Looking for a place to cabin camp near Golden Gate National Recreation Area? The Dyrt is the ultimate place to find cabins for your next outdoor adventure near Golden Gate National Recreation Area. You're sure to find the perfect cabin for your California cabin camping excursion.
Creekside Loop (sites 1-25)
$35 - $225 / night
S Rav Camp Area (sites E1-E7)
$25 - $100 / night
CAMPGROUND CLOSED DUE TO FIRE:
Public access to Big Basin has been severely impacted by the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire and ongoing fire recovery work, but the park is now open for limited day-use access. Reservations for parking are not required, but are encouraged due to the limited amount of first-come, first-served parking available. Reserve a parking space. The parking fee is $6 per vehicle plus a $2 reservation fee or $10 per vehicle without a reservation. No reservations or fees are required for visitors arriving by foot, bike, or bus. Read the FAQs for more information on the reservation system and visiting Big Basin.
Established in 1902, Big Basin Redwoods is California’s oldest state park. In the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Big Basin camping's biggest attractions—literally—are its ancient coast redwoods. Some of these giants are more than 50 feet around and as tall as the Statue of Liberty. At 1,000 to 1,800 years old, some may predate the Roman Empire. The park also offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean, lush waterfalls, and a fascinating natural and cultural history.
The park has more than 80 miles of trails. Some of these trails link Big Basin to Castle Rock State Park and the eastern reaches of the Santa Cruz range. The Skyline to the Sea Trail threads its way through the park along Waddell Creek to the beach and adjacent Theodore J. Hoover Natural Preserve, a freshwater marsh.
The park has a number of waterfalls, a variety of habitats (from lush canyon bottoms to sparse chaparral-covered slopes), many animals (deer, raccoons, bobcats) and lots of bird life—including Steller’s jays, egrets, herons and California woodpeckers.
$35 / night
Located in the heart of the beautiful Napa Valley wine country, the Park offers Napa valley camping, picnicking, swimming, and hiking trails that go through stands of coastal redwoods as well as forests of Douglas-fir, tanoak, and madrone.
Park is open year round.
A few drop-in sites are available on a first-come-first-serve especially during the off season.
$43 / night
Del Valle campgrounds will be closed until further notice, due to storm damage.
Deep in a valley framed by oak-covered hills, with sailboats and sailboards skimming over its waters, Del Valle is like a lakeside resort only 10 miles south of Livermore.
The centerpiece of the park is a lake five miles long with a variety of water-oriented recreation, from swimming to windsurfing and boating, surrounded by 4,395 acres of beautiful land for hiking, horseback riding, and nature study. Del Valle also is the eastern gateway to the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, 28 miles of scenic back-country trail.
Family Campground: The Del Valle Family Campground has 150 sites (two accessible), 21 of them with water and sewage, and electrical hook-ups (120 volt, 50 and 30 amp). The sites are served by centrally located toilets and shower facilities.
Group camps: There are several group campsites for groups of 11 people or more.
Equestrian camps: The Little Chaparral horse camp area has 4 small paddocks. The reservation of one paddock includes space for 1-2 horses, 4 people maximum, and parking for one trailer and rig only. Equestrian groups should reserve the Caballo Loco equestrian group camp as Little Chaparral is not designed for group use. Please note that horses are not allowed in developed areas of the park.
Scout
Jeanne and Robert’s Hipcamp is amazing. We had such fun there. Their treehouse site has a solar, heated pool, a sauna, and a hot tub! The Vancamp site has total privacy, and a hot tub in the redwoods. We could not have found a better place to hang out and chill! Our dogs even got to be off leash because it is all fenced!
Scout
Nice big pool with hot tub. Amusement park for the kids.
ScoutJeanne and Roberts treehouse is a luxurious Wonderland of a campground! We had total privacy, a pool, sauna and hot tub and a cool little treehouse to sleep in (with real stairs, leading up to it), Our dogs had a great time because they were off leash… The place is completely private and fenced! We highly recommend, the treehouse… You won’t be disappointed!
Guide
We stayed here for two nights. The campground is very large and very clean. Most spots are pull-through and ours was super clean and had a good amount of space. We stayed in row D but I’d recommend row A as the spots were a little more tucked away.
Pool and hot tub was super nice and they even have a food trailer open on the weekends
Traveler
How is it possible that I am the first to review this place, the number one most difficult to reserve spot in all of California (and therefore presumably all of America)?!
So the cabins are not only notoriously difficult to reserve -- you need to be ready to click "reserve" on the website at no less than 5 minutes before the window opens for your dates of interest, which was 6 months ahead of time when I reserved -- but kind of expensive for what they are, at $100/night plus reservation fee.
