This is an attractive park once the entry drive is negotiated. Although there is a "lounge" it has no laundry facilities. Showers and restrooms were acceptably clean. The afternoon staff person was stiff and not very helpful. Other staff were more friendly. Since we are not pulling a tow, it was challenging to park near the aquarium and cannery row, and were we to return, I might look for another park. We camped here in a Motorhome.

The name should be "Carmel by the River that you can't see or use". I fish and was hoping to, but unfortunately you can't fish or swim in the river - which I never saw anyway. However, this is a very quiet and well groomed park. Very close to Carmel and Monterey. Entrance to Pebble Beach is only 5 miles and worth the $500, if you are a true golfer. Wi-fi actually works very well, but you will need a dish that points to get any satellite reception. They do have cable, about 10 channels. Getting in is a challenge, unhook, your toad before you cross the one lane bridge. We would return. We camped here in a Motorhome.

A bit "tight" driving into park - road is one lane in several spots, never had any real issues driving in our 40' motorhome with tow - just need to be aware. We've stayed here numerous times over the years; the staff is very friendly, wonderful setting and we will always stay here when we are in the area. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Very quiet and nice. Only issue was narrow road to enter Park. Hopefully you don't run into a big rig going the other way. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

If you are looking for a close location to Carmel, then this is the place, however, don't expect much. The sites are big and there are some local eateries with good food. The WiFi also worked well. They were doing construction on sites when we were there, so the park was noisy. The bathrooms were clean, but you have to push the shower button approx. every minute to keep the water running. You also cannot adjust the temperature of the water. There are limited activities for kids, no playground or pool. We have dogs and the park is much too small to walk them around for decent exercise. 9 miles away, there is a huge regional park where we took the dogs every day. It was a hassle, but the park is a great place to walk big dogs. Beware, there are MANY loose dogs running around and their owners DO NOT have voice control over them. The owners also have three loose dogs running around the RV Park. We will not stay here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Location Location Location! Excellent location for exploring Big Sur, Monterey and Carmel. The road coming in is fine. Everyone (there weren't that many) we met on the road was courteous, and we had room to maneuver. A bit tight in backing in to site, but do-able. They offer assistance if needed, but as a driver in my second season of 5th wheeling, I was able to maneuver just fine. Clean campground with hedges between sites gave a semblance of privacy. Good wi-fi too. Would definitely return. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

We stayed here 11 days. Very pleasant and exceptionally quiet park. Sites are divided by high bushes for privacy. The Carmel River runs right behind the park. The owner (staff?) was very helpful to us in getting our rig backed into the site. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

THE CONS: Staff is rude, unfriendly and unprofessional. One of the two women in the office is the owner and the other one I'm not sure, but both talk down to you. This is CASH ONLY so make sure to bring your cash. Dog waste is everywhere, so watch your step. There is a VERY NARROW BRIDGE and windy VERY NARROW ROAD so this is not for newbies. If you don't know how to reverse, don't come. The sites also are quite narrow and short. So most of the large RVs took up most of their spot, and had problems with parking their cars. Tent trailers had problems parking their large trucks. Backing into these spots is quite difficult. No laundry facilities nor pool. PROS: campground is quiet, clean except for the dog waste. Looked to be dog-friendly with a nice place to walk your dog. Located reasonably close to Carmel by the Sea and great restaurants in the Carmel Valley. RV camping in the Carmel area is very limited so I would prefer not to have to come here again, but I'm not sure we have too many other choices. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Yes, I'm sorry, but I have to blow the whistle on this place: it sucked! $62 for a place that should cost maybe $27. The road leading in, is single-lane, twisty-turny and almost impractical. The sites have cute snooty hedges between them, but our Class C RV pretty much took the entire width when we opened one slide-out and extended the awning. The cable TV signal was very fuzzy and I ran a new RF line and it was still ridiculous. You can not have a wood fire at all. The so-called river is about 14-feet wide and 1-foot deep, pretty much a run-off and you're not allowed to swim, get your feet wet or get near it. There is NOTHING to do at this park, aside from a ping-pong table and some old board games. Other campers said their kids were bored and there are no trails (aside from the 70-foot trail to the river) or anything to walk to. Zippo, nada, nothing! And the price of $62 per night is absurd. It's the most we've paid and the least we've gotten for our money. You pull into a narrow site and end of story. All the hype about the 'best kept secret' was total marketing deception. The people were friendly enough, but I think they know they're peddling weak stuff. The only positive things I can offer is that the sites were reasonably level and the place is clean and well maintained. However you're in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do, and it's well overpriced. Pass. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This is a CASH only park, so be ready to pay to stay. It is a quiet park with great views of the stars at night. There is a nice area to walk your dog. Warning, this area is full of dog waste. Not sure who is not picking up after who, but watch your step. The sites are hard to back into when someone is across from you. The road is not wide, so not much maneuver room. There is a small, non perishable store on site and movies to rent. Management could be more professional. Walked into to hear one of the staff yelling profanities. It was interesting. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

