Best Campgrounds near Martinez, CA

Lisa was helpful when making this reservation a few months ago. It went the same way for check in. Prior to check in while enroute we appreciated her call assigning our site and the best way to enter it. 

The site was a pull through as well as our friends who were able to face the opposite way to have a common camp side with us. Of course the utility sides were in great position for that. Full hook ups with 30 amp. (used my 50 amp adapter), no issues.

The RV part is comprised of 80% permanent residents. All rigs look to be maintained and sites without clutter. I was impressed really. I have been to other RV parks with a high number of residents, and it looks like a RV graveyard frankly. From the park you can head about a quarter of a mile and walk or ride the coastal path all the way to the marina or south to the Ritz Carlton. Great ocean views.

San Ramon, CA. Ok for a night’s stay. Address takes you to main entrance to fairgrounds where a person manning a booth directed us to drive around the fairgrounds to Gate 12 which is entrance to the RV park. Thank goodness there was still a person on duty at the main entrance or we would have not known what to do. We made reservations by phone and staff did not mention that we had to find Gate 12!

I can't think of a better place to camp on or near Mt. Tamalpais than Pantoll in terns of the access to trails and the various parks in the area. From Pantoll you have very easy access to the summit of Mt. Tamalpais, easy access Stinson Beach and the coast, plus you can even skip the long lines and shuttles to get into Muir Woods. There are literally days worth of great hiking accessible from Pantoll!

That said, the campground, while nicely maintained and well-equipped is right next to a relatively busy road and during daylight hours, especially in the high-traffic times of the year, the sites themselves are very exposed to all the day visitors.

Speaking of day visitors, I don't recall if you get a dedicated parking space with a campsite or not, but parking can be a challenge here due to the popularity of the various trailheads, and the limited parking.

Insanely hot in the summer, I would recommend not going in July like we did. It was 104° or something and I was just drenching my clothes in water to stay cool.

The hike is pretty nice to the summit from there.

Lots of free water and there's free showers too which is awesome, but don't use the stinky toilet at the top there's way better ones around the bottom area.

They have food lockers, not bear lockers, and ours was broken one time so have a solid backup plan, the raccoons are very intelligent and they come out at night so be prepared for that.

BRING SHOWER SHOES AND SOAP UR GOING TO WANT IT

The atmosphere here is wonderful. It’s quiet and right on the beach. Some RV spaces with hookups back right up to the sand/vegetation. Bathrooms and showers on site. We stayed in a spot without hookups and it was $35 per night. Gate staff was friendly and helpful. No dogs allowed in the beach in the park but a short walk away there is a public beach that is dog friendly, so that was nice for our doggo.

We stayed here for 12 days while visiting relatives in the Bay area. This campground, while in the heart of Fremont, feels remote and safe in spite of being close to town. Sites are not huge, but arranged in such a way as to feel private. It is in the Coyote hills regional Park. There are many many trails for hiking and biking, and wildlife is plentiful. Our RV is small and we used the showers and bathrooms quite a bit. They are cleaned daily and we're always in great shape. The laundry is run by an outside organization, and the change machine was always empty, but everything worked well.

Good spot to spend the night. Rocked up at around 8pm, pretty busy at least 10 other vans and rvs there for the night. Couple of food vendors, great view of Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Weren’t hassled at all, left around 9am.

Nice spot close to the Golden Gate Bridge

The staff was amazing. Tent site was spacious. Not too crowded. Clean bathroom and shower. Several trails to walk. Close to town in case we forgot something.

The coordinate given are Not valid. It is a residential area and not an RV nore an campsite! Reservation per phone with none refondable possibility. Be carefull! Dont book!

Great location overlooking the city, has facilities like toilets and drinking fountains. Very busy when I was here on a Saturday night with locals, tourists and Mexican street vendors. Can’t complain because it’s free and close to the city

Lovely campsite with very sweet camp hosts. Always waved when they drove by.

Chose site 17 because of the beautiful tree seen in another review but was felled prior to our arrival, so no big tree. We did however get a beautiful view of the stars.

