Veterans Memorial Park Campground

Yes, that is correct, we stayed 5 nights at a 3 night maximum park. The last two nights were mid week, the park wasn't full, and we asked permission. There is an on site campground manager who makes frequent rounds and seems very aware of what is going on in the campground. He granted us permission.

Camping is first come, first available. We arrived early Saturday and grabbed one of the last two sites. It was one of the worst sites, but we didn't move when other sites opened up. We spent most of our time out sight seeing and the campground was more of a landing place.

Our site was very close to the restrooms/bath house. There were two showers in each side (men/women.) Signs were on the bath house that showers were for campers only, but this was not enforced. In fact there was a steady stream of folks in the evenings parking beside the bath house and going in to take showers. Most parked right beside our site and it was clear that these were folks who were living out of their cars. That might bother some people, but it was very orderly and didn't bother us at all . The campground manager was really on top of it and he would appear anytime someone loitered too long and told them to move along. A camper at a site further way may not even notice this activity.

Sites have a picnic table and fire ring although fires were not permitted due to the drought. There is a dish washing sink behind the bath house. Road to the park is one mile from the center of town, up a hill, and through a residential area.

This is a multi use town park with birthday parties near the playground, dog walkers, and joggers on the trails. Our 9 year old loved the playground and all the kids he got to play with here.

There are so many things to do in the area. We enjoyed the Monterey Warf and seeing the sea lions, seals, and otters. We took a Whale watching tour and saw humpback whales. We spent a day at the Monterey Aquarium and found some good restaurants.

This is why I like Campendium! I wouldn't have known about this place otherwise. We knew it was first-come, first-serve but had a few viable sites to chose from about 2 p.m. on a Thursday. Looked like the park filled by sundown. I was a bit concerned about what we were going to find as we wound our way through nice neighborhoods and up a hill. The park has a length limit for a reason! Even with our 19' narrow 5th wheel, the roads were noticably narrow in the campground.

Sites varied wildly in size, slope, and orientation. Roads, although too narrow to permit passing, were not marked as one-way which was a benefit since it was a 50-50 chance that you'd find a spot and then have to turn around to back into it. About 50% of the sites were occupied by tents, many with families. In spite of the stated length limit, there are several sites that will handle longer units if you can get to them. I noticed a handful of trailers that approached 30 ft, but I'm glad I wasn't towing them.

Once we were situated, I really appreciated the park. Great value, clean restrooms, and quiet. Our $25 price reflects the $5 senior discount.

Great place to post up in Monterey. Plenty of sites in the trees or next to a park used by local families. There are some rough folk that also use the free facilities, but they never presented a problem. The manager runs a tight ship.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this is a campground for smaller rigs and tents. The drive up to the campground is steep, windy, and narrow. The road climbs through a beautiful neighborhood nestled into a dense forest.

The campground itself is also nestled into the forest - there are few level or uniform sites. This is no big deal with a small rig, though leveling will be required.

The campground host seriously has his stuff together. Knows what's going on within the park, keeps everything clean, and looks like he doesn't tolerate overly rowdy behavior.

There are warm showers and a clean bathroom. Both are used by campers as well as those living rough in Monterey. As others noted, it seemed orderly and quiet, and it didn't bother me (other than I had to wait awhile to get a shower).

The best part about this campground is you can walk to downtown Monterey. It's a little over a mile, and the walk back is a bit rougher than the walk out (it's all downhill on the walk to town, all uphill on the walk back). Great to not have to try to find parking in Monterey! Check out the self guided historic walking tour (maps available at the visitor center downtown). The buildings are beautiful and one has a whalebone paver walkway.

Great park right in the middle of Monterey. No problem fitting our 26’ Airstream and there were more open spots that can fit larger (medium sized) RVs and trailers. Tons of tent campers as well.

We arrived mid-day Thursday and had our pick of sites. Later that night and through the day on Friday it pretty much filled up. I would recommend arriving around mid-day to guarantee a spot.

Showers included in the nightly rate and there is a dump station on the way out. Individual spots have no hookups, but there are a few places to fill up water before you settle in.

There’s also a nice playground for the kiddos to enjoy!

Our rig PeeWee is 33 feet long and we tow a little Nissan Versa. We made it up the long, steep hill to the campground and found a site that looked like we could fit. We set up camp and thought it was all good. The bad news was that the camp host (nice gentleman) asked us to move. He said normally they don’t take large RV’s but he would make an exception because it’s off season. He relocated us just across from our other spot. 😳. Then he said it was 8$ per night extra for our Nissan. I explained that we towed it in, but he said sorry. So that cost us 24$ extra for our 3 days. The good news was we got a senior discount so we paid 25$ per night. It’s a great location; close enough to town but still in the trees. No fires. Good hiking trails accessible from the campground. The dump site was sufficient. Nice people all around.

We camped in our pop-up camper 3 nights while kayaking in the Monterey area. Site 21 gave us a quiet spot to unload out boats and hang out. A 1/2 hour walk down the hill on quiet local streets got me to Trader Joe's to pick up a few missed items. Adequate showers included, clean facilities.

I don't have much to add to what other reviewers have said about the logistics or amenities of the park, but I can add another voice to vouch for the friendliness of the staff. The staff on duty gave us permission to stay beyond the 3 day limit (just asked that we move sites) and also allowed us to stay even though our camper was beyond the max length usually allowed.

Interestingly, there is an extreme sensitivity in this area of Monterey to cell phone towers. Signs all over the place voicing concerns over cell phone towers being installed in the community. This actually manifested in the park's caretaker fielding a call from a concerned citizen about the WeBoost's antenna I had mounted on the roof of our Airstream! He said he wasn't really in the position to enforce any sort of cell booster usage, or to determine if the one I had was "legal", but said that I may be visited by the POLICE to answer some questions on behalf of the concerned citizen! Of course, I have no problem with that, but thought it strange that someone would be concerned about a cell phone booster. I mean, what does this concerned citizen do? Drive through the area looking for suspicious antennas and report them?

As far as the campground goes, it's a gem, no complaints at all, especially for the price, in fact I'd stay here again even if I could use the booster :) Oh, and that drive up has some darn steep hills!

This is a great place to camp in Monterey. Hiking trails with awesome ocean views. Nice bathrooms with hot showers. Get there early. The sites fill up fast. We got there at 2:00pm and by 4 all the sites were full. 1.5 mile walk to everything downtown. We will stay here again. Great for small rigs not so nice for larger rigs. T-Mobile 2 bars LTE good enough for browsing the internet

We were hopeful from previous reviews that a polite ask for an exception would allow our 32’ class A to stay for the 3 day minimum. Unfortunately it didn’t but because it was already dark, the ranger said we could stay overnight. No 3 day stay would be possible. Particularly a bummer because we got in just fine to the spaces but rules are rules (when they’re enforced).
So big rigs beware - you might be a lenient pass or a boot down the hill. And it’s a helluva drive up!