Sugarloaf Ridge State Park Campground, near Kenwood, California, is a fantastic spot for those looking to immerse themselves in nature while enjoying some modern comforts. With 48 sites nestled around a large meadow, it’s perfect for families and friends who want to gather and unwind.

The campground allows campfires, and visitors often rave about the clean facilities, including tidy restrooms and hot showers. One camper noted, “The showers are fantastic—large and hot,” which is always a plus after a day of hiking. Plus, you can reserve your spot ahead of time, which is a must since it can get busy, especially in the summer.

For outdoor enthusiasts, the nearby hiking trails offer stunning views and a chance to explore the local flora and fauna. The Robert Ferguson Observatory is just up the road, providing a unique opportunity for stargazing events. As one visitor mentioned, “There’s great hiking, an observatory, and often nature events throughout the summer.” 

While you won’t find cell service here, the campground does offer free Wi-Fi at the visitor center, so you can stay connected if needed. Dogs are welcome, making it a great choice for pet owners looking to enjoy a laid-back camping experience in the beautiful wine country.

Sugarloaf Ridge State Park is nestled in the heart of Sonoma County. We offer camping for Tents and Rv’s, two luxurious glamping sites, and tent rental if you need a tent or an extra one for the kids. Visit our website for reservations - and our reservable instantly available - no more requirement to make reservations 48 hours before arrival day.

We release first-come, first-serve sites over the phone at 10 am. We typically have room Sunday-Thursday, but fill up on good weathered weekends from April through October.

You can enjoy camping year-round at Sugarloaf Ridge State

- Park 47 family camping spaces are surrounded by a large meadow bordered by a year-round stream and a hillside forest. 
- Group campground with room for up to 50 people.
- 2 wheelchair-accessible campsites(6, 7) with an accessible restroom and showers. The campfire pits for these sites are also accessible, with a variety of wheelchair seating areas. 
- Ability to accommodate RVs up to 28 feet and trailers up to 24 feet. There is no dump station at the campground. 
- Two seasonal glamping tents (April-Oct)
- Dog’s are allowed in the campground, but not on backcountry trails and roads.

Sugarloaf Ridge State Park Campground

Searching for the best camping near Kenwood, CA? Enjoy the scenic camping, fun activities, and sights and sounds of Kenwood. At The Dyrt, campers like you share their favorite spots, plus tips and photos. No matter where you're headed in Kenwood, you'll find the best spot for you and your camping crew.

Kenwood

The Best Camping Near Kenwood, California

While driving through Sonoma Valley, I found this hidden campground that was one of the most amazing campgrounds that I have stayed at.  I was tent camping and easily found the perfect spot.  Until this trip, I had never seen a banana slug which was HUGE!  I stayed for just one night while continuing on my way up to the Redwoods.  The hills were covering in the yellowing grass of the summer and combined with the tranquility of the rolling hills, I experienced one of the most calming sunsets of my life.  Not far from this campground is the Jack London Historical State Park, which i highly recommend going to see. Overall, this was a fun little hidden gem in California.

Hidden Gem Among the Vineyards 

Decent campground with clean bathrooms. Easy access to hiking trails and it's dog friendly. Nothing special, but fun. Gets hot in the summer time.

Dog friendly, good hiking.

Sugarloaf Loaf Ridge State Park is a great little park and campground. The campground is set around an open meadow, but spaces are a bit close together. Nothing special about the campground, no stunning views or strong flowing river, but there is some great hiking and lots of wineries nearby.

From the campground you can easily hike 20 miles around the park. There are a handful of great loop options and a few great out and backs too. My personal favorite hike in this park is at the bottom of the hill from the campground, but can be accessed by trails and a short road walk, and that is the Goodspeed Trail to Gunsight Rock. From the trailhead the hike is 6.5 miles out and back with 2,444 feet of elevation gain (leaving from the campground adds 2.1 miles and 500 feet of gain to the hike).

There are also several wonderful wineries and tasting rooms within a couple miles of the park located around the town of Kenwood. Kenwood also has a few great restaurants and a small market for resupplying. If you drive a bit further to Santa Rosa you can pick up anything you could possibly need.

October 2017 Fires: The park experienced severe damage with almost 80% of the park being burned. As of today, seven months after the fires, some trails in the park remain closed. While the landscape has changed dramatically, the fires have provided an interesting new perspective to the park. Watching the landscape recover from an intense forest fire is very interesting.

