Backpacking near Palo Alto

Palo Alto backpackers have it better than most suburban hikers. In under an hour you can shoulder a pack on Skyline Boulevard and sleep among firs and madrones with the lights of the valley below. In under two hours you can disappear into Henry W. Coe State Park, where a long weekend can pass without seeing another tent. The catch is that some famous routes, including the full Skyline to the Sea Trail, are still broken by damage from the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire.

This guide covers the trail camps and backcountry areas within reach of Palo Alto, how each agency issues permits and what is open as of late October and early November 2026. Our camping guide covers drive-in campgrounds. Check every agency's page again before you go, because fire weather and storms change conditions quickly.

Options at a glance

Black Mountain: the first night out

The closest backcountry campsite to Palo Alto sits just below the 2,800-foot summit of Black Mountain in Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, at the top of Page Mill Road. Midpen says it is the only campsite on its lands. It is a 1.5-mile hike from the Monte Bello lot with about 500 feet of climbing, which makes it the ideal shakedown trip for new backpackers or kids.

• Sites: four single sites for up to four people each and one group site for up to 24, for one or two nights, all year.
• Permit: required, $2 per camper per night, invoiced when your space is confirmed. Midpen issues permits first come, first served and suggests applying at least a week ahead.
• Timing: arrive after 2 p.m. and before sunset; leave by noon.
• Parking: overnight only in the main lot at 4301 Page Mill Road, with the permit on the dashboard.
• Fire and water: no campfires. Gas stoves only in designated areas and none during a Red Flag Warning. The water is not drinkable.
• Dogs: not allowed anywhere in the preserve.

Details are on Midpen's camping page.

Castle Rock trail camps

Farther down Skyline, Castle Rock State Park has two backcountry camps. Castle Rock Trail Camp sits on a ridge 2.6 miles from the Kirkwood lot via the Saratoga Gap Trail, past the waterfall overlook and the sandstone of Goat Rock. State Parks lists 20 sites with tables, fire rings, vault toilets and a bad-weather shelter. The fee is $15 per site per night for up to six people, plus an $8 nonrefundable reservation fee. Five sites are kept first come, first served; register at the Kirkwood lot before you hike in. On October 30, 2026 the camp was open with no campfires.

Waterman Gap Trail Camp has six primitive sites and a vault toilet, 6.3 miles from Saratoga Gap. There is no overnight parking at Waterman Gap itself, so many backpackers walk 9.3 miles from the main entrance. No fires are allowed, though gas stoves are. Both camps book through the State Parks trail camp request form up to 60 days ahead, with payment by phone at (831) 338-8867 on weekday afternoons.

Skyline to the Sea: what is open

For decades the Bay Area's signature backpacking trip ran from Saratoga Gap or Castle Rock through Big Basin to the ocean at Waddell Beach. State Parks gives the full route as 25.2 to 28.2 miles. The 2020 fire changed that. In October 2026 State Parks said the trail was open only from Castle Rock to the Big Basin day use area and that all Big Basin trail camps remained closed.

What you can still do: hike from Saratoga Gap to Waterman Gap Trail Camp for one night, or walk the upper trail as a long day to the Big Basin day use area with a car shuttle. Big Basin is open for day use from 8 a.m. to sunset with parking reservations recommended. Treat a through trip to the coast as off the table until State Parks announces reopened trail camps. Our redwood forests guide covers Big Basin's day hikes.

Henry W. Coe State Park

For real solitude, drive about 1.25 hours south to Henry W. Coe State Park, the largest state park in Northern California at about 87,000 acres. State Parks says the park has more than 80,000 acres of rugged backcountry for hike-in camping, enough for a weeklong trip camping in a different place each night. Its camping page sets out the rules:

1. Where to camp: designated backpacking sites 1 to 7.5 miles from the Coe Ranch entrance, or dispersed camping in outlying zones and at least half a mile beyond the Hunting Hollow and Dowdy Ranch entrances.
2. Permits: required, issued first come, first served at Coe Ranch and Hunting Hollow and seasonally at Dowdy Ranch. Register early in the day in spring and on holiday weekends, when parking also runs short.
3. Fees: $5 per person per night, up to 8 people, plus $8 per vehicle per night, or $6 at Hunting Hollow. Annual passes cover day use only, not camping.
4. Fire: ground fires are not allowed anywhere in the park.
5. Dogs: not allowed in the backcountry.
6. Groups: twelve hike-in group camps hold 9 to 50 backpackers and must be reserved at least 7 days ahead through ReserveCalifornia.

Spring is prime time, when wildflowers carpet the hills from February into May. Summers top 90°F and water is scarce, so State Parks tells anyone hiking 5 miles or more to carry large amounts of water and a purifier. Winter storms can turn creeks into impassable torrents.

What to carry

• Water and a filter. None of these camps has reliably drinkable water on site.
• A stove you can turn off. Red Flag Warnings can ban stoves as well as fires.
• An offline map. Cell service is absent along much of Skyline and at Coe.
• Layers. Ridge camps can be foggy and cold even in summer.
• Food storage. Pack out every crumb. Jays and ravens drawn to camp food raid the nests of endangered marbled murrelets in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
• Tick check. Ticks, poison oak and rattlesnakes are common in the foothills.

Our guide to bike shops and outdoor gear lists stores near Palo Alto for stoves, filters and fuel.

Planning a first trip

Trailheads have no transit, so you will need a car. You can compare rental cars for a weekend trip. For more day hikes to build fitness first, see our list of hard hikes near Palo Alto.

Frequently asked questions