Here is what it is prefer to spend the evening within the Presidio at one in all San Francisco’s solely campgrounds

When I wake up at the sound of a two-second long * beep *, I turn around in my sleeping bag, dazed, and close my eyes again.

* Beep *

Seven seconds of silence.

* Beep *

I fumble for my phone in the tent to check the time – it’s 1 a.m. I look over the moonlit Rob Hill Campground in search of the culprit (* beep *) and look back at my 9-year-old daughter, who is still soundly sleeping. