San Francisco Campgrounds ?

Hi Guys

We are planning to spend a few days in San Francisco.

Anyone recommend any campgrounds ?

Ive been thru Woodalls, RPI, TT, Passport America and the choice is very limited.

It seems we either have to drive 30+ miles into the City or stay at Vallejo and pay nearly $20 each per day to use the ferry.

Ideally, the campground should have WiFi too.

Thanks in advance.

Paul

PS We had a GREAT couple of hours on a Nature Cruise at Cachuma Lake, nr Solvang, yesterday. We had the 45 seater boat and naturalist all to ourselves. It was freezing cold but well worth it.

Hi Paul,

Not much choice of campgrounds in and around SF.

1. Candlestick Park SF ,reasonable priced and closets to downtown.

2. Pacifica, on the coast and expensive

3. KOA Petaluma (39 miles to SF and crossing the Golden Gate will cost you $ 5.00)

They all have advantages and disadvantages and remember parking your car in SF is very expensive.

If you continue North after your visit to SF it is worth considering the KOA it is the nicest one and the only KOA I would ever consider to stay.
You are in the middle of the wine country, consider visiting Muir's Park.
KOA has daily trips to SF but only after May 1 so that doesn't help you.

So if you only plan to stay for a few days my choice would be Candlestick park.

Happy travels,

Chris

Paul,

Sounds like you're rushing around the USA without stopping to smell the roses.

My preference would be to not drive a coach in the city. Chris' suggestion of Petaluma is a good one. You could spend several days touring the wine country and still be able to get to SF. You could drive your car across the Golden Gate bridge into the city instead of taking the ferry, but the traffic could be a nightmare and, as Chris said, it will cost you in parking fees.

I've never stayed at Chris' other suggestion of Candlestick Park (I can't remember its current name), but that would put you closer to the city.

Thanks for the quick (as always) replies.

Candlestick was the one I had narrowed it down to - not cheap, but a stay 3 nights and get 4th free makes it a little better.


Tom - we are now at the slowing down stage....

As we will be back in this area around end-October, we decided we could cover everything south of Los Angeles to Florida during November 2006 to April 2007.

We are now planning to spend this April to mid-May between Santa Barbara and Vancouver, before heading into Alaska toward the end of May.

We are spending 4 days near Yosemite later this week, which should be good.

Regards

Paul

UK-RV said:

We are spending 4 days near Yosemite later this week

Click to expand...

Paul, just be sure to not try to take the coach into Yosemite at any time. Where do you plan to stay in that area?

The last report I had said that Yosemite still has lots of snow, so you might want to get snow chains for the car before you head in there. They sometimes enforce chain restrictions if road conditions merit it.

Leaving SF to head to Yosemite you'd pass close to our place, but we won't be home for another 8-10 days. See you next time through.

Tom,

We are due to stay at the TT called Yosemite Lakes - its at Groveland, about 45 miles from Yosemite Valley.

Fingers crossed, we will be OK driving into the valley, where we can take a couple of organised tours.

Paul

PS We are going to San Benito first, then Yosemite and then SF - a bit of a dog-leg journey but as you say we're in no rush.

What's in San Benito  ???

Head over to Monterey, Carmel and Santa Cruz. They're on your way to SF. There's a campground at the Laguna Seca car race track, just outside Monterey. Click here for their campground info.

While at Groveland, visit Jamestown, Sonora and Columbia state historic park (by car).

BTW while in northern California, are you going to visit Sacramento (state capital), Nevada  City, Lake Tahoe or, over the hill, Reno, NV?

Oregon coast is spectacular.
City CG on the bay at Winchester Bay.
Mo's for best west coast clam chowder-Florence, Newport, and a few other towns.
Pacific shores resort, Newport. $67.00/nite for site on the bluff looking at the ocean and lighthouse.

Keep in touch. I will be starting into Canada for my alaska trip by the end of May.

Yosemite area snow is forecast to be above 7,000 feet.

Hi Paul:

>> Candlestick was the one I had narrowed it down to - not cheap, but a stay 3 nights and get 4th free makes it a little better.
====
The good news about Candlestick (I still call it candlestick? ) is it will give you the shortest commute into The City. The bad news is that it is not located in a nice park of town. You would be coming off the freeway and around the stadium so don't expect amenities or views from the park. But again -- you're only 10 minutes from downtown SF if you wait until after commute hours.

The Pacifica park is a bit farther commute wise, but it sits on a bluff right on the Pacific with spectacular views -- with some great sea food restaurants in the area, jogging trails by the beach and such. The last time I checked, they were priced about the same as Candlestick ($55/night). It can be cold and foggy - or unbelievable beautiful.

There's another pretty nice park in Redwood City -- just south of San Mateo. They may be a bit cheaper but a longer commute.

My opinion of Bay Area Parks is that one wants to avoid the bridges at all cost. So if you plan to visit SF for those 4 days -- stay on the Peninsula. The KOA up north puts you on a collision course with the 101 over the Golden Gate. To drive that into and from SF could take most of your day. It's a zoo up there . . .

However, if you drive into SF from the Peninsula, it's an easy and great drive by the Presidio from the Wharf out to the Golden Gate and the North tower viewpoints -- and just a few miles farther you can drop down into Sausalito. If you do -- plan lunch a Scomas on the bay.

Attached are some pics I took a few months back on a day in The City (from Pacifica).

o Scomas in Sausalito
o Open air fish markets on the Wharf
o Part of the fishing fleet tied up at the Wharf
o A view of the Golden Gate from the West side of the North tower

Bob

Great pics.  Always enjoy a visit to SF.

As Bob mentioned....

San Francisco RV Park in Pacifica is where we ended up and are staying currently.  The views are awesome and the area has practically eveything you need all within walking distance.  Very cool.  The commute isn't  bad really, time wise about 20 mins to downtown SF, though with my Dodge pickup (dually) parking simply is not an option.  I certainly would NOT try to bop around in a motorhome. 

We are staying here long-term, and after 1 week I can say we're enjoying the park a lot.  The management and employees are very friendly, helpfull and cooperative.  The park is a little tight on space, but for a few days easily doable and convenient to the Bay Area. Prices are high, but probably in line with the other few parks in the area.  Our first night stay, before we opted for a monthly rate, cost us $47.00 with AAA 10% discount, and that was tax included.  Basically AAA pays the tax !

Good luck in your journey.

Ronn

ps:  If you make it here, look for the 40' RAPTOR 5th wheel and feel free to stop by.