Nice campground in a great small park

The campground survived the fires of 2017 intact, though quite a bit of the park is burned. Most of the trails are open, and you can access them right from the campground.

Some of the sites are smallish and close together, but the campground itself is pretty spread out so you just have side neighbors, there is no one behind you, and I've always found it pretty quiet. There is a campground host. Also a small visitor center and store just as you enter the campground. There are flush toilets, driving water, showers, picnic tables, fire rings. Stayed here several times in different sites.

Thankfully, it's still here!

The campground at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park offers a range of decent sites. There are certainly some that are better situated than others regarding size, shade, and other amenities--but the entire campground is nice. Well maintained, and located in a State Park that is run by a non-profit "Team Sugarloaf". Sonoma Creek runs along the campground and there is a waterfall a short hike away. There are showers for a quarter per minute, if you want to freshen up after a big hike like to the peak of Bald Mt. Visitor's Center has educational displays, maps, and a variety of items for sale. Ice and fire wood available. Each site has a table and fire pit. Great little get away spot that feels farther in the wilderness than it is at all. Close to Sonoma and Santa Rosa. Year-round camping--beautiful in all seasons.

There is also an observatory in the park, one Saturday night per month the hold "Star Parties" and for just $2 you can spend the evening looking through great telescopes and learning about space from experts. Kids are free! It is walking distance from the campground. If you have flashlights that have a red night-vision setting, those are recommended to use there--otherwise they'll give you red cellophane to cover your light so that it doesn't interfere with star viewing.

Wooded with a creek, many trails, family friendly in the North Bay.

We’ve camped here a couple of times with our kids it’s perfect for novice campers like us. The staff is awesome, there are bathrooms and showers. You can rent a tent, buy wood and it’s a short drive into town in case you need to stock up. The area is beautiful and there is great hiking trails.

Family Friendly Campground 

Close to town. Roomy sites. Nike walking/hiking trails. Lots of yellow jackets.

Great location not too far from town

Tent camp here every year. It's small but great for families! Has a creek and many hiking trails!

Small camp ground

$35.00/night

Had a great time. Wish I got more hiking done on our first day since it rained the rest of our trip. Ask about the free quest hike. They send you on an adventure hike and there is treasure at the end of it. The hike I wish I got to do was the Bald Mountain hike and the Waterfall hike. 

The campground itself is pretty cool. So many selections to choose from. I recommend 17 (tucked up in the woods), or 27 (next to the river!) . There are fireplaces and picnic tables at each set up. The shop is open and has easy accessible things that you may have forgot to pack (like a super cheap tarp that came in handy during the pouring rain!)

The bathrooms are so clean!!! The showers are cheap. Easy water access for quick cleaning of dishes or putting out the fire. Trash and recycling is clean, organized and I felt comfortable that no animals would get into it. 

This place is super cool.

Glad I got to experience my rainy camping nights here!!

Hope to be back soon. 

Great Place, Even Though It Rained

Great for kids. Go on a weekend that the observatory is open. If you like to climb there is a great peak hike or go down to the waterfall. If your tired of camping hit the nearby wineries for an afternoon. The bathrooms and showers were clean. Some sites are close to each other so pick carefully. 

Great location

Sugarloaf is a great campground for families.  It is small but has all you need for a nice weekend.  Many of the campsites offer lots of shade.  Great hiking trails surrounding the campground.  Also, close to many wineries in the Sonoma/Glen Ellen region.

Great family friendly campground

This place was wonderful! We stumbled upon this place after wine tasting in Sonoma. This place had many sites and super family friendly. Very easy to find. There was lots of deer/wildlife which was cool to see up close. No phone service, we had a big fire and slept in our hammocks. Clean bathrooms and porta potties at each site. Many sites to choose from. 

Close to Sonoma!

This stop is pretty close to us, and has been a yearly trip. 
We really enjoy the rural feeling to the area -- no cell phone service for Verizon or T-mobile. If you are trailer or RVing, there are no hookups and no dump station on site. Generators can be run from 10 am to 8 pm.
There is an observatory on site which is free to explore, when open. There are many great hiking trails, one of which goes to a seasonal waterfall. The hikes range from easy to difficult. 
There are campsites that run along the creek which are the preferred for us because of the opportunity to see wildlife at night and the kids love to play in the water. 
I am not sure what changes that have happened over the last few years, but there seems to be some full time campsites that made me and my family feel uncomfortable. I do really enjoy the campsite, but this may have been the last time we go due to these questionable site living situations. 
Dogs are allowed, but not on the hiking trails...
They have newer restrooms with showers, but they are currently closed due to COVID. Each site has a port-a-potty that is cleaned after each camper checks out.

