I can definitely understand where a lot of the low ratings are coming from for this place, but we honestly had a decent time. We are experienced family/tent campers and didn't have any issues with not having enough supplies or having problems due to not having cell phone reception. We did have issues where only one restroom building was in service for the entire camp ground, leaving only 4 flushing toilets and two showers situated on one side of the site for the entire camp, and one of the showers had no working lights. There were 4 or 5 porta potties at the out of service restroom building on the other end of the grounds, but no operable showers or flushing toilers. The rangers/ camp hosts did make regular rounds with checking/ cleaning the restrooms, but it definitely led to situations where big lines built up to use the bathroom or showers during the evening and mornings. Hopefully they get the plumbing fixed. The other thing was the weather. The weather reports you pull from Google get their data from Greenfield, the town 30 minutes out from the campsite. Arroyo seco has its own micro climate, and so while we were there, Greenfield was around a breezy 68 to 70F whereas our camp site was sweltering in the mid to high 80's with no breeze. The rangers told us to check NOAA directly to get the most accurate weather for this camp site in the future. Other than these two issues we liked our particular camp site, it was clean and well maintained, the kids got to have fun in the creek as well as running around the camp, the night sky was perfect for stargazing. The camp hosts/rangers were very friendly to us and answered all our questions. Ultimately it is a camp site, it's not glamping. Things are not going to be perfect but we enjoyed our time out in nature here. We would be happy to come again during the fall when it is not as hot. read more

Arroyo Seco Campground - Fees/Prices - Campgrounds Near Me - Greenfield, California

Great campground! Very clean and organized, Stuff was very helpful. Multiple hiking routes to see lots of amazing views and river to swim read more

Arroyo Seco Campground - Campgrounds Near Me - Greenfield, California

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Looking for the most disorganized campground in America? Congratulations--you've found it. Let's start with the "lake." Spoiler: in summer, it's just a sad, dry marsh. If you want to see actual water, I suggest bringing a bottle yourself. The management here is inspiring, in the sense that it inspires you to never come back. Signage? Confusing. Information? Outdated and wrong. Rangers and camp hosts? Basically in witness protection. On the off chance you find one, they'll deliver world-class rudeness with a side of unhelpfulness. No internet, no Wi-Fi, no cell service. Normally I'd say that's a great way to unplug. Here, it's just a way to ensure their hilariously outdated reservation system creates total chaos. Honestly, letting the local stray cats run the place would be an upgrade. Your fellow campers will likely fall into one of three groups: 1) Families with kids. 2) Quiet Couples. 3) Roaming packs of 20-something guys who've combined alcohol, bad music, and engine revving into some sort of Olympic sport. These guys will scream louder than the actual children. Pro tip for the perfect Arroyo Seco experience: 1) Load the car with snacks, drinks, and good music. 2) Drive the gorgeous road out there. 3) Park, stretch, inhale the fresh air for 90 seconds. 4) Get back in the car and drive home before you make the mistake of unpacking. If you like chaos, bad attitudes, noise, and dry marshes, this place is your Disneyland. For everyone else: keep driving. read more

Arroyo Seco Campground 7/16/2025 at 10 AM The drive up to the campsite offers beautiful scenery, but unfortunately that's where the positives end. The campground itself was filthy. Trash cans were overflowing, sinks in every restroom were out of order and absolutely disgusting, and there were hoses and wrenches scattered around as if someone abandoned a job halfway through. The camp host area was even worse--trash everywhere, a crashed vehicle out front, and the ice machine surrounded by piles of garbage. The portable toilets were also overflowing and unusable. Trash littered the entire campground. When we went down to the day-use area, the entrance gate was left half open. As we were getting out of our vehicle, a woman on a golf cart--alongside a man who appeared intoxicated--rudely confronted us. She snapped, "Did y'all already pay your fee? Because if not, I'm gonna give you a ticket." It was shockingly disrespectful and completely unwelcoming. We've camped all over the U.S. and have never encountered a place so dirty or been treated so poorly. Honestly, the camp hosts looked like alcoholics or drug users--that's me being brutally honest. I'm also really concerned about what happens to the money we pay--do they just keep it? Is that why the campsite is in such horrible condition? I absolutely do not recommend this campground. Please save your time and money and look elsewhere until these serious issues are addressed. read more

Beautiful campsite would definitely return ! The hike to get down to the gorge was a lil hard don't recommend for older people as it is a hard climb up and down so be careful there's an area where there's a rope tied down to help due to how steep it is but the water down there is gorgeous! read more

This campground is definitely not beginner friendly. There is no signal or shops for 20 minutes, so make sure you packed everything you need. The campground itself was beautiful and shady despite the heat. The downside is there are few bathrooms, unhelpful signage, and kiosk attendants that'll send you off into impossible missions. We spent quite a bit of time trying to find a 'lake ' that was nowhere to be found as it was dried up. We still had a good time despite all the confusion and loud college kids with awful music. Would come back better prepared and with lower expectations. read more

The experience: We stayed for 2 nights in the campground area, and utilized the hiking trail up the side of the mountain as well as the small lake at the bottom. Need to know: There is no cell service within ~15-20 mins of the campsite, and no wifi offerings once you are there. Make sure you take care of any urgent business before you spend extended time here. Notable: The showers are coin-operated, and seem to break frequently. I was not able to take a shower in the time I was there because they were either out of service, or there was a long line for the one or two that were still working. read more

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This was our first camping trip since the big shut down last year. We tried to male reservations,but their website says Friday and Saturdays are first come first serve only. We made reservations for Sunday through Tuesday with hopes to get there early enough Saturday morning to get a first come site. We get there and are rold they do not have first come first serve sites anymore and that everything is reserved through the website. We explained what the site said and they acknowledged that it has been messed up for a while. We asked if they had any other site we could use for the night and they said no, they were all reserved online. She couldn't explain how they reserved online when it says first come first serve only? She just kept saying that they know the website is broken. Smh.. so we drove to King City to try and find a hotel room for a night. We came back the next day. Check in is at 3, we got there just before 2 and asked if we could just hangout and make lunch in the day use area. They had us wait for 7 mins till 2, then let us check in to our spot. We had spot #21. It's a double spot and had nice parking, 2 picnic tables, 2 BBQ grills and a nice fire pit. It's across from the bathroom/showers and close to water (bring a few jugs though, not close enough to use on a whim) there was plenty of shade and we did not use our pop ups. It does get a bit windy in the evening. There was a smaller flat area behind the fire ring and a bigger spot on a slight incline next to the parking area. The weather was warmer than you may think, best to wear layers. There were some insects, but an application of OFF made it comfortable. Aside from a few carpenter bees buzzing around (pretty harmless, but they do freak out the kids) The map provided made the gorge trail seem very close to our campground. It was a bit further than expected. We took a circular hike and decided it was nice to hang out at camp. The camp hosts were.friendly enough and the staff were on top of cleanliness. The bathrooms were great. They have regular flush toilets and plenty of TP. We did not use the showers, but they seemed to be popular. On the whole we have no complaints about the campground in person.. I just wish they'd get their website working correctly. read more

Arroyo Seco Campground - The nightlife here is pretty fun. :) - Campgrounds Near Me - Greenfield, California

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Quite a organised and nice campground. There's public flushable toilets and clean water close to the camp site. There's a river nearby for a refreshing dip. read more

It's a lovely place and the river is stunning. The staff, unfortunately, must be taken advantage of regularly because they are super unpleasant and defensive. Parking lots are confusing and the signage is very unclear as to what is allowed where. Different staff members continued to give us conflicting information and attitude (for kindly asking to clarify rules and expectations). I suggest only going to the day use area or the gorge hike lot on a week day - and avoid the horrible camping experience. It's a lovely place that desperately needs more structure and staff training to align on the regulations. read more

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Just had a great family camping trip. The moment we got there, the people at gate greater us, and we're so welcoming. Then at the campground the host was very kind. Bathrooms were really clean, I feel like they get cleaned multiple times a day. We saw lots of animals at our campsite too!! If you love nature, wildlife with amenities, this is the place! read more

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I hardly write reviews but had to on this one just to let others know my experience. I camp a lot, primitive, dispersed, developed. Wanted to try this developed campground because I thought it would be good for the kids with the river right there and close to San Jose. Got there a little early on a Sunday, was hoping for an early check in (hopefully before 2pm) but at the gate they said no. They said I can use the day use area. All good! Then they said it would be 10$!? I told them I'm camping. They said yes but you still have to pay 10$. I was confused. Usually if you pay for camping, day use should be included right? Nope. Extra 10$ for my truck and my buddy behind me. And one of the workers was a little rude and seemed frustrated at my questions. She probably gets the confused look from a lot of campers. Drive into the day use area. Crowded, party central. It's a Sunday though we get it. Kids had fun in the river, thought the water would be a little cleaner though. Had lunch. It was now 2pm, drove back to the gate to check in. Buddy had to pay another 10$ extra vehicle fee. Which made no sense, he already paid day use parking. Drove to our campground on top of the hill. So just to let everyone know your not camping by the river. You have to walk maybe a quarter mile back down the hill from the campground to swim. Parked at site 026. My buddy and I parked side by side and maybe half our tires was off the asphalt on each site, just regular dirt/crumbly asphalt. The workers told us to re-park our vehicles so that our tires are on the asphalt only. Went to refill on water and there was none! They just sprung a leak and they shut down the water completely. They apologized for the inconvenience and said we could drive down to the main gate to buy over priced water bottles. Atleast offer water for free maybe? Later on in the afternoon about 4:30 pm we wanted to swim again. Drove back down and the lot was empty. The maintenance worker stopped me and said the river is closed?! What?? So since the plumbing was shut down we couldn't swim. They said because of liability and no one was there? Didn't make any sense to me but whatever didn't argue I was already over it. The rest of the time was fine kids had a blast that's the main thing. I just never had an experience like that at a campground. So many restrictions and fees. Not going back. Many more river sites around cali that's free with much less people. Hope this helps some people make a decision. read more

