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Pinnacles Campground
Rating Details »
11 reviews for Pinnacles Campground
We went camping at Pinnacles a couple of weeks ago when it was 110 degrees! I guess that I should have known that it would be so hot but we sort of underestimated what that feels like. Coming from San Francisco, the temperature was twice as hot as what we are used to. Sort of tough to hike or just lounge around in the sun when it's that hot so my review might be a little jaded.
We stayed in spot 68 which was great. It was private and the water and the bathrooms were right there, but far enough away for privacy. The other spots that Jason W. gave are pretty spot on as well. Be careful of the open ones in the middle of the campgrounds, there is no shade and believe me you will want shade.
Bring a lot of bug spray, they were vicious. Granted it is camping, but the yellow jackets and flies were pretty voracious. Seriously, a big net to go over the table would be clutch. One night we couldn't eat because the yellow jackets were attacking our dinner so we jumped in the car to eat!
There were also a ton of kids and families which is fine, this place seems good for that since they have the pool, but the pool is pretty nasty. We only jumped in since it was crazy hot. There are just so many dirty kids swimming around that it's just never going to be clean, but then again you are camping so you're not really expecting "clean".
So, I'll give Pinnacles a solid 3 since it was pretty close to the city and was a nice retreat. I might go back, but not during the hot season. Might head back in November or something since I would like to check out the trails which we avoided because of the heat.
Come on!!! I know camping is all about being one with nature, but seriously, ONE ladies' shower-- by one I mean one STALL-- for the entire campsite?
On a hot 100+ degree day when the pool gets packed, one shower really just won't cut it. And the 4 minute wait after 7 minutes of water is ridiculous. I caught the last minute of the person before me, then I had to wait in grime and soap for 4 whole freaking minutes...while tens of people were anxiously waiting for their turn behind me.
They need to clean out their pool...
Few mosquitos. Good service. Their 'grocery store' is adequate enough.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
Some of these reviews are mind blowing... complaints of Mosquitoes, lack of showers, and everything else??? Come on people its camping!!! I guess some of you expected a TV and refrigerator at your camp site as well!
LOL
This is a great location to camp though it is crowded and that can take away from the whole "get away" feeling but nevertheless it is still a solid place to camp. I would recommend camping here on a week day. Weekends seem to sell out quickly which in returns means more people, more noise, and overall less chances to snag the best camp sites. However that set aside, this is a great camping location!
The Camp Grounds:
The majority of the grounds share campsites so this can be a pain when trying to have a semi private camping experience or when there is simply 3-4 site which all have no privacy what so ever right next to each other. Trust me, you will not want these sites because it takes away from the camping experience!
However have no fear, I walked the whole campsite and wrote down all the spaces that either are not visible from the road or were enclosed by large trees and other brush which actually made them private and seem a bit away from the clusters of shared camping sites (or sites which had no privacy).
Here are the sites that are "private" or have large trees/bushes blocking and further privatizing your camping experience. Use these numbers when considering your site. Trust me, you will thank me later!!!
35 - I actually stayed here and this was a great location covered with trees and was nice and private. They pretty much hollowed out a huge space and is also next to the creek.
57
58
60
61
66
67
71
Staff:
Overall they seemed to be very cool and knowledgeable.
Overall Pros:
Nice location, really close to the trails and climbing areas. Clean grounds with a knowledgeable and friendly staff! They have showers and a pool. Clean bathrooms with flushing toilets!
Overall Cons:
Tad bit crowded, only 8 camp sites that I would consider worth and private enough for a nice camping session. Several campsites are uncovered and not private.
People thought this was:
- Useful (3)
- Funny (1)
- Cool (1)
A group of 6 of us came this past Memorial Weekend and though we had a blast, the campgrounds could have been better.
Low ratings are due to:
1. Lack of showers: there are only two showers for galz and two showers for boys in this entire campsite!! To make matters worse, there's a pool to generate a high demand for showers! We went on a long hike and I needed a shower - I think I waited at least 40 minutes if not an hour to shower. Ridunkulous!
