Pinnacles Campground
Pinnacles National Park
Write a Review 5000 CA-146 Paicines, CA 95043 831-200-1722 831-389-4486 Reservations: 877-444-6777 Official WebsiteGPS: 36.493, -121.1463
Overview of Pinnacles Campground
Pinnacles Campground is located on the eastern side of Pinnacles National Park and can only be accessed via the East Entrance Station. The campground is open year-round and offers 134 campsites for tents and RV's that have picnic tables and fire rings, 36 RV sites have 30 amp electric hookup. Pinnacles Campground has restrooms with flush toilets and showers, RV dump station, drinking water, camp store (firewood, ice, etc.), day-use picnic area, visitor center, and a swimming pool that is open from April through September.
Pinnacles Campground and the Campground Store are operated by Pinnacles Recreation Company. The campground general store is open daily from 9:30 am until 5:00 pm. For questions about camping or the campground store, please call (831) 200-1722. Tent and RV campsites can be reserved up to 6 months in advance, group camping can be reserved up to 12 months in advance. For Pinnacles Campground reservations, please visit recreation.gov or call (877) 444-6777.
Last Price Paid: $33
Reported by lgehring on 5/28/2024
Longest RV Reported: 42 feet (Class A)
Reported by Life Rebooted on 3/13/2016
Number of Sites 134
Pad Type gravel
Reservations yes
Elevation 1,017 ft / 309 m
Max Stay 14
Tent Camping Yes
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Q&A - Ask the Community about Pinnacles Campground
To ask questions of the owner or manager please contact the campground directly. 831-200-1722
Joseph asked on 8/11/2021
Can you get to most of the trailheads without a car? We will be in a Class C with bikes but no car. Thanks!
Reviews of Pinnacles Campground 54 people have reviewed this location.
Cell Phone Coverage
Confirmed by 5 Users
Last reported 11/11/2023
Confirmed by 9 Users
Last reported 4/8/2024
“No shuttle, no parking, and horrible roads”
Reviewed 5/28/2024
| Nightly rate: | $33 |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 3 |
| Site Number: | 92 |
| RV Length: | 35' (Class A) |
Overall Rating
Pinnacles is a decent national park. Pinnacles Campground isn't bad. The RV sites are level and have 30 A electricity, with water spigots randomly nearby. There's even a pool. But the campsites are just painted lines on dirt. And people are squished together. Pinnacles lost both of its shuttle drivers in December and they have no... more
Pinnacles is a decent national park. Pinnacles Campground isn't bad. The RV sites are level and have 30 A electricity, with water spigots randomly nearby. There's even a pool.
But the campsites are just painted lines on dirt. And people are squished together.
Pinnacles lost both of its shuttle drivers in December and they have not replaced them. There's practically no parking at trailheads, so you aren't getting on those trails. And as someone else pointed out, hiking is the only thing to do.
But the real reason we will never go back? The horrendous highway roads. We're in a motorhome with good shocks and those lumpy, pothole-filled roads shook us for miles. MILES. Never again.
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Condors! Lots Of Small Wildlife Including Feral Children”
Reviewed 4/8/2024
| Days stayed: | 2 |
|---|---|
| Site Number: | 42B |
| RV Length: | 19' (Class B) |
Overall Rating
First time at Pinnacles, it was great! We saw condors all 3 days, some pretty low down, but on occasion 5-7 all circling together. Plus many bunnies, ground squirrels, deer, turkeys, quail…and lots of other birds. Our site 42B was level, quiet with a hedge on one side, and near the bathroom. Be prepared for many small children on vehic... more
First time at Pinnacles, it was great! We saw condors all 3 days, some pretty low down, but on occasion 5-7 all circling together. Plus many bunnies, ground squirrels, deer, turkeys, quail…and lots of other birds. Our site 42B was level, quiet with a hedge on one side, and near the bathroom. Be prepared for many small children on vehicles - scooters, bikes, trikes…some motorized - with no parental supervision. But having a good amount of fun. Our loop had not hookups - intentionally - but there is an RV loop if you want hookups. The bench trail leaves from the camps, and a pretty easy hike to bear gulch. The nature center there was closed but a volunteer docent had a display and answers to so many questions. The shop was mainly tchotchkes and processed snax, and the shower situation was a bit sketchy. But a beautiful area with lots of hiking options.