Um, hello Cliff Jumping anyone? FYI it's extremely hot here and no cell service for 15 miles. Camp grounds are great, sometimes it gets loud but quiet during sleep hours. Dogs are welcome too! read more

Arroyo Seco Campground - Cliff Jumping - Campgrounds Near Me - Greenfield, California

We stayed over a Thursday and Friday night in site 24 which was spacious and shady. It was well accommodated! The site had two picnic tables and fire ring and paved spots for two cars right at the edge of the site. The bathrooms were a very short distance with clean flush toilets and two coin operated also clean showers. We hiked to the gorge in the morning (about 2-2.5 miles in) for swimming and catching crawfish. It was a very hot and unshaded walk but worth the trek! The camp hosts were lovely and we were very impressed with the cleanliness of the grounds. Put your food away at night! We had a fox visitor and lots of crows! read more

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We had our First stay at Arroyo Seco over Thanksgiving (2021). It is a beautiful, serene, well maintained campground. The sites are well spaced. The bathrooms and showers are large, well lit and clean. The camp hosts were friendly and helpful and very conscientious about monitoring and cleaning. A great discovery! read more

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Worst Camping experience so far and I have camped at many campground around California. If I could leave a no star review I would. I will not be camping here again. The staff were rude and arrogant when asked questions about parking and different areas of the park. This campground will nickel and dime you at ever turn, and when you pay the fee the interrupt your conversations with the rest of your party. No running water to speak of at all unless you go down to the river. We were constantly harassed by 2 of the staff members riding around. At one point we were accused of stealing toilet paper that I brought with me, and then they proceeded to let us know we needed to leave. DO NOT WASTE YOU TIME! There are better campgrounds else where. read more

Enjoyed a mid-July weekend with friends here at the group site. We had planned well in advance and done our research, getting silent disco headphones to keep our noise level down and bringing our own lighting, BBQs, food, and all. If you read the reviews for the group campground you will not be surprised that the toilets are in fact, camping TOILETS. The hosts did a great job of making sure they were well-cared for, so it is no one's fault that they smell and are not a lovely experience. It beats having to walk up the hill to the main campground to use their toilets. The group campsite is much lower than the other sites and it sits adjacent to a huge pond of standing water. This means, the MOSQUITOES are TERRIBLE. This was something we were ill-prepared for having gone camping in California, but not usually near a body of standing water. There were little to no wasps (which we were prepared for), but that's because we kept our food very well concealed and only brought out food/drink when we were cooking. The BBQs at the group site take almost an hour to heat up and you will need a lot of coals, so best to bring your own or bring tons of coals. The site is large enough to host a 50-70 person gathering, even. The camp hosts came around regularly to service the toilets, offer us ice, and make sure we were aware of quiet hours. Even though it's known to be a party site, we were asked to quiet down a little before 10:00pm. The biggest downside of this campground is the day use area and it's access. We tried the hike one day and after a mile, turned around in the sweltering heat (no signage or suggestions for getting to the gorge). The next day, we woke up early and waited in A LONG CAR LINE before 8:00am to get into the day use area. Tons of locals using the day use area scrambled to get a good spot along the river, and we did get a small one. The river is relaxing but it is just completely overrun by people. If you're not up at 7:00am to have someone to get in this long car line to get a spot along the river, you can count your Saturday on the river out of the question. All in all, the hosts and the camping experience was wonderful. I would probably not return on a weekend due to the popularity of the river and the mosquitoes (unless they do something about the standing water). read more