2. Campsites: not the bestest individual campsites as most of them are right next to the little road that cars drive by or kids on bikes loudly bike on at 6am in the morning. Most sites also don't have shade. Ours were pretty good - #31 and #32. #30 next to us had zero shade and #20 we walked by looked horrid as it is on a crazy slant.
However there were a few good things: the hike was really cool - we hiked to Balconies Cave which was fun though congested, and we also hiked above it on the way back where you can see really cool rock formations. There is also a free shuttle from the campsite to other parts of the park. Water faucets were also conveniently located between sites.
Good things to know: no campfire with real wood, you have to buy the fake stuff ala Duraflame and such. Each car needs to pay $5 entrance fee on top of the campsite fee. There are bathrooms, but no light at night so bring a headlamp. They also run out of TP so bring that too.
Overall a nice park, but boy...that shower situation will keep me from coming back. Hopefully they'll fix that someday.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
The tent sites are huge, good for 2 cars and 3 or 4 tents, restroom facilites are clean, but ONLY 1 shower room for the entire campground?!?! Also, there is a 4-minute delay between showers, and each shower is 6 minutes... this is just ridiculous and it causes long lines, especially during a hot day.
This is the place to stay if you are visiting Pinnacles National Monument. The Parks Service took over operating this campground recently, maybe in 2007, so reservations can be made through the national parks reservation system. Rates are $23/site/night and showers are free. There are conveniently located water spigots and bathrooms with flush toilets and sinks on each loop. They warned us they'd been having problems with feral pigs and raccoons, but the only animals we saw were rabbits and lizards. The camp store sells beer, firewood, and many other things, plus there is a park visitor center there. The pool was filled with screaming pre-teens in 60 degree weather.
My one complaint is that the site are very close together with no privacy. To the people who packed 17 screeching children and 6 minivans into the 2 sites next to ours: Next year, reserve a group site! If I wanted pack of 4 year olds dragging crap around my campsite and playing with their beeping toys, I would have brought my own!
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
The Skinny:
Honestly, this isn't "real" camping. There are free showers, and flushing toilets, and sinks. And beer at the store. And if you are a wimpy wimpmeister then you can always sit in your car with the a/c on.
The Fatty:
15 20-somethings arrived at Pinnacles Campground, and quite possibly ruined the innocent lives of the nearby families. My apologies...
Originally we were going to Arroyo Seco in Big Sur, but it burnt down. We got a call 2 days after the fire started, the morning of our reservation. Thanks for the warning, Arroyo Seco.
So I am a wimp when it comes to hot weather (I am a Bay Area girl after all), but the 107 degree temperature was tolerable in the shade and with an ice cold beer in one hand.
Oh, wait. No ice because the visitor center's ice machine failed to make ice and the closest town is a 40 minute drive away. So we drove over to the pool, which had lots of bugs and lots of pee since 80% of the swimmers were under 8 years old.
Most of the campsites are 2 feet off the road, seriously. We lucked out and booked #49/50, which was tucked away next to the "river" which was more like a light trickle. Large, shady campsite with lots of parking.
This was a fun place to get away from the city and go into the wilderness with friends that don't want to be sober. But a large campsite is a must, and we lucked out with our also 20-something year old neighbors.
People thought this was:
- Cool (1)
This place can be a pretty crappy campground. Unfortunately, however, it's the only place to camp within or near Pinnacles National Monument. While our individual campsite was fine (#66), a lot of the other sites, maybe even as many as half, are terrible. They're small, close together, right on the road, lacking in shade, and sometimes marshy. Be very careful in making your choice of campsite when making your reservations - study the pictures on their website very carefully. The place is also expensive ($32 for one night with three people).
So why the three stars? Well, the bathrooms are kept clean and are sometimes lighted (however the lights went out late at night for some reason), they have a camp store (albeit minimally stocked), hot showers, and a fairly nice swimming pool (how odd!). I also like how the RV sites are kept separate from the tent sites. When it comes right down to it, no matter which way you look at it, you've got no other choices in finding a place to camp, so that's why you come here.
