Top Tent Camping near Saratoga, CA

Recent Tent Reviews In Saratoga

643 Reviews of 31 Saratoga Campgrounds

• S

  Stacy W.

  Scout

  

  September 8, 2024

  Portola Redwoods State Park Campground

  It sucks. Don’t go there.

  Cold. Foggy. No amenities. Don’t go there.

  -Coastside Local

• 

  Sean Z.

  Scout

  

  September 2, 2024

  Anthony Chabot Regional Park

  Great time inconvenienced by yellow jackets

  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.

• 

  Yihan H.

  Scout

  

  August 31, 2024

  Beach RV Park

  Yeye

  Happy

• 

  Jason M.

  Guide

  

  August 25, 2024

  Gilroy Garlic USA RV Park

  Great Layover

  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.

• K

  Korey Y.

  Guide

  

  August 23, 2024

  Laguna Seca Recreation Area

  Hidden jewel

  No crowds late August. Great staff and price. Views, trees and TRACK. Some air traffic. Quiet.

• 

  Laura M.

  Legend

  

  July 26, 2024

  Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park Campground

  Gorgeous - and so much poison oak

  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.

• 

  Vincent B.

  Guide

  

  July 23, 2024

  New Brighton State Beach Campground

  Good spot with availability

  Despite 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.

• 

  Chris N.

  Guide

  

  July 21, 2024

  Veteran's Memorial Park Campground

  Affordable Monterey/Carmel Access

  I have family in Monterey, but can't see paying the higher prices for a hotel or home rental when I visit. This location gives you complete access to the beautiful surrounding area at a price that doesn't hurt. Showers, restrooms, tables and fire rings make it really sweet for the family on a light camping adventure. I dry camp a lot, and having the amenities is worth the fees they're asking. Your best bet to get a site is to show up a day or two early, if you can, due to a first come first serve policy for sites. The early bird gets the worm. No reservations can be made.

• 

  Laura D.

  Traveler

  

  July 6, 2024

  Manresa State Beach Campground

  Right on beach!

  First time visiting, We stayed at site 63 for two nights June 30 and July 1st. Sites are very private and seperated by bushes and trees. The loading zone was a short walk to our site. It was an easy 5-7 minute walk down to the beach. Beach was clean and not crowded. Beautiful sunset views. Only complaints are that the bathrooms were filthy. One of the showers wasn’t working and robbed us of $2. They need to put a quarter change machine for coins for the showers. We had to drive to KOA to get change to shower. We will definitely come back !

• L

  Leonard H.

  Traveler

  

  June 30, 2024

  Pinto Lake City Park

  Small City Park... Good Option for short and/or Longer Stays

  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.

• 

  Michelle W.

  Ranger

  

  June 17, 2024

  Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park

  So many animals and birds

  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.
  The bathrooms were clean and I had water on my site. I had some AT&T service.

• 

  Jose J.

  Guide

  

  June 14, 2024

  Monterey Pines RV Park - Military

  Beautiful RV Park and golf course

  Campground is for active duty, retired military and DoD Civilians. Pretty quiet with the exception of the Monterey Regional Airport next to it and even then it wasn’t very noticeable. The golf course next to it is beautiful so bring your sticks or rent them from the clubhouse. One of the more affordable courses to play in the area. Our site was level left to right but we did have to jack the front of the trailer up higher than usual. Clean restrooms and bath house. FREE LAUNDRY FACILITIES TOO. Definitely want to go back but for a longer stay.

• 

  Tippy B.

  Traveler

  

  June 12, 2024

  Veteran's Memorial Park Campground

  Perfect access to Big Sur & Pebble Beach

  We were driving thru and needed a place to van camp. Found this location from the dyrt app. The camp site is located on park grounds. If you have little ones they’ll have fun on the playground. Parking was easy to pick for us. There’s also hot showers which is only open from 7AM to 9PM. Someone will turn the water access off outside of those time frames. They will also allow showers with no camping option which is $4. Overall for the stay being only $47, having the options of a hot shower, rest rooms and ability to have a fire pit and the convenience of the Big Sur, makes this site worth it.

• 

  Sonya S.

  Traveler

  

  May 31, 2024

  Sunset State Beach

  Clean and quite

  This is a beautiful place, camp site behind woods, this, waving sound won’t bother at night.

  Very clean and friendly staffs

• 

  Lori T.

  Ranger

  

  May 28, 2024

  Mount Madonna County Park

  Great Campground

  Loved everything about this campground! Registration online was really easy as was the check-in process. We stayed in Valley View 1, site 106. There was really no road noise at our site, though a few sites further around the loop did have noise. This particular site has a trail leading directly to the vast network of hiking trails. Huge bonus for us and we were pleasantly surprised that not one person used our site as a cut through. On the subject of hiking, this is a county park that allows dogs on ALL the trails. It’s hard to find that sometimes so we greatly appreciated how dog friendly it was. We didn’t actually encounter anyone else as we hiked, so I can’t attest to whether folks follow the rule that dogs must be on a 6 ft lead on the trails, but they certainly did in the campground. There are quite a few trails that are currently closed due to storm damage, but crews were actively working on them.

  While the sites are a little close to each other, those on the outside of the loop had a great deal of privacy. Inner loop sites have none, but would be great if you were camping with friends. We didn’t use the restrooms or showers, but peeked in them anyway. Like everything else in this campground, they were clean and well maintained.

  The RV sites have both water and electric hookups which was great! There is a very convenient FREE dump station just inside the entrance to the park that we used as we departed.

  Our friends stayed in one of the yurts and it was great, albeit a little cold for them at night. I believe there are 2 dog friendly yurts. 106RV

  What a gem of a campground! We’ll definitely come back!

  Important to note that you can actually get a cell signal if you walk to the dump station!

• 

  Alma L.

  Ranger

  

  May 28, 2024

  Del Valle Regional Park

  Distance from home was the highlight

  I had a very different take on this place than the others. The RV spot was a fair distance from the neighboring spots, it was low-density, quite, all good qualities, but there was very little see or do near the loop. There were no hikes suitable for young kids as far as I could tell. There was a little store for ice cream and camping supplies and dump station on the loop.  HOWEVER, WARNING: the road around the campground looks wide but there are boulders every 10 feet or so making it insanely hard to back into our spot - and we had only a 22ft trailer! I can't see myself coming back here. The maps do accurately depict the relatively narrow space you have for back in spots. Once we were in, it was fine.  The pedestal and sewer set-up was just fine. No issues there. It's just not worth the hassle. 

  As for the park/water part of the park, well, it was covered in garbage from the day-trippers. It was packed and only accessible by driving to it. Truly not a place I wanted to BBQ or picnic at.  Cars, people, dogs, loud music, and garbage. A gross diaper on the shore.     We took a very nice hike starting at the dog run. That was beautiful, but not worth the trip.

  I didn't bother to photograph our site. There were all adequate, just avoid back in site here. There are so many better places to visit.  I checked this off the list, no reason to return. I don't believe there was reception either from the campsite.

  Last thing, we peaked in on the cabins in our loop. They looks very nice and maintained.

• 

  Jaime G.

  Guide

  

  May 19, 2024

  Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area — Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area

  Molina Ghost Run 2024

  This year MG run was held in Hollister Hills due to Clear Creek being closed. My registration came with free camp spot in the Upper Ranch. For an organized trail run I would give it a 5 star as it was very respectful and actually not loud at all including day light hours.

  From a dispersed camp/ camp experience I am giving this a 4 star thats because I knew I was not camping here for a camp experience but an off-road experience with many other off-road enthusiast.

• N

  NOra M.

  Scout

  

  May 3, 2024

  Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area

  1 Night

  We stayed 1 night and it was perfect. The staff was very nice and the place was clean and quiet. There are toilets and showers on the campground and it only cost 10$!

  the campsite is perfect for traveling through and getting a night's sleep.

• 

  Praveen R.

  Scout

  

  April 30, 2024

  Bicentennial Campground — Golden Gate National Recreation Area

  No parking on the site

  Had to walk all the way down to get to the camp site with all the gear, it was to windy to put up our tent

• 

  Tina M.

  Guide

  

  April 26, 2024

  Thousand Trails Morgan Hill

  Good location

  We liked the surrounding area and gorgeous rolling hills and while we were able to get a good spot it was not a campground that stood out too much to us. The pool is great though it was too cold to use it while we were there. No sewer hook up but dump station was close from our side. Overall happy with the stay

• U

  Uriel S.

  Scout

  

  April 25, 2024

  East Bay Regional Park District Del Valle Family Campground

  Bay Area escape

  This is nice little campground that is only about 15 minutes from downtown Livermore. It’s a great escape from the craziness of the Bay Area without having to drive too far. The lack of cell reception really helps the feeling of being away from the city life. There was quite a bit of wildlife roaming through the park mainly in the early morning. I saw deer and turkeys roaming the campground.

  The restrooms and showers were clean and functional. Maybe a bit outdated, but I don’t see that as a negative considering everything works. It’s also nice that the showers are free, no need to bring your roll of quarters.

  The close proximity to the lake and all the hiking trails is a huge plus.

  The only negatives I can mention are the camp store and the lack of privacy at each site. It seems like the camp store is only open on Saturdays which means if you need anything, it’s close to an hour long commitment to drive into Livermore, buy what you need, and drive back. I’m not sure if that’s always the case but when I visited in April that was what the sign had posted. As far as the lack of privacy, I don’t think it’s a deal breaker since there is a good amount of space between sites but they are all fully exposed. I can see these being a bit of a problem especially on a crowded weekend.