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T-Mobile 4G
SupBoy would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“A Mediocre Campground That Charges Top Dollar ”
Reviewed 2/4/2024
| Days stayed: | 2 |
|---|---|
| Site Number: | 2 |
Overall Rating
I stayed here over a weekend in late January. My site (#2), was pitiful and was crammed into a space with site #3 which should have only been for one campsite. They charge an additional $20 for camping on a weekend. The fee for my site which was a mud hole campsite with a mud hole parking spot was almost $60/night with no hookups. I wi... more
I stayed here over a weekend in late January. My site (#2), was pitiful and was crammed into a space with site #3 which should have only been for one campsite. They charge an additional $20 for camping on a weekend. The fee for my site which was a mud hole campsite with a mud hole parking spot was almost $60/night with no hookups. I will not be staying there again.
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AT&T
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Late Nov/easily Dec Visit”
Reviewed 12/2/2023
| Days stayed: | 5 |
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| Site Number: | 93 |
Overall Rating
We enjoyed a quiet 5 night stay in the D loop of the campground (with electric hookup). With our America the Beautiful Senior pass the rate was $35/night. It was obvious that there have been some issues with some of the large oak trees dropping their limbs. I was a little concerned camping beneath one (site #93). Hopefully they can ... more
We enjoyed a quiet 5 night stay in the D loop of the campground (with electric hookup). With our America the Beautiful Senior pass the rate was $35/night. It was obvious that there have been some issues with some of the large oak trees dropping their limbs. I was a little concerned camping beneath one (site #93). Hopefully they can get take care of dead limbs left in trees soon.
The campground was very quiet and VERY dark.
It is true NO Verizon service at all. Used the paid internet service, but was unable to do any work because of the weak service. Could not download (or upload) files. Definitely no streaming of programs.
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Verizon
camper-756219 would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Thank you for the reviews”
Reviewed 11/11/2023
| Nightly rate: | $70 |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 3 |
| Site Number: | 83 |
Overall Rating
Firstly, thank everyone who has posted a review, there is much better information here than on the campground website! Info from our stay Nov 2023: Confirmed, no Verizon service, not even a hint. AT&T works great, 2 bars of LTE, speedtest showed over 200 Mbps down! Don’t make the mistake we did, there is a water spigot with a hos... more
Firstly, thank everyone who has posted a review, there is much better information here than on the campground website!
Info from our stay Nov 2023:
Confirmed, no Verizon service, not even a hint. AT&T works great, 2 bars of LTE, speedtest showed over 200 Mbps down!
Don’t make the mistake we did, there is a water spigot with a hose connector near campsite 82, don’t get fooled into using one of the smooth ones (see pictures).
The campground website says biking isn’t allowed, we almost didn’t bring our E-bikes, that would have been a mistake. Like others here said, the parking near the trailheads gets filled up easy, our E-Bikes made it easy to get to the trailheads from the campground! Confirmed there were 2 bike racks art the “Old Pinnacles Trailhead Parking” (east side).
The Balconies Cave trail is a must do! It takes 2.5-3 hours at a brisk pace.
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AT&T 4G
Verizon
Josh Lanners would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Unique hiking for adventurous ”
Reviewed 9/28/2023
| Days stayed: | 14 |
|---|---|
| Site Number: | 110 |
| RV Length: | 27' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
Hike through caves, up and down staircases carved into boulders (with handrails) and watch for condors. The RV section has 30 amp. Some of the water spigots work. Dump station at entrance. Basically a dirt lot with chalk outlines for sites. I vote for #104 as best site in warmer months. Get full shade from noon thru sunset. #109, 110 ... more
Hike through caves, up and down staircases carved into boulders (with handrails) and watch for condors. The RV section has 30 amp. Some of the water spigots work. Dump station at entrance.
