Address: 201 Doran Beach Rd, Bodega Bay, CA 94923
Parking: $7 per vehicle, $2 per dog
Camping: Tent Campsites are $44.50 per night
Hours: 7AM-Sunset, Camping check-in is at 2PM and check-out is at 12PM
Type: Hike (easy)
Regulations: Dogs allowed on-leash
Best time to visit: Summer, as this area gets cold and windy
Description: This is a beautiful park with easy trails snaking along the beach and through the sand dunes. You may even see some seals on the beach. The campgrounds are large, some very private, with views of the beach.
You can walk along the beach from one end of the park to the other for a 2-mile walk. We saw seals on the rock formations on the side of the beach near the Jetty Campground. There is also a 1.3 mile trail that snakes through the sand dunes and connects to a boardwalk. If you take the trail down the dunes towards the entrance, and cross the street, there is another trail that takes you over a bridge and up a hill to an overlook to view the marsh and other side of the ocean. If you are just coming for day-use, they recommend you arrive before 10AM or after 3PM, as parking fills up mid-day. There was plenty of parking in the campground throughout the day for our overnight stay.
We stayed in Campsite G, which appears to be the best tent campsite. I would highly recommend trying to book this site. We had a half-circle of trees around the backside of our campsite, which shielded us from the wind and gave us privacy from other campsites. We also had a view of the beach and ocean from our tent, and it was a short walk from the parking lot. Campsites A and B are actually in the parking lot, so I would not recommend these sites as they are very windy and your only view will be of cars in the parking lot, which are constantly coming in and out. Campsite F is in between the parking lot and other campsites, so there is no privacy and people constantly use the trail nearby to get to the restrooms. Campsite E has some privacy, but the beach views are blocked by campsite G. This area is unpredictable and can get windy, which is why I recommend campsite G. Bring a lot of wood so you will have a warm fire. There is a picnic table, a fire pit with grill top and a storage box in each campsite. Some of the other campsites are missing doors to close their storage box, and if you’re worried about theft, bring a lock for your storage box. We left our campsite for a couple hours to explore the trails and no one came into our campsite. There is a water faucet available near the restrooms, in between campsite F and H. Camping check-in is at 2PM and check-out is at 12PM, but we were allowed to check-in early, around noon. There are flushing toilets available, but only 2 stalls in each of the women’s and men’s restrooms, so lines can be long. Toilet paper can run out towards the end of the day, so bring extra. Showers are $1.50 per 5 minutes, so bring quarters. The women’s shower head was broken, but they had a wand attached which worked effectively. I could not adjust the water temperature, and it was on the hot side, but I was glad it wasn’t cold. Firewood is available from the host campsites #59 and #114.
This park has restrooms, running water and doggy clean-up bags on the trails.
Parking: $7 per vehicle, $2 per dog
Camping: Tent Campsites are $44.50 per night
Hours: 7AM-Sunset, Camping check-in is at 2PM and check-out is at 12PM
Type: Hike (easy)
Regulations: Dogs allowed on-leash
Best time to visit: Summer, as this area gets cold and windy
Description: This is a beautiful park with easy trails snaking along the beach and through the sand dunes. You may even see some seals on the beach. The campgrounds are large, some very private, with views of the beach.
You can walk along the beach from one end of the park to the other for a 2-mile walk. We saw seals on the rock formations on the side of the beach near the Jetty Campground. There is also a 1.3 mile trail that snakes through the sand dunes and connects to a boardwalk. If you take the trail down the dunes towards the entrance, and cross the street, there is another trail that takes you over a bridge and up a hill to an overlook to view the marsh and other side of the ocean. If you are just coming for day-use, they recommend you arrive before 10AM or after 3PM, as parking fills up mid-day. There was plenty of parking in the campground throughout the day for our overnight stay.
We stayed in Campsite G, which appears to be the best tent campsite. I would highly recommend trying to book this site. We had a half-circle of trees around the backside of our campsite, which shielded us from the wind and gave us privacy from other campsites. We also had a view of the beach and ocean from our tent, and it was a short walk from the parking lot. Campsites A and B are actually in the parking lot, so I would not recommend these sites as they are very windy and your only view will be of cars in the parking lot, which are constantly coming in and out. Campsite F is in between the parking lot and other campsites, so there is no privacy and people constantly use the trail nearby to get to the restrooms. Campsite E has some privacy, but the beach views are blocked by campsite G. This area is unpredictable and can get windy, which is why I recommend campsite G. Bring a lot of wood so you will have a warm fire. There is a picnic table, a fire pit with grill top and a storage box in each campsite. Some of the other campsites are missing doors to close their storage box, and if you’re worried about theft, bring a lock for your storage box. We left our campsite for a couple hours to explore the trails and no one came into our campsite. There is a water faucet available near the restrooms, in between campsite F and H. Camping check-in is at 2PM and check-out is at 12PM, but we were allowed to check-in early, around noon. There are flushing toilets available, but only 2 stalls in each of the women’s and men’s restrooms, so lines can be long. Toilet paper can run out towards the end of the day, so bring extra. Showers are $1.50 per 5 minutes, so bring quarters. The women’s shower head was broken, but they had a wand attached which worked effectively. I could not adjust the water temperature, and it was on the hot side, but I was glad it wasn’t cold. Firewood is available from the host campsites #59 and #114.
This park has restrooms, running water and doggy clean-up bags on the trails.
