Pinnacles Campground — Pinnacles National Park

I didn’t enjoy this campground for years — I’d always drive home, to my cooler coastal home. It is WICKED hot in the summer. But one time, I joined my daughter, who did have a summer reservation, and I changed my mind! They have a pool! The kids are thrilled! There are beautiful tucked away campsites in the shade, by a creek. Really enjoyed cooking in the evenings outside and settling in. By day, of course, the trails are wild, like a moonscape. In spring, it’s a wildflower fantasia. 

I was selfishly a little sad when Pinnacles became a national monument, instead of a regional secret. But I’m so glad they got the money, they deserve it! Note: I discovered it because my kids were in rock climbing classes in town, and “this” was the field trip. So exciting to see their first climbing and bouldering outside.

Campground is fine. Very hot and very dry after June. No camp fires after June bear gulch caves are also closed after June. Seen a ton of wildlife and over all wasn’t very crowded. Great for star gazing.

They have had some flood damage, so repairs are going on. Beautiful spot, great trails, showers, general store. Didn't get to see any condors.  I'll stay here again. AT&T was acceptable coverage.

Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because of the maintenance going on, once that is complete it's a 5 Star.

Just driving here was worth the visit, but get out on the trails to really appreciate the diversity.

Bathrooms were a bit of a distance apart. Great views. Very dark at night which is great for star gazing. Good distance from any other stores and the camp store closes promptly at 5.

Not a bad campground, very open. Dry desert area, would not want to come here in July, though it was basically full on a Wednesday.

They have a pool, but it's small. No way am I getting into it with all the potential people. You are in middle of nowhere so they had a decent camp store.

I had a bar of reception but you can also purchase internet if needed.

Spot was not level, so definitely needed blocks. Did see two deer hanging out.

Only a couple of showers but glad they had them. Only two per gender.

Generators or vehicles are not allowed to be running anytime any day to recharge phones or any other electrical devices or doing anything without paying for a hookup and too many flies to stay outside enjoying things!

Our camp site was located just by the entry, which was a bit noisy but at least close to toilet and shower. Had a quite dirty pool and a lot of young kids that also were quite noisy. Worst toilet paper so far on our 2 month trip around the US

It was horribly hot in July, the campground pool was an oasis. Our first time to this unique national park, what a hidden gem!

The camp store was a life saver. We left our tent poles at home but were able to buy some at the camp store. The staff were all friendly and helpful. The pool guy was funny too.

Great place, hidden gym. Store and pools hours are dumb. 5pm store and 6pm pool. Showers were great. It had body soap and shampoo. The caves were closed though for 4 stars.

As a tent, van or Class C camping location, I think this campground would be just fine. This is NOT a campground you want to pull your bump-pull trailer or Class A into. There are no turn arounds. The pads are facing the wrong way for backing in. The loops that the sites are on are rough roads with branches, logs and rocks that make turns damaging to your rig. It's tight back there, people! Go to an RV park outside the park or get a smaller rig. You've been warned.

We had a reservation for site 59 but did not stay. recreation.gov says that this site can accept trailers with a max of 37 ft and while that may be technically true, I think that could only be accomplished if you could somehow have your trailer carried in and dropped into the site by a helicopter. The loop road around the campsites is simply too tight to back a trailer into this or pretty much any of the other sites along these loops. The actual RV sites are 82-112 so stick to those. 

For reference, we have a 30' trailer and tried going at it from both directions, but the road and the bounding trees are just too tight to make the turn without scratching up your truck or trailer. The people in spot 60(right next door) had a tiny R-Pod trailer and said that the only way they could get their trailer into their spot was to make a circle by driving through 59 and then around into 60(technically driving on vegetation that would probably break some NPS rules). We ended up canceling our reservation and driving way back down the road to Thousand Trails San Benito. 

Thanks a lot, recreation.gov for the inaccurate information, the frustration, and the wasted time. 

TL;DR If you have an RV, do not book into any sites here other than the designated RV sites, which are 82-112.

EDIT: During the last days of our stay, our Southwire surge protector threw an "open ground" error. This is a super dangerous issue than can lead to hot skin on the camper. Maintenance assured me that it was just my new equipment not liking their old wiring...but didn't have an answer when I told him that my surge protector worked at other podiums around the campsite. MAKE SURE YOU'RE USING SURGE PROTECTION WHEN YOU STAY HERE. And have a backup spot in case you can't use their power. We went without heat for big parts of three nights.

We spent almost two weeks in site 112 with 30 amp, a water spigot about 80’ from our inlet, plenty of solar, and a large open space on our left side. Spot was level and plenty room for our 27’ rig and truck. A favorite roosting tree for a couple dozen buzzards was right behind the site. Nice show from them each night.

Two quirks here: first, dump station is free, but requires you grab a key from the camp store during business hours. Budget some extra time waiting in line—the store stays busy. Second, site numbering isn’t clear. You might want to stop by and ask about your site before you roll up. It’s mostly families and retirees here, as you’d expect at any reasonably developed campground.

Plenty of good birding to be had around the campground and adjacent hiking trails, which are flat and easily accessed.

