ROUGHING IT IN BAY’S BACKYARD
Our ultimate guide to camping without commuting and what to take along.
It’s been a cooped-up kind of winter. Yeah, we desperately needed the rain. We were drying up without the rain. Once rain arrived, we reveled in it, holing up for entire weekends listening to the drops pound the roof while we sat on the couch with a double Manhattan and a Jack Reacher thriller. (OK, that’s me, but I suspect I was not alone.)
Still, at some point, you say, enough. You long to swap drizzle for sunshine, clouds for blue sky, and sedentary couch lolling for hikes and rock climbs and sleeping under the stars.
We are here to tell you that in the Bay Area, that time has arrived. This may be the best camping season in decades. Winter rains have turned parks spectacularly verdant. Some trails may be closed from storm damage for a while, but you’ll still have plenty of hiking options. Hillsides are green, streams are full, waterfalls are splashing, and this year’s spring wildflower season promises to be a showstopper.
So, if you’re a camper, a former camper, a person who thought she or he might want to be a camper but wasn’t entirely sure, now is the time. Below we present the 16 best parks in the Bay Area or just a short drive beyond — where you don’t have to drive four hours to “get outdoors” — to set up a tent, unroll a sleeping bag, hit the trail and roast s’mores. Remember, too — there’s no law that says you can’t bring Manhattan makings and a paperback thriller camping with you. No law at all.