Coyote Lake-Harvey Bear Ranch Park

The RV site 7 has the best views on the RV side of the park, but to get lake views you'll need to dry camp. I liked the look of all the sites on the edge of the water, but site 26 probably had the best combination of view and space. However, it is next to a large tree that woodpeckers seemed to really like, so you might get woken up early. We also stayed at RV site 8, which I didn't really like because it's very secluded and has no view due to trees, but for those that want shade / privacy it might be your best option. The rest rooms were very clean, and there is a dump station as you leave the park.

I was in the RV-only, water/electric section. This was a delightful, well-maintained campground, spotlessly clean, very quiet, with well-separated campsites. The ranger drove through numerous times each day. It was about half-full during the week, and full on the weekend. A herd of wild pigs, and a mama deer with two babies, made their way through every morning.

The road in from Hwy-101 was somewhat treacherous, especially with the locals driving fast in the middle of the road around tight bends. There are two routes in: (1) Take Leavesley Rd from Hwy-101, turn left on New Ave then right on Roop Rd, or (2) Take Leavesley Road all the way (it makes a couple of turns at intersections, but keeps the same name), to intersect Roop Rd at the switchback. Route (2) is longer but safer and more gentle.

The dump station is not at the campground. If you need to dump coming in, it is on the left immediately before the ranger's house.

I had very spotty Verizon voice with dropped calls, but no data signal.

I used this as a base to visit Monterey, Mission San Juan Bautista, the Moffett Field and Computer History museums in Mountain View, Lick Observatory, and to drive the coast road from Pacific Grove to Point Sur.

We were at Coyote Lake for three days in mid-July and it was HOT. (Spring would probably be ideal.) Wildlife is EVERYWHERE though! Besides the usual geese and waterbirds, groups of deer and fawns wandered through the campground every morning and evening, as did flocks of wild turkey with their chicks. Also saw herds of wild pigs and piglets, though they tended to keep their distance. It was a real treat to see so much nature all around! Plus, after 2 months crossing the country, including through the Colorado Rockies, this was the first place where the sky was so clear we could see the Milky Way. Go figure!

It's a little tricky getting into the park. Take the second entrance and ignore the "no outlet" sign. Road is narrow with a several switchbacks, but just take your time. We had no trouble with our 25 foot trailer and several larger Class A rigs were already in the campground when we arrived.

The park is a good location for visiting the bay area. Gilroy is the "garlic capitol of the world" and 2 of the 3 days driving through town was pretty stinky. The park, being up in the hills, however, was unaffected. No garlic smell at all in the campground and we would still drive down every morning for breakfast at the Black Bear Diner in town.

We just stayed here for 2 nights in Mid March (Booked 7 days in advance). It's a great campground. The RV Sites are well spaced out, level and surrounded by green grass (I'm sure in summer it would be brown). Sites are easy to get into. Electric and water hookups for each RV site. Dump Station is also available.

It was great place to relax, hike, explore and kids to ride bikes & scooters.

We did experience a power outage for about 12 hours over the Saturday evening due to reasons outside the park.

I'd imagine this place would be quite hot in summer. Sites 8, 10 & 12 probably offer a little shade. Sites 7 & 18 probably have the greatest outlook.

The road in is quite narrow, curvy with a few hairpins & steep in places but not very long. We have a 30.5ft travel trailer (18ft tow vehicle) and made it in fine. Just take care.

We saw lots of animals - pigs, cows, geese, coyotes, turkeys and even a pelican

Cell reception is weak but that made it a very relaxing weekend

The campsites are basically clean and the campground is well maintained. Bathrooms and showers are really clean, which is important to me. The other campers were responsible and respectful. There are hiking trails and the lake for fishing. Be careful driving up and down that road. I kind of sideswiped something and messed up our rig.😳

We stayed here next to my sister and her husband who stayed in 12RV. It was the hottest weekend of the year and the campground was full. We really enjoyed the stay and I was particularly impressed with the bathroom and shower facilities and the rangers keeping an eye on things (lots of presence and keeping all campers playing within the rules). Keep in mind my idea of a positive/negative would be totally different than yours.
Positives: Clean, pretty, RV spaces have plenty of room between sites, fire pits at each RV site (didn't check out the tent sites), showers, bathrooms, close enough to drive to stores/wineries/shopping; family friendly, lots of wildlife, hiking, boating, and plenty of oversight by rangers (keeps those buffoons with their load music and late night drinking at bay)
Negatives: no cell service (I have ATT / my sister has Verizon), a drive to stores/restaurants/shopping, the center RV sites don't have much shade (but this can be helped by bringing your own canopy), no swimming/wading (but you can use jet skis, water ski, etc.?) which I'm sure is due to some regulations or safety thing, electrical/water but no sewer hook ups (but easy dump area on the way out).
I recommend this camp ground wholeheartedly and would even recommend that if you're camping in off times (fall/winter/into early spring) that you try it then - way fewer people then.

The road leading to the campground is narrow, windy (there are a few hairpin curves) and steep.

I had reserved site #27 online, and when we arrived there was a tent right behind our campsite pad. A friendly neighboring camper walked up and suggested we take the nearby site #24 which was 1st come 1st serve.

The ranger came around as we were moving, so we explained our situation. She told us that the tent campers were going back and forth between the 2 county parks and were staying the 14 day limit at each park and would not be leaving any time soon.

Once we settled in, we could hear the couple arguing from our new campsite.

We hoped to get a workable cell/data connection but couldn't even with a booster. Given the bad neighbors and bad cell service, we cut our stay short and only stayed one night.

The camper that greeted us loves this park and has been coming here for years. We were not as enamored.

Coyote Lake is a Santa Clara County park, which unlike most California state parks, is not an overpriced, under maintained spot to park your RV for a few days. By contrast, the park is pretty great.

Just outside of Gilroy - the campground offers visitors two loops. Sites with water & electric go for $30/night, while sites in the non hook-up loop go for $12/night. Potable water spigots are easily accessible in the dry-camping loop, and showers are spacious and clean.

Sites are relatively spacious, offer food lockers, fire pits, and sturdy picnic tables. Situated in a valley between two ridges, mobile data coverage is poor, so don't expect to post Facebook status updates during your stay.

The dry-camping loop can sometimes be bustling with weekend tent campers, many of whom lack skills to start/maintain a decent fire. Fortunately, respite is easily had as trails are abundant.