Pinto Lake Park

We have been staying at Pinto Lake RV Park for about 2 or 3 nights at a time for about 2 years. The people who run it are extremely nice and they make sure everyone abides by the rules, so no one disturbs others in the park! It is very relaxing and you can stroll down to the lake area an see the wildlife, or just take nice walks in the city park which is right next to the RV park. Sometimes children have baseball games which you can watch.

Positive this place has a 4G jammer I’m the area as my 4g service drops to that of a 56k modem anywhere in the park, back to 5Mbps as soon as I leave the park. Paid $ 50 for a full 30 days of unlimited WiFi data access only to be cut off a week prior to my 30 days and was told I had used to much data to be allowed any more. Excuse me? When did unlimited become limited?

Not sure what the whole fuss about the older lady is about but we never had an issue. Our stay was so relaxing and nice! It’s pretty calm & quiet there. The manager was very nice & friendly. She don’t put up with crap. So if you are super loud and playing loud music you will be told something. The manager watches the campground and we felt very safe there. The manager even came and greeted myself & both little boys hanging out nature cards which my boys loved! You can partially see the lake from where the RV’s park. And walking distance to the lake. They close & lock the gate in the evening & give you a key. Which I really liked. Felt safe leaving my RV if I needed to go out. About 20 – 30 min from Santa Cruz & Monterey. If you stay at this RV park you have to drive down a couple blocks and go to the Pinto Lake City Park. There is a great trail to walk & enjoy nature. Our stay was wonderful & will be back. $ 35 a night is a great price!

Pinto Lake is a beautiful RV camping and fishing park. This park is small, with full hookups and friendly staff. YES I CAN HAVE MY DOG HERE!!!
I can watch the sunrise over the hill and the most beautiful sunsets every night, right out my front window. Whether you are here for fun or work this place rocks. Quiet nights and families and fisherman enjoying the lake until sunset. Ps. It’s priced perfect.

I’ve been to pinto lake son many times it’s relaxing. Now the lady that appears to work in the office might need training in talking to people. She is rude. I asked if I could let my 2 poodles loose on the lawn to play frisbee I had my doggy bags to clean up after them. She rudely said no and turned around left me standing there. Well guess she had to go back to her nice conversation over the phone that I interrupted.

Pinto Lake is extraordinarily accommodating. This was a return visit. The park is clean, well managed and friendly. Good price. Bravo!

I stayed here a couple of weeks back with my family. My wife and I stayed here with my two kids when we went to Santa Cruz and the boardwalk. I found the staff to be really helpful and accommodating. We were able to check in early on Friday and the lady gave us a late check-​out time on Sunday because there were some open spaces. When we went in the lady working in the front was really friendly and gave my son and daughter a card with a whale on it and said each day they can get a new card. You really can’t beat the value that the place provides for the money.

Our family has camped for years and wanted to try a new campground. We chose Pinto Lake. The campground was great. We didn’t see the showers as advertised. The park was nice with a beautiful view of the lake.
The elderly lady who managed the campground was down right mean and made my 8yr old daughter cry because she was yelling at our family for making too much noise the night before. A «slap on the wrist» would’ve been enough but to tell my family that they were not nice people. She has never met us before. She was a militant witch! No where in the contract stated that quiet time started at 9:00pm and you had to be INSIDE your trailer at 10:00pm. We felt like we were at a military camp.
Like I mentioned before, the campground was beautiful but as long as the old lady is there, we will not be back

We could not find an RV spot open in Santa Cruz so extended our search to Watsonville. This park is just that. A public park that offers ²⁰⁄₃₀ RV spots with 30 amp service, water and sewer.
All the spots are long, but very skinny. So skinny that if your awning hangs over «your designated» spot you will find a sticky note on your door to, «see the manager». Needless to say, keep your awning closed.
The entire RV area, excluding the road designated RV parking area, is grass. Yuck. I tried to use our convection oven one day and the 30 amp service tripped off. There is only one vehicle allowed per RV site.
The biggest issue we had with this park was the main gate being locked at 7pm. Each and every time you go out or come back in after 7pm requires you to get out of your vehicle to unlock a padlock and then re-​lock it behind you.
The park is pretty quiet, except when bus loads of school kids come in. However, the lake was not open for paddle boats or fishing YET.

My parents used to come to pinto lake but I never went here until this weekend. I didn’t have reservations but forgot about it being Veterans Day weekend AND the beginning of crab fishing season. All my usual 1^st come campgrounds were full. So, I spent the weekend as a vagabond driving up and down the coast on a beautiful weekend in the RV. Saturday I missed the lottery at sea cliff and did a quick google search for RV campgrounds near Watsonville. The first hit was pinto lake with 4 stars. Remembering mom and dad, I smiled inside and gave them a call. 4 spaces available… BINGO!
Candy at the office was a great help in getting me settled in. The park was clean, quiet and my space had a great view of the lake and green area east of the park. Cheap site for full hookups. Just what I needed while slaving over my spreadsheets (working holiday). I took a bike ride into the local hills as this is very centrally located.
When checking out Sunday, Candy and Janice were helping all the boaters coming in for the day. I can tell they know good customer service. They were pleasant and attentive to the visitor’s needs.
The spaces are a little narrow but if I had moved a little closer to the utility pad, I think I may have been able to put out my awning. Slide outs fit fine on both sides.
I will always have this as a go to campground when the ocean spots are full.
Such a pleasant surprise that topped off a great weekend and provided some nostalgia for me.

