Monterey Veterans Memorial Park

A lovely not oversized Campground. Well-maintained always clean bathrooms on a daily basis sterilized. Beautiful Oak and pine trees offering plenty of shade even though it doesn't get hot there. Water spickets available near campsites. And a beautiful green playground park. A 3-day Max you can stay for $47 a day, if you are a veteran or a senior you can take $5 off. The Rangers are friendly and helpful.

This is a great campground. I stated here for two nights for Monterey Car Week because Hotel/Motel rates were 3-4x the normal going rates this week. Rates here are $47/night if you're camping with one vehicle. It $13 more for an additional vehicle. The system is first-come-first-served and you're able to check in at anytime of the day. First you go around and look for a vacant site. They will either have no reservation slip clipped to the site marker post or if the site is empty and there is a slip, check to make sure the that group has already departed for the day. Some people come by in the morning, claim a site and leave for the day to come back at night, so make sure your aren't taking someone's site. Then when you do find a site you want to take, either leave belongings or someone from your group there to show that the site has been claimed. You go to the Self registration booth and pay your appropriate fee. Make sure you do pay your fees because they have someone checking every morning. They do allow non-campers to use the showers for a $4 fee and limited to 10 minutes You pay at the self registration booth. Fill out an envelop, enclose your fee, display the reservation slip on your dash and park near the showers. I'm not sure how much they enforce this, but why risk it to save $4. My only (very minor) complaints: They typically don't allow overnight parking on the grounds if you're not a registered camper, but my first night there, the trail head parking lot was full of cars with people sleeping in them. I'm not sure if they let them slide because it was Monterey Car Week, but the next night they were all gone. I was a little mad because I was car camping as well and felt like I paid the fee for nothing. These people were also using the restroom and showers, keeping us registered people from using them. Now on to my second complaint. Check out time is 12 noon. On the day of my check out, I decided to pack up the van, leave to grab breakfast and come back to shower and get ready for the day. I left at 10am and when I came back 30 mins later, the hosts have removed my reservation slip that was clipped to my site marker, rendering my site up for grabs, even though I'm technically paid up until 12 noon. Luckily when i came back, my spot was still empty. My third complaint. They close the restrooms and showers around 10am for about half an hour to clean them (which I'm thankful for). But closing them at this time poses an inconvenience if you're trying to get ready before you check out at 12 noon (hence why I left as mentioned above). Once the restroom/showers open back up around 11, everyone bombards it, hoping to get ready before check out time. Overall, still a fantastic campground and will definitely be coming back.

There were so many more camping spots than we expected! The location is so beautiful and peaceful, we couldn’t believe we were in the middle of town! Luckily, we didn’t have an issue claiming a spot (we camped on a Monday night in the middle of May), but I suspect the same cannot be said in the height of summer. There is a huge playground perfect for kids

We love this campground, and have stayed here almost every time we visit Monterey. During our previous camp visits the park wasn't as full, but we were here the 4th of July weekend so I'm sure that's why it was nearly full. It got a little loud in the morning, there were a few sites with inconsiderate people playing their music loud on this past visit, but fortunately they turned it down and that has been our only bad experience. It's a beautiful park, and so close to everything it's just the perfect place to stay if traveling through and visiting the Monterey area!

THE PERFECT BACKPACKER CAMPSITE! $10 per night for Hiker/Bikers. 3 day max. Warm shower. Safe tent camping. Register at the entrance kiosk. Be sure if you’re Hiker/Biker to stay in the designated area. I made a map, I got lost finding it my first day, lol. This was PERFECT during my riding a bicycle across America trip (Backpacker Mike on a Bike). There’s a water spout in front of the Hiker/Biker area. Would stay again!!

Second time camping here. Extremely well run and quiet campground walkable distance (1-2 mile with a hill) to many attractions and restaurants in Monterey/Pacific Grove. Wake up /retire to the sounds of Reveille, Retreat and Taps. Has showers and hot water (but not in the sinks- go around back to the dishwashing station for hot water). There are fire rings, but a few of them are blocked off for some reason. About $50 a night, some discounts. Showers included.

Great camping! Can see a little bit of the city below, extremely clean bathrooms. Very safe. Lots of good dogs. Awesome!

I have been coming here since I was a child and now as an adult this is still my favorite camp ground. KEEP THIS IN MIND: It is first come first serve, meaning the earlier in the morning you arrive the more likely you are to get a spot. I always go on Memorial Day weekend so I try to get there at 7am. Some spots are more secluded with a larger areas and privacy, while others are closely side by side and more in the open. All camp spots have their own picnic table. Every camp spot has a white ticket clipped to a wooden “pole” at the front of it. The ticket specifies the dates in which the campers have payed to remain at the spot, but keep in mind they have until midday to pay for another night. If there is NO ticket on a camp spot it means it is up for grabs, so take note of the number of the spot, and pay at the front in one of the envelopes provided (CASH ONLY, it was $47 as of May 2025); if you need change or have questions, you can knock on the rangers door which is the cabin at the front entrance. If there is a ticket on the camp spot but you see the campers packing up or something similar to that, you can ask them if they are planning on leaving and if you could have their spot. Please please please do NOT wake campers up or go on their campground when they are not present. Please do not try to approach a tent to wake anyone up and please do not park on someone else’s campground just because they aren’t there. That is not allowed. It is a three night maximum and you must be on your best behavior to be approved for three nights in a row. This past Memorial Day weekend there were no fires allowed, but two years ago there were, so it varies. Quiet hours are 10pm to 8am, this also means all fires out by 10pm. They have showers and bathrooms, so make sure to bring shower sandals and toiletries if you plan to shower there. There is an outlet in the bathrooms too. Keep in mind that there are only two showers and two toilets in the women’s bathroom closest to the campground. This means you may stand in line waiting to shower depending on how busy it is that weekend/day. They turn off the water at 10pm. The women’s bathroom wasn’t dirty when I arrived on Friday but by Sunday it was pretty dirty and no one came to clean the bathroom daily, just a heads up. There is a big playground and a large lawn with picnic tables. It is a pet friendly campground which is nice. I accidentally brought my air mattress inflatable machine that required an outlet. Thankfully the rangers let us plug it into an outlet on the exterior of their cabin. 15min away from the Monterey Fairgrounds and 11min away from Target. It is close by shops/restaurants and a quick drive to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is also near Monterey State Beach and the Carmel Mission/downtown area. The weather is always cooler at the camp ground versus all other areas in Monterey due to the altitude. I went for Memorial Day weekend and it was cold (it even drizzled) and I drove 10 min away from the campground and the sun was shining and it was hot. Basically, if you come in the spring, pack layers!