Angel Island State Park - Homegrown Adventures

If you are new to backpacking and you want a beginners backpacking destination : choose Angel Island State Park.

WHY? Because there is water on the island which means you carry less weight and it only takes you about one to two miles to get to your campsite.

Angel Island State Park has four camping areas to choose from. Each of these campsites has three sites so after 3:30 pm those who are camping get to enjoy the island all to themselves.

This is one of the cheapest ways to enjoy the shores of San Francisco Bay and the views are stunning here.

You also don’t have to worry about bears or snakes here. The only animal you have to watch out for is a raccoon.

Since we backpack as a family we pack very different then if we were backpacking individually. However, lightweight items still go on the bottom and heavy items go in the middle. We all carry our sleeping bags and mats as well.

Dad carries all the food and a bear canister.

Mom carries pots, pans, plates, sporks and everyone’s extra clothing.

Eldest son (16 years old) carries two lightweight tents, everyone’s flashlights, and bear spray.

Eldest daughter (14 years old) carries stove and fuel, first aid kit, and drone.

Daughter (10 years old) carries everyone’s ponchos and toiletries.

Daughter (8 years old) carries her pillow, extra clothes, and a toy.

*To receive the how to pack a backpacking pack and the backpacking list as a printable click HERE !!!!

Angel Island Tiburon Ferry

To get to Angel Island you have to take a ferry that takes twelve minutes. The company that runs this ride is called Angel Island Tiburon Ferry. They offer tickets anywhere from free to 15 dollars. The prices are based entirely on age ranges.

They don’t accept credit cards so bring cash before you get here.

Both on the way to the island and on the way back it wasn’t crowded by any means. Which resulted in getting on and off the ferry being easy to accomplish. Once your on Angel Island you could really just stay on the island as long as you want.

For most of the year they bring people to the island at 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM and pick you up from 10:20 AM to 3:30 PM.

US Immigration Station North Garrison

It all began in 1905, a location was needed in order to see if the United States wanted immigrants into their country and this location was Angel Island.

The immigration station began operating in 1910 and ships of Chinese immigrants were brought to Angel Island State Park.

Those with hopes of entering the golden state. It opened due to the change of immigrant laws which allowed foreigners to become citizens without marrying an American citizen.

Here they kept immigrants because they wanted to make sure that none of them had any potential diseases before they were able to live among the main population.

175,000 people are believed to have become citizens of the United States of America after being contained on Angel Island. This location has surely left its mark on History of the Greater Bay Area.

Mt. Livermore

Mount Livermore is where you can find the highest point on Angel Island. That means that you can see San Francisco, Berkley, and even Mount Diablo from here.

It’s a 5.9 mile hike to get to the top (from the beginning of the trails that is). When your at the top you get to see all of the cities and towns that surround the San Francisco Bay.

The walk towards the top is pretty steep at times but nothing extremely difficult.

Sunrise Sites : Camping

At Sunrise you’ll find three camp sites next to each other. There is a bathroom as well. They have a water facet next to these campsites but when we were there our water did not work so we had to walk a bit to get water.

For backpackers water is crucial. Angel Island State Park has water next to the campsites which means that you don’t need to carry too much water with you.

If you don’t have a backpacking pack then you can still camp here by bringing all your things in a travel wagon. A few do this as well.

When backpacking you want to bring food that does not require a fridge.

You can purchase backpacking food but they cost over ten dollars each and each one of these only feeds two people. We usually need four of these meals and that means that we are spending over forty dollars per meal. That becomes expensive. Plus they are not that great.

Here is a great recipe to try:

one pack of barilla pastina pasta (cooks in 6 to 7 min)
2 cans of white premium white chicken breast
1 can of Classico Alfredo sauce

Cook the pasta by simply following the package instructions. Drain water and add the white chicken breast and alfredo sauce. Add salt and pepper for seasoning. This meal costs under ten dollars. The pasta will taste cooked unlike the pre-packaged dry camping meals.

After this backpacking trip we decided to no longer purchase the pre-made meals and make our own.

Sure our meals weigh a little bit more than the premade meals but they taste so much better.