Best Winter Camping In San Francisco Near Me

4worldlovers: Sleep under the stars just outside San Francisco! Golden Gate has four campgrounds located in the Marin Headlands. Reservations are required for each of these campgrounds.

Bicentennial Campground is the easiest to reach campground in Golden Gate, approximately 100 yards from the parking area near Battery Wallace. The campground is a great location for those wanting to camp near the city. There is a moderate short hill to climb to/from the campground from the parking area. It is downhill to the site and uphill back to the parking area.

Reservations can be made up to three months before your arrival and may extend up to two days beyond this 3-month booking window. You can reserve directly from this page via a partnership with recreation.gov by clicking the green 'reserve' button. A recreation.gov account is required to make a reservation. The reservation fee at Bicentennial Campground increases to $25 on January 1. Please follow local guidelines regarding COVID-19. There is no water on the campground, so bring your own water, soap, and hand sanitizer. We urge visitors to continue to practice Leave No Trace principles, including by packing out their trash, to keep outdoor spaces safe.

ADA Information - Bicentennial Campground is not accessible by car. While the campground itself is flat, there is a steep 300 yard walk down to the campground.

Wheelchair Access - Wheelchair access is limited, as there are no paved areas in the campground.

Hawk Campground is the most remote campground and is located above Tennessee Valley and offers sweeping views of the Marin Headlands. The site is a 2.5 mile uphill hike from the Tennessee Valley Trailhead parking lot, or a 3.5 mile uphill hike from the Miwok Trailhead. There are 3 sites that can accommodate 4 people each. Maximum stay is three nights per year.

Reservations can be made up to three months before your arrival and may extend up to two days beyond this 3-month booking window. You can reserve directly from this page via a partnership with recreation.gov by clicking the green 'reserve' button. A recreation.gov account is required to make a reservation. Campsites are $25 per night. Please follow local guidelines regarding COVID-19. There is no water at the campground. Bring your own water, soap, and hand sanitizer.

ADA Information - Hawk Campground is only reachable by one of two hiking routes, a strenuous 4-mile up the Bobcat Trail from the Miwok Trailhead or a 3-mile hike from the Tennessee Valley parking lot.

Haypress Campground is nestled within the coastal scrub of Tennessee Valley, near Mill Valley. The hike to this campground is 0.7 miles from the Tennessee Valley Trail head parking lot, and is an ideal campground for first-time backpackers. Haypress campers often enjoy hiking to Tennessee Beach, where they can admire its dramatic geology and colorful sand.

Reservations can be made up to three months before your arrival and may extend up to two days beyond this 3-month booking window. You can reserve directly from this page via a partnership with recreation.gov by clicking the green 'reserve' button. A recreation.gov account is required to make a reservation. Reservations for an overnight site at Haypress Campground are $25/night. For the group site, it is $75/night. Please follow local guidelines on COVID-19. There is no water at the campground. Bring your own water, soap, and hand sanitizer. We urge visitors to continue to practice Leave No Trace principles, including packing out their trash, to keep outdoor spaces safe.

ADA Information - Haypress Campground is accessible by a 0.7 mile hike from the Tennessee Valley parking area.

4worldlovers: MARIN, SONOMA AND MENDOCINO COUNTY PARTNER TO CREATE A CLEANER COAST Teaching Leave No Trace Practices to Growing Visitor Audiences in Coastal Communities. Learn more by reading the Tri-County Partnership Press Release (6/15/2022).

Immigration Station - Barracks Museum: open for self-guided visits and reserved group tours; drop-in tours may also be available

Angel Island services are open. Please check the schedule, reservation, and masking requirements for the ferry companies and on island services (food and transportation on the island) before planning your trip.

Angel Island State Park, the largest natural island in the San Francisco Bay, offers some of the best views of the surrounding Bay Area. With great hiking trails and many other recreational opportunities readily available, Angel Island is truly a hidden gem in the midst of the urban Bay Area.

Angel Island is truly a walk through time! Beginning with the earliest inhabitants, the Coast Miwok, Angel Island was a seasonal hunting and gathering location for the local native tribes, a safe refuge and supply stop for Spanish explorers like Juan Manuel de Ayala, one of the first to map the San Francisco Bay.

From 1910 to 1940, the U.S. Immigration Station processed hundreds of thousands of immigrants, the majority from China. During World War II, Japanese, and German POWs were detained at the Station before being sent to facilities farther inland.

