Sleep In The Shadow Of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge At This Secret Beachside Campground

You've been trying for weeks, waking at odd hours to check the website for newly released dates, but the sites go in seconds. You check all day every day for cancellations, and then, bingo! You luck out and snag a reservation. For 24 hours, you'll be in possession of what may be the best piece of real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area: a coveted campsite at Kirby Cove. Nestled at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge on the Marin County side, in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the views from here are spine-tinglingly epic. The visual environment all around you is so elevated that you'll feel like you're living inside a cinematic masterpiece. Can this be the real world? It hardly seems so.

There are only five campsites at Kirby Cove Campground, and you can only stay a maximum of three nights per year. Perhaps because so few people can actually book this, it seems to fly under the radar as a destination. Once you do have a reservation, you're given a gate code to access a steep, winding road down to the primitive campground right above a tiny beach. Just you and four other groups of campers have this private beach all to yourselves, with one of the best views in the world. You're almost looking up at the Golden Gate Bridge from here and beyond it, the San Francisco skyline while a parade of ships and yachts sails in and out of the bay.

The entrance to this campground is just a gate after a hairpin turn off the road leading to the Golden Gate Bridge viewpoint. When you get out of your car to unlock the gate, it feels like everyone at the crowded overlook is eyeballing you, wondering where you're going and how you got to be so special. After replacing the gate, you will wind down a steep, mile-long road to the cove itself, invisible from above, to a parking lot shaded by cypress and eucalyptus. You're allowed ten guests and three cars per site — or be selfish and make it a gloriously solo camping trip — either way, you'll have to hoof to get your coolers and tents to your designated campsite, as all are walk-in only (vans and RVs aren't invited). 

If you were lucky enough to score campsite #1, you'll have to go the farthest, but you'll be rewarded with the best view. You'll only have to roll up the flap of your tent in the morning to see the Golden Gate Bridge and the cityfront. But even if you're in campsite #5, the setting is absolutely magical — and you'll be spending your day at the beach, anyway. The best part about a stay in Kirby Cove is the cove itself, a private beach you'll share with the other campers and the few day hikers who figure out how to get there from the congested Golden Gate viewpoints up above you. Bring a blanket or pull up a driftwood log to use as a bench and settle in to watch the show.

A constant parade of sailboats flying colorful spinnakers and bullnosed container ships throwing up bow waves glides in and out the Golden Gate, against the backdrop of the San Francisco skyline. From here, tourist destinations like Alcatraz and Fisherman's Wharf seem a million light years away. Outside the soaring arch of the bridge — the nearly 750-foot towers feel so close – the rugged shoreline is lashed by foaming waves. Sometimes an intrepid kiteboarder or windsurfer will dart out into the strong current, or a whale will breach, pirouetting in the air before belly-flopping back down – a mesmerizing sight. Just after a subtle sunset, the chill wind will drive you to seek shelter in your tent, but you'll be back at first light with a cup of coffee, to scan the water for the bobbing heads of harbor seals.

If you can't seem to land a spot, there are a few tricks you can try to snag sought-after campsite reservations, or you can always visit Kirby Cove as a day hike. From San Francisco, you'll cross the Golden Gate Bridge and take the Alexander exit, then park at the vista point parking lot (or along the road if it's full). From there, it's a steep 3 mile out-and-back hike to the cove. It may be sunny up top, and foggy below, or vice versa, especially in August, so layer up before you go.