Coyote Lake-Harvey Bear Ranch County Park — Hotel in Gilroy

Updating to 4 stars for a nice trip last time. I skipped the kiosk (husband handled it) because I didn’t want any conflict to ruin this trip. It was very hot (108+) but still very fun. Spent time on water and in campgrounds. Easily 80% of the staff are really professional, kind and considerate. The others though can really ruin things.

The scenery is definitely more golden and brown than anything at this time of year. It’s still very pretty. Trails are fun and not too difficult. Fishing was fruitless but still fun. Kids and I had fun ‘feeding’ all our bait to the little crafty bluegill near shore.

2 stars due to terrible kiosk staff behavior this year. I’ll upgrade my rating when they upgrade their behavior. It’s weird because it’s mostly same people but their behavior is dramatically different. Aggressive, suspicious, almost like you’re getting stopped at a sobriety checkpoint or something.

I’ve actually been camping and boating here with family and friends for 10’ish years and I’ve never been motivated to review negatively. But this year with the covid issues, the kiosk staff have really REALLY turned up the bad attitudes. I get it, right? Plenty of people coming in trying to sneak on fees or argue why they shouldn’t have to have their boat registered or whatever. It’s not an easy job from a customer service angle.

Except it is. Customers are life when you offer services they pay for. The county trains to Emotional Intelligence (and 2.0) communication skills. (For contrast other companies in the area train to Crucial Conversations. Same concepts, basically how to talk to all kinds of people in ways that avoid conflict.) I actually worked at the county up until a few years ago (better opportunity, not a complaint working for county). The two women I encountered two weeks ago were so amped up I’d swear they just came from some rally or protest. Tyrannical and demanding total obedience. Really really odd behavior and in major contrast from only 9 or 10 months ago.

They’re already doing it to my family again this trip and I’m having anxiety about going up to join. Coyote is legitimately the best kept secret in the bay. But these entrance staff? They either gotta go or majorly chill out again. It ruined me last trip. Ranger -2 of em- literally told me to just drive in and they would handle getting my tag for me. They did. And they PROFUSELY apologized. If this doesn’t improve my family and I are probably going to have to look for a new...

Go camping here sure enough gonna get a court date and staking sheriff ! Stay away if you don’t wanna go to court. ! Tickets 🎫 for kids 10 and 11 waiting in the water not swim taking photos for court! smh almost felt un easy being here coming! like he was in a bush looking for something! Maybe he need to Retire! Let me tell you when he took all the fun out of camping for everyone on this campsite! this weeks!! He even came on camp site at night while you where sleeping ask you to put to plates away! this sheriff seem to be on the premises just to get tickets seem like 60% of the gas got tickets! go camping here. The Santa Clara County sheriff department is waiting on everybody to camp here so they could give you tickets your small amount and camping and you walk out with thousand dollars and find in a court date. We went camping over the weekend we seen one particular sheriff, giving tickets to everyone even gave a ticket to some who didn’t have al license plate and we were just trying to camp and have a A good time with our family he also stopped many of people for doing even the small things of riding a foot scooter too fast I get it you want it to be safe but we’re all just trying to have fun and I get it. You’re trying to save everybody from getting hurt, but you think a ticket or getting yelled at when you’re trying to have a good time is even better. Just be aware of camping here! You’ll walk out with the ticket for something believe me he’ll find something for you to get...

My family and I camped here on the last weekend of July '22. The park's restrooms are very clean and well maintained (you can even catch some free WiFi near them!)

Our campsite was close to the lake and we were blessed with excellent views and sunsets. Just a brisk walk away you could see deer, feral pigs, and other wildlife near the water. It was really pleasant taking my dog out here for walks.

The campgrounds were busy when we came though. This might be a problem for you if you were expecting peace and quiet, but I didn't mind the vibes from the campsite over. You can just hear them well into midnight, and sometimes they'd walk through our camp on the way to the bathroom (I saw some other sites rope their campsites off for this reason).

It wasn't a problem for me as the nature and my company were great. A short drive away are fishing spots and a dam. The lake may not be Yosemite but it's quite pretty.

Park rangers and staff were always helpful. I didn't shower here, but my mom and sister let me know the showers were a-okay (the water is warm up to a certain point, and you have to keep pressing a button to keep it going). We bought some firewood near the entrance that burned really excellently (it included fire starter too).

I had a really fun time camping over the weekend and this is definitely the spot to hit with family and friends....