Best Campgrounds Near Sunnyvale
20 hand-picked camping destinations curated for families visiting REI Sunnyvale. Each campground selected for quality, scenery diversity, and memorable experiences.
Showing 20 campgrounds
Featured Picks
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park Campground
Top pick for families who want classic redwoods close to Sunnyvale. Henry Cowell combines towering trees, the San Lorenzo River with popular swim spots, and lots of kid-friendly trails and biking, with strong ratings and many reviews.
Francis Beach Campground
Best nearby oceanfront option for families: easy drive, bluff-top sites above a long sandy beach, paved coastal trail for bike rides and stroller walks, and excellent reviews and popularity.
Main Campground
Closest true mountain-feeling campground to Sunnyvale, with spectacular sandstone formations, viewpoints, and family-friendly hiking. It offers a very different feel from coastal and redwood parks while still being an easy drive.
Steep Ravine Campground
Iconic Marin coast spot where families can camp above crashing surf, explore tidepools, and hike through nearby redwoods. High ratings and a dramatic cliffside setting make it a standout day-trip destination.
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park Campground
Excellent weekend option in Sonoma’s foothills with diverse terrain (oak woodland, chaparral ridges, hidden redwood groves) and Sonoma Creek nearby. It offers great starry skies, strong ratings, and a different feel from coastal and redwood basin parks.
Gerle Creek
Top-rated High Sierra choice with lots of reviews, combining shady forest campsites, clear creek swimming, nearby reservoir paddling, and good hiking. It gives Bay Area families a classic alpine lake-and-granite experience for a longer weekend.
More to Explore
Portola Campground
A more secluded redwood basin than Henry Cowell, with lush creekside scenery and great family hiking. Chosen as a nearby alternative when families want deeper-forest solitude and cool summer shade.
Manresa State Beach Campground
Classic Santa Cruz–area beach camping with a short walk to a wide sandy shoreline. A good family choice when Francis Beach is full and for kids who want big, soft-sand play areas.
Kirby Cove Campground
Small hike-in campground with unforgettable Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco views from a tucked-away beach cove. Great for adventurous families with older kids looking for a more backcountry-style overnight close to the city.
Pantoll Campground
Centrally located on Mount Tam with easy access to a huge network of trails down to Stinson Beach and over to Muir Woods. Good for families who want a hiking-focused weekend in cool, shady forest with big views close by.
Bodega Dunes Campground
Large, well-loved Sonoma Coast campground set behind rolling dunes, with easy access to long beaches and coastal trails. Chosen for families wanting a classic cool-coast weekend with more capacity and flexibility than smaller ocean campgrounds.
Wright's Beach Campground
Oceanfront sites practically on the sand with dramatic surf and sunsets. Ideal for coastal-loving families who understand the rough-water conditions (no swimming) and want easy beach access and excellent shoreline fishing.
Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground
One of the most famous Big Sur campgrounds, with riverside redwood sites and access to swimming holes. A great pick for families wanting the full Big Sur experience—river play, big trees, and coastal day trips—on a longer weekend.
Limekiln State Park Campground
Unique Big Sur spot where towering redwoods, a ferny creek canyon, and a small cove beach all meet. Chosen for its high ratings and for families who want a more intimate, tucked-away coastal experience than the larger Big Sur campgrounds.
Liberty Glen (Lake Sonoma)
Overlooks Lake Sonoma with access to boating, fishing, and swimming down below. Selected as a versatile lake-focused option with good reviews, mixing water play with oak-studded hillsides and nearby wine country towns.
North Grove Campground
Calaveras Big Trees’ North Grove puts families among giant sequoias, with easy interpretive trails and a nearby creek. It’s a standout for kids who want to see truly massive trees within a manageable drive from the Bay Area.
Meadowview Campground
Near Pinecrest Lake with swim beaches, boating, and an easy lakeshore trail. This is a family favorite for warm-weather weekends when kids want to spend most of the day by or in the water.
Codorniz Campground
Set above Eastman Lake amid rolling golden hills and oaks, this campground offers warm-water swimming, fishing, and lakeside exploring. Chosen as a contrast to the colder coastal and alpine waters, especially appealing for summer.
Gerstle Cove Campground
Part of Salt Point State Park, with coastal bluffs, tidepools, and a marine reserve at Gerstle Cove. Ideal for families interested in exploring rocky shoreline ecosystems and doing shorter coastal hikes.
Big Meadow - Us Forest Service Stanislaus National Forest (Ca)
High Sierra basecamp with access to Lake Alpine and Spicer Meadow Reservoir, plus big mountain views. Chosen for families ready to go a bit farther for cooler temperatures, granite scenery, and a mix of hiking and water time.
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