Best Dog-Friendly Camping near San Francisco, CA

Loved camping here! So peaceful, easily accessible from San Francisco

Been coming here since I was little. Very beautiful and not too far from San Francisco.

An excellent place to camp that's just minutes away from San Francisco. Trails are well kept and maintained.

This is a beautiful campsite. It is not too far from San Francisco, so a great way to escape the city. Highly recommend!

Went to Sam Taylor because it wasn't too far away from San Francisco - it was a surprisingly great area! Thanks to Questival for forcing us to get out!

Love the camp ground and the staff. The spaces are nice. Lots of things to keep kiddo’s busy. It’s not to far from San Francisco without having to go into town with your rig. There is a regular mall and a outlet mall just down the road a bit

Very easy to get to from San Francisco. We had amazing views of the bridge and the city and were lucky enough to have a clear day (which is rare in SF!). We biked across the Golden Gate bridge and back. We hung out on the beach and had amazing views of the Golden Gate bridge from there. We had a great time in this area and would definitely recommend.

Family friendly, easy hiking, creek running through, clean but old bathrooms, spacious sites, only 2 bathrooms with showers, a few steep hills, rangers and small camp store on site. About 20 mins from small town, about 1/2 hr from Pescadero State Beach, about 45 mins from Half Moon Bay, about an hour from San Francisco…all estimates without traffic, of course. Some sites are very private, some right on top of each other.

I first stayed here as a kid decades ago, but some things never change. Love having this close-in spot; the trailhead is only minutes from San Francisco. The walk to Tennessee Beach is very flat and level and doable for kids. The campground is off on a slight detour but it’s an easy starting spot for hike-in camping.

Mornings can get foggy here, so bring a sweatshirt regardless of the season. Pack in the water you need (if push comes to shove you can head back to the main trail to get more). Sites are level and well marked.

If you want to escape the city, this is the place to go. Just a short drive from San Francisco lies Steep Ravine campground at the southern end of Stinson Beach. The campsite sits right on the Pacific Ocean and offers some of the best sunsets imaginable. And being so close to SF you'd be surprised at how many stars appear at night. The campsites are set up well, you'd never know other people were nearby. The only sounds you hear at night are some frogs chirping and the waves crashing below.
The campground also has its own beach to explore.

It is amazing that you only have to drive an hour from San Francisco to truly feel like you are getting away from it all. The trees are spectacular, and there is running water near some of the sites. The only reason why I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is because the sites are a bit small, and can feel like you are camping with your neighbor. Also, some of the sites are near the road, so you can hear cars going past, luckily, it's not a big problem at night. Besides that, there are some very enjoyable, moderately easy, hikes that start very close to the campground.

This campground is less than an hours drive from San Francisco. It is along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard which takes you through a bunch of very cute tiny towns. It offers easy access to the Bay so plenty of beach access within a short drive. There is a fantastic grocery place at Pont Reyes Station so stop there for fresh bread, wine, cheese from Cowboy Creamery, then head to Hog Island for shuck your own oysters.

The campground itself is populated with families so it’s lively and full of children. Make sure you bring bikes as the bike paths run along Lagunitas Creek are great. You can walk along the fish spawning area but are forbidden from accessing the water November to June to avoid disturbing the spawning season. This campground is not good for dogs. Leave your fur babies at home.

The wildlife are clever and tenacious. Two squirrels worked together to break into my food locker and partied down on some magic mushroom chocolate. Bastards.

Try to score one of the creek side spots. They are small but the proximity to the running water helps to cover the road noise.

This 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.

Pros: Has numerous amenities including hot (free) showers (cleaned daily), flush toilets, full hookup RV spots, laundromat, US Post office, fenced playground, dog park, drive in tent sites, and firewood for sale. Cons: expensive, sites are close and poorly defined and the after hours check in procedure doesn’t prevent overlapping.

So 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.

Area offers campgrounds but also its a good place to do day hikes. Its very close to San Francisco so it can get busy. Not the best place to be in solitude but it offers nice trails and views. Restrooms are available and there’s easy parking access.

We were expecting some kinda remote campsite with a great view, instead we found 3 campsites that were not very private with no fabulous view :( The price is good and the close location to the heart of San Francisco is nice, but we probably would not camp here again.

Absolutely beautiful site under a canopy of trees and protected from stiff winds. Three minute walk to the beach with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. You will pass Battery Kirby on the way to the beach. There are only five sites at this campground so you will be secluded. Carry in water and firewood.

There are only 10 sites on the island and being so accessible from the San Francisco Bay Area (only a ferry ride away from Pier 39), you can see why it is in so high demand. When I got an invite last minute from a friend I reconnected with, I had to go. I am so glad I did! The upside of being patient with how far out you make your reservation is that once the last ferry leaves, you have the island practically to yourself. It is pretty awesome.

We lucked out and the weather was perfect for our visit. We hiked around the island and explored a couple cool areas. It used to be intake for immigration and even had some military presence on the island back in the day. Lots of old buildings to explore, in addition to the awesome views of the San Francisco Bay Area from the various vista points and beaches around the island.

I definitely recommend visiting - just make sure you are aware that some sites can get windy and cold at night.

This place is amazing in busy San Francisco where camping is so expensive! 

Parked here and had friends from the city come pick me up to spend the day together and then dropped me back off at night to sleep. Felt very safe with all the other campers around. And the view! 

There was some noise around midnight, but it quieted down again.

We camp here with our travel trailer at the start of each season, to check out all our systems. If you are visiting and want to go to San Francisco, I think this is one of the closest RV parks to the city.

Sites are grassy, some with trees, and pretty close together.

If the Alameda Fairgrounds are having an event, you can't beat this location, it's on the property.