Beautiful campground with full hookups and roomy sites. Nice bathrooms and showers too. Lots of…read moregrounds to walk a dog or exercise. Close to many places to go.

Nice peaceful campsite. Nice places to walk, clean bathrooms. Only complaint is they stopped…read morefilling up firewood to purchase and dont stock their vending machine with snacks anymore.

The drive to get here reminds me of the road to Hana! It wasn't as bad though, it was just an hour…read moreand a half from the East Bay. It was nice and quiet, clean and signs were posted at communal areas (restrooms/sink) to remind everyone to social distance and wear a mask (however not everyone wore masks ) It was really beautiful being surrounded by the Redwood trees and fresh air! We went on a nice hike, not difficult but doable for beginners. They had a basketball court, tennis court, volleyball, soccer and baseball field to use. We brought our own basketball but I believe you can check one out at the office. It's great for all ages My only complaint and it's not against the camp at all, it's that there were so many mosquitos! So be prepared if you're like me, I ALWAYS get eaten alive !! Bring your bug spray , lotion etc.... Definitely a place to check out in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

We had campsite #2 (tent, not cabin). Great place. Had deers close to us. Restrooms were near…read moreenough as well. #2 site is not really ensconced by trees as much as we'd have liked. Miss T. Elkins, of the park staff was the best part of the trip. She helped us with our campfire and checked in on us across our multiple nights there. (This rating gets it's positive stars due to her hospitality!) This is a privately operated camping operation inside the big basin state park. So if you want to donate/do good for the state parks system, go for big basin redwoods state park. The firewood here is extremely expensive at $17 per 0.9 cubic feet. (compared to $5 at a safeway in the regular bay area). Even Big Basin Redwoods State Park Visitor Gift Shop had their firewood (same brand and size) for $13 so there's some clear gouging here. (-1 star) The road from Big Basin's road to Little Basin is horrible with lots of potholes for ~3 miles. (-1 star)

1. Half Moon Bay State Park's Kiosk Phone Number is (650) 726-8820…read more 2. Campgrounds' Reservations: Drive directly to Kiosk by 9:00 AM, put your name on the Waitlist IF, the soonest date via State Park's URL denies making a campsite reservation, obtain Waitlist #1 or #2 in order, guaranteeing obtaining a campsite then, return to Kiosk at 1:50 PM in order, solidifying obtaining a campsite!!!! 3. Bring a roll or quarters for the showers: Place two quarters into shower pay slot at one time; 50-cents equals two minutes shower time. Near-By Prominent Businesses: New Leaf Market sells organic products, produce, deli, organic coffee, etc. Ace Hardware Store: Behind Peet's Coffee Wells Fargo Bank Shopping Center is across the street from New Leaf Market Seafood and other delectable Restaurants Gas Station

Go early even if you have a reservation, sometimes the line to enter the park is backed up. But…read morevery nice spot.

We found this cozy little campground in Boulder Creek and spent a perfect weekend there. It felt…read moremore like glamping than primitive camping, with amenities such as hot showers, clean restrooms, a swimming pool, some gaming activities, and hiking trails nearby as the resort is catered to RV's and trailers. However, there are no fire pits at the tent sites so bring a portable fire pit! The staff was incredibly friendly, and we truly had everything we needed for a fun and relaxing retreat. We'll definitely be back!

Was greeted by John and his son. They helped us back the trailer into the resort as we had missed…read morethe entrance by about 50-60 feet and the road was getting narrower ahead. They re-configured out spot access and helped us get in. They checked-in thru out our stay. Beautiful to pitch trailer under the redwoods.

Our favorite camping spot we love Coastanoa the staff are always wonderful and the campgrounds are…read moreclean and beautiful. Highly recommended!!