The Island has been a cattle ranch and beginning with the Civil War at Camp Reynolds, the Island has nearly 100 years of military history. With the outbreaks of WWI and WWII thousands of troops both returning and embarking for conflicts around the world were processed through Angel Island. In the '50s and '60s, the Island saw its last military service as a home to a Nike missile base.

In 1954 the transition of Angel Island as a California State Park began. Starting with Ayala Cove on the western side of the Island, park visitors had the first opportunities to enjoy the beauty of this amazing Island. In the early 60's the final departure of the military allowed the rest of Angel Island to become park lands and the rest is history!

Access to the Island is by public ferry or private boat.

There is limited weekday ferry service to Angel Island during the winter. Check with ferry provider.

Dogs are NOT allowed on the island, service animals excepted. This does not include the use of emotional support animals which are not covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Collecting or destroying anything in the park, including mushrooms, is prohibited.

Bicycles are allowed on Angel Island, all riders under 18 years of age are required to wear helmets. Bike rentals are available seasonally.

4worldlovers: Kirby Cove is located just north of the Golden Gate Bridge at historic Battery Kirby. Visitors are awarded breathtaking views of San Francisco, its famous Golden Gate Bridge, and the rugged Pacific Coast of northern California.

Kirby Cove offers five overnight camp sites and one day-use picnic site, all reached via driving on a steep access road. The day-use site is available as an accessible picnic site for persons with a disability or otherwise limited physical mobility. Sites 2 and 5 are available as accessible campsites for persons with a disability or otherwise limited physical mobility. Contact the Marin Headlands Rangers at (415)-331-1540 to inquire about accessibility.

Kirby Cove gate codes can be made available to any park visitor with a physical disability, but only during the months that the campground is open. See the Need to Know section for instructions.

WINTER WEATHER MAY DELAY OPENING BEYOND PROJECTED OPEN DATE. It is possible the projected opening date of March 10, 2023 may be delayed due to winter weather and campground maintenance. Reservations are subject to cancellation and refund if this occurs.

Reservations at Kirby Cove Campground can be made up to three months before your arrival and may extend up to two days beyond the 3-month booking window.

Only 3 nights per season per camper! This is in order to ensure everyone gets to enjoy Kirby Cove.

A maximum of 10 people can stay at the overnight sites and a maximum of 35 people can stay at the day use site.

Access to the first Kirby Cove gate is available to all campers. Be prepared for a ~300 yard walk to your campsite. Access to the second gate is only for persons with a disability or otherwise limited physical mobility. Contact the Marin Headlands Rangers at (415) 331-1540 to inquire, or email your name, phone number, date of visit and photo of your ADA vehicle placard to goga_marinheadlands_info@nps.gov to receive the second gate codes.

Kirby Cove gate codes can be made available to any park visitor with a physical disability, but only during the time that the campground is open, March 10-November 30, 2023. To inquire, please follow the instructions in the previous bullet point.

Please print your confirmation email after reserving a site. Place a copy of your confirmation on the dashboard of each vehicle, and keep one on you as well. A maximum of 3 vehicles for Sites 1-5 and 4 vehicles for Day Use Site are permitted.

Bring enough water to last your entire stay. Water is also available at the public restrooms on Field Rd.

Do not leave trash at campsite or in food lockers. Use the designated dumpsters in the parking lot.

Firewood must be nail and chemical free and purchased locally; gathering firewood is not allowed.

Please help us keep wild animals wild! Raccoons, deer, coyotes and bobcats frequent the area. Do not feed or approach wildlife. Keep area clean of scented items and keep all food items locked in the provided food locker or in the trunk of your vehicle. Food left unattended will likely be eaten by wildlife.

Check before you burn. Visit the Recreational Fire Regulations page to find out if there are restrictions on camp fires during your stay.

Hammocks tied on trees or structures are not permitted. Only free standing hammocks are allowed.

Foghorns on the Golden Gate Bridge can be heard loud and clear; best to bring earplugs if staying overnight.

For more information, call (415) 331-1540 or email us at goga_marinheadlands_info@nps.gov.

Kirby Cove offers a pristine coarse-sand beach with spectacular views - when it's not foggy - of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and northern San Francisco, including the historic Presidio. The cove is nestled at the foot of the craggy Marin Headlands and has beach access.

A steep, mile-long trail to the cove begins at the parking area above Battery Spencer on Conzelman Road. The path descends through a stately grove of Monterrey pine and cypress and Blue Gum eucalyptus. Coastal sage and colorful Lupine dot the hillsides.

Temperatures are mild year-round. Expect lows from 50-55 degrees and highs from 60-65. Fog is prevalent in the summer months from May-Sept. It is best to bring clothing that can be layered. Lightweight summer clothes are rarely comfortable to wear at Kirby Cove.