Cute little campground, but I imagine it gets pretty warm in the summer due to the lack of tree cover. I love that you can hike from your campsite, and the little river that runs along some of the campsites really creates a wonderful space. Watch out for the raccoons! One little bugger was quite brazen and climbed up on our stuff even with us sitting a few feet away at the campfire.

Good size sites with table and fire ring. Sandy gravel, fairly level sites. Beautiful setting with active condors in view.

Best friends and I went camping and hiking and I got to paint big! Campsite was clean and shady with some trees near.

Probably 1/2 the sites here are in a wide open lot with no shade. There are several that are nice. Site 55 is basically in the lap of site 54. Neighbors super close. Overall not many bathrooms and services. I am about a 2 min walk from the bathrooms and trash. Super busy place and honestly not sure why this place is a national park. We wouldn’t come here again and would recommend anyone going out of their way to come here.

Great for tent camping and hiking. RV sites have 30 amp hookups. No water or sewer hookups. Dump station was available. RV sites are all gravel and fairly flat. Paying after the store closed at 6pm was an ordeal. Could never make it happen. We tried to log in for 3$ to pay online but it failed and we were never able to connect. Tent sites were secluded, many under shade trees, and well dispersed. Bathrooms were few and far between. Mostly vault toilets. There is a pool that families will enjoy. There is a small store. Walks and hikes are what is available. For a National Park it underwhelmed.

Campground is well equipped. Has store and pool and ranger station. Group site 129 is awesome and shady which is great as it gets hot there in summer. Great hikes and shuttle service to trail heads.

The only campsite available was small and in the sun. The only shade was in an area between another campsite, and it was unclear to which site it belonged. That was also the only real area to pitch a tent. The closest restrooms were closed. There were several porta-potties which had not been cleaned or emptied in days, so the waste level was high. Some were out of toilet paper and some were missing hand sanitizer. There was a portable sink outside, but it was out of water and soap. The next closest restrooms were a long walk away. The only showers I noticed were by the store, which was too far away to walk. I would not stay here again, especially for $41.44.

Highly recommended Pinnacles for families! There are lots of great hikes, a pool to swim on hot days, and so many stars at night. There is also a great camp store with everything you need - from food to cookware to cute t-shirts. And if your kid loves the junior ranger program as much as ours you can pick up your guide and badge at the visitor center.

It’s also a super short drive from the Bay Area which makes it an easy getaway during the school year.

We stumbled upon this campground here on the Dryt. We were able to book 2 nights stay very late and got in for electric hook ups with our class B van. The spot was 86 D loop and it had a nice oak tree for shade. It was next to the road but the road wasn’t busy so it wasn’t disturbing us. They had good showers with good pressure for 50 cents 3 minutes or 75 cents for 4 1/2 minutes. Flushing toilets a pool and nice camp store. We rode our bikes around the grounds and they have awesome tent camping in very shaded and secluded areas of the campground. Site 70-60’s looked nice. We drove to the National Park entrance and hiked Bear Gulch one day. Amazing and moderate hike to beautiful rock formations caves and the reservoir. Next day hiked to the balconies and caves from Old Pinnicle road. More cool caves and beautiful 4 hour hike there and back. We took showers used the dump station for our grey water tank and emptied our Porta potty in the bathroom. This campground was great!!

Great camping spot with a small creek running by the site. Water = mosquitoes and this was no exception. Plenty of shade at this site, level ground and space was plentiful for our 14 x 15 tent. We had a separate dome tent to keep out bugs. The site had two picnic benches, a fire pit and bear lockers for your food. The potable water was just steps away and the parking area easily accommodated two vehicles (vans). The bathrooms were a short stroll away, along with the big trash dumpsters. They have a pool near the visitor’s center/camp store which was very popular. Staff was really nice and the sites are well-kept. The pool and showers are a longer walk from our site so we ended up driving to those accommodations. Pay showers and the water was generous and shower stalls were relatively clean. Pinnacles trail heads are close by. Lots of trails, but when we were there an excessive heat warning was in place. Definitely a place to return to!

Per my rating system, this is very close to being 5 stars, meaning it's worth planning a trip from out of state just to visit this park and surrounding national/state forest for 3 days or more  The only reason it's 4 stars instead of 5 is that Pinnacles isn't quite big enough to explore exclusively for a minimum of 3 days. You've got a solid and long day of hiking through the park (6 miles, but very intense and exposed). Then a half day of exploring the parts of the park you didn't get to on the hike  And then. . well, by then you've probably seen most of what is worth seeing in the park. So hop in the car and drive to Monterey.  Go to the aquarium, eat some seafood, and then drive back to Pinnacles (about 3 hours round trip, but worth it if you spend the whole day in Monterey).  This is the definition of 4 stars by my system: a park definitely worth visiting if its part of a larger trip to a region.  And for locals, this is a must-visit spot, a place that will be on the regular camping rotation.