A clean park in a nice secluded area. Spaces are private due to tall hedges on both sides of all the sites. You have to drive out of the park to find activities, but it is a nice place to spend the night. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Overall the park is nice, but I found a few things lacking. First of all there's dog waste everywhere. The park is a pet friendly place, which is great, but the people who work here let their dogs and cats roam the park off leashes all day. You will have dog or cat waste on your site and it doesn't belong to your dog: gross! What's funny is that there are signs everywhere reminding the RV'ers to pick up after their dogs. I guess this doesn't apply to the staff or owners as well. I also found the bathrooms to be lacking. The showers are not cleaned daily as I noticed from the same hairs being in the same place several days in a row, eewwhh! And the toilet stalls don't lock: hold the doors shut ladies! Last but not least: this is a very small park, if towing a trailer or have a long motorhome, you'd better be skilled in backing. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

A very nice setting once you get here. The ride to the campground is a little scary. It is a narrow road and you cross a narrow bridge. My GPS told me I was here, but I wasn't and I was afraid I had passed it and the road was so narrow there was no way I would have been able to turn around. Fortunately you take the road all the way to the end. Each site is separated by nice green hedges which gives a lot of privacy. The sites were easy to back into and instead of numbers they each had a name which was quaint and unique. The only negative I found once here, was that they didn't have any doggy bags available. Otherwise the park was clean and there was a nice river that ran behind the park. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We had the end spot with the river right behind us. The frogs chirping at night was really comforting. The park is beautiful with plenty of shade and grass. Grounds are well kept up and there are flowers everywhere. It is pitch dark at night as the park doesn't allow your porch light to stay on so we used flashlights to walk our dogs. Very dog friendly. They make it a stern point that you have to leash and pick up after your dogs. However, their dogs are running free and doing their business all over the place. I found one of them in my site every morning next to a little wet spot. We were here 8 nights and the bathrooms were only cleaned once. The road going to the park is beautiful and narrow in many spots, yes, even the bridge, but its easy and the owners stagger the check in and out times so RVers won't have any problems. If you have a problem with your site, please don't blame it on the resort. The lady in the front office is very defensive and doesn't seem to believe that things do break and its not always the guest's fault. Our issues got resolved promptly, but I didn't return to the office for anything else. Overall, the small issues we had didn't ruin our stay in any way and the park is perfectly located for Carmel and Monterrey adventures. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

This RV park was clean. The owners were very nice. We had a TV hookup problems and they were right there to solve it. The Wi-Fi was very good. I used it for several hours without any problems. The bridge everyone talks about is nothing. It is the width of one side of a regular bridge that you would think nothing about going over. It has a weight limit of 10 tons. The road is narrow about the last two blocks. We liked being tucked away at Saddleback Mountain where it was quiet and only the frogs made noise. Our spot was great. It was right next to the creek that was full of water. We sat in our lawn chairs on the grass watching the water go by. It was very relaxing. Some of the 40 foot rigs were a little tight in their spaces but everyone around us was very happy. It is about ten minutes from the beach and close to everything. The owners directed us to a fresh fish store that was excellent. We will be returning. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

The drive in was very trecherous going over a narrow bridge, with no place to turn around. The owners let their dogs pop anywhere and don't care to clean. They tried to tell me cash only but had seen and advertisement in Woodhall's which showed visa and mastercard. The lady promptly went in the back room and ran my card. As we waited for the paperwork on the site, she said "Oh you wanted 50 amp service?" and wanted $5.00 more. I refused and said I would use the 30 amp. When we backed into our site and tried to hook to the 30 amp plug, I notice it had a damaged looking plug, so I hooked up to the 50 amp plug that was already there and told the lady why I did it. She did say it was no problem. Personally, I will never stay there again. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Nice location, but the river is rather inconsequential since there's a berm or levy between the lower sites and the river. We were disappointed to find a few of the sites occupied by utility trailers or stored RVs lending a bit of a funky vibe to the place. Also, the women's shower room lacks privacy with one open dressing area serving the two showers. Since there are few choices for RV parks in the area, we likely will stay here again when visiting the area. Best sites are the lower ones along the river side of the campground. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