I've only hiked about 16 miles of this trail, but my oh my is it absolutely breathtaking! This is…read moretruly a hiker's and backpacker's dream trail. I've hiked about 8 miles of this trail through Castle Rock State Park and another 8 miles through Big Basin Redwoods State Park. I hiked this trail with a friend last year up to Berry Creek Falls and it was absolutely stunning! The actual trail itself is almost 30 miles long and stretches from the Santa Cruz Mountains all the way to Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The trail begins at the Saratoga Gap which is a ridge within the Santa Cruz Mountains. It makes its' way up the coast past the Pacific Ocean, then through the beautiful mountains of Castle Rock State Park, and finally through the amazing Redwoods within Big Basin Redwoods State Park. This trail has such an amazing variation of different terrains. From your typical coastal ridge paths, to hilly and mountainous inclines, to flat and paved excursions through the Redwoods; this trail seems to simply have it all. I'd have to say that my favorite section of this trail was definitely being able to hike through the Redwoods. Big Basin is California's oldest park and you'll get to see the most amazing old growth Redwood trees. I've always been fascinated by Redwoods, so exploring them while on this trail was so much fun. Aside from the Redwoods, the stretch of this trail through Big Basin is extremely green and filled with a plethora of different plant species and vibrant flowers. And of course, there's Berry Creek Falls which is pretty much the icing on the cake. This waterfall is beautiful and worth the extra miles to get there. I can't forget to mention the incredible rock formations that you'll see while hiking the section that goes through Castle Rock State Park. These views are equally mesmerizing. It's definitely a great workout as much of the trail ascends and descends through the mountains. Lots of water is must and I would recommend bug spray (at least for the portion that runs through Big Basin). I would love to hike the rest of this trail at some point and hopefully make it down to the beach one day. Either way, any hike along this trail will be enjoyable whether it's 5 miles or 30. Would highly recommend this hike if you're planning on visiting Big Basin Redwoods, Castle Rock, Sanborn County Park, or Saratoga Gap Open Space Preserve.

What a fantastic trail! 30+ miles over 3 days starting at Castle Rock campground to Waddell Beach…read more(stopping at Waterman Campground and Jay Campground at the Big Basin HQ). Almost all shaded by the trees (lots of redwoods!) and fantastic scenery the entire time, will well marked trails. You pretty much can't get lost at all. If you do, you deserve to get lost! Also all these campsites have piped drinking water and pit toilets so you probably don't need to bring your water pump. You'll need to make these reservations quite early too since they're pretty limited. State park # is (831) 338-8861 to make the reservations. NIGHT 0: Castle Rock Campground. We ended up not actually staying here because we thought (and there wasn't anything that indicated otherwise) that the campground was right at the trailhead. Instead it's 2.7 miles in. Thus as we had prepared for car camping the first night and were meeting others the next morning at the trailhead, we decided to find another campground elsewhere that was next to the road. Parking at Castle Rock trailhead gets crazy packed on the weekends so come early! The parking lot also closes at sunset so you'll need to make sure your car is in before then. DAY 1: This will be the most "complicated" path since you have to take a couple different trails. As you hike towards Castle Rock (assuming you didn't stay there the night before), you'll see a bunch of day climbers and boulderers. Gorgeous views above the tree skyline along the way. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/skyline-to-the-sea-trail-davenport?select=mjXU08P2ueRqY-WvlfHxSw#yvfjWy3mdAw7PSTrD67dWw After you past Castle Rock, take the Travertine Springs Trail for ~2 miles which will connect to the Saratoga toll road trail for another mile until you hit an uphill dirt road on your right. It's 0.4 miles going up a couple hundred feet so not too bad. This will take you to the Skyline to the Sea trail (finally!) in which you'll take this for another ~2.6 miles to Waterman camp. You'll hug Highway 9 pretty closely so you'll see a couple abandoned cars that fell off the road. This one more recent. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/skyline-to-the-sea-trail-davenport?select=mjXU08P2ueRqY-WvlfHxSw#QekFu-9mgaN6xt7NUH5KsA. And this one from a while ago! http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/skyline-to-the-sea-trail-davenport?select=mjXU08P2ueRqY-WvlfHxSw#UnpOYfPqPlJ-impxBrz65A NIGHT 1: Waterman Gap Campground Your instinct may be to tucker down at the sites right around the pit toilet. My advice is to walk a little further towards the back to sites 5 and 6. It's a a bit extra of a hike but totally worth it since you get your privacy. Campsite isn't too far from Highway 9 too so you may hear some speedracers zooming by at night like we did. This is also the first (and only) area where you do get cell phone reception. DAY 2: You pretty much stay on Skyline to the Sea trail the entire way from here now. Your goal now is to get to the Jay Campground at Big Bason HQ. You still hug the road sometimes and even cross it a couple times. Again gorgeous views along here. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/skyline-to-the-sea-trail-davenport?select=mjXU08P2ueRqY-WvlfHxSw#WIfT7_JSDYc7zXVP0uHMWA NIGHT 2: Jay Campground You're at the park HQ so good time to stock up on stuff or get a bit of real food if you're tired of your freeze dried! THEY DO HAVE BEER THOUGH. And showers too (1 quarter = 2 min), The camp shop does not carry propane for Jet Boilers in case you run out like we did. However you can ask them to use their hot water though to heat up your freeze dried foods. DAY 3: You're almost there! A slight change in scenery here. No more hugging highways and more bridge crossing and waterfalls. Oh and way more banana slugs. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/skyline-to-the-sea-trail-davenport?select=mjXU08P2ueRqY-WvlfHxSw#mjXU08P2ueRqY-WvlfHxSw I swear, the last ~3 miles felt like FOREVER. The trail opens wider and the trees start thinning in front of you which makes you constantly feel like you're almost there. Then you immediately smell the salty ocean breeze and which iswhen you know you're at the end!