Good Stop in Sonoma County 

Beautiful oak woodlands, hiking trails, very clean with separate porta pottys to protect against COVID-19. Compost, recycling and garbage available.

Clean quiet Oak Woodland

During COVID, this non profit ecology based campground supplied each campsite its own portopotty (although I believe the camp is closed down today along with the rest of Sonoma County) with volunteer donations. Camp also has wifi, camp store, excellent hikes, and a general good groove. Showers are available. I prefer this one over Bothe Napa park. Very close to all wine country has to offer and a well stocked deli/store and post office just down the road. Despite obvious fire damage in the area, the mostly remaining vineyards were ablaze with red and oranges this Fall! there is an observatory and nice hiking here. Kenwood seems to be a place where gentrification has not taken over attitude. Folks are pretty friendly.

IN wine country, nice sites, sweet little town, wifi, hiking

In the Sonoma/Napa valley region. My maps app was saying they couldn’t give me a route as a road was closed but we were able to get there with little issue. No one was in the office but they left out our parking permit and campground info at the office. Stayed only one night and between using the site assigned port a potty and water spigot didn’t need to use the restrooms on site. The area was beautiful and I highly recommend site 50.

Cute campground 

We stayed in the spur of the campground, the views to the front of us were amazing! Then right behind us there was an incredible never ending hill covered in ferns and tall trees, and grey fox dens because we had a gorgeous one visit our camp! We had a ton of shade and enough sun to warm up, it was cooler this time of year then we expected. Bring layers!
You can walk to a trail to check out a waterfall from there (pretty darn steep!) and you can walk to the Robert Ferguson Observatory as well! We went on a night hike for a star gazing tour and had a great time!
Every site had their own cleaned porta potty which was very nice. Make a donation to help keep it going! The visitor center has snacks and ice cream bars, firewood, simple essentials, etc. It is an amazing campground with gorgeous sites and hikes. They have everything you need for a great weekend!

Beautiful family campground

Super close to everyone. Also weird how many Porta-podies right across every site. Lots of people. Kinda expensive.

Very small sites

Pricy, but on par for Bay Area. Some sites are very small and close together. Others are ample. Sites along the creek get more sun (except for 27 and 28 which are shaded) and are larger. 

Great star watching. Small creek is great for kids. 

Some spots better than others

This is a nice and quiet campground that is great for kids and families. Easy access to a lot of trails. The view from the campground is nice and relaxing. Some sites are very tight and close to each other. Some are spacious enough. We stayed on site 29 which is next to the camp host. We got a shaded part throughout the day which happened to be where the table is positioned and the sunny part, where our vehicle was parked. If you plan on hiking in the summer make sure to bring lots of water. It can get really hot. We had fun hiking and biking overall. They have flush toilet and porta potty throughout the campground as well. 

  Nice family campground

We got a same day reservation, thankfully, because it was impossible to reserve anywhere in the area. We just wanted to car camp overnight to test drive our gear before a longer road trip. We got placed into site 6, which happened to be a handicapped accessible spot. It was level (perfect for our needs) had a fire pit, two picnic tables, and water source, and handicapped accessible (larger) porta-potty right at our site. Very convenient. 

  

Overall the campground was nice, clean, and well maintained. Lots of portapotties available around the campsite. Plus, the site offers a location with flush toilets, and pay-for-showers if wanted. Most of the campsites were pretty close together, with no trees or shrubs to give privacy. Those who tent camped had more options for more private settings.

  

Good for families.

Clean, but close camping.

