Angel Island is about a 15-minute ferry ride from San Francisco. If you want to camp there it will take some planning, in order to reserve an camping spot on the island you need to book 6 months in advance. The website, California State Parks is where you can reserve a camping spot. There are several spots to choose from, Sunrise camp is down by the beach, and Ridge sites have beautiful views of both bridges on a clear day. I learned that ridge was everyone’s favorite area, but hardest to book. On Friday the State Parks release one week, six months out for Angel Island. Be willing to go on a weekday and to on a whim. Which is what I ended up doing after trying to reserve the year before and canceling due to cold weather. A week before I saw a weekday spot for Ridge camp 5 open up and reserved the spot for a night. The views and having an island to yourself is worth the wait.

I started the trip by bus and made my way to the Pier 41 to take the Blue & Gold Ferry to Angel Island. You can buy your tickets online for $19.50 per person there and back. Currently, the last boat out of the city is at 1:45 pm and last boat off the island is 4:35 pm. Be sure to check the schedule for any changes.

To get to the spot you will need to hike about a mile up a steep hill. I opted to reduce our amount of gear because of public transportation and the hike in. The spot was near Battery Wallace, a battery operating from 1900 to 1917. The day was spent exploring the island, enjoying the view, and hiking Mt. Livermore. The island is home of numerous deer, I saw at least 12 and came across several on the trail. For dinner, I brought some charcoal and cooked up some impossible burgers on the grill and ate dinner at a nearby picnic table as the sun set over the Golden Gate bridge.