The park, which is located in a tight valley in San Benito county, is a geologically unique spot nestled in oak studded rolling California coastal mountains. There are two entrances into the park, but the campground is only accessible from the Gilroy/Hollister side.  If you're coming from the Bay Area, take Hwy 101 through Gilroy and then get on Hwy 25 South. As you wind your way on Hwy 25, you pass ranch land and within 10 miles of getting off the freeway, you feel like you're pretty far away from it all. That's the thing about California.  Get off the main thoroughfares and out of the population centers, and things get rugged fast. In the days of trillion-dollar market caps for Silicon Valley technology companies, people often forget that California has a rich agricultural history. I've lived in California for going on 3 decades, and I sometimes wonder what the more quintessentially central California experience is: Shopping at the Apple Store in San Francisco and then dining at a fine restaurant as the fog rolls in, or buying produce from a farm stand in a valley bordered by rolling hills.  It's probably both. San Benito county is a great place to experience the latter.

What makes Pinnacles geologically unique is that the park is formed from bulbous rock formations.  These are somewhat reminiscent of what one would find in southern Utah, at a place like Arches. The main hike, which is a loop that begins and ends at the parking lot, takes you up the ridge line and then across the rock faces. It's an intense and fun hike. It's just under 6 miles, but it will take the entire day.  Pack a lunch and plenty of water.  There are no water sources on the trail.  If you're lucky, you'll see condors floating in the thermal currents.

Speaking of thermal currents, Pinnacles is extremely hot in the summer. I've never come here past April.  The winter is ideal for Pinnacles.  But if you are in the Bay Area in the summer, it's worth checking out.  But be prepared for heat.

There are two campgrounds loops: one is for RV's and the other is for tents and RV "dry camping" (i.e. no hookups). I was in the tent section, dry camping my Airstream. The RV loop is easy to get in and out of.  The loop I was in was a bit trickier - "blue square" difficulty level for a 28' trailer. I had a back-in spot, but the angle of the spot made it easy to back in.  The tricky part was that it was kind of narrow, with railroad ties on either side. It was a good spot, and I'd definitely take that one again. But, if you want full hookups on the RV loop, spots 50 and 51 are the ones to get.  Many of the spots on the RV loop were really exposed, and it can get hot in Pinnacles, even in the winter during the day.

As I mentioned in the introduction of this post, there is a lot to do within a 2-3 hour (round trip) drive of Pinnacles.  You could go up to the southern Bay Area.  You can go to Monterey.  You could go wine tasting in Paso Robles. This is a great place to plan a 3-4 night trip. It's always on my short list of places to go.

It's just not that great. Our site had a brackish pool of stagnant water nearby that made the bugs unbearable. Some of the sites just get blasted by sun all day. The shower works but expect it to go from hot to cold and back.

And yes, the raccoons will steal food off your table right in front of you.

Haven't tried the wifi at the store but they do have it.

I snagged a last-minute cancelation in Pinnacles during peak time in May. We were in site 82 of Loop D, which is the RV area. The campground recently renumbered its sites, so that can be confusing if you're researching sites.

Very open and flat. We pitched out tent where you'd normally park and just put the car slightly to the side. Plenty of room. You can buy wood from the camp host, who then delivers it to your site.

We brought a pop up, which was useful over our table during the day, when it got into the 80s. You can watch condors and turkey vultures circle over the hillside nearby. (Learn to tell the difference! Both have red heads, but condors are much larger, have a different white striping underneath and don't flap their wings. If it's big and smooth flying, it's probably a condor.)

Our biggest issue was our neighbor in their shiny silver trailer, who ran their heater/ac all night, which cycled loudly on and off next to our tent. Had it not been for that, it would have been a more pleasant stay. On the plus side, we used a converter to plug into the power box at our site and were able to set up a little cell phone charging station. (The regular power outlet like the kind you see in your house seemed to be blocked, as I've seen it at other campgrounds, as well.)

Not much shade though. We had one tree by our site. Bathrooms were a bit of a walk, but were fine. Water spigot was literally AT our site, next to our fire pit. So we got to say hello to lots of folks. We grabbed an ice cream from the market by the tiny visitor's center at the entrance to the campground. We didn't use the swimming pool or showers.

Tent sites near the water across the way seemed more private, but also more prone to mosquitoes. It was nice listening to the frogs in that area, but that could annoy some people.

Main hiking trail parking lot filled by 8am or 8:30am on weekends during peak times, so we got up there early. They close the road out in front of the campground when those lots fill. So if you see that, you can wait until a car comes down or you can tack on some extra mileage and hike up from the back side of the campground.

I stayed in the RV loop and did not enjoy my time there. The sites had no private cu and were crammed in together, most people seems to be there to party and the bathrooms were far and gross.

I love this park so much! But the campground is privately run and I have mixed feelings about it.

There are over 100 sites, but only 3 bathrooms (they do have flush toilets and running water) so its a long walk. My child is not quite independent enough to make that walk on her own without getting lost.

There was a creek by our site and it was wonderfully calm. The vegitation insulated us from the party camps near by.

There was a very spherical friendly raccoon that visited as soon as the sun set - perhaps overly friendly - make sure you practice good food hygiene here.

This campground was super convenient when staying at Pinnacles for a couple days. You can’t really get anything same day so be sure to book in advance! We stayed outside of the park the first night and here the next. Amazing to see condors from our site. Great hiking close by!