4worldlovers: Rob Hill is open for camping April 1 to October 31 every year.

Camping reservations are available on a six-month rolling basis via Recreation.gov. Please visit Recreation.gov for more information or to make a reservation.

During the 2023 camping season, the last full week of every month will be held back from public reservations for partner youth programs. Please contact camp@presidiotrust.gov for more information.

Perched on four wooded acres above Baker Beach at the Presidio's highest point, Rob Hill is one of just two campgrounds in San Francisco. It offers a national park camping experience just minutes from the city. Here, you can see the lights of Sutro Tower, smell the ocean, and hear owls in the Cypress trees.

Rob Hill has four group campsites that can accommodate up to 30 people each.

4worldlovers: Just makin up poems in my head as I climb toward Mount Tamalpais.

See up there, as beautiful a mountain as you’ll see anywhere in the world,

MARIN, SONOMA AND MENDOCINO COUNTY PARTNER TO CREATE A CLEANER COAST Teaching Leave No Trace Practices to Growing Visitor Audiences in Coastal Communities. Learn more by reading the Tri-County Partnership Press Release (6/15/2022).

Just north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Tamalpais State Park rises majestically from the heart of Marin County. Its deep canyons and sweeping hillsides are cloaked with cool redwood forests, oak woodlands, open grasslands, and sturdy chaparral.

The breathtaking vistas from Mount Tamalpais’s upper mountain include the Farallon Islands 25 miles out to sea, the Marin County hills, San Francisco Bay and City, the East Bay, and Mount Diablo. On rare occasions, the snow-covered Sierra Nevada Mountain Range can be seen 150 miles away.

The park offers superlative hiking, picnicking, wildlife watching. Up top, on most weekends volunteers at the East Peak Visitor Center provide information, sell merchandise and snacks. Volunteers at the nearby Gravity Car Barn relate the stories of the old Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railway. A couple of miles below, a beautiful outdoor theatre, the Mountain Theater, hosts outdoor plays and astronomy programs.

First-come/first-serve camping is available at Pantoll or Bootjack Campgrouds. Visitors can also reserve a group campsite at Alice Eastwood Group Camp or a rustic cabin or seaside campsite at the Steep Ravine Cabins and Environmental Campground thorugh our agency Reserve California.

Arrive early to avoid heavy weekend and holiday traffic. Better yet, take the West Marin Stage Coach.

Spring and summer temperatures are warm, with average highs in the 80s and 90s. Fall and winter can be cool, with temperatures in the 50s. Fog is common.

DRONES are prohibited at Mount Tamalpais State Park per Superintendent's Order 22-660-002.

Mushroom collecting is not allowed at Mount Tamalpais State Park. All natural and cultural park resources (rocks, flowers, wood, animals) are protected by law and must not be disturbed or removed.

Dogs (except for service animals) are ONLY allowed on paved roads, Old Stage Fire Rd, Verna Dunshee Trail, in developed areas, campgrounds, and picnic areas. Pets must remain on leash at all times.

Bicycles are allowed only on fire roads and Coast View Trail.

Smoking, camping and fires are never permitted in the upper mountain. If not under red flag alert, fires are permitted on the lower mountain only in provided firepits.

Horses are allowed only on fire roads and where specifically posted.

The accessible 0.75-mile-long Verna Dunshee Trail at East Peak has fantastic views. Accessible tables, restrooms and drinking fountains are nearby. :

Spectacular vistas may also be seen from an accessible 0.4-mile portion of the Old Mine Trail from Pantoll Station.

Pantoll and Bootjack campgrounds each have accessible camping, restrooms and parking.

The Mountain Theater has a wheelchair platform on the right side of the theater. The Mountain Play Association offers signed performances and descriptive services during the first three play performances each season. For more information, call the Mountain Play Association at 415-383-1100.

Visitors with disabilities who need assistance can contact the Pantoll Visitor Services Kiosk at 415-388-2070 before their trip.

To organize weddings, athletic events, large gatherings, or other special events (including commercial filming and photography), please contact: dkopler@parks.ca.gov.

Parts of the trail to Red Rock Beach are CLOSED AND IMPASSIBLE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE due to severe winter storm damage.

Steep Ravine Trail is CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE due to bridge repairs and maintenance.

Barriers will be in place at the bottom near the Dipsea/White Gate junction, and at the top at Pantoll Parking. Hiking access to and from Pantoll -- Panoramic Highway/ Highway 1 is still available via the Dipsea Trail.