Live Oak Campground

Rock City is a great attraction, next door to the campground.Sentinel rock hike is one that Kids thoroughly enjoyed.Bathrooms , Showers are clean and generally a family friendly space.Lack of privacy , due to sites being close to each other is the main con ; in this case.

Camping reviews are obviously subjective and any experienced camper knows to expect some adversity.Negatives:-Besides campsite 2, 22, and 15 expect some overcrowding if not resourceful in tent setup- no water at all (this is due to drought conditions)- No fires (this is due to drought conditions and standard through the ever increasing fire season)- Aggressive yellow jackets (this is due to drought conditions and you either have to deal with them or eat inside the tent/camper)- Aggressive Raccoons (keep food in car to avoid hassle)- No Alcohol (will never understand this rule)- The road bikers on Mt Diablo are annoying to say the least; the spandex should be illegal, they block you on the way up (they should have to pull of the road immediately), they excessively speed on the way down creating dangerous situations -Aggressive Poison oak-no trailers Positives:-The location is magical set below Rock city creating several small jaunts through the boulder studded oak woodlands intertwined with majestic Live Oak and ancient Madrone/manzanita.- Fossils everywhere- 25 minutes from Downtown Danville and about the same to the summit. - Particularly great for kids and families. Weather:-more sheltered than Juniper as wind can be an issue-If timed during a warmer than average day an inversion will likely setup overnight creating ideal conditions overnight; high 60's to mid 70's (epic right before sunset through just after sunrise but too hot beyond that)

It's hard to get a last minute summer camping reservation in the Bay Area but we lucked out with what I assume was a cancellation a week out. Once you get to the ranger check-in (about a 10 minute drive from the start of the park), the campsite is just another 5 minutes drive and right after Rock City. The site comes with an attached parking spot, barbecue grill, fire ring, picnic table, and enough space to fit a couple tents. The site says that campsites are first-come first-served, so we rushed to be there right at 2:00 when the reservation starts, but it turns out that we were assigned the same number as the website (and it was already written on our parking spot when we arrived). As others have said, many of the sites are very close together. Ours, #19, was at the end but adjacent to several large parties and there was also a trail up through our site so we had folks coming and going throughout the day. There are a few other spots that offer more privacy (such as down the hill by the restrooms), so I'd recommend doing some research to snag one of those.Given how dry and hot the area is, wood fires aren't permitted most of the year. But we were still able to roast some delicious s'mores over the charcoal grill. Also note that no alcohol is allowed. There are tons of nearby trails (mostly hills), but given the heat that day we popped up our recliners and read in the shade. Perhaps the best part of our day was heading up to the summit (another 20 minutes drive) for sunset. Even though I had been before and the wind was fierce, the endless views are breathtaking and so calming. By the time we got back down to our campsite, the other sites (mostly families) were quiet in their tents ready for an early sleep.

I think this is probably the worse campground I've ever been to.You can't reserve a site, you make a reservation and when you show up a site gets picked for you!?! WTF? What if I want I want to meet friends there, and camp side by side?No showers, bathroom stinks, tent sites are on a slope, parking spots are so small that my regular sized truck couldn't fit!?!wow, just, wow. Quiet hours are not enforce, so plan on some A-hole cranking up music late into the night.NO general store, so if you forgot something, tough luck.NO swimming pool, NO lake to cool off in, NO creeks or streams, nothing.long narrow road to get there with lots of RUDE bicyclists who won't let you get around them.I tried to find something good about this place to bring some balance to this review, but I couldn't...

I've camped at Juniper campground (my personal favorite in the area) which is further up on the mountain (almost 3,000 elevation). Juniper was booked though so I tried Live Oak (just under 2,000 elevation) this time.I was really disappointed with LO. -The sites lacked any privacy at all. -There were several old fashioned/stone "grills" that were falling apart and covered in blue tarps, which was pretty depressing to look at. -There was no "view" as you are just in the middle of the forest (although I may be spoiled by the mountainside view at Juniper, the oceanside view at New Brighton in Capitola, and enjoying the redwoods at Little Basin in Boulder Creek and Sanborn in Saratoga). -There was poison oak everywhere!We had site #12 which was at least butted up against the forest and we were able to have privacy on that side. I walked a bit on the trails leading out of the campground and they actually looked pretty cool and I think if you were a hiker that would be something of interest. The bathrooms were okay as far as campground bathrooms go.I won't be coming back.

I chose this campground because I was able to get a reservation just a month in advance. The campgrounds vary. Some are very close together and others have just one direct neighbor. The bathrooms were fairly clean and I was pleased that they still had running water despite them closing the showers due to the drought. There was an amphitheater in the campground where a ranger put on a presentation showing us different animals. That was definitely a bonus! I was disappointed that we weren't allow to have a campfire, but I understood that it wAs a rule based upon fire danger concerns. The campground is a very short walk to rock city and that is definitely the highlight of the park. It is about a 45 minute drive to the summit. The hikes are strenuous but beautiful. It's a huge park and we couldn't take it all in during our short weekend stay. I would come again.

I truly loved this place, I dont understand some of the bad reviews. Its a smaller campground with 22 sites which I liked because it was not too noisy. Some of the spots ARE too close to each other but since the spots are not assigned, you can hurry and pick some of the spots that are more private than others. We will definitely be back :)