Samuel Taylor State Park

We actually stayed here in the rain which was ironic since the campground had all the water turned off due to the drought conditions in California. Site were beautiful - not overly large but not cramped either. We visited the nearby Point Reyes National Seashore during our visit.

With no dump station or water, this campground becomes a pretty expensive dry camping site.

We had some Verizon coverage for work, but I can't remember how strong it was.

Tight loop of shared tent/RV spots on Orchard Hill; neighbors can be close around the center sites. Best sites for privacy are those on the outer edge of the loop (like 46, 26, etc.) as your camp-side is away from the loop & other sites. Most sites are slightly un-level so be prepared. Nestled among giant gorgeous redwoods and facilities are great. Clean restrooms, some showers, swimming in river on easy 1mi walk, longer hikes available, fantastic paved biking for miles and miles, good ranger presence. No hookups & no easy access to potable water for tank refill. Communal dump station was closed when we went.

I stayed only one night. It was cold and damp and dark due to the redwoods. I stayed in October and this would be a perfect spot in warmer weather when the sun was more available. The setting is lovely, however, I was worrying backing my RV into the site to see if I could get level. I did get level. I had called and talked to the ranger before I came and asked for a solar friendly site which was mostly level and he recommended this site. It was so dark (due to the redwood trees) in my rig that it seemed like nighttime in the full daylight.

Mostly there were folks in tents around me. Mainly I chose the park because it was convenient to visiting friends in San Anselmo. Dump station was closed due to drought. Lots of the sites were not level and are more suited to tents, class Bs or short rigs 24' or shorter.

It was about a 50 min. drive from Hwy 101 via Sir Frances Drake Blvd. and I hit lots of traffic from 101 through the little towns along the way. Since I know the area a bit, I avoided some of the back roads Garmin suggested I take (I was coming from Santa Rosa, CA) as I knew them to be full of twists and turns and I was towing. It's kind of out of the way for an overnight but as a destination in the warmer weather, it's lovely.

Samuel P Taylor CA State Park is in Lagunitas, CA and is a great inexpensive home base from which to see the San Francisco Area. I stayed in November and there were only 2 other folks during the week day.
See my video at: https://youtu.be/tfHrzaQeULg

We love our quiet little old Samuel P. Taylor. campground. We have always managed to have good luck booking a spot on a short notice at this camp ground. the rangers still pick up the PHONE when you call!

Our trailer is 29-8" long and considered a shorty in the 5th wheel game, but at Samuel P. she is a land yacht! This is a very old park with narrow roads a couple tight turns that also have enough elevation/slope in them to make you stop and go Whow $H!t We camped in spot 27. its almost a straight shot back that you have to land between a pair of very large redwoods. I would say that NONE of the spots are level so be prepared for that. Even with our trailer all the way to one side, we still didnt have enough room to push our slide all the way out on the driver side.

lastly, DONT leave anything out at night. the raccoons at SPT are large and in-charge.
we left our Scrabble board game out on the table ( no big deal right?) . My wife and me were woken to a fat racoon ripping the box to shreds.. When I tried to chase the raccoon off with a BBQ spatula & flashlight, it just sat there and laughed at me.

I'll start with the positives. Samuel Taylor State Park is nestled into a stand of redwood trees and is very pretty. There are trails throughout the park. It'd be a heavenly spot to come for a weekend with a tent and relax. The cell service is oddly fast considering the remote location.

But there are, for a full-time traveler at least, plenty of negatives. The campground loop is tight with hanging branches and a narrow entrance road. The sites are small and sloped (I had a hard time leveling my 16 foot van). The tree canopy is beautiful but solar power isn't possible. Showers are available but are coin operated and not regularly cleaned. The dump station is closed, and there is no place for a rig to fill up water (spigots are available but for filling jugs only). State Park staff directs you to a private RV park in Olema, which charges $10 to dump and fill.

The reason to stay is that it's the nearest public-land campground to Point Reyes National Seashore, which makes it worth a visit. But at the end of the day, I can't get past what is essentially $35 to park on a slope without any services (and an additional $10 to dump at a different location, even though a dump station exists in the State Park). California's State Parks have the worst cost to value ratio I've seen, and yet they are consistently booked full. I can't tell if people don't care, or it doesn't matter to them, or they've simply given in.