Never before, have I felt so harassed and personally attacked. I will document my experience with the camp host below, in the hopes that no one else will have to re-live what I did this past weekend. I wouldn't recommend this campground to anyone and I will never be back. However, if you are forced to go here for any reason, keep in mind the following: The bathrooms are only cleaned once in the morning and half of the sinks are broken. Prepare for lots of bugs. The ground is rock hard. Getting our metal tent stakes in the ground was a serious challenge. I am just glad we had metal stakes, as the plastic stakes were useless. It's a bit of a hike down to the river from the campground & parking can be a challenge. If the day use area is full, they will block off the gate. You can be stuck sitting on Arroyo Seco road for an un-disclosed amount of time. Get a hand stamped, signed receipt of ANY and ALL cash/checks that you give to this place. Here is a detailed account of my experience with the camp host, of which I will gladly go under oath and testify to. Does that seem dramatic? Perhaps but when you are directly accused of stealing - sadly, it seems appropriate. We arrived and set up our tent. My daughter was trying to stay out of the way of the frantic camp set-up, so she went to an empty camping site and sat down at a picnic table to read until we were done. The camp host immediately came over to her and told her that she could not sit there and she had to return to our specific site. We were the 3rd vehicle to arrive at our double site. As such, we understood that there was a charge of $5 for our vehicle. I took an envelope out of the bin, filled it out (Our camp site name, # and our vehicle license #, checked the "extra vehicle" box) on both sides and put a $10 bill inside ($5 for our extra vehicle - for each day). I sealed it shut, tore off the receipt and placed the envelope with the $10 in the brown tube labeled "PAY HERE". Saturday afternoon, upon returning from the store we were approached by Cookie. I recognized her as the woman who had told my daughter she couldn't sit at an empty camp site picnic table. She introduced herself as the camp host and explained that we needed to pay $10 for our extra vehicle. I pulled out my receipt and told her I had put the $10 in the brown PAY HERE bin. She explained to me that getting the envelopes out was a tedious chore, in which she refused to do and she would just have to take my word for it. Saturday evening, we ate dinner, cleaned up and gathered around the camp fire to chat. At approx. 10:20, the male camp host entered our site and yelled at us for making too much noise. I found this to be interesting, as I took a walk around the campground and there were 3 - 4 other groups of campers making twice as much noise, music, etc. I went to bed after the walk, so as to avoid any trouble. Sunday morning, I was making pancakes for my children. Cookie entered our site & demanded to see receipts for the extra vehicles on our site. We had 2 extra vehicles, our truck and my cousin's truck. I reminded her that I had already showed her the receipt the day before, it was sitting front and center in our truck window & explained that I had put the $10 in the bin. We were in the middle of cooking breakfast, my husband asked if it could wait a few minutes. Cookie chased after him & said, "No, it really can't." So, I took over cooking breakfast and he went to get the receipt out of the truck...again. My cousin also went & retrieved his receipt. Cookie took both receipts and claimed that she couldn't find the envelopes for 1 or both of them. I was bewildered at that point. She came over demanding receipts and as we pulled them out, again, without even so much as looking at anything else or verifying their validity - she said that they were useless. What receipt exactly were we supposed to produce if not the ones we had from when we first paid? She then yelled at one of the guys in our camp and threatened to call the Sheriff and charge us with a misdemeanor because I "gave her my word but didn't pay". Dear Cookie, since you were so quick to accuse me specifically of giving me your word but not actually putting the $10, I would like to know where the $10 went that I put in the bin? If you are going to point the finger at me, then I am going to point it right back at you. I put the $10 in the bin. I was ready to have you call the Sheriff and take that ride with you. My family put in another $10 just so you would leave us alone. So you wouldn't ruin our entire camping trip, of which you seemed hell bent to do. I will be filing a formal complaint with the company that employs her and will leave it at that. read more

It was my first time in Arroyo Seco area. Going south on 101 and watching the Los Padres NF hills turn from pretty green in the spring to scorched brown in the summer and fall never filled me with much desire to explore this park. That was until I was invited to tag along on a hunting trip. As soon as you exit 101 to Arroyo Seco Road, you start noticing unexpected changes in the scenery: luscious vineyards, cute farms, and, finally, a deep canyon with a river running through it. I was almost hopeless to see water there, judging by the name Arroyo Seco, which means Dry Creek. I was pleasantly surprised. You arrive at the Arroyo Seco Recreation Area. There is a fee that you pay at the gate. Day use is $5 per car and overnight use is $14 (http://www.recreation.gov/campgroundDetails.do?topTabIndex=CampingSpot&contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70160). That is totally worth it because you will leave your car at the secure parking lot and nobody would break in (hopefully, you never know nowadays). There are several scenarios for your stay: * arrive in the morning, hike up to the river, jump from boulders into the water all day long * stay at the local campground (make a reservation, for some odd reason they fill up quickly), hike to the dry lakes, hike to the river * hike into the wilderness, camp at one of the river's sleeves, hike up to the highest ridge the next day The dirt road leads from the parking lot to 18 miles along the river going up and down and up and down. There are also many trails maintained by the Forest Service winding through the ridges. Bring a lot of water with you! You'll need it. We veered off to the side road along the sleeve creek. There are no developed campgrounds in the wilderness - camp wherever you like. Pick a spot close to the water, as it gets really hot and you'd want to dip a million times in a course of an hour. Coming back was nice and hard, hot and sweaty. While passing by people panting up the hill I heard this conversation between a little boy and his mother: Little Boy (LB): Look, mama, I found gold. Mama: Honey, it ain't gold, it's fool's gold. LB: I ain't no fool, ma, but I'll still take it. Oh, great, I thought to myself and emptied my backpack full of pyrites... This place deserves five stars in my book. I loved the river and the vast views. It also made me happy to feel that beyond the ridges - there is a Pacific Ocean. read more