GRASSHOPPER LOOP TRAIL REVIEW: The open space preserve is large, with many trails, but this review…read moreis just for the newly open Grasshopper Loop Trail (open June 2022). This is a great trail for older folks and little kids. It's pretty short (just 1.3 miles), flat, and mostly shaded. The start of trail is open but you soon reach a gate where you enter a redwood forrest. The path is very new and pristine. The redwoods are spectacular. Some of the trees were covered in a fuzzy type of moss (spanish moss or lichen moss?), so you'd think you were in the bayou or something. We were hoping to see more birds and butterflies, but didn't see any wildlife. Before we knew it, we reach another gate, where you exit the redwood part of the loop and back to the parking lot. If you wanted to extend the nice part of the trail, I suggest turning around when you reach the exit gate and backtrack through the redwoods again to the start of the trail. Overall, I enjoyed the redwood portion of the loop, but the loop was too short. Driving to the trail head involves driving through miles of winding roads with bicyclists popping up at every turn. It was not so fun to drive up here, so for a 30-minute hike, it wasn't quite worth it. There are many other trails to explore here, but there didn't seem to be much to see.

There are actually two, separate sections of La Honda Creek OSP, an upper section and a lower…read moresection. These are not connected, nor close, and they are entirely different, so it's too bad the Open Space system (and Yelp) has them lumped together as one. Most reviewers have just reviewed one section; I'll cover both. [UPPER SECTION] Access is off Skyline Blvd. As mentioned by others, this section is accessible through a free permit system, so some advance planning is required (See OSP website for details). It took only a day for me to obtain the combo for the gate lock, but others have reported longer. The good part of this permit system is that it keeps out the masses, so a hike here is likely to be full of solitude and quiet. I saw one other small group the entire time I was here. Ambiance: Ridgetop hills of mixed forest and meadows with views to the west. There's the typical selection of native trees here, but there are a couple of giant, old-growth redwoods you can visit as well. (Only one is shown on the map, but a few others are hidden off-trail). No bathrooms or amenities here. My main issue with this upper section is that it is quite small; it really isn't a place to do a big loop, only a small loop with a few there-and-back side trips. I visited every trail and only hiked 5.5 miles. I prefer to do more. (3*) [LOWER SECTION] Access is off La Honda Rd (Hwy 84) near the town of La Honda. No permits needed. At the entrance there's a newish, paved parking lot and a unisex pit bathroom. Ambiance: Rolling grassy hills with plenty of cattle - it felt very much like an East Bay hike to me. Trees are limited to a few, stream-side groves. Nice views of the ocean can be found here, though it will take 3 miles to reach that spot - and of course 3 miles back. You'll likely be sharing the view with cows (and dodging their patties). This lower section is much bigger than the upper section but still doesn't offer any full loops (only a "lollipop"). Nevertheless I enjoyed my 9-mile hike here. I may bring friends back, just to show them something new; but it's not a destination I need to visit often. My curiosity itch has been scratched, and grading on a curve against other OSPs, it's just OK. (3.5*) My Peninsula hike collection is here: (https://www.yelp.com/collection/qBI6U6Lz9LJQjnGjFW6ubg) Hiking Spot Checklist: -- Parking: Small, paved lot at both sections -- Bathrooms: None at upper section; Yes at parking lot of lower section -- Potable water: No -- Maps provided: Yes (except during covid) -- Highlights: Nice views to the west in both sections

This is a hike-in campground that requires a permit, available through the CA Department of Parks…read moreand Recreation (https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=26658), up to 60 days in advance. Note that fires are banned here, but you can use a cooking stove. There's enough space at the campground to spread out, allowing a bit of privacy between different camp sites. Site 6 seems to be the best - it's flat, and is located on a hill above the other sites. Trash cans and pit toilets are provided, but the toilets aren't stocked with toilet paper. Don't forget to print your back-country permit and parking permit. The rangers request that you carry a copy of both on your person while hiking, and that you leave another copy of the parking permit on the dashboard of your vehicle. Before starting a hike to Lane trail camp, you first need to check in at the Big Basin Redwoods State Park Headquarters & Visitor Center (15 min parking is available). Overnight parking is available (with a permit) in the Jay Trail camp lot, which is 0.3 miles south of the visitor center on the left (east) side of Route 236.