Juniper Campground

My husband, 7yo and 9yo went camping here for one night in October.
–The view was surreal, totally breathtaking. We had site #15, which is one of the sites nearest the edge of the hill. I loved stepping out of my tent from 3,000 feet up and looking out over the valley. Also, we were a few sites away from a clearing you can sit and watch the sunset from.
–I also liked our site because there was a trail cutting across a field to get to the bathroom so we didn’t have to take the road all the way around. The bathrooms weren’t great… one of them had a door that didn’t close and the light was half out. They were pretty dirty and sometimes out of toilet paper.
–The section of campground we were in had the sites placed relatively close together, but there was brush about 5 feet tall encircling each site so sound was buffered and we had a good amount of privacy.
–Note that it is a dry campground in two ways: NO FIRE ALLOWED, so bring a camping stove if you want to heat anything up and count on keeping warm with other means besides a fire pit. Also, it’s dry in that you aren’t allowed to bring booze. We were discreet with whiskey in solo cups ;)
–As with most camping experiences there are animals that will eat any food left out. While I didn’t see any raccoons, I heard one feasting at the next campsite in the middle of the night.
Overall, I had an amazing experience and would definitely come back. Bring toilet paper, a camping stove or cold food, «Hot Hands» hand warmers, a beanie and warm socks.

Great view. Came her with my kids and joined later by my wife. Nice. A lot of people but not so tightly packed that you can’t really enjoy yourself. It’s far enough up that not everyone can get up there. There was a fire warning so we were fairly limited as to what we could use to cook at our campsite.

Being the highest on the mountain, the Juniper campground offers you great access to a handful of trails and plenty of gorgeous views. My boyfriend and I camped there for one night and had a great time. That being said, there were some downsides to the experience. We came in the middle of August, which was a «no fire» day — so we couldn’t have the traditional camp experience of a big bonfire! Also, the showers and toilets are currently shut off due to drought. Mt. Diablo is a «dry campground,» meaning no alcohol. However as long as you show up early to grab a more private campsite and bring some red cups, you should be fine! Just be smart about it. Make sure to bring insect repellent, because there are plenty of bugs, as well as extra blankets as it gets very chilly at night. And like many other reviews have mentioned — the raccoons here are FEARLESS! My boyfriend was up all night trying to scare them away from our campsite but they were always back less than five minutes later. Remember to put all your food and supplies away at night as the raccoons WILL search your campsite!

Juniper Campground is a local bay area gem! A close drive from San Francisco, this campground is a definite win-​win. The views are amazing! The trails run along the rolling hills and mountains. The night time viewing and sunset viewing are awesome! Romantic and perfect for couples or just a family camping trip! The actual campsites are really private (a good amount of them) and you really feel like your alone in your own private site! Fire pit, and picnic table come with all campsites! If you wanna go camping and not want to make a long trip, then come camp here! You won’t regret it! It’s a first come first serve bases when it comes to choosing a campsite! A hand full of sites have beautiful views of the rolling hills of Mount Diablo! While others may not a view is never far away! The only thing is prepare to drive up and back down a really curvy road for about 25 – 30 mins. Lots of bicyclist and sharp turns ! Great place, I recommend it!

Camped this weekend at Juniper Campground near the summit of Mount Diablo. We had a great time. Scenery was beautiful — the Juniper Overlook at the entrance to the camp has lots of parking for scenic valley views by day and stargazing by night. Although the reservation website said that the rangers will assign your campsite, we were able to select our own site — that was a bonus! Plus, the park entrance fee was included in the campsite rental — for the first car.
There are a number of small sites and a couple of larger shaded sites. View sites are sunny and there is some privacy. We selected a shady larger site that accommodated multiple tents. The only downside was that the shady sites had TONS and I mean TONS of flies. These flies were small and swarmed you from sunup through sundown. It wasn’t unusual to have 30 – 40 flies on you at any one time — fortunately they didn’t bite.
The last day we were there, a different kind of fly showed up — a horse fly. This fly was huge (1″ long) and bit me through my clothes — it was VERY painful, like someone cutting my leg. Luckily, even though it bit me twice, it didn’t succeed in breaking the skin. Good thing it was time to go home, if not, I would have bailed out that day.
The good:
Beautiful Scenery, well maintained campsite including bathrooms
Hiking
Lots of wildlife (bunnies, foxes, hawks, reptiles)
Flush toilets/​free showers
Lots of sites to choose from
The Bad:
HUGE (dog sized) AGGRESIVE raccoons. Came within 2 feet of us eating dinner. Hard to scare off.
Swarming flies/​Biting Horse Flies (OUCH!)
The bottom line:
Definitely worth it — maybe some DEET would help keep the Horse Flies away?