Arroyo Seco Campground - Campgrounds Near Me - Greenfield, California

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I had this trip planned for months, and my car cracked a head gasket on the way up. But the shop owner I took it to told me to get a rental and push on because I had to experience this place. And I am so glad I did! The ride in from Greenfield takes about 30 minutes and cell reception ends about 2 minutes from town. Basically you stay left the entire way until you reach the entrance kiosk, which is manned perhaps half the time. No big deal. The day use site is on the right as you enter, and they close it at 6pm everyday. Kind of a drag, since I love being near water at night, but also likely one of the reasons it closes so no one does something dumb in the dark. Day passes are 10 bucks, even if you have a campsite. The pass allows you to park at the lower river and up the hill at the Gorge trail. I decided to book 4 days at 'primitive' site 40, which is a bit of a drive past the lower sites. Those have access to showers and flush toilets, yet in my opinion were close together with no natural barriers between sites. Those sites receive the sun a little longer than the upper primitive sites and I'll explain the importance of that shortly. My site had excellent space and several level spots for the tent. As with the other sites I discovered, gophers were rampant and a few times the ground caved in as I stepped. I made sure my dogs didn't go running around a certain area for fear of her twisting a leg. There are 2 pit toilets in one small structure and I must say I have smelled much worse in other places (Cerro Alta is unbelievably nasty). The flies... oh the flies. The kind that don't really land on you so much as hang out half an inch from your face. And they eat OFF for breakfast, at least my regular spray. Maybe they'd stay back with the Deep Woods stuff. Smoke worked too. Down by the river they aren't terrible, however that is where the big black biting flies and yellow jackets hangout. Especially when people leave mango peels and half eaten BBQ all around. However, I noticed that the flies only came out strong with the sun. It gets light around 5:30-6ish up in the primitive sites, and the sun hit my spot around 8. By 9, the flies were out. Then they started to lessen around 6 when the sites got shade from the setting sun. That's why I think the lower sites, that get more sun, might have longer fly exposure. The river is gorgeous and during my Monday-Thursday stay, the human traffic was reasonably light. When I left on Friday though, 4 big trucks with whooping teens and early 20s guys pulled into the primitive sires and cracked beers at 7:30am. So yeah, weekends look to be filled with obnoxious partiers. Bring Crocs or water socks to cross the river from the day use parking lot and head upstream on the sandy trail to a nice, deep and still pool only a short way up. I didn't go any further than that spot because I was hauling a bulky chair, but the further up you go, the less people. When I took the dog for an early morning walk on the Gorge trail, I saw several pools down below that looked reasonably accessible. If you're not great with heights, don't look over the edge of the trail. My stomach lurched a few times. But the awesome thing about the gorge trail it that it's pretty wide, has a sort of guard rail or dirt and rock on the drop off side, and offers shade for parts of the hike. Even saw a doe and two fawns before Maggie lost her mind and strained to chase them. All in all, a wonderful place to camp. The camp hosts rotate daily, and all were pleasant and non intrusive. Already booked site 37 for August and can't wait! read more

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This is in response to Megan J. The Monterey County Sheriff's office deputies were just on site and found no reason for alarm. It appeared to them that no laws had been broken.  I can attest that they did not violate any campground rules/ facilty rules.  There fore there was no intervention by pmc staff. read more

This campground was much better than expected! Had a big group, so we appreciated having a big campsite and enough room for 4 vehicles. We came here in mid-August and I think I saw maybe one mosquito the entire weekend. Huge win! Yes, there are ants around the picnic tables but I mean you're camping duh! Really appreciated having the showers and being able to have a campfire in the middle of summer. We would definitely return! John, the camp host was super helpful, very friendly and patient. Tip #1: Skip the day use area, take the hike up the gorge, hike down the unmarked path next to the trash can and then swim downriver until you find your own piece of heaven. There are sandy beaches and no one for miles if you make your way through the gorge. Tip #2: Bring a couple floaties to float your packs on or a dry bag! Tip #3: Bring more water than you think you'll need because it does get very hot and its a decent hike back to camp read more

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This is a favorite spot to get away. No signal, camp managers are fantastic each time we visit. Getting ice and wood is not an issue and it's a pleasure to talk to them about the forest. Many lovely trails and amazing animals spotting. read more