Lived in this area almost my whole life and never knew about this campground. Did a little recon prior to booking our trip and decided on site #39, as we were only staying for 3 nights and did not need any sun for solar for that short of a stay. Tons of shade with the sites along the south side of the campgrounds, tons of sun along the north side. So depending on the time of year and your solar charging needs, this may make a difference. There were ample water faucets along the campground road and bathrooms were only a short walk in just about any direction. The showers are located along the north east portion of the loop, and they are fantastic. Large, hot, coin operated showers at the rate of $0.25/min. There is free WiFi with limited bandwidth at and around the visitor’s center, as well as an option to pay for premium internet at a reasonable daily or weekly rate. There is firewood and  bagged ice available at both the visitor’s center and with the camp hosts. They can take card, cash, or you can pay using their QR code. They also have some basic supplies and snacks at the visitor’s center. The campsites are your standard fare with a parking area, a picnic table, and a fire pit. Some of the sites are less level than others, but there are plenty of good places to set up tents. Additionally, some of the parking areas for each site are better than others. At our site, we were able to fit our teardrop, our tow vehicle, and our parent’s jeep in our assigned parking area at site 39. The campsites are relatively close together, so that might be an issue if you visit when it’s booked up, but we went just after Labor Day and we had at least two to three empty sites to either side of us. The camp host was friendly and helpful, as were the rest of the staff. Lastly, depending on the time of year, you may encounter yellow jackets, so prepare accordingly. If you don’t have your own mosquito net tent, you can rent one at the site for about $15/day, plus a $25 mandatory setup fee. It appears that they also have a couple “glamping” sites which are furnished with a fancy teepee tent, chairs, and I believe they even have their own private portapotty. Speaking of portapotty, you can rent your own at your site for about $10-15/day, too. Very convenient if you are reliant on that amenity and your chosen site is far from the other restrooms. Lots of hiking around, there’s an observatory nearby, and it looks like a popular spot for cyclists, as well. 

Peaceful with nice shade. Bring insect countermeasures.

Nice clean plots, rangers were friendly and helpful. Unfortunately for me I timed my visit when the wind was supposed to pick up (so no camp fire). Some of the plots are covered by nice big shady oak trees with Andre the Giant thumb sized acorns. When the wind blew those things turned into projectile hazards. The sound they made hitting the roof of a truck in the middle of the night sounded like a shot gun bang. But I survived. The trails around the area are nice and well marked. I didn't get a chance to view the observatory, but there is also next time. Bathrooms on site flush and were very clean. I enjoyed my stay, and hopefully you will too.

Oak trees are dangerous 

We were on a short trip through California in our new camper van. We had reserved all our stays at Harvest Host, but because the water pump in our van failed and we needed water and a shower we decided a camp ground would fit the bill. I called and was able to make reservation here the same day.  

  

Sugarloaf Ridge State Park is at the end of a narrow winding road. The camp sites are arranged around a large meadow for the most part. We stayed in site 50 which had a small brook running through. It was level and separated from the other sites.   

  

We found the staff to be friendly and helpful. The accommodations were adequate with large clean showers. The flush toilets were small and cramped. There is no TV reception, no cell reception. Slow WiFi is available at or near the reception center.

Remote Campground in wine country

This is a great getaway spot--quiet, not too crowded, and with the Robert Ferguson Observatory just up the road (time it right and you can get in on some of their events, which are very cool).  The campsites on the spur back up into shade, a welcome relief in the summertime.  "Glamping" sites available with reservations.  No cell service but high-speed internet is available for a fee at the Visitor Center.  A great place to camp if you're looking for a laid-back outdoor experience in the wine country.  (And dogs are allowed, always a plus for those of us with K9s.)

Tucked away getaway

Spacious campground with nice spots but the restrooms and showers are not clean but equipped with soap and towels most of the time. 

Nice but not that clean

We camp here as often as we can. It’s a lovely campsite with most sites being under tree canopies, with a large meadow in the center, which is great for frisbee, or other games. The campsite is only a few minutes from Kenwood and many many wineries, but feels more remote than it is. 

There’s great hiking, an observatory, and often nature events throughout the summer (docent led hikes for example). The volunteers who run the place do a fantastic job with everything, from keeping the site clean, to providing tons of info for budding naturalists.

The downsides are that it’s often booked in the summer months, and rattlesnakes on trails are not uncommon. There is also no cell coverage for any of the major providers, but free (slow) Wi-Fi covers half the camp, and premium Wi-Fi is available to purchase.

Great site that feels more remote than it is.

Celebrated our daughter's birthday here. Site #39. Campsite is clean and well maitained. Restrooms are clean. Showers are clean and tidy and warm. Wifi is available at the visitors center if needed. Hiking trails are available nearby. Overall an enjoyable peacful stay.

Family camping

Always tough to get a reservation, but it never disappoints if you can get one

Photos of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park Campground

Real photos from real campers