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Wangtao L.
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TravelerDel Valle Campground — East Bay Regional Park District
It’s good. But not too memorable.
Equestrian Camping near Saratoga, CA
2 campgrounds with availability next weekend
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Joseph D Grant County Park - Horse Camp accommodates equestrians with dedicated facilities near San Jose, approximately 20 miles from Saratoga. The horse camp provides water hookups, picnic tables, and trash disposal while maintaining trails suitable for mounted riders. Campground roads remain accessible for horse trailers with adequate parking space at each site. The park connects to extensive trail networks traversing rolling hills with oak woodlands. The campground maintains clean toilet facilities and showers for riders returning from trail excursions.
Located within the 10,882-acre Joseph D. Grant County Park, the horse camp offers direct access to miles of bridle trails through diverse terrain. Riders can explore interconnected paths leading to scenic viewpoints overlooking Santa Clara Valley. Water troughs are positioned at strategic locations throughout the trail system for horse hydration. The primitive equestrian camping experience includes fire rings at each site where fires are permitted when conditions allow. Firewood is available for purchase at the campground. Reservations are required for overnight stays, with sites accommodating both tent and RV camping options. The park remains relatively uncrowded even on weekends, providing a peaceful retreat for horse enthusiasts seeking proximity to Bay Area locations.
Best Equestrian Campgrounds near Saratoga (17)
1. Del Valle Campground — East Bay Regional Park District
"This hidden gem hides behind the vineyard crested mountain range just due south of Livermore."
"After time spent here at this oasis in the middle of Eastbay, California, you’ll very much feel like part of this place with its endless trails, fantastically well-kept camping grounds and the warm hospitality"
Check Availabilityfrom $15 - $200 / night
2. Anthony Chabot Regional Park
"Anthony Chabot Campgrounds sits high up on the Castro Valley Hills overlooking Lake Chabot. There are several awesome hiking trails going down to the lake as well as some equestrian trails."
"as usual some spots are better than others but most close to restrooms and/or water. lots of poison oak and star thistle right off trail. great deterrent for kids to stay out of tick areas but id worry"
Check AvailabilityCampground full next weekend
Get a text when availablefrom $25 - $200 / night
3. Joseph D Grant County Park - Horse Camp
"Hamilton and a lake up the road a way, there’s also a mansion & rose garden on the property, shower & bathroom are clean, there are nights to gather and stargaze.The tent spaces are sizable &"
"Good trails."
Check Availabilityfrom $15 - $400 / night
4. Coe Ranch Campground — Henry W. Coe State Park
"This is a primitive campground, no showers only vault toilets and restroom near visitor center ( 2 min walk from campground) both decently clean. Water for washing dishes is available."
"There is a small visitor center close to the entrance, with a few souvenirs and some snacks and drinks. Visitor Center only takes cash."
11 Sites AvailableAvailable next weekend
from $20 / night
5. Grant County Park
"Clean, bathrooms near by. Very relaxing and away from San Jose."
6. Joseph D. Grant County Park
"The bathrooms were a short walk down hill. They were clean with flushing toilets. There camp ground was quiet and it was mostly couples or small family groups."
7. Sunol
"I have never camped here but hiked many trails."
Check AvailabilityCampground full next weekend
Get a text when available8. Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park
"The lake is closed to any and all water-craft because the water level is too low. It is very clean and well maintained for the most part. Cell phone service for Xfinity/Verizon is spotty at best."
"Campsites are along the beautiful Coyote lake. The lakeside sites are mostly shaded as are the sites along the road. Sites 43, 44 and 45 would be the most secluded."
Check Availabilityfrom $34 / night
9. Alameda County Fairgrounds RV Park
"The Fairview RV Park is a great Bay Area location easy to find right off hwy 680, in the Alameda county fairgrounds. The staff are all pleasant to work with and the park and facilities are clean."
"If the Alameda Fairgrounds are having an event, you can't beat this location, it's on the property."
10. Salinas-Monterey KOA
"Close to the highway with a fairly easy on and off the although it's a little confusing at first. All day/night highway noise but it starts to become white noise after a while."
