Reservations for this campground are hard to come by, as there are only three campsites and the booking window often fills up right away. With the right timing and planning ahead of time, and knowing that seconds can make a difference when the booking window opens, you can camp here too! It seems that several folks who camped here did not do their research or read the simple description on the recreation.gov website that describes this as a hike-in campground. This place is great such that you can walk and hike around the Marin headlands for great views nearby. The setup of the campsite was a bit cozy though, as all three sites are kind of directly across to and next to one another, offering zero privacy. No campfires and no pets allowed though, which are a couple of things that are worth noting. Most of the Marin Headlands is not pet friendly though (maybe in part due to the high concentration of coyotes?). Also, do not forget to bring ear plugs with you. I totally forgot about the fog horns on the Golden Gate Bridge that point in the direction of this campground read more

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Someone please take responsibility for this beautiful spot. Not tending to the out house for 2 1/2 months while renting space is not acceptable in California. read more

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It's great for what it is, but it is what it is, and it's not for everyone. It's beautiful and easy to get to, but.... 1) There are only 3 sites and each only supports 3 people in 1 tent. 2) All three sights are right together with no separation. 3) No water or bathrooms. 4) The port-o-potties are up the hill. 5) No fires or camp stoves allowed. 6) It is very difficult to book. On the other hand... 1) It is beautiful. 2) It is in the middle of the Marin Headlands. 3) It does not require backpacking (although it is down a hill from the parking). If you are into extremely primitive camping and no cook eating this is an awesome spot! (You can also hike up the hill to the Battery Wallace Picnic Area where they have barbecue grills and allow camp stoves.) read more

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I booked a site months in advance at 20$ for one night. This was our last stop after a week long trip hiking and camping our way through Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite. We just wanted a cheap place to sleep for the night, where we could make dinner, go to the bathroom and repack our bags for our flight home the next day. Later I came to find out this is actually considered a backcountry site which if I had known that beforehand I never would have booked it. In my mind this isn't considered back country, so I was very annoyed and surprised to find the complete lack in basic amenities. Reasons Why This Site Was A No For Us: 1. The area to reach these primitive sites you must go down (and eventually come back up) a steep incline. Maybe if we hadn't done as much hiking as we had over theist six days this wouldn't be such a big deal. However, for us it was an absolute deal breaker. We have 30lb+ sacks each which we have been living out of so hauling those babies plus extra gear up and down that slope was just too much for our burned out bodies. 2. You park at the top of the hill and this area is well know for breaks in. There are signs everywhere, the Rangers and NPS employees will also tell you. The really reality check was that we even saw busted out glass along the parking spots. For that reason it was either haul the camera equipment down as well or risk it staying in the trunk of the car. 3. When we checked in we weren't given a map of the campsite so I had no idea there were only 3 sites, which are all very close together. We also had a difficult time finding the campsite in the first place. There is one tiny sign that we were luck to see and figure out where it was. Individually those wouldn't be deal breakers but together they were a major issue. Also the Visitor's Center and various attractions have odd business hours so check those out before hand. We tried to go to Bonita Point Lighthouse which said it closed at 3:30pm. Well, the tunnel was locked at 3pm when we tried to go out to see it. Thought that'd be important to know if staying in the area. 4. The sites were completely overgrown and the port-a-potty was disgusting. I'm all about roughing it, but this was the most disgusting place I've been this entire trip. The grass was almost waist high which created an unideal camping environment. Getting to site #2 is difficult to do without wading through grass. After the short while we were there I still felt like I needed to check myself for ticks. 5. No access to water. Even legitimate backcountry sites in the middle off nowhere I have had access to a spigot, so we found this to be the final straw and ended up cutting our losses and just grabbing a hotel. The views are nice, but nearly good enough in my opinion to negate all the other issues with the site. This park feels very neglected and run down, and I hope it gets the attention and dedicated care it needs to stay accessible. Also we have T-Mobile and still had full service at the site, which can be a good or bad thing based on your person preferences. read more

This was a great little camp area. Perfect for a stopping place in between our tourist activities. We only slept here. I didn't find it difficult to book the site either, but I booked well in advance of our trip. Recreation.gov will tell you when you can book a site. There are picnic tables, bear boxes, and barbecues at each of the three sites. One port-a-potty is down by the three sites and there is an actual pit toilet up in the day use area. No running water. Amazing views. However, the campground description of the area (both on Recreation.gov and the NPS website) omits some key pieces of information that would've been nice knowing ahead of time. 1. The road to the campground has a gate that closes at sunset. Problematic if you arrive after sunset and don't realize this gate exists. There is another round-about way to get to the campground, but if it's your first time or are unfamiliar with the area it may difficult to figure out. 2. Camping permits are available at the visitors center (website mentions this). However, the visitors center is only open from 9:30am-4:00pm Wednesday-Monday. Also, not a problem, except when they don't leave the permits in the after-hours dropbox. 3. It's a SHORT, downhill hike from the parking spots to the actual campsites. Not a deal breaker by any means, but something worth noting. 4. Recreation.gov mentions a lot of attractions in the Marin Headlands area. Some of these attractions have VERY SPECIFIC hours and closures. If you want to do any of these, look into hours before booking a site. These weren't the main goal of our trip, but we thought we would just hit some of them since we were in the area. We found a couple of them closed the entire time we were staying (like Point Bonita Lighthouse and Nike Missile Facility). 5. There's a specific tent pad where you are to set up your tent. Size isn't mentioned on Recreation.gov, but when we set up our tent, it appeared to be 8'x8' (our 6'x8' tent barely fit). So, if you have a large tent, it probably won't fit. All-in-all it was a great place for us to sleep for two nights. read more

Bicentennial is one of four campgrounds within the Marin Headlands portion of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The campground has three walk-in sites set around a small field. The sites are somewhat close together and there isn't a lot of privacy, but overall I thought they were nice and the location is terrific. A permit from the visitor center is a required and then campsite selection is first come, first served. Through the trees there are views of the water, the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. Nearby are several fun destinations including the Point Bonita lighthouse, Rodeo Beach and the Marine Mammal Center. There are also lots of good hiking trails. +1 star for the price (free!) read more

So i had high hopes for this campground. So when you arrive you have to walk down a long hill and going up a long hill again to go home. I had thought you'd be able to bring your car down since i've seen in pictures but there is a pole blocking you from doing that. There is no privacy at all. The tent spaces are literally next to eachother and i also hated having to go pee in a portapotty and there is no water as well. Overall its not TOO bad but just false advertising. read more

I have been going to this campground since I was a kid and it is still amazing as an adult. The shitty thing is that too many people know about it now and obviously im being part of the problem by hyping it up right now. Great memories here with more to come. read more