Basically a dirt lot with chalk outlines for sites. I vote for #104 as best site in warmer months. Get full shade from noon thru sunset. #109, 110 and 111 have shade in the morning and separated from other sites. Generators are not allowed so it is awesome to hear all the critters making their chirping and croaking noises. Deer and turkeys roam around each evening.
Was able to work off of T-mobile hotspot and Starlink. Wasn’t getting great Starlink connection in site 110 because of the huge tree hanging over site 104. But could still do Zoom meetings with some freezing up.
Showers are free. Nothing special. No hot water for most of the stay but was super happy to have hot water my final night. It’s the little things that make me happy.
Recommend evening hiking. Parking lot at trailheads fills up by 8am on the weekends.
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Verizon
T-Mobile 4G
SteveDoster would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Do Not Trust recreation.gov's descriptions! RV Sites are 82-112 ONLY!”
Reviewed 4/25/2023
| Days stayed: | 1 |
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| Site Number: | 59 |
| RV Length: | 16' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
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 ... more
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.
AlDenty would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Beautiful Campground”
Reviewed 4/17/2023
| Days stayed: | 7 |
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| Site Number: | 84 |
| RV Length: | 19' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
We came here from Death Valley so we were just excited for some trees! We stayed in site 84 and were able to get perfect Starlink to work remotely, but most sites are surrounded by trees.
Julia Welborn would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Another National Park ”
Reviewed 3/15/2023
| Nightly rate: | $20 |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 6 |
| Site Number: | B42 |
| RV Length: | 18' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
This Park is a hikers' Park. If you don't hike, there's nothing to do. The campground needs lots of work. Many, maybe even most sites are very hard to get into because they are angled the wrong way. It rained a lot while I was there and I got stuck in the mud once while turning around. Most are only suitable for tent camping. The si... more
This Park is a hikers' Park. If you don't hike, there's nothing to do.
The campground needs lots of work. Many, maybe even most sites are very hard to get into because they are angled the wrong way. It rained a lot while I was there and I got stuck in the mud once while turning around. Most are only suitable for tent camping. The sites with electric and water are in better shape.
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T-Mobile 4G
Patch would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Tight Quarters”
Reviewed 3/14/2023
| Nightly rate: | $59 |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 7 |
| Site Number: | 91 |
| RV Length: | 30' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
No usable Verizon signal. T-Mobile speeds were about 10 Mbps download and 3Mbps upload. AT&T was 300/3 but intermittent. Verizon and T-Mobile were with a roof mounted Pepwave antenna. Starlink worked well but you may have difficulty with tree cover depending on your site. Our site was angled oddly such that our drivers side neighbors ... more
No usable Verizon signal. T-Mobile speeds were about 10 Mbps download and 3Mbps upload. AT&T was 300/3 but intermittent. Verizon and T-Mobile were with a roof mounted Pepwave antenna. Starlink worked well but you may have difficulty with tree cover depending on your site.
Our site was angled oddly such that our drivers side neighbors were very close. Lots of weird orientation here. We had a large oak tree shading our site with low branches that touched our Airstream. The road condition in the loop is very poor with deep potholes throughout. The views from the campground aren't particularly good to make up for it either - you can't see the Pinnacles. The site was level side to side.
Tons of birds throughout the campground.
Value for the money was very poor at $59 a night - outrageous for a poorly maintained NPS campground.
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AT&T 4G
Verizon 4G
T-Mobile 4G
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
Page 1 of 6
1 review
noted 3/26/2021
The dump station at Pinnacles National Park campground broke down on 3/25/2021 and was still out of commission the next day. It may be a while before it is working again. We were told the nearest dump station was at the Casa de Fruta RV resort 50 miles away. Thinking back, I should have pulled into the San Benito County Fairgrounds to see if their RV parking included a dump site. Call Pinnacles campground if you must have a dump station.
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Amenities
Hookups
- 30 Amp
- 20 Amp
- dry camping
- Partial Hookups
Recreation
- picnic area
- recreation trail
- swimming pool: outdoor
Site Amenities
- big rig
- fire ring
- picnic table
Facilities
- dump station
- group sites
- recycle
- restrooms: flush
- showers
- swimming pool: outdoor
- trash
- water available
Pets
- pets
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