"The location is very secluded as bd far from stores but fairly close to the sea. Have visited a few time and enjoy the stay. Not many issues. I’m looking forward to the Upgrades!"
Drive Time
- 15 min from San Jose, CA
- 26 min from Santa Cruz, CA
- 44 min from San Francisco, CA
- 54 min from Salinas, CA
Equestrian Camping Reviews near Saratoga, CA
120 Reviews of 17 Saratoga Campgrounds
- WWangtao L.Traveler
Anthony Chabot Regional Park
Great site! We have camped here more than any other sites in the Bay Area. Clean bathroom
- TTwindaddy
GuideDel Valle Campground — East Bay Regional Park District
East Bay Parks - IYKYK
Like most/all east bay parks, this is well appointed for the masses. It’s also surrounded by rolling hills and close to suburbia. For many, these are positives. As an east bay resident they are for me as well. Del Valle is a bit more removed than many east bay parks. From my location in Fremont, it’s a one hour drive. A pleasant drive for the most part. I camp to get away for a bit and almost always to mountain bike. As such, I seek parks that have trails. Del Valle has a map of many trails. They also appear on many of the mapping services used by mountain bikers. Review those and digest them if this is also your intention - these are east bay parka style trails. In other words, mostly steep and loose fire roads, with many “social trails” sprinkled between. If you are compelled to stay legit/legal trails, bring an ebike. Now on to the camping. I picked a spot as far removed from any booked spot on the map. I triple checked this up until the day before I arrived. I want solitude! When I arrived Thursday afternoon, I was surprised to see the sites just 3 spaces away, on both sides, occupied. This is a fairly compact area. And while I’m sure they’re lovely folks, this isn’t what I expected on a Thursday. Saturday? Sure. Anyway… be aware that these reservation services aren’t completely reliable in that regard. The bathrooms and showers are amazing! Clean, smell good, cared for. Noteworthy is the hot showers in the camp grounds are free and your one push of the button provides water for two minutes I'd guess. Very nice! The space, 135 for me, is okay. A couple trees for shade, a nice table and fire pit. It’s now dark and the noise is minimal - mostly from the group campsite just down the hill. I’ll update this with more details in the coming days since it’s a 4 day visit.
Update 1: it’s my first morning here. Using starlink as there is no cell signal to be found. What I noticed last night was that this park is directly below the flight path to the local airports. Every couple minutes last night, a plane would fly overhead. According to flight aware, they’re at about 10,000 feet. If this will ruin your getaway, you’ve been warned.
Update 2: On Friday night, the majority of the spots were filled. Many large groups of people with varying degrees of consideration, but to their credit almost all (except the barking German Shepard) were quiet by 10PM. It was a bit more crowded come Saturday morning. Some friends came to visit for a mountain bike ride, and we set off at about noon. I had been complimentary of the facilities and bragged that I'd be taking a nice shower after our ride. Unfortunately, upon our return, there was no hot water and no lighting in the showers. And, sadly, someone decided to remove the tags and hangers from their TJ Maxx haul and leave them all over the floor of two of the showers.
Verdict: I'd only come back here in the springtime when it's likely to be green and have some water in the arroyo and only during the week. The density and composition of the people here was akin to being at Costco on a Saturday, and I only did that once.
Stuart K.
LegendLas Trampas Regional Wilderness
Come for the Solitude & Stay for Those Ridgeline Views
Las Trampas is one of those wonderfully odd camping experiences that almost feels like you’ve discovered something you weren’t supposed to know about. Despite sitting on the doorstep of Danville and San Ramon, this 6,050-acre preserve quickly trades suburbia for steep ridges, oak woodland, grasslands and some terrific views across the East Bay. And camping here is decidedly primitive: the Corral Area is a single reservable group campsite for 17–50 people, rather than a conventional campground with individual sites. That means lots of privacy, lots of space and very little resembling a traditional developed campground.
While my earlier review goes into considerably more detail, I thought I’d revisit this campground with a quick topline of HIGHLIGHTS and LOWLIGHTS - along with a fresh batch of photos.