Two things to note, some of the sites (didn’t look like all of them had this issue) have an incredibly fine dusty dirt that gets on absolutely everything, it made our feet, legs and sandals completely beige from the dust and we had to wipe them with wet wipes before going into our tent and tracked a fair amount into our car upon leaving.

The other thing we were disappointed with was that we had to pay for showers on top of already paying over $50 for our site for one night, we felt that was a pretty big con and that it should be included in the fees.

Overall, you can’t get closer to the wineries and it was an otherwise lovely site.

I got there after they closed (closes at 5pm.) But there's a number to call that was posted for after hours. A camper in front of me had already called and someone arrived within minutes. They were very helpful and friendly. I got a beautiful spot secluded from everyone. I loved it! Just me and nature. I played some music dance by myself as if nobody was watching.

I’m not sure that this can be considered established or even legal camping since it is a rest stop. The location is awesome considering it’s right beside of the Golden State Bridge, but it also makes it a popular spot for a lot of people to hang out at and watch the sunset and other tourist attractions and even local activity.

Feels very off grid. Camp experience was smooth and the sun was shining.

This is an awesome spot, the hike out was absolutely gorgeous. We accessed it from the Palomarin trailhead. Beware, the costal weather can be volatile and you could get flash rain. Also, I highly recommend planning your visit with the sunny weather because it’s easy to pick a day that has endless overcast here, and it’s just not quite as much fun.

Also be careful what campsite you reserve. Some are absolute gems off on the ocean bluff. Others are more inland and packed in

We love to camp here for barbecuing, mountain biking and hiking. We always do it during 7/4 holidays except for this year when the park canceled our reservation due to high heat. So we booked for the Labor Day weekend. Temperature was perfect and biking and hiking were enjoyable as usual. This year we had two new types of visitors to the the site. A couple of wild turkeys came to pick up the dropped food on the ground. We were able to take a closeup look at them and they were beautiful birds with big eyes spotting tiny bits of crumbs. They come and go from one site to the next quietly and gently. Very cute and we took pictures with their presence. Then came the aggressive yellow jackets. We never had yellow jackets in our previous 7/4 outings here. Oh boy, they fought for the meat relentlessly. At the end of the outing, both my finger and my wife’s were stung. We reported the experience to the attendant at the gate when leaving. She said the park is looking for a solution. In the meantime, she suggested contacting them early on so they might be able to provide another site. Hopefully, next year, we won’t encounter so many nasties.

Everything about the campground is GREAT. The location is CLASSIC. West Marin is BEAUTIFUL.

And for families who want a quick trip over Golden Gate Bridge to introduce their children (or adults!) to the great outdoors, their first camp, nowhere is more convenient and instantly gratifying. 

However! You are going to probably experience some of the most ridiculous first-time campers with no sense of camping etiquette you have ever met in your life. I put up with it, for kids—- and now I have great stories— but I’d never go back as an experienced camper. 

Example A: Finally things quiet down and everyone is asleep, 2 or 3 am. A woman starts SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER, every single headlamp comes on, other people start screaming too, thinking it’s a bear attack. The ranger, where the F are they? 

We literally WALKED OVER toward the screaming banshee, that went on for a few bloodcurdling minutes. Do you know what we found? This complete nincompoop was surprised when we stooped down to her tent and said, “What’s going on?”

She was defiant, and her “companion” looked dazed. She said, “I just had a bad dream, what’s the big deal?” 

I said, “Well, you can’t do that here, if that’s what it is. You’re going to have to stay up the rest of the night, to make sure you’re not screaming, or leave now. You just devastated  about 200 people, and children are crying everywhere, thinking there’s a bear.” (Not). 

I think Sam T should have a big sign that says, “This is not Spring Break. This is not a place to work out your family trauma. This is not a garbage fight. This is not your narcissistic b.s.” 

You might think, “oh just one bad time.” Well, that was the ultimate, but no, i went there dozens of times because the Kidds loved it, and we could live in SF and start camping in about a half hour. 

Okay, now I feel like a curmudgeon. More good people who know how to camp SHOULD camp here, because peer pressure and good community is the only thing that works. I did my time ! now it’s up to you!