Oakland/Silicon Valley Campgrounds

[moosetags]

On our Great Western Adventure later this year, we are planning to visit with relatives who live in Oakland and Mountain View, California. We plan to spend a week or more in the area visiting and exploring.

We are looking for a campground convenient to both locations so that we will only have to make camp once. We would prefer full hook-ups and a scenic location is not an issue as we expect to be away from the Airstream except to sleep.

We would also like to hear about must-see sights in this area, especially those that lean toward the off-beat and eclectic.

Brian

[Condoluminum]

Well.. I'll start the dialog since we are 10 minutes from Mountain View in Silicon Valley.. Bad news is that there aren't a lot of close-in options.. (Probably related to fact that even bad land costs $2M and up/acre..) Some of the bad ones are Trailer Villa (old Mobile Home Park up against Freeway Sound Wall) or Redwood City park (sketchy neighborhood..).. Decent affordable options might include Candlestick RV Park (state-run) near old stadium, or Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.. (not glamorous, but safe and reasonable..). The ones in Saratoga are at end of long uphill windy roads, and Aloha RV Park in Sunnyvale (3 blocks from us) is generally filled with permanent RV's on long-term leases.. Half Moon Bay State Beach has no hookups, and Pelican Point also generally filled with permanent residents.

Challenge of Bay Area also is that employment and housing "are back", meaning heavy traffic during commute hours (6-10 AM and 3-7 PM). Drives from Mountain View to Alameda could take 90 minutes during commute times.. Drive from Pleasanton to Mountain View in morning might also be 90 minutes, though slight savings if you can use 2-person carpool lanes...

If you are in WBCCI, you might try "Courtesy Parking" search, though many would be street parking with limited duration.. If you have any spots you've found in a directory and want a second opinion, let me know.. Local WBCCI group uses Alameda Fairgrounds for rallies, so it isn't bad, and is closer to Oakland and Alameda.. Drive to Mountain View in non-rush hour about 45 minutes...

[kscherzi]

Here a place in Marin, just north of the Golden Gate bridge. Looks pretty safe.

http://www.marinrvpark.com/campground/index.php

Never camped at Candlestick, but I recall the park isn't in that great of a neighborhood.

[TinTin]

We stayed in Marin RV Park a few years back, not bad. Some full timers. Very handy to the Ferry terminal. A little expensive, IMO, but this is San Francisco!!

[moosetags]

Thank you all for your input. I have now had a chance to look more closely at the map and to look at the options on RVPARKY. I have also read the reviews on the various campgrounds in the vicinity. It appears that the Alameda County Fairgrounds RV Park in Pleasanton may be our best bet. It is 30 miles from Mountain View and about the same from Oakland. They have full hook-ups including Wifi and the price is reasonable, especially for the area.

Brian

[Phoenix]

We haven't stayed here, but several have indicated that it was nice.

Anthony Chabot Family Campground
9999 Redwood Road, Castro Valley, CA

Description: Anthony Chabot Regional Park

Park brochure: http://www.ebparks.org/Assets/_Nav_C...campground.pdf

The Google Earth (GE) "Street View" camera car drove through this campground, so you can take a virtual tour on GE.

GE GPS coordinates: 37° 44.116'N 122° 5.764'W

[navydiver220]

Chabot would be my choice. It's nice and conveniently situated between San Jose and Oakland. But, it is a campground. Not sure what you're looking for.

Eric

[Condoluminum]

Chabot would be good as a regional park for camping, but beware of gate closing and locking hours (10 PM).. I think Alameda County Fairgrounds might be open later, if you get stuck in traffic... Also only a dozen sites for RV's, and you would surely need a reservation to be confident of having a space...

Marin RV Park is adjacent to Bay, Marin Ferry Terminal and Hwy 101, but has tendency to flood during rainstorms/high tides... Also beware that Golden Gate Bridge has just announced toll increase for cars to $7 and $24 (I believe) for trucks pulling dual axle trailers (southbound) so crossing the bridge with trailer will be expensive...

If you were part of Thousand Trails, they have park just south and west of Morgan Hill, which would be a 20 minute drive to San Jose, but long drive to Oakland...

[Phoenix]

Here's info on an RV park in Pacifica. We have driven through it, and it's nice. However, rates are high; and it's like parking at Safeway on Saturday morning. Best spots are the premium sites on the west-side at cliff's edge, overlooking the ocean.

Note: Some home sites in Pacifica have been crumbling into the ocean for years. This campground looks safe, but my wife didn't want to stay there. Just our luck, it would fall into the ocean on the first night. Just kidding -- We didn't stay here, because we can park for free in Bay-Area relative's driveway.

San Francisco RV Resort
700 Palmetto Avenue, Pacifica, CA 94044
Phone: 650-355-7093 | Reservations: 800-822-1250 | Fax: 650-355-7102
E-mail: info@sanfranciscorvresort.com

San Francisco RV Resort | Park your RV on the Cliffs overlooking the Pacific Coastline | Pacifica, California

Google Earth GPS coordinates: 37° 38.783'N 122° 29.525'W

[ttbikes]

We stayed at the San Francisco RV Resort for several days. On the minus side, the descent into the place was a little hairy in the fog. The fence across some of the camping spaces where the cliff had given way was a little disconcerting also. Park was on the old side and more like a parking lot than an RV park. On the plus side was the location to the things we wanted to do. It was clean. The view was good. The showers were nice and clean. When we looked we could not find any place that had a better location for what we wanted to do. We had a nice fish and chips experience in a little shopping mall a block from the lot.

[flyingcloud]

Candlestick RV Park is a rip off, it's expensive, the spaces are close together and they take cash only:
Candlestick Rip Off Park - Aluminarium

San Francisco RV Resort AKA Pacifica actually did have some spots fall off the side of the cliff while we were there, we won't be going back - the only good thing about that place was the water-view:
San Francisco RV Resort - Aluminarium

Half Moon Bay is a little bit south of the city, but that's where we stay now.
Half Moon Bay State Beach - Aluminarium

I would like to try Anthony Chabot Regional Park, but it's seasonal and we never seem to be in the area at the right time.

I hope this helps!

[moosetags]

Thank you for all the insight. This gives us some options.

Brian

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Airstream Forums mobile app