HIGHLIGHTS: (1) Remarkable feeling of seclusion considering you’re only minutes from the suburban East Bay, with Oakland lying just beyond; (2) Having essentially one primitive group camping area makes this feel more like your own private campground than a conventional campsite; (3) Picnic tables, BBQs, food-storage box and a drinking-water spigot provide just enough infrastructure without spoiling the primitive experience; (4) Direct access to a huge trail network with Rocky Ridge reaching 2,024 feet and panoramic views toward Mt. Diablo and the surrounding valleys; and (5) Abundant wildlife, seasonal wildflowers, grazing cattle and those beautiful rolling East Bay hills make the setting the real amenity here.
LOWLIGHTS: (1) This is group camping only, with a 17-person minimum, so it simply doesn’t work for a couple or small family looking for an ordinary campsite; (2) No hookups, showers or flush toilets - here, primitive means primitive; (3) Water at the campsite should be considered unreliable, so bring your own rather than betting the weekend on the spigot; and (4) Many of the best trails are steep, exposed and short on shade, which can make hot-weather hiking considerably more strenuous than the beautiful scenery initially suggests.
Insider’s Tip: Bring more water than you think you’ll need and make time for a ridge hike. Las Trampas is one of those places where climbing a few hundred feet completely changes your perspective especially when the suburban Bay Area seemingly disappears beneath you, which is precisely what makes camping here so unexpectedly special.
Happy Camping!
Chris C.GuideJoseph D. Grant County Park
Pleasant!
Very nice for a one night stop. Very windy road to get to the park. Sites are well kept and have a solid amount of room. Super clean bathrooms and good free showers. Lots of wildlife to see and hear (coyotes). Didn’t get 5 starts cause it was quite busy with loud neighbors!
Chia-Chia W.GuideJoseph D. Grant County Park
3.5/5 – Arriving Next Day is Okay
Called on 7/14/26, they said "we won't cancel any reservation due to arriving late or next day"
- TTheodora G.Traveler
Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park
Turkeys and hills
Very reasonable $36 per night for rv hookup. Off season is cheaper and less crowded. Turkeys and deer. There are wild pigs, but I haven’t seen any. Bathrooms are clean, showers are free. I had several sites to choose from when I arrived-without a reservation.
- LLGuide
Coe Ranch Campground — Henry W. Coe State Park
Nice little campground
Coe Ranch Campground is small, clean, and well run, with plenty of nearby toilets and garbage cans. Sites aren’t terribly private but not too close together either. Some reviewers complained there wasn’t a level site in the whole campground but Site 13 was perfectly level for our truck camper down at the bottom. Maybe research your options here and on CampsitePhotos.com beforehand to see if they fit your style of camping. (The more exposed sites and the two sites by the bathrooms wouldn’t work for me.) Views are excellent from the campground parking lot, as well as from some sites, although those sites have little privacy. It’s a twisty 13-mile drive up to the campground but worth the effort if you’re looking for a quiet getaway for the weekend. Coe SP has miles of beautiful trails, loads of wildlife, and hike-in campsites that make a stay worthwhile, even if you decide the campground isn’t for you.
- HHelen F.Guide
Anthony Chabot Regional Park
Lovely site, really close to San Francisco!
On visiting San Francisco we were looking for a site that wasn’t a car park. This really met the mark! Beautiful place with great sites. Nice picnic tables & fire pits! Was very quiet
Guide to Saratoga
Joseph D Grant County Park offers equestrian camping approximately 20 miles from Saratoga, California in the eastern foothills of the Santa Clara Valley. The campground sits at an elevation of 2,500 feet surrounded by rolling hills covered with oak woodland. Temperatures vary significantly between seasons with summer highs reaching 90°F while winter nights can drop below freezing.
What to do
Hiking trails access: Coe Ranch Campground at Henry W. Coe State Park provides direct access to extensive hiking networks. "Henry Coe is a completely underrated state park. There are ample opportunities for backpacking and bikepacking. The lakes throughout the park are beautiful to camp by and there are facilities (toilets) at different locations throughout the park," notes reviewer Caitlin S.