A true hidden gem. Beautiful oak trees, gorge views, river with swimming holes - has it all! The campground is good for families and big groups - which means it's going to be noisy. Quiet hours are only somewhat enforced, so bring earplugs. We found the noise level slightly above average compared to other popular campgrounds, but tolerable. Summers are very hot here, but many of the campsites have a good amount of shade. Campsites are variable in size, and some sites are more level than others. Bathrooms and showers are kept pretty clean, but it helps to bring your own toilet paper just in case. Lots of pesky flies and yellow jackets, plus a few mosquitos. Make sure you have a plan for repelling them! A few amenities like ice, firewood and sunscreen are available from the camp host, but supplies sometimes run out. The river is a long, hot walk down a big hill to the main access area (and up to get back). The main day use area gets crowded but you can walk/swim along the river to find a secluded spot. Bring enough supplies to spend the day there because you won't want to go back and forth from the campground. Parking at the day use area fills up really early and there's a $10 fee even for campers. Be sure to check the campground's water quality status before you go. When we went, there was a boil water advisory in effect. I would probably wait for that to be fixed before coming back. Still, we had a great experience and looking forward to another stay in the future! read more

Arroyo Seco Campground - Bring one of these! Tons of yellow jackets at the campground. They are not aggressive but pretty annoying. - Campgrounds Near Me - Greenfield, California

Awesome hike!! First of all, avoid the campground! It's super packed all the time, and you're better off hiking up to the river and and exploring the area there. Less crowded, and you can cool off by jumping off boulders into the river! read more

We stayed at Arroyo for the New Years and it was such a peaceful experience. The campsite was clean, well maintained and the host, John was probably the best host we've encountered. John was present, knowledgeable, friendly and professional. The camp site is compact and you can walk everywhere without driving. We did the Indian trial, easy to walk and beautiful arial views of the river. Small camp site but filled with Native American history. Hot coin shower. I mean HOT, so hot you can cook in it. It was probably malfunctioning because it was warm the night before. Anyhow, water temperature is inconsistent, so make sure to test it before letting your children shower. Last but not least, the site is very dog friendly. Many other owners brought their dogs and we even had doggy play date :) Will return and looking forward to exploring a different trail. read more

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Stayed there on a weekend with family. Sheriffs were called out due to park staff partying with a belligerent drunk fighting with 4 campsites including ours.Staff was at the site where issues started over only one shower working. Staff had the cart cart parked and were seen partying falling down drunk with the people whom were camping. Guy was too drunk to drive and sheriff advised they needed to leave in the morning.Immature teen staff need training and it should be against park rules for staff to drink while using state property. She said she was off but still driving the cart while drinking. There needs to be new management here. read more

Worst experience, staff is very rude, will not ever be goin again. De was no help with her "sarcasm ". Camp was full and not letting more people in . We let her know family was already inside and if we can just let them know. She said no special accommodations! Let her know all our stuff was in there with family. She said well go and buy more stuff. So rude so many other people had to leave. No reception at all. Don't waste your gas goin here . read more

My kids, wife and I were recently visiting friends at the end of Carmel Valley Road so we figured we'd pop by and check on the water level. After asking the attendant if I could jump out of the car and take a pic off the bride just past she gate, she said yes and instructed me to park in the turnaround (or at least that's how I understood it). When I opened my door just after parking, I immediately heard someone borderline yelling at me from behind the car "HEY! YOU CAN'T PARK HERE!" I turned around and saw that an older short haired lady in a golf cart had pulled up behind me. Mind you this was late in the afternoon, and the place was empty. I got out and said "oh I'm sorry. The attendant told me I could park here to take a quick picture. Where would you like me to park?" She quickly shot back at me "well THIS is a national park here and THAT is a national park there, so there's really nowhere you CAN park". I got in the car and drove away, but was really disappointed by the lady's aggressive, rude attitude. This is a campground, not Wall St. It makes me think twice about visiting if that's how the staff behaves. read more

Went on a 112 degree day and once you hit the water in the gorge, the hike is worth it! Super beautiful place to visit

Nice place for hiking, no charcoal/ wood fires are allowed but propane is okay, the water is cold. read more

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Had a great first experience at Arroyo Seco! Here are some useful bits of information to help make your experience most enjoyable. There is NO reception at the campground. There is a payphone by one of the communal restrooms but the minutes are pretty pricey. To get reception I had to backtrack till I reached mile marker 10.5 and park on the side of the road. Knowing that there is no reception, I recommend you save the picture that someone has uploaded to yelp of the campsite map if this is your first time coming. ----------------- Reference picture of campsite map for details below When you arrive, you'll have to meet with the host which is visible on the campsite map. When I went, the host location consisted of a brown RV. The primitive sites are the three small loops you see on the top of the campsite map. By primitive, they mean, no running water. Just a pair of communal bottomless toilets. Bring extra water if you need to clean your cookware, wash hands, etc. There are a lot of flies, bees, and squirrels in the primitive campsite. Store your edible foods in the car or in a lock box. We had a squirrel chew into our tent and chew into my camel pack just to get to a piece of banana bread I had forgotten about from the previous day of hiking. The sites between 45-51 and maybe a few more are available for walk up. This was useful because all the sites that could be reserved, were reserved when I went. In the big main loop, they have bathrooms with running water and showers. The showers take quarters, I can't recall how much but I think I paid about $1.50-$2.00 per shower. ----------------- During the gorge hike, there is only one area where you can throw away trash at about 40 minutes into the hike. We used this point as our opportunity to eat before we continued hiking/swimming. If you are planning to swim up river to see the beautiful sites, I recommend taking water shoes and a life-vest but NOT multiple water tube. Most of the time we were just lugging the water tubes around instead of riding on it. Last tip; if night time party noise bothers you. Think ahead, bring some ear plugs. read more

