Memorial County Park — Attraction in Los Altos

At $45 a night plus fees (probably the most I’ve spent on a camp site), I left with a little more to desire…

Depending on your camping preference. It’s a decent place to disconnect and get away from the Bay Area bustle for a weekend. There is no cell service. Our camp site was a short 1 minute walk to the Pescadero Creek Rd so there were noticeable road noise from large trucks and motorcycles during the day. Bring bug repellent, there’s a lot of mosquitos in the area being next to a creek.

The campsites are nice but they’re closely paired with one another. You won’t get a lot of privacy here if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s great for big groups using two campsites which seems to be norm during my stay here. Also people didn’t follow the quiet hours after 10pm with no ranger enforcement but it is what it is considering the set up of these camps… Good amenities with recently renovated toilets and showers. And a convenient store with ice cream. That’s a first.

This type of camp is a good introduction for people who haven’t been camping before and want to bring their whole house with them. It’s far enough away from town but still have a large community of people. An inexpensive way to spend time with a big family with 10 or more people, not so much value for a couple or smaller family.

It’s a beautiful part of the Bay Area to get away without getting away. It’s just not my style of camping. One and done for any San Mateo County campsites. At their reservation prices, you can find better options around the...

Great campground, campsites, and amenities. I took my two kids (7 and 8) there for the first time in our pop-up trailer. The park is beautiful! Majestic redwood trees, cool creek, paths and trails for hiking and biking around. We were able to get a site with plenty of room for our trailer with lots of extra space to play, set up chairs around the fire ring, etc. There were two picnic tables in great condition and a huge animal-proof storage locker (though I did not see any indication of hungry critters that were waiting to get our food- raccoons, squirrels, and skunks have been an issue at other campgrounds we've visited in N. CA). We spent a full day just exploring the park with a lot of time checking out the fish, crawdads, and banana slugs in and near the creek. On day two, we left the park and headed to one of the cool beaches only twenty minutes away near Pescadero for the day. The following day, my kids just wanted to hike around the park and spend more time in the creek. Fun and relaxing all around. We were there during the week, but I saw posters advertising great weekend events for the kids, and I will try to schedule future trips to encompass a weekend. Lastly, the staff were amazing!! Incredibly friendly and helpful. A pin for our trailer broke, and the rangers searched their shop and quickly found us a replacement, which saved our trip! This was the first of what I am sure will be MANY trips in the...

Memorial County Park (MCP) was awesome in every single way. We camped for 2 nights. The camp sites are well laid out, you are literally amongst the giant Redwoods and Douglas-Fir, and you genuinely feel you are "in nature".

What makes MCP over-the-top is its facilities. All the bathroom, shower and water stations seem to have been renovated or built new, which was REALLY a godsend. Access to basic needs are always a big concern for amateur campers like us and MCP was wonderful in that regards. Also the bathrooms are well laid out and abundant that they are no more than 30 secs away from any site. The park was about 80% full but never had we had to stand in a line for anything.

MCP has a visitor center where you can learn about the wildlife and nature around you, plenty of kids activities including hiking, scavenger hunts, etc. as well as an amphitheater where we watched a movie with proper surround sound.

At night, the stars shine through the tree tips as you gaze at awe. During the day, you can hike the Pomponio trail right across the road for great views.

One last detail (and I think it is a feature not a negative) is that you will get no cell signal. So you will be off-the-grid which in my opinion is the reason why many go camping anyways. There is wifi at the visitor center but we found ourselves not seeking...