Fishing options: Del Valle Campground offers fishing opportunities on the lake. According to reviewer Tom G., "Great lake for paddling as the speed limit for boats is low. Good fishing too. 'Private' covers along the lake to hang out in."
Wildlife observation: Multiple parks offer wildlife viewing potential. At Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park, one camper reports, "I had a big spot and no neighbors my entire half of the campground on a Monday night in June. I was under 2 big oaks that were buzzing with bird activity."
What campers like
Clean facilities: Most equestrian campgrounds near Saratoga maintain high cleanliness standards. A visitor to Joseph D. Grant County Park notes: "We had a great site and there was no one on either side of us. The bathrooms were a short walk down hill. They were clean with flushing toilets."
Historical features: Some parks offer cultural attractions alongside natural ones. At Grant County Park, "There is an interesting Ranch House and Museum that showcases the life of Joseph Grant and his offspring, with many eccentric and macabre details of their history in the area," according to Renee W.
Proximity to urban areas: For those seeking horse-friendly camping near San Jose and Saratoga, the accessibility is valued. One camper at Anthony Chabot Regional Park shares: "We love Anthony Chabot! The eucalyptus groves make the air smell wonderful, and there is so much wildlife to see (deer, turkeys, owls, etc.). It's a great natural area that is so conveniently located in the Bay Area."
What you should know
Limited cell service: Connectivity varies significantly between sites. At Joseph D. Grant Park, Sophie S. reports, "The camp ground was quiet and it was mostly couples or small family groups. The hiking is quite beautiful and the woodpeckers were busy storing acorns."
Seasonal challenges: Weather conditions affect camping experiences throughout the year. At Henry W. Coe State Park, a backpacker advises, "It was fairly hot in mid-spring, and there is not much shade on the trails, especially the dirt roads."
Reservation requirements: Most equestrian campgrounds require advance booking. Winnie H. notes about Henry W. Coe: "You'd have to get to ranger station to obtain permit for use of campground on the day of your trip, so arriving early or on time at ranger station in the morning is helpful."
Tips for camping with families
Accessible activities: Look for parks with family-friendly options. At Del Valle Campground, reviewer Rosina A. shares: "Del Valle is one of the most beautiful lakes in the east bay. The water is perfect temperature. Great hikes, paddle boarding, kayaking, swimming and beginner windsurfing."
Site selection matters: Choose appropriate campsites based on your needs. A visitor to Anthony Chabot notes, "We had a great weekend camping trip at Coe Ranch - thanks to being at one of the sites with a bit of shelter and shade. Beware that many of the sites have neither of these things, and can be really exposed."
Wildlife awareness: Prepare children for animal encounters. At Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch, a camper warns: "There are food lockers since wild pigs come out at night. Be sure to lock all food up! They will roam through the camp ground all through the night if anyone has left any food out."
Tips from RVers
Site configuration: RV sites vary greatly in layout and accessibility. At Alameda County Fairgrounds RV Park, one RVer cautions: "Our slot 170 was very narrow, other spots had more space. You could not see that on the onlinemap. No bench or table belonged to the spot."
Hookup options: Verify available utilities before booking. A reviewer at Salinas-Monterey KOA advises: "They have nice facilities and a heated pool although a hot tub would be nice also. The sites are a little small but very mature trees and they keep it clean. Some of the back in sites for tent trailer are a pain to get into."
Level sites matter: Park topography affects camping comfort. About Henry W. Coe State Park, one RVer warns: "We were surprised when we made it to this campground that it was built on the side of a hill. The walk-in sites may be different, but all of the pull in sites were extremely off-level."
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian
campsite near Saratoga, CA?
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Saratoga, CA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Saratoga, CA is Del Valle Campground — East Bay Regional Park District with a 4.1-star rating from 25 reviews.
What is the best site to find
equestrian camping near
Saratoga, CA?
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Saratoga, CA?
TheDyrt.com has all 17 equestrian camping locations near Saratoga, CA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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