade, bring pop ups! The site next door, 110, had many more trees and shade. The sites are far enough apart to feel secluded. At night you can still hear the ocean even though we werent in a premium spot. You can walk a short ways to see the ocean and there are several trails down, but the one with real stairs is closed so you better be sure-footed if you're taking the other trail. We opted for the short drive to the beach lot. There are bathrooms with flush toilets and showers close by and a dump station on the way out. Plus New Brighton is just a few mins from downtown Capitola, and not much further from Santa Cruz so there are SO many things to explore when you're there. Definitely a new favorite place!
Guide
Yes, this is a KOA, so if you are into tent camping or an immersive forest setting, you might want to look elsewhere. But for a quick weekend jaunt for RV campers, this location slightly more than an hour from the Bay Area is hard to beat. Full hook-ups are available, there is an on site restaurant and outdoor bar, and there is close proximity to multiple beaches and tide pools. The resort also has great activities for kids that they occasionally bring on site, such as a climbing wall and nature talks with live animals. The sites at the bottom of the first loop with awesome sunset views are my favorite. Very grassy and “outdoorsy” for a KOA.
Traveler
Be careful,Very dangerous to drive at night the road is very small.. Full hook up.. Table with chess board . Free wifi . It’s a parking lot . No wood only charcoal. Very close to each other..
GuideMy husband and I absolutely loved this campground! We drove up for my Aunts 60th to camp instead of getting a hotel. I’m so glad we did because we were surrounded by these beautiful red wood trees and we could hear the train whistle in the daytime coming from Roaring Camp Railroad. This location isn’t to far from Santa Cruz and Felton if you want to go into town and do activities etc.. about 8-15min. and the drive is beautiful on the way in and out through the trees. The reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 was because the wifi was only there if you were at the front office using it. We didn’t get service if our family members needed to contact us since they were staying in town. They need to put access points around for a better wifi connection. Other then that, we would definitely stay again!
Traveler
Small city park with RV Parking on grass between lake and baseball fields. Sites almost level; however, might need to use a few blocks. Park was busy with locals using pavilions for birthday and other parties when we visited on a Saturday in June. Adjacent baseball field was busy on Sunday morning with little league game and parking lot was full. Cars were being parked in unused RV spots. Many people were fishing from the shoreline. Many Candian geese (with poop) were in the dock area and alone the shoreline. Some ducks made themselves at home in the shade under our RV. Temperature was considerably cooler versus the very hot temps only a few miles further inland. Nice that each site has electric / water / sewer hook-ups. Two rest rooms (one by lake and one by baseball field) were a little dirty due to heavy use. Unfortunate there are no showers and that you can only walk around perhaps 10% of the lake shoreline. Quiet at night as they lock the park gate... they give you an access card ($25 deposit req'd) if you need to leave and return after gate is locked at night. Called and requested my $25 credit after refund was not automatically received a few days later. Credit was immediately made. A good option especially if parks along the coast are booked and you want reasonably cool temperatures. Would stay again.
Traveler
Sites need renovation and they claim it is coming. Of course they have said that for the last 3 years. Their answer to uneven sites is to give you pieces of wood to try and level. Good luck, I saw some raised up 2-3 feet. Full hook-ups, although for some strange reason they are at front of site. Military only. Just 5 min to Monterey wharf.
TravelerHaving great on/off access along US 101, Betabel is one of those camps that is centrally located. To the north, you have Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Jose; to the west, Santa Cruz and Watsonville and to the south is Marina, Monterey and Salinas.
The park has some shaded and some open sites. It is not a resort property but does offer some walking trails. The camp store is a good backup supply source, though I have not been in it due to the pandemic. All the facilities seem to be well kept including the bathroom/shower and laundry facilities.
Discounts for AAA, Good Sam and AARP.
Definitely recommended!
Santa Cruz, California, offers a fantastic array of RV camping options nestled among stunning natural landscapes and close to vibrant local attractions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular RV campsite near Santa Cruz, CA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular RV campground near Santa Cruz, CA is Santa Cruz Ranch Campground with a 3.3-star rating from 4 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 77 RV camping locations near Santa Cruz, CA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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