Good-size campground with spots for RVs and tents, .5 miles from the entrance of Pinnacles National Monument. The campsites have shade and are well-spaced. The campground has more comfort than most - flushing toilets, pool and nature talks. Only 2 hours from San Francisco.
The second star is for the campsite we lucked into (#49) which was nicely surrounded by hedges and not visible from adjacent campsites or from the road (many other sites at Pinnacles have no cover at all and you are right up against your neighbors with zero privacy). Other than our nice little spot, this place was a total nightmare. It is essentially like trying to sleep in the middle of a giant open-air day care center. I have never seen so many kids running unchecked through a campground, anywhere. If you like to sleep, do not stay here unless you absolutely have to. Unfortunately, if you want to get an early start hiking at Pinnacles, this place is pretty much your only nearby choice. There are signs posted when you drive in that clearly state "Quiet Hours Strictly Enforced 10:00 PM to 8:00 AM." Not only were they not strictly enforced, they were not enforced at all. It's bad enough when someone brings a guitar camping and sings "Kumbaya," but at least that is relatively quiet. The worst is the asshat who feels that since he is out in nature and sitting round the campfire, he needs to go all tribal and bust out the BONGO DRUMS. The bongo drumming and singing over in the group camp went on well past midnight. Then the morning ruckus started well before 8:00 AM - it was actually 6:00 AM. Aside from the car doors slamming, kids riding around on bikes and yelling, and scout masters and suburban dads lecturing and barking orders, there was one fellow who thought it would be hilarious to sing out "OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING!" so the whole camp could hear. Look, I realize that setting up a tent in a place like this is not "camping" by any definition of the word, but I have stayed in the tent cabins at Curry Village in Yosemite, for crying out loud, and even in that simulacrum of a refugee camp they manage to enforce quiet hours. The cacophony at Pinnacles was so bad that we simply cut our trip short and skipped staying there a second night, even though we had already reserved and paid for a site. There were the other little annoyances, like bear boxes in some campsites but not others. There are no bears at Pinnacles, but there are raccoons and coyotes who are just as happy to steal your food. I think for $23 a night they could ensure that all of the sites have bear boxes rather than only some. And the surly teen girl who checked me in was just about to get off work and clearly couldn't have cared less about providing any useful information or even telling us how to locate our campsite. What a total mess. Fortunately I don't have to resort to organized campgrounds like these very often - off-the-grid camping is the way to go - but when I do have to stay in a campground and pay money to stay there, at the very least I expect the people in charge to enforce the rules so that everybody can enjoy their stay. Places like Pinnacles cater to large groups (who pretty much do whatever they want due to strength in numbers), and families with kids. It served as a useful reminder why we enjoy actual camping out in the wilderness - it gets us away from other people and their rotten, self-centered behavior. Oh, and as someone else said, the mosquitoes are indeed bad here, but mosquitoes are a given when camping...I can't really fault campground management for that.
i booked two sites for a group of 7 people. Six people is the max per site, but up to ten people would've cost the same. the website has prices and online reservations (http://www.pinncamp.com). there's also a map and pictures of each campsite. in early june, the place was only a quarter full. i suspect they knew we would be a bunch of rowdy kids, so we were placed at sites 70/71, the furthest location from the entrance and showers, with no other booked sites around us. at night we had to drive over to the shower building. it was a very dark, bumpy road, and not walkable with snakes possibly lurking in the bushes. the shower is kinda whack at 50 cents/3 minutes where the first minute is cold, the second is just right and the third leaves you wondering if you should pop in another quarter. also there's no light. i had to prop a flashlight on the self. as far as nature, the flattest trail to the balconies caves is 8 miles roundtrip. bring lots of water, so that a detour to the west park entrance for more water isn't necessary (another 2 miles out of the way). the caves itself was pretty cool. bring a flashlight. as far as animals, condors are hard to find, wild turkeys were spotted, pigs supposedly ran free, and a racoon stole our marshmallows before i could even make a smore.
