Kirby Cove Campground
8Heads up5 park alerts · 3 fires, nearest 1 mi
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 15:58 UTC
- A night
- $40From, per site
- Sites
- 5All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
Kirby Cove is located just north of the Golden Gate Bridge at historic Battery Kirby. Visitors are awarded breathtaking views of San Francisco, its famous Golden Gate Bridge, and the rugged Pacific Coast of northern California. Please note: The parking area for the campground is a short walk from the campsites, so RV or car camping is not allowed at Kirby Cove Campground. Keep reading
Recreation
Hiking, picnicking and taking in the beautiful views from Kirby Cove are among the park's most popular activities. Visitors also enjoy exploring Battery Kirby, a historic army battery in use from 1898-1934. The Point Bonita Lighthouse and Nike Missile Site SF-88 are also close to the campsite.
Facilities
Kirby Cove offers five overnight camp sites and one day-use picnic site, all reached via driving on a steep access road. Vehicle parking is separate from the individual campsites - please be prepared for up to a 200 yard walk from the parking area to your campsite. There is no water available at this campground - campers must bring any water necessary for drinking, cooking, etc. The day-use site is available as an accessible picnic site for persons with a disability or otherwise limited physical mobility. Sites 2 and 5 are available as accessible campsites for persons with a disability or otherwise limited physical mobility. Access to the first Kirby Cove gate is available to all campers. Access to the second gate is only for persons with a disability or otherwise limited physical mobility . Contact the Marin Headlands Rangers at least 48 hours in advance by emailing your name, phone number, date of visit, and photo of your ADA vehicle placard to goga_marinheadlands_info@nps.gov to receive the second gate codes. Kirby Cove gate codes can be made available to any park visitor with a physical disability, but only during the months that the campground is open . See the Need to Know section for instructions.
Natural Features
Kirby Cove offers a coarse-sand beach with spectacular views - when it's not foggy - of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and northern San Francisco, including the historic Presidio. The cove is nestled at the foot of the craggy Marin Headlands and has beach access. A steep, mile-long trail to the cove begins at the parking area above Battery Spencer on Conzelman Road. The path descends through a stately grove of Monterey, cypress, pine and Blue Gum eucalyptus. Coastal sage and colorful Lupine dot the hillsides. Temperatures are mild year-round. Expect lows from 50-55 degrees and highs from 60-65. Fog is prevalent in the summer months from May-Sept. It is best to bring clothing that can be layered. Lightweight summer clothes are rarely comfortable to wear at Kirby Cove. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (415) 331-1540.
Nearby Attractions
The San Francisco Bay Area has no shortage of fun and interesting things to do and see. Awe-inspiring Muir Woods National Monument, with its old-growth coastal redwood forest and numerous hiking trails, is just a 20-minute drive from Kirby Cove. Mount Tamalpais State Park, with hiking and sweeping views of the Bay Area, is another 10 minutes past Muir Woods. Downtown San Francisco offers a myriad of restaurants, shops, museums and tourist attractions. Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz Island and Chinatown are popular destinations. Visitors love riding San Francisco's world famous cable cars up and down the city's hilly streets.
Charges & Cancellations
The Kirby Cove Day Use Site must be cancelled or modified more than 14 days before your check-in date otherwise it will be considered a late cancellation. You may also refer to Recreation.gov's Rules & Reservation Policies . To initiate a refund request more than 7 days after your reservation, call the recreation.gov call center at 877-444-6777.
What the agency tells you
There is no water available at this campground. Campers must provide their own water for drinking, cleaning, etc. Bring enough water to last your entire stay.
Reservations at Kirby Cove Campground can be made up to 6 months before your arrival and may extend up to 2 days beyond the 6-month booking window. - Only 3 nights per season per camper! This is in order to ensure everyone gets to enjoy Kirby Cove. - A maximum of 10 people can stay at the overnight sites and a maximum of 35 people can stay at the day use site.
Access to the second Kirby Cove Gate: - Access to the first Kirby Cove gate is available to all campers. Be prepared for a ~200 yard walk to your campsite. Access to the second gate is only for persons with a disability or otherwise limited physical mobility. Contact the Marin Headlands Rangers at least 48 hours in advance by emailing your name, phone number, date of visit, and photo of your ADA vehicle placard to goga_marinheadlands_info@nps.gov to receive the second gate codes. - Kirby Cove gate codes can be made available to any park visitor with a physical disability, but only during the time that the campground is open. To inquire, please follow the instructions in the previous bullet point.
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Your confirmation is your permit which includes gate codes. - Please print your confirmation email after reserving a site. Place a copy of your confirmation on the dashboard of each vehicle, and keep one on you as well. A maximum of 3 vehicles for Sites 1-5 and 4 vehicles for Day Use Site are permitted.
The Parking area is separate from the actual campsites. This is a walk-in, Tent Only facility. No RVs or car camping is allowed.
Campground Quiet Hours are between 10 PM and 6 AM. Please be respectful to others.
Leave No Trace - Do not leave trash at campsite or in food lockers. Use the designated dumpsters in the parking lot. - Firewood must be nail and chemical free and purchased locally; gathering firewood is not allowed. - Please help us keep wild animals wild! Do not feed or approach wildlife. Keep area clean of scented items and keep all food items locked in the provided food locker or in the trunk of your vehicle. Food left unattended will likely be eaten by wildlife.
Check before you burn. Visit the Recreational Fire Regulations page to find out if there are restrictions on camp fires during your stay.
Pets are prohibited, only trained service animals are allowed.
Hammocks tied on trees or structures are not permitted. Only free standing hammocks are allowed.
Foghorns on the Golden Gate Bridge can be loud; best to bring earplugs if staying overnight.
