Monterey Veterans Memorial Park — Hotel in Monterey

I have been coming here since I was a child and now as an adult this is still my favorite camp ground. KEEP THIS IN MIND: It is first come first serve, meaning the earlier in the morning you arrive the more likely you are to get a spot. I always go on Memorial Day weekend so I try to get there at 7am. Some spots are more secluded with a larger areas and privacy, while others are closely side by side and more in the open. All camp spots have their own picnic table. Every camp spot has a white ticket clipped to a wooden “pole” at the front of it. The ticket specifies the dates in which the campers have payed to remain at the spot, but keep in mind they have until midday to pay for another night. If there is NO ticket on a camp spot it means it is up for grabs, so take note of the number of the spot, and pay at the front in one of the envelopes provided (CASH ONLY, it was $47 as of May 2025); if you need change or have questions, you can knock on the rangers door which is the cabin at the front entrance. If there is a ticket on the camp spot but you see the campers packing up or something similar to that, you can ask them if they are planning on leaving and if you could have their spot. Please please please do NOT wake campers up or go on their campground when they are not present. Please do not try to approach a tent to wake anyone up and please do not park on someone else’s campground just because they aren’t there. That is not allowed. It is a three night maximum and you must be on your best behavior to be approved for three nights in a row. This past Memorial Day weekend there were no fires allowed, but two years ago there were, so it varies. Quiet hours are 10pm to 8am, this also means all fires out by 10pm. They have showers and bathrooms, so make sure to bring shower sandals and toiletries if you plan to shower there. There is an outlet in the bathrooms too. Keep in mind that there are only two showers and two toilets in the women’s bathroom closest to the campground. This means you may stand in line waiting to shower depending on how busy it is that weekend/day. They turn off the water at 10pm. The women’s bathroom wasn’t dirty when I arrived on Friday but by Sunday it was pretty dirty and no one came to clean the bathroom daily, just a heads up. There is a big playground and a large lawn with picnic tables. It is a pet friendly campground which is nice. I accidentally brought my air mattress inflatable machine that required an outlet. Thankfully the rangers let us plug it into an outlet on the exterior of their cabin. 15min away from the Monterey Fairgrounds and 11min away from Target. It is close by shops/restaurants and a quick drive to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is also near Monterey State Beach and the Carmel Mission/downtown area. The weather is always cooler at the camp ground versus all other areas in Monterey due to the altitude. I went for Memorial Day weekend and it was cold (it even drizzled) and I drove 10 min away from the campground and the sun was shining and it was hot. Basically, if you come in the spring,...

This is a great campground. I stated here for two nights for Monterey Car Week because Hotel/Motel rates were 3-4x the normal going rates this week.

Rates here are $47/night if you're camping with one vehicle. It $13 more for an additional vehicle.

The system is first-come-first-served and you're able to check in at anytime of the day. First you go around and look for a vacant site. They will either have no reservation slip clipped to the site marker post or if the site is empty and there is a slip, check to make sure the that group has already departed for the day. Some people come by in the morning, claim a site and leave for the day to come back at night, so make sure your aren't taking someone's site. Then when you do find a site you want to take, either leave belongings or someone from your group there to show that the site has been claimed. You go to the Self registration booth and pay your appropriate fee. Make sure you do pay your fees because they have someone checking every morning.

They do allow non-campers to use the showers for a $4 fee and limited to 10 minutes You pay at the self registration booth. Fill out an envelop, enclose your fee, display the reservation slip on your dash and park near the showers. I'm not sure how much they enforce this, but why risk it to save $4.

My only (very minor) complaints:

They typically don't allow overnight parking on the grounds if you're not a registered camper, but my first night there, the trail head parking lot was full of cars with people sleeping in them. I'm not sure if they let them slide because it was Monterey Car Week, but the next night they were all gone. I was a little mad because I was car camping as well and felt like I paid the fee for nothing. These people were also using the restroom and showers, keeping us registered people from using them.

Now on to my second complaint. Check out time is 12 noon. On the day of my check out, I decided to pack up the van, leave to grab breakfast and come back to shower and get ready for the day. I left at 10am and when I came back 30 mins later, the hosts have removed my reservation slip that was clipped to my site marker, rendering my site up for grabs, even though I'm technically paid up until 12 noon. Luckily when i came back, my spot was still empty.

My third complaint. They close the restrooms and showers around 10am for about half an hour to clean them (which I'm thankful for). But closing them at this time poses an inconvenience if you're trying to get ready before you check out at 12 noon (hence why I left as mentioned above). Once the restroom/showers open back up around 11, everyone bombards it, hoping to get ready before check out time.

Overall, still a fantastic campground and will definitely be...

Update: Summer 2021. I would Love to keep Monterey Veteran's Memorial Campground a secret! It's So Nice! After having such a great time here last year, we came back this year. The campground is kept in beautiful condition! The bathrooms and showers are clean and stocked. Our favorite mini vacation, beach town, who serves up the best clam chowder, is down the hill! Thanks to Park Rangers, Chris and Tom, for taking great care of the park!

Summer 2020 My family opted to go camping during the Summer of Covid! Family fun! Hiking! Social Distancing! All in a city with GREAT Food and lots of cute shops! Monterey is requiring masks be worn while in public, with a $100 fine if sited without one. Some public areas in Monterey are requiring a mask, Period! I appreciate all their precautions! Monterey Veteran's Memorial Park is enforcing the mask rules and keeping the bathrooms bleached spotlessly clean. The bathrooms offer showers!!! The children's playground is currently closed off because of covid, but is a big, fun amenity when available. The campground and spots are very clean and there are many to chose from regarding size and terrains. Most have flat or near flat areas for pitching your tent. Currently, wood fires are not allowed, but charcoal is permitted. Actually, it's nice to not get smoked out every morning and evening. I understand the park gets full on the weekends, but we easily found a spot on an early Tuesday morning. Nice thing about this campground is if the spot is untagged and open, you can move in. No wait-till-check-in time. Check out time is noon. The park manager is very nice, and the campground reflects his hard work! I 100% recommend Monterey Veteran's...