When Kirby Cove campsites go on sale
Kirby Cove has a handful of sites, a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, and a booking window that closes almost immediately. Here is the release schedule and what to do instead.
Camp-Now watches sold-out Recreation.gov campgrounds for you, catches the cancellation, and holds the site in your cart while you check out.
Recreation.gov release dates
How Kirby Cove bookings usually behave
Current release dates and rules published on Recreation.gov.
Kirby Cove Campground
- Max 3 nights
- Same-day booking
- 3 bookings per account
Bookable now for arrivals through Mar 3, 2027. On Sep 2, 2026, arrivals through Mar 4, 2027 become bookable.
- Max stay is 3 nights per season per camper.
- Bring your own water; none is available at the campground.
Bicentennial Campground
- Max 3 nights
- Same-day booking
- 3 bookings per account
Bookable now for arrivals through Mar 3, 2027. On Sep 2, 2026, arrivals through Mar 4, 2027 become bookable.
- Max stay is 3 nights per season per camper.
- Bring your own water; the campground itself has none.
Haypress Campground
- Book 3 days ahead
Bookable now for arrivals through Sep 4, 2026. On Sep 2, 2026, arrivals through Sep 5, 2026 become bookable. Recreation.gov publishes Haypress availability on a 3-day release window during its operating season.
- Haypress is a 1-mile hike-in campground; no car or RV camping is allowed.
- Bring water and plan to pack trash out; there is no water on site and little to no cell service.
Release dates, rules, and notices are published on Recreation.gov.
How to book
Booking Kirby Cove, start to finish
- Where
- Recreation.gov. National park campgrounds are not bookable by phone during the reservation season.
- When
- Kirby Cove releases on a rolling window and, in practice, each new arrival date is claimed within moments of opening.
- Be ready
- Sign in, save a card and settle your dates and party size before the window opens. Popular weekends go in minutes, and the checkout you prepared in advance is the one that completes.
- Which campground
- Kirby Cove is the draw and there is no larger equivalent. Bicentennial and Haypress are the nearby Marin Headlands alternatives. They are walk-in, much smaller, and without the bridge view, but genuinely bookable.
- Scale
- With very few sites, a single cancellation is a meaningful share of the inventory. Watching is more effective here than at any large campground.
- If you miss it
- Cancellations are the realistic second chance. They appear at any hour, cluster in the last two weeks before arrival, and are usually taken within minutes.
- Backup plans
- Angel Island and Mount Tamalpais are the next-best Bay Area options, and both hold openings longer than Kirby Cove ever does.
Already sold out?
Kirby Cove is sold out for your dates
Camp-Now watches Kirby Cove and the Marin Headlands campgrounds for a cancellation matching your trip and texts you the second one opens. Free to start, with no card and no Recreation.gov login. Link your account and we put the site in your cart first.
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Which Kirby Cove campground do you want?
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Go deeper
Kirby Cove booking guides
Questions
Why is Kirby Cove so hard to book?+
Very few sites, a Golden Gate Bridge view and a metropolitan area next door. Demand vastly exceeds supply.
What is the closest alternative to Kirby Cove?+
Bicentennial and Haypress in the Marin Headlands. Both are walk-in and far easier to book.
How do I get a Kirby Cove campsite when everything is booked?+
Wait for a cancellation. They are common, but they rarely stay open long enough to find by checking manually, which is what Camp-Now watches for.
Does Camp-Now book the site for me?+
You always complete the checkout yourself. Camp-Now texts you the moment a matching site opens, with no Recreation.gov login needed. Link your account and it adds the site to your cart first, so it is held while you check out.
Is it free to start?+
Yes. Watching and alerts are free, with no card and no Recreation.gov login. If you turn on auto-booking, your first booked night is free too.