We stayed here for Thanksgiving weekend and had a very nice visit. Staff is friendly and helpful. Sites are small with nice hedges between them for privacy. No fire pits, but each site had a picnic table. Sites are not deep, but we fit our 37' motor home in without any problem. The location of this park is beautiful at the foot of the Carmel mountains. The negatives previous reviews have mentioned (narrow bridge, dog excrement) are all accurate. After parking our motorhome, we stepped outside and right into a dog doo. They seemed to be everywhere and no doo bags were available. Owner's dogs wander freely and are very nice, so we felt bad complaining. Roads between sites are very narrow and our neighbor's tow cars had to be moved so we could back into our site. Overall a nice park for an overnight stay. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Located along the river in Carmel Valley over a VERY narrow single lane bridge. Very tight spaces, crammed together and separated by 6ft hedges. Our site was so small we barely had room for our toad (durango suv) Had to park it very close to RV even to get it into the site. Only able to open the car door on one side. Crazy tight!!! Place was clean and very quiet. Only saving grace was close proximity to Carmel. We won't camp here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.

The access road here can be somewhat unnerving, but the RV park is worth it. There's a narrow, one-lane bridge you must cross to get there as well as a narrow down-hill road to the park, but we made it quite easily (24' class C + Smart Car toad). The transient area sites are all very clean and well maintained. Ours was fully level with a gravel surface. There are hedgerows between each site that give you some additional privacy. There are no pull-through sites as they are all back-ins. We didn't use any of the bath / shower facilities, but the rest of the park appeared to be well maintained and neat. The park is very well situated just east of Carmel and about 7 miles south of Monterey. We spent two days touring both of those towns. We would definitely stay here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.

The reviews seem to be pretty polarized on this place, but add us to the group who likes it. There just aren't a lot of options in the Carmel area. Yes, this place takes a 10 minute drive from highway 1, and the approach road and bridge can scare the daylights out of you if you're driving a 40' coach, but it's nice and quiet. Sites are very nice but only a few will handle big rigs and only a few have satellite reception due to trees blocking most of the others. Owners let their dogs run loose, and they do their business all over. There are full hook ups, cable TV and nicely manicured grounds. Pricey, but you're in Carmel. About one third of the park appears to be long term residents, but there were no issues with this, and everyone was friendly. We'll stay here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Good price if you'd like to visit Carmel compared to a hotel room. Roads are narrow (the bridge is an eye-opener when you first arrive). Lots of dog doo. We picked up more than our dogs left. Bathrooms are clean and sites are quiet. Make sure to feed the pigs (actually boars) in the nearby residential area. Staff was helpful. Will stay again. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Quiet at night! Lulled to sleep by croaking frogs. The road is too narrow and winding for our tastes, plus there was dog excrement in front of our trailer in the morning. No, we don't have a dog, but there were a couple that were allowed the run of the place. We won't stay here again. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Like others we found the trip in towing a car to be unsettling, and the single lane bridge spooky to say the least. It's a remote location with in a wooded area that's nice. You need a car to get around Carmel and Monterey as driving your rig in here is tough. I wouldn't want to meet another rig on the single lane road in here, but the owners say they have never had a problem. We will hook up to the car once we are out of here. Yes, there are some dogs roaming and ours had to be on the leash and yes there was some dog doo, but over all, it's an OK place. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This is a unique campground, but very hard to access. It is quite a few miles off any highway and is accessed by a very windy mountainous road that turns into a single lane only for the last several miles. The single lane winds through residential areas, which can be scary because you can't see if someone is coming. Additionally, you have to traverse a single lane, very narrow bridge to access the site, which for first timers to the campground is bound to be unsettling. The site itself is very pretty set within greenery, trees and mountainside. The "river" is misleading in that the portion of the river that runs through the campground was only a trickle, more like a one or two inch deep creek. I agree with other reviews in that they have strict rules for campers' dogs, but allow their own dogs to run free such that there is dog excrement everywhere that they don't seem to bother to clean up. The site was eerily beautiful at night when the mist enveloped the tree tops and the frogs began a rhythmic croaking. The site might be a good one for people wishing to access nearby Carmel activities for several days or more. Otherwise, given the difficulty to access and the lack of activities and actually no usable waterfront, it is not a good park for a short stay or for those who don't tow a vehicle. We camped here in a Motorhome.