AT&T was 20.1/mbps down and 8.66/mbps up in the morning, slowing as the day progresses to around 7/mbps down.

Site 57 appears to be the largest and a pull thru so accommodated our 30 fifth wheel but pulling out slides is an art in this site. And if you need to back up and redo it’s rather steep so get it right the first time. We will try 48 and 49 soon and think that’s a better place for us. Great short and long hikes. Level bike path. Solar obviously doesn’t work here long. We pull in with our own water and take our shit home. This place is way better than olema. Did that for many years cuz that’s what the family wanted but get a generator and go to better places enjoy!

Samuel P Taylor state park campground is a close jump from the Bay Area, on Sir Francis Drake Blvd through the San Geronimo valley. The trip through the tight streets of San Rafael wasn't the most fun in a 26' class A so if you are going to visit in an RV, try to plan your drive through town when there won't be traffic (not sure when that is, seems really busy all the time). That said, once you get past Fairfax, it's an easy road through a beautiful area to Camp Taylor. The length limit of 31' for a motorhome at the park seems iffy, since at 26' we were barely able to navigate through without hitting trees (especially upon exiting through the day use/picnic area).

This historic park/campground seems well maintained, in spite of its age - decent firepits, picnic tables, several dumpsters/recycling bins, bathroom near us had hot water, soap, paper towels(!). There was a big ranger and sheriff presence when we were there, in our opinion not because they expected issues, but seemingly because that's just how CA Parks staffs the area. There are a number of ranger residences nearby/within the park. Every ranger/sheriff we talked to was great and helpful.

The nights we were there, which were a Wed and Thur night in late April, all campers near us were very respectful & the place was silent overnight. There were a couple of generators running here and there but no late night loud partyers. Not sure what happens here on weekends or during holidays but I suspect that the high visibility of rangers/sheriff deters loud partying. If you take the gorgeous and strenuous hike up Barnabe peak to the fire tower, you'll be too tired to party very long :)

Lots to do/see here. Aforementioned Barnabe peak hike was awesome. The Pioneer Tree trail was also really cool. Exploring both directions on the Cross Marin Trail is fun. You can hike over to Kent Lake, or head (in a vehicle) to Tomales Bay or Point Reyes. Verizon 4g signal was good. Didn't see this mentioned in other reviews: there is a lot of poison oak everywhere in this park, which is not a surprise, given the climate/terrain. We were vigilant and (hopefully) avoided contact but just a heads up, bring your Tecnu!

The campsites themselves are widely varied at SPT. I had booked 49 based on availability & photos, but upon arrival, it was on top of the neighboring 48 (who also happened to be running a loud frame gen when we pulled in, one of the least appealing things to hear in a beautiful, natural setting). The rangers let us move to another unbooked spot, they were very accommodating. There are great sites for tents, some great sites for RVs, some really unlevel/tight spots, some more open but less private spots. All spots but 22-25 in the Creekside loop are pretty close to the road so there's road noise. The Orchard Hill loops are a little farther from the road. https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/469/files/SamuelPTaylorCampgroundMap072516.pdf

We stayed here in early January 2020 and it was fairly empty, even on the weekend. We pulled in on a Saturday and stayed for a week. We got decent cell signal and could work and stream shows for our kiddos. The staff were friendly and the showers (50 cents for 2 minutes) were very spacious. It did take a full 1-2 minutes for the hot water to finally warm up, which means you pay and can't really shower, but it was very hot when it finally warmed up. There were only a couple other RVs and a lot of tent campers. The hiking in the SP is absolutely amazing and the Bear Valley visitor center in Point Reyes is wonderful!! Also the nearby town of Point Reyes Station is darling. We will for sure stay here again if in the area.

The description says they can accommodate 31 ft. We camped in a 31 ft fifth wheel. There are very few 31 ft sites. The one we got had a huge tree that took up part of the rear of the site. Maneuvering was difficult. This park is better suited to small trailers, vans and tents. Otherwise, it’s a beautiful place.