Day use experience. Loud music, I wish people were more considerate and understand that not everyone wants to listen to their music. Groups should keep their music volume to a minimum so that all groups can listen to their own music. If anything, this idea should be enforced. Besides the music issue, this water hole is a fun place for family and friends to enjoy! read more

If you love peace and quiet, clean bathrooms and litter-free nature, this is NOT your campground. The hosts did the best they could. The campers go there for the party atmosphere that goes all day and all night. They have no qualms about throwing trash in the river, urinating on the bathroom floors and being loud until all hours of the morning. They also squeeze 4 tents, 3 cars and 15 people on site made for 1 tent. We only did one hike this weekend. The trail was peaceful but narrow and fully exposed in the 100° heat. We did hike to the gorge and swam. It was awesome but it got very busy, including one family that found it acceptable to let their 14-16 yo boys drink beer and vodka as they were jumping off the cliff into the river. Just another testament to the clientele that visit. read more

I enjoyed staying here, its a simple but beautiful camp ground. You can go to day use area and swim too. There's hot showers, flushing toilets and lots of nice people who camp there! No cell service but there is a pay phone at the bathroom. Bring quarters for the showers! read more

Be careful of rude staff. If you live close and it's "full" you can't walk in like you used to be able to ‍ even if we offer to pay. They don't care who they let in either, ie... people who urinate on my neighbors gate waiting in line to get in.... read more

My favorite place to camp. Gorgeous CLEAN river. Multiple trails, swimming, cliff-jumping (carefully), floating (with a floatie of course), hiking, river canyoning and other adventures. VERY popular in warm weather, yet I have always been able to get a campsite on the developed side. Real toilets and showers with hot water (.50cents) after an all-day hike through the river... priceless. I was sort of shocked to see any negative reviews on here. Reading between the lines from the campers comments it looks like an isolated event and misunderstanding. I have been coming here for a few trips each summer for years and have only had good interactions with fellow campers and staff. In my experience the camp hosts, especially Cookie, are sweet wonderful and hardworking people. Can you IMAGINE the bravery required to clean a campground restroom after 500+ day-users, 200+ campers, toddlers and drunkards have used it. Are they always spotless? No. But considering the uphill battle, THEY DO A FANTASTIC JOB! The NEW extended stay option on SUNDAYS is pretty cool. You can stay until 7pm for $7.00 more, no matter how many cars in your site. It's worth it to enjoy another whole day and not start packing at 1030 to go home at noon. Also it's a benefit to the community of nature-goers because the FIRE rules limit them to 126 cars/day but these extended cars aren't counted in that. The CONs Flies want your moisture. Mosquitoes want your blood. They want it bad. The FIX: use your fire pit. Make some smoke during meal prep. Then get to the river. I never found bothersome bugs at the water. The fire-road to water access has flies for sure... just keep moving. The ground is hard. True. I sleep on a queen aerobed... but I've seen many campers sleep on the ground with no tent, just a bag and a 1/2" foam mat. Braver souls with younger vertebra than I... but it can be done. Parking fills up on summer weekends. I have never had a trip here with more than 2 cars so it's never been a problem. If you have a giant group, then #1 get more than one site and/or #2 bring less junk from home so you can fit more people in your cars and then actually "CAMP" #3 plan ahead and rent the GROUP CAMPSITE. They would love to let everyone in to enjoy the space BUT they are limited by capacity. Best to plan ahead and reserve a spot or you risk waiting to be turned away on gorgeous hot weekends. There are not a ton of trees. So there is a little less privacy and your voices and laughter will carry much farther. The FIX... have a lot of fun during the day, cook a giant meal to refuel and relax with a few drinks (not 20 drinks) and get some rest so other campers can sleep too. Remember: Silence is Golden... but Duct tape is silver... and coincidentally so are the Sheriffs handcuffs. :) WHAT TO BRING IF YOU ARE HEADED TO THE FALLS: A clear head and a BUDDY. This trip is great but can be dangerous. Use your head. Do some research. Pack appropriately. Some rocks are slippery. Wading in cool water can make even the most elite athletes muscles cramp and... that's not good in deep water. Old lace-up running shoes. NOT WATER SANDALS. You'll want the cush of socks for the 3+ mile fire road hike. The traction of REAL shoes on rocks. Support for your arches and the cover for your toes when rocks and sticks tumble over your feet for the 2 miles you will travel in the water upstream from the Horse/Marble Peak Bridge. It is tougher to swim with shoes but it's worth the foot protection. Unless you are really easily sun-burnt or very modest... wear as little as possible. This helps you going upstream as the current is slight but noticeable when trying to fight the drag of long board shorts and a t-shirt. The FALLS have 3 "slides"... the first one is an "L" and drops you into a slow 4-foot deep pool... the other two are TOO steep and dangerous to slide down without the "JACKASS 3D" movie crew and a helicopter waiting to evacuate your stunt double. Sunglasses... cheap ones... the river has nearly claimed my FOAKLEYs on many occasions. Water (30oz+ per person) A dry bag: Camera, food, dry long sleeve shirt. The water is warm by CALI river standards, but it is colder than 98.6F and even on a hot day the high canyon walls = shade... it's easy to get cold after a few hours of wading/swimming. Any food/trash: you'll need to keep that dry. Wet tuna/aluminum cans and PBJ is as gross as it sounds... and you don't want to step on it... so pack in and pack out your TRASH! Inflatable tube or mat. REQUIRED if you are not a strong swimmer. Also keeps you more comfortable and warmer with your body out of the water. I love this place. Please keep it awesome! If I see you out there, thirsty, shivering and hypothermic, don't say I didn't warn you, but know that I'm happy to share a chunk of my energy bar and remind you to do push-ups and hug rocks to keep warm. read more

