Bay Area camping on bike
I stepped out into the frigid morning air. Dew covered the rainfly of my tent, its first use after I bought it “used” from Sports Basement. I chose this campsite for a reason – it has a view of the East Bay hills and the sun was about to rise, hinting at the warmth that would be joining us later. After an eternal moment, I began boiling water in my camp stove to make coffee. My friend brought a pourover, coffee beans, and some leftover baked goods from their cafe.
To celebrate “spring forward” at the start of the month, I invited some friends to bikepack and spend the night with me at Angel Island. Angel Island is the largest natural island in the bay, right off of Tiburon, and holds a history as an Immigration Station and Quarantine Zone in the early 1900’s. In modern times, it’s a State Park and holds the easiest campsites to get to using only a Clipper Card. Our group started our adventure in Oakland, took Bart down to Embarcadero station, and rode our bikes the rest of the way on the ferry. The island’s park ranger, Ben, helped check us into our sites. The next ferry back home wasn’t until 10am the next morning, so, if you decide to follow suit, make sure to double check your supplies for the night.
We made our way up to our campsite, East Bay site 2, and ate our sandwiches we picked up from the Ferry Building. After unloading our bikes and setting up our tents, we rolled back down the trail, enjoying the extra maneuverability the lack of weight on our bikes granted. We descended down the loose gravel to Fort McDowell, what used to be a detention facility and temporary holding zone for Chinese immigrants to be sent out to internment camps during WW2. Now, you are able to walk through some of these buildings to see the history for yourself. After a moment of reverence, we followed Perimeter Road to visit a few different sites and enjoy the last moments of the sun’s warmth on one of the island’s many beaches.
This was a spontaneous trip, and took us about a week to plan. As I’ve raved before to my friends, this is the one of the most fun, easy camping or bikepacking you can take in the SF Bay Area. It is entirely accessible using public transit and has several beautiful hiking and biking trails, abandoned buildings to explore, and relaxing beaches to take a moment for yourself. Camping on Angel Island is a great reminder of the easy access we have to the outdoors, without needing a car. Whether you’re biking/backpacking or just want to spend a couple of hours taking a breather in the Bay Area, I couldn’t recommend this local trip enough.
More info on Angel Island can be found on their state park website and you can book a campsite on Reserve California. To get to the island from San Francisco, you will need a Clipper Card to board the Angel Island Ferry.