I felt an obligation to review this park we stayed here for an extended period and got to see all the flaws, the bathrooms r disqusting no doors on stall vomit all over first two days we were there the «dragon lady» is a nightmare she wanders around the trailers knocking on doors looking for issues then screams at you about it from everything to anything music during the day dogs leashed to trailer my sun shade was not permitted, etc… I could go on an on … if you r looking for a mellow place to vacation stay the heck away

This was our second stay at the RV park. While here the first time, we said that we must come back with the grandkids because of the large grassy areas, playground and lake. This time (6÷17−6÷20÷14), we brought the kids. We had a perfect site next to the playground and facing the lake. It was absolutely a perfect stay. The kids loved it and we loved the location, beauty and peace and quiet. The staff is extremely friendly
which helps the atmosphere of the RV park.

The place is pretty clean and would be a wonderful family only or day use park. However my family recently rented the picnic space for a family reunion. I don’t believe I ever heard of pack your own trash from the garbage cans. I understand not wanting to pay a maintenance fee but there should be someone cleaning up trash and toilets at least once a day.
Other than that we were not pestered too much for anything but they did inspect our ice chests for alcohol. It would probably be a better idea to have an entry gate or posted rules. The city would be able to charge for parking and post rules without much hassle.

BEWARE!!!
My wife and kids wanted to escape the heat of El Dorado Hills and headed toward the coast to find this RV park kind of near everything we wanted to do over the weekend. (Santa Cruz Board Walk, Monterey Bay).
Stupid me for not paying attention to Unilocal as we tend to live by it… We love Unilocal and it has always steered us in the right direction.
Karen D., Arik K. And Roger W. were all spot on!!! We were stalked and had our privacy violated by the park manager. We were told by our neighbors that while we were away the manager thought she heard our dog in our RV and began peeking into windows and walking all around our «space.»
The next morning while having a cup of coffee and cooking breakfast for the kids, i was greeted at my open front door by this older woman pointing her finger at my face, raising her voice stating, «You are coming to the office and we are going to talk about your dog!» (3.1 pound aussy-​doodle, lap dog) She then spun around with her clip board and walked off. WTH??? I’ve punched grown men for less, but as you could imagine, taken a little off guard.
I casually made my way to the office (messed up hair, bad breath, flip flops and angry wife in tow) LTFO!!! Ready to show someone what the five fingers told the face.
After arriving at the office the day lady was very kind and helpful but when asked if they receive many complaints about the manager. She looked at us like a captive slave who was let out of the crawl space to run the front desk and was begging for rescue with her eyes. Did everything but carve «Help me» in the counter with her fingernails.
We asked to speak to the manager to discuss our felonious behavior.(??) the WWotW arrived and began a diatribe about leaving animals unattended in the RV. Okay… What the hell did that have to do with us? After dodging a couple flying monkeys and my lovely wife dropping a couple appropriately placed «C» bombs. The green faced one refused to admit she was seen peeping tom our RV. We left Oz, with our little dog too.
We spoke with 4 other RV campers after returning from the principles office and found they had similar run ins with her the night before. A Vietnam Vet a couple spaces away was interrupted by her at 6 PM by a knock on his RV door and was told to quiet down and go to bed. He was visiting with his family… He was told It was quiet time and needed to go to bed… OMFG…
A retired looking man across from us had to get something out of his truck after dark. He was approached by the manager and told he needed to turn his cab lights off. He said, «Lady they are automatic, I cannot turn them off until I close the door.» He was told to close the door and go to bed. Whew…
We discovered this RV park is city owned property that she leases to conduct her business. Needless to say the City of Watsonville will be receiving our formal complaint. From what I have observed from our experience and other campers, there are some clear privacy violations occurring. I am not sure the City of Watsonville needs that kind of liability.
Long story short, we booked the remainder of the week at KOA at moss landing and had a wonderful time. Phil’s seafood is a must!!!
Thank you for taking the time to read about our less than pleasant experience.

My wife and I found this RV park to be a real find. The grass sites and paved roads are to our liking as there is no dust. We were told it would be the quietist RV park we have ever stayed in and it truly was. We made a reservation for one night and stayed for one week. The staff was warm and accommodating. This is a small park by a small lake away from road noise and railroads with great value.

This is a wonder place. And Pat she is the best she waited for me when I made the wrong turn in to the County Park. Also the Night manager is a very nice man who loaned me a 30 amp plug adapter because I forgot mine. This is a very quiet park at night. We will be regulars.

I saw no cons to this place. Only pros.
The hook ups were well placed and excellent. On concrete as well.
The staff were extremely friendly and helpful.
Laundry was was $ 1 to wash and $ 1 to dry. Incredibly cheap. Nice machines.
Quiet and restful. Most enjoyable.

Nice RV park which is filled most of the time. There’s a lake in the park and it’s such a serene place to relax!
Beware of the care taker in a big white truck… her other vehicle is a broom and she can really mess up ur stay if u let her!
Dogs on a lease are ok here!

What started out as a pleasant stay has turned. We had Jimmy Buffet playing on an outside speaker. Host told us we could not have outside speakers it our dogs barking. Copper is blind. She said she did not care. Don’t think we will be returning.

Not to mistaken for Pinto Lake County Park (which is about a half mile or so north on Green Valley Rd.), this is a pretty nice and small park that also accomodates softball games and RVs. Other than that, can’t really say there’s a whole lot of things to do.