The advertisement for this park is very misleading. Note the name of the park which makes you feel that you will be by the river. First off I have never been to a park that only accepts cash. We had to actually make sure we were still in California? We walked to the river area and found nothing but garbage and animal waste. This campground leaves a lot to be desired because of the cash price you will pay. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Way off the beaten path and should be restricted to not larger than 30 ft. We are in a 20 ft van and were okay, but had to squeeze our little car in beside our van so bigger RV's could get in and most all had a terrible time getting into their sites as they are very short. The manager was nice and the park had pretty flowers and the restrooms were clean, but the office was not particularly neat. Did have paved roads but gravel sites and the picnic table was not clean. The park area had lots of dog excrement so had to be careful where you stepped. The price was $60.00 but seniors got a $5.00 discount. The park has no amenities and was not worth that price. We have stayed in some of the best and didn't pay this much. Would not recommend or come back. Oh, we were not told that they did not take Visa, nor checks. Had to have cash or travelers check. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This is one of our favorite RV Parks. The park is very clean and close to all of the activities in Carmel and Monterey. It is far enough away from the coach to be sunny most of the time and enjoys great weather. The road coming in is tight in several places, but it is paved and not all that bad once one becomes familiar with it. We camped here in a 45' motor home with no problems. Great park with nice management. Highly recommend. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We plan to return to the CARMEL RIVER RV PARK. The restrooms were clean. The camp was clean. In fact, I had the pleasure of watching them 'train' one of the new 'groundskeepers.' I enjoyed the employer's demeanor. The 'attendants' were very diversified: from age to nationality (lots of Europeans visiting). The price is a little high, but where is one going to find a place to stay for $63 a night on the MONTEREY PENINSULA. The price included two children, two cars and a dog!! Be ready for tight roads getting into the grounds. Please give this place a chance. I know that the recent reviews were low. My family had such a wonderful time I needed to give the CARMEL RIVER RV a HIGH NUMBER. I also had family members come visit us and they also enjoyed the location. Again, our family plans to return to CARMEL RIVER RV PARK. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.

If you are considering staying here, I highly suggest you think twice. The sites are very shallow, thus all the trucks pulling the 5th wheels, etc., had to park parallel in the road, blocking access which was not only dangerous, but made it impossible to leave! Almost every rig (including our 18' Roadtrek) had problems manuvering. We were kept awake until 4AM by loud partying. The front desk was not only rude, but could not figure out how to give change. The trash bins were filled and overflowing. Obviously no one here cares about all the bad reviews. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This park was far enough off of highway 1 to be quite peaceful. The sites are individually named, and have shrubs seperating them. The river does not run year round, so if that's a concern call ahead. The $45 dollars was (in my opinion) not justified, being that seems a resort park price, but this park had none of the destination park amenities I would expect for this cost. The park managers seemed nice enough, but insisted on cash (hmm). Not going back. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This was probably the worst experience we ever had dealing with a campground owner. She insisted on getting paid cash in advance, which should have been our first warning. I damaged my rig, in part due to her poor instructions about approaching our site. She showed little or no concern as to our welfare. After spending several days locating an RV repairman who would come to the campground, I found out that she knew him well, and could have recommended him to us as soon as the trouble developed. She also chose not to warn us that the waste hookup in our site was clogged. You can imagine the results. Under no circumstances would I recommend that anyone visit this campground. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Highly overrated by Woodalls and slightly overrated by TL (7.0/8.0/7.0) and overpriced. Not a bad little campground but way off the beaten path and a very narrow access bridge has to be tranversed to get to the park. If you ever visit, you will see how ridiculous it is to pay $45 for bascially an overnight park, just because it happens to be near a resort area. We pay less than that at most resort style destination parks. Does have nice individually named sites but nothing to write home about and quite a few are inhabitied by permanent residents. A very rude manager also. Website also is not maintained, it is bascially a cached site so there is very little info. Anyway, RV'ers beware! We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

A single lane bridge and narrow road with overhanging trees on the way to the site make getting to this park a little challenging, but several large diesel pushers were at the site when we were there. The individual sites are gravel and divided by well-pruned hedges. The landscaping was very well kept and the park was clean and well maintained. A small store and game room are on the premises. A few sites backed up to the Carmel River and some had a lawn area on the levee that provided a view, but no access to the river. Access is available via a path at one end of the park. The park is just far enough inland to get away from the coastal fog and was sunny even when it was foggy at the beach. It is within a 10 minute drive to Carmel and 20 minutes to Monterey. We camped here in a camper.