Here are my ratings: Campsite: 4 stars Management: 1 star My group arrived very late the first night of our camping trip and had a hard time finding the campsite. We stopped to ask one of the management people who basically threatened us that we are arriving past the check in time need to be quick AND quiet while setting up our tent because we only had "one warning" and if they have to come back, they won't be "coming back alone." Whatever the hell that means. Did it really take two men to repeat the same sentences? No. Did they really have to be such assholes? No. Bugs, bugs, bugs! Keep your lamps away from your drinks and food. We actually didn't know the way to the day use area so we took a long hike and climbed down some steep rocks to get to a more secluded area in the river. Now that I think about it, I don't mind as there weren't as many people where we were. There are only two showers by our campsite. I think there's another pair of showers closer to the entrance but I was told the farther campsites on the other sides don't have showers. 6 quarters for 5 minutes. 1 quarter every extra minute. So the machine took my money and never shot any water out. I ended up wasting money AND time while waiting for the shower with no light. One shower with no water, one with no light. GREAT. I complained to the management when he came by. He explained to me it was a motion censored light so the light SHOULD turn on once I stepped inside the shower, but I must be light as a feather because the light didn't detect my motion, or the motion of the ten girls ahead of me. How do you explain that?? Steve, another man who gave me back my 8 quarters, asked why I put in so many quarters. I told him because I wanted more than 5 minutes to shower?? He actually had the nerve to say, "Well.. the first 6 didn't work, what makes you think the 7th or 8th will?" WELL STEVE, if you had done your job in maintaining the bathrooms, then you wouldn't be hassling your campers into bothering you. Overall, the campsite is okay but I would never come back unless management changes their attitude. read more

I went to stay for a few days and the camp host was horrible she said her name was Cheryl ; she had a very nasty attitude for no reason I just miscommunicared on my site information and later when I asked to have toilet paper put in restroom Bc for some reason there was only 2open on the side I was on She said yes then never filled it or even came around to check. I would not go there again. Unfortunately the year before it was a great set of camp host compared to this yr. read more

Well, it's been a couple of months, a few phone calls and emails....all for nothing. I got nothing from dealing with Rocky Mountain Rec Co. It just seems like they don't want to hear from people or sort out any problems. I could push the issue further, but it won't do anything but waste my time. So I'm done with this company and it's camp grounds. The Arroyo Seco campgrounds are ok-ish as far as the the sites to be reserved. The fire pit and parking spots and tables are fine. The river down the way was fun. That's where the positive ends for me. The downsides, for me, out number the pluses. The ground had too many rock hard spots to sink tent stakes. The bugs are relentless! The water and the pressures were bad. The payment system followed by the secondary tag process are my biggest issues. I don't know where our money went, but when the hosts couldn't find it, they blamed us. I was never given a good answer by this company regarding what happens when THEY lose the money. How can a guest prove they paid? I found out you can't prove it. My personal opinion about the setup is that it is flawed. If you ever come across this company at a campground, you best let the hosts come to you. Have them see you put money in the envelope and get video of it with your cell phone. It's the only way to prove you have integrity. As for the hosts - this company is not government so they don't have rangers. The hosts, during our visit, started off nice..... but it went bad the last day. A beautiful disaster of sorts. I will admit that my group got a bit loud one night. When we were approached, we stopped and apologized. Past that, I don't think we did anything wrong. However, we were not treated like there was a mistake made or misunderstanding. Bottom line is this company will never have my business again. There are just too many other places that I've been and can go to that I've never had a problem with. There's just too little vacation time in life. Right? read more