For that, you get your own seaside cabin with million dollar views just 30 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Sleeping platforms for about 6 people split among 3 semi-private rooms. Flush toilets at the parking lot and an honor system for buying firewood bundles with kindling. A full-time host lives in the house at the parking lot. There are dish washing spigots scattered among the cabins. There are wheelbarrows for schlepping your stuff to the cabins and campsites; more on that later. And charcoal grills outside each cabin. A couple general use picnic tables scattered about. So those are the basics you can read anywhere.
Various thoughts and recommendations, based on my solo weekend visit in mid-March 2018, staying in Cabin 7 at the bottom of the hill closest to the little beach:
My advice? If you're a small party that just wants a couple days with the gorgeous oceanfront views and location, stay at the tent sites, not the cabins. You won't sleep with one eye open waiting for the mousetraps to pop, and it's a flat, easy portage from the parking lot to the campsites. Easier to keep clean, and I find cooking outside to be less of a hassle and easier to clean up than doing it inside the cabin where there isn't any water, sink, or spillage containment solution. Cheaper and (barely) easier to reserve a tent site, too.
If you're intent on having the cabin experience, or if you're staying in winter, or staying for more than a couple days, or have kids and really want to set up house, then go for a cabin, and I'd recommend choosing a cabin close to the parking lot. They're actually more private and you can use the wheelbarrows to move your stuff from car to cabin. The cabins further away from the parking lot are further down the hill; wheelbarrows are not an option, and footing is iffy when carrying large, heavy items up and down from the parking lot. Views are the same from all cabins so you're not losing any benefits. I'll try for CB04 next time.
But take whatever cabin you can get, and check "Steep Ravine Cabins" off your camping bucket list.
GuideThis KOA is pretty big with plenty of options for RV sites. Wide variety of full hook-ups or partial hook-ups. Like most (if not all) KOAs, you can also tent camp or tent cabins. Good size dog park for the pets to run and be free, as well as plenty of fun activities to entertain the kiddos. For us, this is a great spot to shoot down the highway and pull in for a few days to get away from the hustle and bustle of normal life! Close to downtown Petaluma with plenty of premium shops and restaurants.
Guide
We stayed here with our 2 dogs last November as a nice winter getaway from L.A. We got one of the tent cabins, which are just adorable and so cozy. The sites are nice and distanced from each other, bathrooms were in great shape and it was pet friendly. We got a package with the tent cabin that came with bedding, cooking utensils and firewood, so were pretty much set once we got there. The beds are comfy and the wood burning stove (photo attached) is the only source of heat. It is neat but BE WARNED...it gets COLD on those winter nights so make sure you a) have enough wood; b) are good at keeping fires going throughout the night; and c) have lots of dry wood. The wood that was left for us as part of our package was really wet and wouldn't burn so we had a very chilly night even with loads of sleeping bags and blankets. Other than that, we had a great experience and got to take the dogs for a great walk on the paved trails in the State Park. Can't wait to go back!
GuideFinally got lucky and got a semi weekend reservation in Cabin 5. Bring something to hang over windows if you need privacy. Wood is for sale to heat up the cabin in the wood burning stove which you need especially during the colder months. Other than that the cabin is basic. It had the main area with the stove and there is 1 single platform there for a shorter adult to sleep. A tiny room with 1 single platform for a kid to sleep (it’s short). And then a bedroom with a single platform for a shorter adult and a double platform for shorter adults. Tall people beware. You can probably get by sleeping diagonal or with your feet hanging off.
Views are epic and you can walk down past the cabins in front of you and down to the beach mostly during low tide. The windows in the main part of the cabin open up to let air in. Lots of flies too.
Make sure you get a gate code to get in and a cabin code to unlock your door.
They have wheelbarrows to haul your stuff to and from your cabin
ScoutWe stayed in a cabin in the huckleberry campground. The cabins were nice, and each cabin has 2 double beds, a table, and a wood stove. It can get cold at night in the redwoods so the wood stove was great at night. Each campsite has a fire pit with a grill cover which made it easy to cook dinner. The sites are a decent size with lots of trees to climb on, hide in, and play on. You can get ‘add on’ packages with the cabins, which include things like sheets and pillows for the beds, propane lanterns, and cooking items.
TravelerWe’ve been lucky enough to score one of these cabins twice by checking in every so often to see if someone cancelled a reservation.
wood burning fireplace (you can buy wood on site) keeps the cabin warm. Smoke detectors work too!
