Best Equestrian Camping near Vacaville, CA

Great free campground! We've stayed here many times. It's open, grassy level and quiet. Next to a stream and surrounded by hills. The only tough part is getting across the stream to some of the hikes. It's a hot spot for horses which of course have no stream problems, so the only negative is fly's sometimes. But just keep your screen door closed (& fly swatter handy). We always manage to level out in our 23" Winnebago View. There is lots of open space so no crowding. There is a rural road near by but traffic noise isn't a problem. Perhaps I should say it's awful so fewer people come and it's not discovered.

Sibley Regional Preserve

San Francisco East Bay residents actually have a volcano in their backyard at Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve. Originally called Round Top Park, Sibley shares with Temescal and Tilden Parks the distinction of being one of the East Bay Regional Park District's original parks.

The Sibley backpack camp is a small, primitive hike-in site for a maximum of 15 campers (although this would be super cramped in my opinion, unless it a bunch of small kids), a moderate 0.2 mile walk from the parking lot (NO VEHICLE ACCESS). The site has basically 360 degree views of Mount Diablo, Vollmer Peak and Tilden Park. There are only two tent pads - approximately 10'x25' and 10'x20'. Site has 2 picnic tables, 1 serving table, and a pit toilet close by which was very clean and well maintained.

During the day you’ll have lots of people walk semi/sorta by the campground, but there is no reason that anyone would walk through your area as if they did they’d tumble off and down the side of a nice steep hill…

 No wood fires or BBQs are allowed; only camp stoves are allowed for cooking, your night time enjoyment.

 Drinking water is 0.2 miles from camp at the trail head so keep that in mind before it gets too dark to hike back and forth for a drink.

There are several trails providing tons of access throughout the preserve. The 31-mile East Bay Skyline National Recreation Trail, part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail system, traverses the preserve along the ridgeline between Wildcat Canyon and Anthony Chabot Parks. Round Top Road goes from the Sibley visitor center to the top of Round Top. Round Top Loop Trail circles Round Top peak. Volcanic Trail, once a quarry haul road, contains most of the stops on the self-guided volcanic tour.

 Dogs are allowed throughout this section of the park and in camp on leash but are not allowed on the adjacent Huckleberry trails. Also, the EBRPD lists, dogs “must be under owner's control at all times” and must not disturb other animals or park visitors, but I definitely saw a lot of loose well behaved dogs running free.

Bikes are allowed on the fire trail, but there are lots of hikers and dog walkers in this park so be mindful. Also, Horses are allowed but there is no hitching rail and no water troughs in the park (or at least that I saw anywhere).

If you decide to try and bike be mindful that most trails are hiking and equestrian only. A few trails are multi-use. Bicycles are not allowed on narrow-gauge trails, except on the Skyline Trail between the Sibley visitor center and Old Tunnel Road. Bicycles are allowed on the wider-gauge fire trails and paved roads but are not allowed on Sibley Round Top from EBMUD water tank road junction to top of Round Top Peak.

Vehicles must be parked in the staging area and display a valid overnight parking permit: 3 parking permits are included in the reservation and will be mailed 5 days in advance. No additional parking permits are available. Otherwise, you can actually get here via public transport by Taking the AC Transit CB bus to the Mountain Blvd stop, them walk about 3 miles to the park.

While you can check if it’s already reserved online. Reservation must be completed at least 5 days in advance by calling 1-888-EBPARKS or 1-888-327-2757, press option 2.

Great place to stay at when visiting the Napa wine valley that is halfway between St Helena and Calistoga, two nice tourist towns. There are nice hiking trails in the park though they are closed currently (Dec 2020) due to the fire in the area. There was no damage to the campground even though the fire burned into the grounds. The weekends usually are full, it clears out Sunday evening so during the weekdays it is really nice. Staff are really nice. Be careful of the poison oak, it is prevalent there as it is so anywhere in Northern California.

I've camped here more times than I can count.  I remember camping here during several wine-soaked weekends with large groups of friends, back in my younger days.  We rode our bikes through the Napa valley, stopping at multiple wineries along the way.  Then, after a day of riding and wine tasting, we retired back to our campsites for an evening of grilling and drinking of local wines (of which there are many, many excellent choices). I've only tent camped here; I've not brought my Airstream because I don't think there are spots that are large enough for it.  However, I do recall seeing trailers and RV's here in the past, so it can accomodate rigs of smaller sizes.

There's nothing dramatically beautiful about this park, but if you like California country living - oaks, madrone, rolling hills, and lots of sunshine - than you'll enjoy it here.  It's a short drive from the San Francisco Bay Area, and is quite literally in the Napa valley, on its northern end, near Calistoga.  You'll easily be able to get to all the restaurants and wineries in the valley. You won't be disappointed with a couple of nights camping at Bothe-Napa.

One important note: I have not been here since the fires that have ravaged Napa and Sonoma every year since 2017.  There has been at least one fire that burned very near this park, causing it to close temporarily.  I don't know how bad the impact to the park has been, as I've not seen it first hand.  As I write this in summer 2021, the campground is open, so hopefully the fire and smoke damage was minimal.   As I've mentioned in many of my other posts, the sad reality of the ongoing drought in California is that summer camping is not the experience it used to be.  It's still fun, but I would argue winter or early spring is now the best time to visit places like Bothe-Napa.  The creeks will be flowing, you'll be allowed to have a campfire, and the vegetation will be greener and lusher.

Per my rating system, I give this 4 stars as it's not a place you'd plan a trip to from out of state, but it is a place you should consider visiting as part of a larger trip to Napa/Sonoma.  For locals, this is a top tier spot.