I'm rating this a five because the sites are way to close now. The first time we visited, there was only a couple other rigs, but now it's very busy and your crammed into each space. We didn't have room to extend our awning. It's a very pleasent, green park and the lake is close to the sites. Since it's owned by the city, they close the gates at night pretty early. They issue a key for the gate for a refundable fee of $5.00. The manager is very friendly. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This is definitely a campground geared toward kids and families. If you are looking for peace and quiet and/or privacy, this is not the place to go. If you are looking for a place that has ongoing activities and festivities and you don't mind the noise level, this is the place. The sites have little to no privacy and there is not much in the way of trees, etc. They have two nice fenced dog runs and things for the kids like banana bikes and a jump pad. The individual rates to use stuff is pretty steep, but they do offer a wristband and if you have active kids, will probably get your money's worth out of the wristband. Not close to town so make sure you bring everything you need. They do a have a store onsite and during the busy season, enough staff that you are almost tripping over them. Close to Santa Cruz and not too far from Monterey, both of which make nice day trips. Also close to the ocean/beach within just a few minutes drive. Free WiFi was nice although cell service was kind of sketchy. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Many others have made the same point--but I will make it too: $80!!! No way that is appropriate. Having said that, we stayed there for 3 nights, enjoyed it completely and our 4 year old had a great time. That is what the campground is all about--lots of things for kids to do. We were there Monday to Thursday so all the activities were "free". On weekends they charge $10 per head to ride the train, bounce on the jumping pillow and ride the bull. That is appalling on top of the per day charge. A few things are included in the regular per day campsite fee--including a very large, like-new play structure and the swimming pool (we didn't use the latter but it was large and looked very nice). The investments made by the owners seem to have been primarily in the fun stuff--the campground itself and the hookups, sites etc are tired and are not at all consistent with the fee they charge--and they need to bring in cable TV. There is virtually nothing available over the air (2 stations plus 2 very fuzzy). Wifi is "free" and worked very well. We stayed in a large pull-through and there was plenty of room for dinghy, the slideouts, awnings etc. The campground is not very close to anything (no restaurants or services nearby) but is well-located between Santa Cruz and its boardwalk/amusement park and Monterey and the fabulous aquarium. Getting to the campground from 101 is via some very narrow roads with overhanging trees or a longer way bouncing across the strawberry fields--scenic but you wonder where the campground is. It is tough to make an overall rating--OK location and access, tons for kids to do, antiquated hookups and ridiculous price--but it was fun, is one of the few games in town and we will probably stay there again. Other campers will need to consider what is important to them and make their choice about staying here. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We stayed at Sunset Beach for 1 night to break-in our travel trailer. The park is set right near the ocean with a 10min walk to the beach (quite a few hills and steps to get there). There are no full hookups or dumping stations available. The sites are good in size and some a pull-through (we stayed in back-in site 19). There are no onsite stores so, make sure you bring what you need as it is a 15 min drive to one. The wind did pick-up at night, and the temps dropped to 50's so plan to dress warm or have a heater. Phil's Fish Market (25 mins away) has great Cioppino for the cold nights. The bathrooms were well maintained and the quarter operated showers were warm. You cannot beat the location for the price. We will stay again when the weather warms-up We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Great little county park right outside of Santa Cruz. Not much space for big rigs, but we did get our 34' fifth wheel in. The beach is down the hill quite a bit and they provide stairs that are built into the hill side. The camp host did sell fire wood. We will be back. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Although this state park is set in a beautiful location on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean it was in need of a lot of attention at the time of our stay. You will not be able to get a big rig into this park. At 32' we were one of the biggest motorhomes there. There were a lot of transients staying in the park in dilapidated trailers and homemade campers. The park host was a young man who looked to be barely out of his teens and did not inspire any confidence in his ability to handle anything more complicated than selling firewood. The wooden picnic tables and food lockers were rotten and falling apart. The whole place seemed to be going down hill fast (perhaps due to a lack of funding) and the fee of $25 for no hook-ups was ridiculous! It's too bad because we usually enjoy are stays at state parks, but we won't be back to this one. We camped here in a Motorhome.