I’ve camped at a lot of places and this is in the middle of the pack. It’s strengths:
— Central to a number of trails
— Easy to access
— Large site size
— Fantastic views
— Well placed amenities
— Quiet
Some cons:
— Brazen raccoons
— Many of the sites lack shade
— Fire restrictions at times
If you’re an avid hiker, this is a great campsite to make a base for a few days. From here you can basically hike much of Mount Diablo fairly easily. What you can’t readily walk to, you can drive to because there’s ample car parking. Each site has room for two cars (I have a Civic and could have easily fit two of them in my spot.)
After a day hiking, you can clean up here, have a beer, and watch the stars by a campfire. Oh yes. There are LOADS of stars visible from Juniper Campground, especially considering it’s in the Bay Area. For me, this was ideal. My goal for my one night at Juniper was some long-​exposure photography of star trails, cloud movements, and jets landing at SFO. I also managed to capture a number of nice scenic shots of the area (this isn’t hard as it’s very pretty up there) and I felt my night there was a total success.
That said, there was one problem. Raccoons. Those thieving, masked, disease-​ridden vermin. They are VERY brazen and unafraid of lights. How accustomed to people are they? One ate my rice and beans dinner out of my bowl while I was less than two feet away. That, let me tell you, scared the bejeezus out of me.
I took to carrying rocks in my pockets. In fact, I threw a rock at the raccoon with his hands in my bowl and pegged him square in the flank with a rock about as big as a deck of cards. He sauntered off and came back a few minutes later. So… I don’t know what to do about them. Maybe pepper spray? I don’t even know if that’s legal. Don’t do anything that gets you in trouble.
As for the lack of shade, if you’re here during the day and need a cool place to stay, try for one of the camp sites at the end of the loop. They seem to have more trees. I was in for overnight only and wanted open sky views for my photography.
I’m basically hooked on this camp site. I think it’s gotta be one of if not the best in Contra Costa County. And, if you want a sandwich, you can always drive 20 minutes into Walnut Creek and get one. So losing all your food to some thieving raccoons or just having a sushi craving won’t be the end of the trip.

** Geographers claim that hikers can see more of the earth’s surface from the top of Mt. Diablo than from any other peak in the world with only one exception: Africa’s legendary 19,340-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro**
This review is for the Juniper Trail and not the campground.
If you need a quick local hike with the intention of doing a moderate cardio give this short trail a try.
It’s 1.24 miles one way. Amazing views both ways. A perfect short hike that will get your blood flowing and will give you the best view among the trails.
The trail starts on a downhill slope from the parking lot. About halfway in you will reach an open area where you can stop and admire almost the entire Bay Area. On a great day when the sky is clear you will be able to see Sf, the Golden Gate bridge and Oakland. Almost the entire Delta is also on display here.
This trail ends on a parking lot below the summit. A marker with a short history of the area and arrows pointing the curious where to direct their eyes is a major plus.

I wanted to camp at a place where we could hike to the summit and enjoy the great views to the west. Juniper is where we went. First, we got there early and parked by spot #13 with a great view. Then we took a hike to the summit. Then we enjoyed an incredible sunset while we ate dinner. As could be expected, there were some RV’s and their inhabitants, loud and stupid, but, the campgrounds were separated enough so it wasn’t a problem. Question-​why do some people have to scream into their cell phone so that the whole campground can hear you telling «Tim, to hurry up and get his ass up here so he can get a close spot?» There were also some cub scouts and their parents which we thought was great! Introducing kids to the outdoors and showing them that there is more to life than what they see on a video screen is time well spent. Well done Mom & Dad!!! Anyway, to say it was a success with the beloved is a huge understatement. She wanted to go on even more camping trips! NorCal Redwood forests, here we come!

I’m going camping this weekend so I’ll have to update this review after I return. It’s not true though that you can’t find a camping spot even though reservations America web site says so. When I did a visit to the campground 2 weeks ago I found several empty slots in several campgrounds even though the ranger at the north gate that none were available. When I spoke with the south gate ranger she said that she can give a spot in one of the campgrounds. So there you go. Different versions of what’s available or not. My advice is that if you can’t reserve online go ahead and pay the park a visit and talk to the south gate ranger. You may be able to work something out. Till next week…

This is the topmost campground on Mt. Diablo and it affords some of the best views a camper could hope for! West-​facing, there is a ledge that is perfect for watching the sun go down. The campsites themselves are medium sized (some larger than others) and most have a little privacy. It’s first come, first served (with reservations) though so depending on when you get there pickings could be good or slim.
While I won’t recommend August camping (hot hot hot) it was beautiful anyways (amazing night weather though!).
Because of the fire danger we couldn’t have wood fires in the fire pits. Charcoal fires were allowed and getting one of those started is a little adventure in itself!
Word on the street is that the rangers are very strict about alcohol. Though I wouldn’t know anything about it… a couple girls we ran into had no problem secreting some in at the bottom of their cooler. Mmmm-​hmm.
You may run into ranger patrol if you are a large and loud group though…
And look out for those raccoons! They’re persistent little suckers :) cute though.
The bathrooms were closed so minus one star for porta-​potty-​in-​the-​dark related trauma.