In case of emergency call 911 or Park Dispatch at (415) 561-5656.
For more information, call (415) 331-1540 or email us at goga_marinheadlands_info@nps.gov.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 5 · 5 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 15 ft
- Accessible sites
- 2
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets - year round
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- Stay limit
- 3 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Beach, Coast
- Birding
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Mountain biking
- Picnicking
- Water access
- Night sky · 1177th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 5
- Fall color · reported 12 days ago, 35 km away
- Minimal color
Full this Saturdayread 15:58 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
2 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:53 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 6 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 1 is free on Thu, Oct 22. read 15:58 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $40 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“The Kirby Cove Day Use Site must be cancelled or modified more than 14 days before your check-in date otherwise it will be considered a late cancellation. You may also refer to Recreation.gov's Rules & Reservation Policies. To initiate a refund request more than 7 days after your reservation, call the recreation.gov…” · this campground’s own terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 2
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:53 UTC
- Aquatic Park Cove, Black Point Overnight Anchoring, Sailing Vessels only (auxiliary engine OK)San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park · 4.2 mi · 24 of 24 site-nights open
- Point Reyes National Seashore CampgroundPoint Reyes National Seashore · 22 mi · 7 of 102 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:58 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
6 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 5 mapped sitesAll 6 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 5 of the 6 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Day Use Area | Day Use | day use | 15 ft | yes | 4,917 ft | ||
| KIRBY COVE CAMPGROUND AREA | 001 | tent only nonelectric | 15 ft | 322 ft | 5,184 ft | $40 | |
| KIRBY COVE CAMPGROUND AREA | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 15 ft | yes | 152 ft | 4,821 ft | $40 |
| KIRBY COVE CAMPGROUND AREA | 003 | tent only nonelectric | 15 ft | 169 ft | 4,653 ft | $40 | |
| KIRBY COVE CAMPGROUND AREA | 004 | tent only nonelectric | 15 ft | 352 ft | 4,600 ft | $40 | |
| KIRBY COVE CAMPGROUND AREA | 005 | tent only nonelectric | 15 ft | yes | 152 ft | 4,862 ft | $40 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It files it as day use. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Hawk CampgroundGolden Gate National Recreation Area · 2.0 mi
Bicentennial CampgroundGolden Gate National Recreation Area · 2.1 mi
Rob Hill Group CampgroundGolden Gate National Recreation Area · 3.0 mi
Haypress CampgroundGolden Gate National Recreation Area · 3.4 mi
Aquatic Park Cove, Black Point Overnight Anchoring, Sailing Vessels only (auxiliary engine OK)San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park · 4.2 mi
Wildcat CampgroundPoint Reyes National Seashore · 19 miFrom San Francisco (travelling north):
Cross the Golden Gate Bridge and take exit 442 onto Alexander Avenue. This will be the exit after the Vista Point. Continue straight for a few hundred feet, and then turn left onto Bunker Road. Travel through the Baker-Barry Tunnel and continue straight until you can turn left onto McCullough Road, after the speed bumps. Continue uphill until you hit the traffic circle, and take the 2nd exit onto Conzelman Road. Travel downhill on the one-way road until you reach Battery Spencer, and it will be sharp right turn toward the Kirby Cove service gates. After entering the gate codes provided upon reservation, it is then a mile drive down the dirt trail to the Kirby Cove Parking lot.
From Marin (travelling south):
From US-101 South, take the last exit before the Golden Gate Bridge onto Alexander Avenue. Turn right at the stop sign and continue straight for about a quarter mile, until you can turn left onto Bunker Road. Travel through the Baker-Barry Tunnel and continue straight until you can turn left onto McCullough Road, after the speed bumps. Continue uphill until you hit the traffic circle, and take the 2nd exit onto Conzelman Road. Travel downhill until you reach Battery Spencer, and it will be sharp right turn toward the Kirby Cove service gate. It is then a mile drive down the dirt trail to the Kirby Cove Parking lot.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sausalito, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 54°F, day 70°F.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Septembers are colder than the September line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Kirby Cove Campground is in California’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Jared Huffman (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 4
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The office that runs itGolden Gate National Recreation AreaNational Park Service unit
- The member who votes the moneyJared HuffmanU.S. Representative · California’s 2nd district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationAdam B. SchiffU.S. Senator · California
- Your senator, on the same appropriationAlex PadillaU.S. Senator · California
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks the National Park Service to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up, and to post what that share is.
Subject Hold back a share of sites at Kirby Cove Campground for campers who drive up
To the National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area: I tried to camp at Kirby Cove Campground in California and couldn’t. All 5 sites at Kirby Cove Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 6 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Kirby Cove Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m asking for one specific thing: set aside a published share of the sites at Kirby Cove Campground as first-come, first-served, and post what that share is so it can be checked. Somebody who drives up has no way in, and no way to find out whether they might have had one. Sent about Kirby Cove Campground (Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Kirby Cove Campground, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California
Dear Jared Huffman, I’m a constituent in California’s 2nd district. I tried to camp at Kirby Cove Campground, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California, and couldn’t. All 5 sites at Kirby Cove Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 6 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Kirby Cove Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Kirby Cove Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Kirby Cove Campground (Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Kirby Cove Campground, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California
Dear Adam B. Schiff, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Kirby Cove Campground, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California, and couldn’t. All 5 sites at Kirby Cove Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 6 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Kirby Cove Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Kirby Cove Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Kirby Cove Campground (Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Kirby Cove Campground, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California
Dear Alex Padilla, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Kirby Cove Campground, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California, and couldn’t. All 5 sites at Kirby Cove Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 6 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Kirby Cove Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Kirby Cove Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Kirby Cove Campground (Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California) via campanac.com