  Overall a nice campground in a good location with plenty to do in the area.

• 

  Tony G.

  Guide

  

  April 18, 2024

  Lower Blooms Creek — Big Basin Redwoods State Park — CAMPGROUND CLOSED

  Closed to camping

  Big Basin is unfortunately closed to camping. You can't even bring a trailer in for day use as parking is very limited. This is due to a fire a few years back that devastated the park and completely burned down all structures, including ranger station, store, and all restrooms.

  It is a shame because it is/was a fantastic place.

• 

  New D.

  Guide

  

  April 9, 2024

  Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area — Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area

  Revisiting after 25 yrs! So glad we did!

  The moon , stars, and timing of life could not have lived up better for us and our decision to revisit after a not-so great experience 25 yrs ago!

  When my hubby told us, we were going to Hollister for our annual off-roading trip with our grandkids, I immediately became apprehensive and worried of other inconsiderate and dangerous riders, infestation of bugs and ticks (more than I have ever witnessed in my life during my past visit years ago), among garbage and other things.

  All the worry was for nothing! This trip could not have been more peaceful, magical, and all the campers were very respectful of others space, quiet and children present.

  It was just the right crowd, amount of dispersed visitors, and super clean!!!!

  What I liked most was - the presence of caring and kind park rangers! Making sure safety was a priority, but knowing we were there to have fun as well! Thank you!!!

  I’m 54, an outdoor enthusiast, and pay a lot of attention to my environment. It was unreal that there was no annoying bugs to be seen anywhere, although I’m sure they were present in. Forest - just not out being annoying. Could be the presence of so many kinds of birds as well. I’ve never seen so much beauty flying around in one place and comfortable with dropping in and saying hello to our grandkids! Made for picture perfect postcards incase any of you visitors love bird watching.

  The trails were so well maintained and tracks groomed for safety . I have zero complaints and will definitely be returning!

  I everyone of us had an awesome time!

• K

  Katharina H.

  Scout

  

  April 7, 2024

  Santa Cruz Ranch Campground

  Clean and tidy but very expensive!!!

  122 US$ for one night

• 

  Joseph G.

  Guide

  

  March 15, 2024

  Kirby Cove Campground — Golden Gate National Recreation Area

  Great Location with AMAZING Views

  My family and I spent two nights at campsite #5.  We had a really great experience here!

  We visited Kirby in March 2024 and the weather was not as bad as I thought it would be.  The temperature was in the 50's for the most part.  There was decent amount of wind but not enough to make a stink about.  I was comfortable in pants and a sweatshirt the whole time, never had to break out my jacket.  During the day, it was warm enough to wear a t-shirt.  It rained a little bit overnight both nights we were there but we were equipped to deal with the conditions.

  Each site has three square shaped wood-framed plots to pitch your tent on.   Two of them are covered in a bed of rocks and one of them was raised about two feet off the ground.  The third plot on our site did not have rocks.  I would recommend bringing a tent footprint to prevent the rocks from damaging the bottom of your tent.   Our site's fire ring was equipped with a thick steel BBQ grate that swivels laterally over the fire ring.  Our fire ring's grate covered a good portion of the fire ring so it was useful for cooking.  I'd like to note that not all campsites are equipped with the same style of fire ring as our site had.  Campsite #5 also had three picnic tables (two of them were bolted to the ground, one of them was not) and a bearproof storage container.

  The campgrounds itself is relatively small (only 5 overnight sites).  You will receive a gate code emailed to you upon reservation which you will need to unlock a gate that leads you down a long dirt road to the bottom of a valley where the campgrounds are located.  The parking lot is sort of small but finding a spot wasn't an issue.  The parking lot is sitting on top of a hill, overlooking the entire campgrounds.  The sites themselves aren't too far away from the parking lot, but hauling your gear back uphill to your vehicle after camping a couple nights can be tiresome.  There are a few pit toilets scattered throughout the campgrounds that were relatively clean.  There is no running water at Kirby, so make sure you bring enough water!  The old military ruins (I believe from the late 1800's)  were also cool to explore.  The views of the Golden Gate and the city are breathtaking.  We got to watch between 10-12 large shipping vessels float in and out of the bay, very cool!  

  All in all, we loved our stay at Kirby and will definitely be camping there again during the warmer months!

• D

  Dan C.

  Scout

  

  March 12, 2024

  Del Valle Regional Park

  Close to home but like a different world

  Great lake and fishy, clean sites, bathrooms are great. All around awesome camping

• C

  Clark G.

  Scout

  

  February 25, 2024

  East Bay Regional Park District Del Valle Family Campground

  Great weekend

  Stayed at one of the hookup sites with my son for a night in our 21ft trailer. We had a great time. With much of the campground closed we had lots of places to hike right near our site. Sites were well spaced apart and even though our loop was full it did not feel crowded. Would go back.