Traveler
Unlike Big Basin or other cabins that neighbor tent camping, the SPT cabins are secluded. Here are my disorganized bullet points:
Be aware of the tons of poison oak, and bring a yellowjacket trap to hang. There's not a lot of flat ground in the campground for kids riding bikes, so you'll need to go hike the trails or go down to the other main area for that. But this is like 2% negative and everything else is 98% positive.
Overall I think these are perfect for the mini-vacation style "let's throw a few things in a bag, low effort" camping trips.
GuideWe camp here every year in May or June. It's always fun. The tent cabins are super convenient.
GuideSo sad the devastation of last month's fires on the oldest state park in California, home to thr biggest redwoods south of San Francisco. We were lucky to have camped there this summer and when it reopens will return.
Our space was in the Huckleberry campsite. My only complaint was the proximity to the cabins & their noisy doors, lol. The site was otherwise quite comfortable.
If you like day hiking the Santa Cruz mountains are glorious. From giant trees to waterfalls to sandstone, the variety will keep you interested.
LegendI am a tent camper so that is what I know. I do know there are cabins here as well, but I have only seen them, not stayed in one.
This is a big park down at the end of a long winding road. I have camped in the group site and individuals sites. All appear wooded. But do look for poison oak! Also there is creek which runs through the park so I like to get a site on the creek.
There is great hiking here. You can hike down to the ocean, but also to a wonderful water fall.
This can be a busy place with the cabins, the visitor center and the store. But when you are out on the trails it is not crowded. There is a well signed nature trail through some old growth redwoods with large tress to climb on!
TravelerThese cabins are well worth the cost. There is a separate bedroom, you could sleep 2 couples on beds easily with extra floor space and a small individual bunk for larger families. No electricity but the wood burning stove provides some light. Bring candles and lanterns and some fabric for curtains for privacy.
Scout
Nice state park north of Napa, the few car tent sites are nicely situated near a creek. Good space between sites. Easy and fun camping.
Yurts and cabins available. Close to road so a little noisy. Great for a less expensive stay. Saves money for wine tastings...
ScoutWe visited the Big Basin Redwoods State Park late July this year with a large group of friends and their families and it was such an awesome experience. We stayed in a tent cabin at the Huckleberry campground which was nicer than we thought it would be. It had just the right amount of space for my wife and I, our two daughters and all our gear. The entire campground is loaded with trees so there was plenty of shade everywhere. There's also a few decent hiking trails close to the campground which is really cool and convenient. My daughters enjoyed every minute from the hiking, riding their bikes, campfires as well as all the other great things to do when camping. We also explored the Visitor Center to see some of the most magnificent dinosaur-like redwoods including what they call the 'Father of the Forest' and 'Mother of the Forest' trees. The guide was an encyclopedia of information on the massive trees which he shared with us along the tour. If you're at all interested, then you must go on the short tour. The only complaint I have is about the one night there were what seemed to be very loud college students, probably from UC Santa Cruz or another nearby college, who were in the cabin at the site next to ours and were partying way too hard. We had to tell them to keep it down since they had woken us up. I'm all for a little partying, but damn, they were loud and no one came around to tell them to keep it down besides us. Other than that, all in all, we had a great tent cabin campsite and did notice some even better in the campground, so we will definitely be going back again.
Traveler
This is a big campground with everything you need for boating and fishing. They have a big boat launch for easy launching. They closed their boat berths because they were rotting. They have one cabin with electricity. It has a bunk bed And a queen. Bring air mattresses cause they are just wooden frames. Very close to the Sacramento River for a nice cruise.
GuideIncredible views, hiking, and hot springs, BUT:
bring layers of functional clothes since the weather on the coast of the SF bay can be anything from roasting to foggy frigid cold during the day and night year round. Don't just look at weather online and go.
Be ready to ACTUALLY camp, not just clamping drive in, unless you have one of the cabins. Many people have less than stellar experiences due to being underprepared.
TravelerDo this. “Hike in” means a paved lot with wheelbarrows to help you get your gear to your site which is less than a mile.
Yes these can be hard to get but the new “rolling reservation “ means dates are released 6months to the day not a whole month at a time. Be flexible and you can get a site. We have also stayed in the cabins which are a fantasy experience but the tent sites are cheaper and easier to get.
Tent sites have raccoons and are $25/night Cabins have mice and are $100/night
Site 2 is on the edge of the world. Several trees had been chopped down and there was little shelter but an unbelievable view! We camped for two nights in November and it was sunny and chilly.
Raccoons are abundant and brazen. They got into my lock top storage container but didn’t even try the flimsy food locker. Our bandit made off with a loaf of bread and the marshmallows.
Other tips: Site 1 is very exposed. Site 2 is ample for two tents if needed Site 3 ample for two tents with just a cedar fence between site 2 and 3 Site 4 is tucked down on the hillside with a great view south.