Access to this park is a nightmare, at least in a larger rig. I did not expect the extremely narrow bridge nor the extremely steep incline to reach this park. I scraped my tires going across the bridge and was very nervous considering I had a brand new motorhome. Once you get across the bridge, the road to two RV parks and many homes is basically one lane. No way to turn around if you change your mind. My 32' rig fit into the spot, but with some help parking. One positive was that kids enjoyed the pool, but not worth it otherwise. I would not come here again, no matter how scenic it is supposed to be. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Absolutely beautiful and quiet RV park about 5 miles east of Carmel. Bathrooms extremely clean as are the grounds; in fact with all of the plants it could be a park by itself. Gorgeous swimming pool and park hosts were very friendly and helpful. Yea, the road leading to the park is not great, but it is only about 5 minutes long to reach this beautiful park; well worth it. In fact we extended a day we liked it so much. The only drawback was backing the RV trailer into the tight spot. If I had more experience, which I am definitely getting, it probably would have been easier. We will definitely stay here again. Plus you have to visit Carmel: what a great town! So much to see! We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

As other reviewers have stated, access is an adventure. Keep your rig in the center of the one lane bridge on the way in. Once you get to the entrance to the campground, it's a steep, short climb to the top. You might want to disconnect your tow vehicle down below. There is some room at the campground, but it is limited. There are no pull-through sites. You also might consider not hooking up your toad till you get out of the park (it's a steep grade out). The site we had was very deep (enough to allow plenty of room to pull our tow vehicle in front of the MH). Excellent cable reception. Wi-Fi was only available if you took your computer to the office. Very convenient access to Carmel and Monterey. The owner and host are very friendly and willing to assist in any way. We would stay here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Possibly the worst campground in the country - seriously! The tent sites are on a precarious slope: small, have no privacy and are very close together. The tent sites are walk-in, which they fail to mention on their website. The steep mountain road is very dangerous and parking is limited. Rude management tops off the deal. Do not camp here! We camped here in a Tent.

The reality of Carmel is that there just are not too many choices in the area for RV camping and everything is expensive. We have stayed at Saddle Mountain twice and had a really good experience both times. The management is super friendly and if you have a dog on board it is really pet friendly too. The sites are not big and they are pretty tightly lined up in some spots but some of them have really wonderful views out over the valley. It was quiet and has everything you need on site except for a laundry. The pool area is really nice and there are a lot of options for walking around (if you can handle walking steep inclines that is) or finding a nice spot to sit outside and read or whatever. The location is ideal for doing stuff in and around the Monterey Peninsula area. There is an additional charge for Wi-fi. I would stay here again for sure. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

This park is right next to Carmel by the River RV park. The road leading into the entrance of both parks is narrow but anyone should be able to manage it. The road going into Saddle Mountain park is a bit more tricky, especially for bigger RV's. Our fifth wheel is 33' (36' actual length) and we barely managed. The entrance road into Saddle Mountain is steep, narrow, with slightly bank curves (not too sharp), and mossy road edges. This caused our trailer to slide towards the mountain side and came within a few inches of making contact. The management was very friendly and I had no problems getting into contact with them as previously posted. The sites were nothing spectacular but we had a good view. A bit expensive for no frills. The exit road is steeper and narrower, but does not have mosses or as many curves (tall coaches, watch the branch at the end). All in all, if your trailer is smaller than 27', or you are a really good driver not a bad place to stay. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

The last mile to the park is narrow and tricky to drive on, but we managed. We stayed in spot 23 and had a nice private spot surrounded by oak trees and even with a view of Carmel Valley. Pool looked cloudy, but it in a beautiful setting. People tent camped in spot next to us because they didn't want to drive to the tent camping area (argh). If you can ever get a hold of the owner or manager, good place to try to get a reservation, but it is about 99% impossible to reach anyone. We have even driven to the park and put a note on the office door asking them to call us so we can make a reservation, but they never call back. They never answer phone messages either. I have given up trying to get a reservation at this place, and have moved on! Too bad because we would definitely go back if they would only respond! We just don't want to drive all the way there, assuming they have a spot, only to be turned away if they're full. It's only about 10 minutes from the beach, but very quiet and isolated in the hills in Carmel Valley. We camped here in a Motorhome.