Pantoll Campground, Mount Tamalpais

The first time that I left the homeless shelter to go camping, I didn’t know that I would be leaving forever the next week.

I thought that I just needed a break from all the commotion.

For some reason, we had been given a “pass” that weekend, which meant that, if we chose to spend a few nights elsewhere, it wouldn’t count towards our total.

The shelter does this from time to time to allow everyone a chance to spend extra nights with friends and family.

I’d never been camping alone before, but I was pretty sure I could pull it off.

I’d been camping a few times with other people, and I had just recently purchased the backpacking tent that I’d had on my Amazon wishlist for years.

It had been sitting in storage. I went to get it out, stocked up at my favorite dispensary, and went grocery shopping.

I left early in the morning, and got to Pantoll around 8am. I was relieved to see that it was mostly empty.

Pantoll is a hike in, first come first served campground. Pantoll and Bootjack are officially the only two campgrounds in Mount Tamalpais where one can camp without a reservation.

I noticed the self registration envelopes, but had never used one before. I was reading the sign, trying to figure out how they worked, when a ranger surprised me by opening up the window.

“Good morning!”

“Good morning! Can I pay you here to camp at Pantoll?”

I can’t remember which site I was on, but I know it was the second or third closest to the top of the hill.

I had figured that the higher up the mountain I went, the more peace and quiet I would get.

As I laid out the footprint for my tent, it started to rain. My neighbor asked me if I needed a hand, but I was determined to learn how to do it alone.

She looked at me like she thought I was crazy, but then shrugged.

I laid out my tent. Tents are rain proof, right?

I pulled out the poles, and found them to be latched together with some kind of lock that I couldn’t remove. I tried super hard to remove them, before figuring out that they were meant to be there.

At some point, I ran down to the parking lot, connected to the wifi from the Pantoll Ranger Station, and Googled “How to set up an MSR Elixir 2.”

I then ran back uphill, and put up the tent. I couldn’t understand why it was all wet inside. I think I learned my lesson about setting up in the rain.

For the first night, due to the rain, it was extremely quiet in the campground. For the first time in months, I slept through the night.

The next night, the girl next to me left, and was replaced by an arguing young couple. They argued all night long, and I had forgotten to bring my ear plugs.

The next morning, I moved over to Bootjack, which is just down the road.

At $25 a night, Pantoll is relatively cheap, especially considering that some of the campsites overlook the San Francisco Bay.

Those with California State Parks disability passes get half off of all camping fees.

Parking and day use fees are included in camping fees, in general.

I hadn’t realized it when I first arrived, but the top four campsites have amazing views of the city lights at night.

Of course, the reason Pantoll is so cheap is because it’s a hike in campground, which means that you cannot park at your campsite, like you can at most campsites in Yosemite.

You leave your car in the parking lot, and then carry all your stuff up the hill. The two campsites closest to the bottom of the hill are reserved for ADA campers unless the campground fills.

Pantoll is truly first come first serve in that, if you show up to reserve a campsite, and someone else has tried to pay for that spot online, the rangers will cancel their reservation.

Priority goes to whoever has a tent physically set up on the site first.

The campground itself is rustic and beautiful. It has a similar look and feel to all of the nearby camping trails. Lots of redwoods, and lots of moss.

Unfortunately, I did not take very many photos of the campground itself.

The bathrooms have mirrors and flush toilets, but they get nasty by 10am, especially on a busy day. There are no showers.

One of the main advantages to camping at either Pantoll or Bootjack is the ability to hike into Muir Woods without a reservation.

Normally, reservations for Muir Woods sell out months in advance. The entrance fee is around $15/person.

However, there are no entrance fees or reservations required to hike in via the Ben Johnson or Stapleveldt trails, which are both easily accessible from Pantoll.

Depending which way you go, it’s about a two to three mile hike downhill into Muir Woods.

Other great trails nearby include, well, every trail in Mount Tamalpais and Tennessee Valley.

The hike out to Cardiac Point on Dipsea is just a half mile stroll down an accessible gravel path from Pantoll.

Cardiac Point is so named because it is five miles uphill from the bottom of Dipsea Trail.

It overlooks the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, which is only about twelve miles away.

Driving into the city from Mount Tamalpais is a no brainer. But, of course, you have to pay the $9.50 bridge fee, so if you’re going into the city, it’s best to plan a whole day there.

I loved camping at Pantoll, and would love to camp there again.