Best Campgrounds near Lagunitas, CA

I just needed/wanted a short getaway without driving hours from home. Since I'm used to this place for mountain biking, I figured I'd try camping here for a couple nights. 

I did a recon ride previously on my mountain bike, so knew which spots I'd prefer and booked site 35 for a Thursday and Friday night. 

Arrived at about 5PM and found my spot. The ranger booth was closed, but I didn't feel the need to chat with them anyway. The place was largely unoccupied at this point. Maybe a dozen or so spots appeared taken. 

The weather, though hot in the Bay Area at this point, was quite nice. The breeze and shade of the park made for a very comfortable setting. I believe it was 88 in Castro Valley, but felt about 78 at the campground. I don't have AC for the van, but didn't feel I needed any. 

I got setup and then headed out for a short ride, followed by a warm shower, cold beer and dinner. It was quiet that evening and I slept well. 

I worked through the morning Friday, though the Starlink suffered some interruptions due to the tree cover. Early afternoon more people started to show up, as I expected. I went for a long ride and when I returned the place was much more occupied and people were setting up tents, starting their bbq's, etc. Though a bit close to the neighbors, none of them were obnoxious. 

My advice would be to know the spot you're selecting and know that in the summer months the grass isn't green :) 

I'd score the individual aspects as follows (1-5):

Bathrooms: 4

Location: 5

Activities: 5

Privacy: 3

Cleanliness: 4

We had a big site, it was quiet. The bathrooms are clean, showers are $1.00, they have something for every type of camper here, from tents, covered wagons to rv sites. This is a large campground located on the Russian River. They have a well stocked store, laundry facilities.

Edit: Tuesday and Wednesday were as described above. Thursday a very loud rambunctious crowd showed up. Casini Campground has a ton of rules, one of which is you shouldn’t play your music loud enough for your neighbors to hear, we were able to hear the music and the people who were trying to talk over their music. If you going to have rules, please enforce them. Edited to change from 5 stars to 4.

Check in was fine. Got wrong direction how to get to the site. After looping around to approach the site, I found the streets all very tight for RV maneuvering. The place was packed. Had a pull through FHU site. Pretty narrow. Seems like a common theme. Great things for kids to be entertained by and enjoy for sure. We were passing through and I think we would have been better served elsewhere. Our site was patches of grass and looked like it needed some TLC. Tested the water-Water tested as acceptable tap water after running it through an external filter. 21 elements checked, all within range. Dissolved solids were 251...pretty high. The worst water in our 6 week trip. Must be a California thing.

I have to confess that I feel pretty silly for not being as prepared for the sand as I should have been from the name of the campground. Who would have thought!?

We walked around sites 22-55 and all seem to be entirely on the sand. Come prepared to deal with sand.

The campground itself it pretty nice. Walkable to the Pacific Coast, very walkable to Bodega Harbor, and direct access to the trails of Bodega Head. The campground is also just a short drive from the town of Bodega Bay, which offers a few restaurants and limited services.

In June of 2025 the bathrooms in the site #22-55 loop was undergoing a pretty major renovation and portable toilets were in use.

We did see a few foxes, or the same fox a few times, so make sure to keep camp sites clean.