Beach access is via larger boulders. Have good shoes.
Firewood is available onsite for $7. Clean outhouse near tent sites. Clean bathrooms near parking lot- no soap or showers.
Traveler
Ok, I was originally hoping for a cabin, which is included in my search, but this CG is either tent or RV only. Luckily, I also brought a tent.
I was there 2 weeks ago. It's a fairly large area and flat. Lots of space for kids to play including a play area.
Sheep roam freely in one area towards the back.
It's a great place for families. Showers are great. Includes a small shop for goodies.
I love it there. Only negative is there are only portapotties. Except for a couple that are constantly in use.
LegendBig Basisn is a bit hard to get to with a long and winding road... but you get a great park in the Redwoods with a creek running through it. This can be a busy crowded park so I like to enjoy it in the spring and the fall. In spring you get wild flowers as a treat.
Great nature hikes here for the little ones and some prime hiking for the adults.
Cabins are available here and then there is a store and a visitor's center. Not your primitive out of the away place. It has all the amenitites.
Legend
The one issue I have with this group site is that it is not near the creek. It is across the roadway and now next to the new cabins.
That being said it is a great site for groups and away from all the other campers so is quiet (other than the roadway noise) .
It has all the regular amenities - tables, fire pits, bathrooms etc
You can leave your site and immediately walk on to trails up to Taylor's Grave and Mt. Barnaby. Also you connect from the site to some great mountain biking without every needing to go acroos the other side of camp.
TravelerPlaygrounds, swimming pool, lots of space to run and scream. We stay when visiting the area and endure the screaming kids. The kids do have fun, I give them that. But this is not wilderness camping. It's camping among giant caravans and lots of families. On one visit, the campground was filled with vintage camp trailers It was fun to walk around and see the oldies.
Petaluma is a cute town with lots of good food and things to do. I recommend the area, and recommend KOA if you're driving a big caravan. There are some tent spaces and cabins too. Something for everyone.
GuideWe just stayed here for 2 nights, great location very close to Calistoga and not to far from Saint Helena! Next time i would love to try out a cabin or yurt. Cons are lots of poison oak and lots and lots of wasps! Bring a trap and be prepared to constantly tell the kids to stay away from the bushes. Great creek near by (we spent most of our time stacking rocks) and great hiking trails i believe it’s a 5 mile loop up ritchy creek. Very cool to see hundreds of frogs everywhere at night. Overall had a great time. Pool was awesome, staff was friendly, facilities were clean! Wood was overpriced but hey that’s the Napa Valley for you!
ScoutMy second childhood home and one of the most sacred places I have had the blessings to be apart of, know my own children's second home. The campgrounds are amazing and a world unto themselves, so much so when Sunny Bell first brought my mom and I to Steep Ravine the cabins only cost $15 and we didn't even know there were campsites there for years! The wildlife is off the hook..I've seen deer in the seaside vernal pools, wild miniature ocean bunnies boxing in the morning sunshine, and a great white shark off the cliffs one fine day... This place is absolutely fabulous....and we didn't even get into the mermaid hot springs gracing the beaches during super low tides! Luv you mom! I know your up there at steep kickin it at the wine tree!
TravelerThe most challenging thing about Steep Ravine is the drive from the gate on down to the parking lot. It. Is. Very. Narrow. Once you make it down cue instant zen & elation. Very clean and well maintained bathrooms with flushable toilets and sinks are right near the parking lot and wheelbarrows are available to help you unload your gear to your cabin or camp site.
I camped by tent, in site #1, and can’t wait to return. It is the quintessential California costal camp site. All of the sites are incredibly beautiful, with lots of space, and each with their own unique layout & personality. The camp hosts clearly take very good care of all of them, as we explored the next morning we spotted poison oak but never in close range to the cleared pathways and flat areas of the camp sites. Just be aware, and stay on the cleared areas, not just for poison oak but also with respect to the preservation of the natural wildlife habitat. Speaking of that NO DOGS! We read conflicting information on the Mt. Tam website but make no mistake, dogs will not be allowed, and even if they were, this place is too precious & too populated with frogs and raccoons & SEALS (like 20 feet away) when you’re jumping into the waves to even consider the best of dogs.
This is a fantastic spot. A great combination of breathtaking western skyline & crisp costal air. Only bring your favorite people & your best film.
Cabin camping near Golden Gate National Recreation Area offers a unique blend of nature and comfort, perfect for those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life while enjoying the great outdoors.
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular cabin campground near Golden Gate National Recreation Area is Samuel P. Taylor State Park Campground with a 4.4-star rating from 51 reviews.
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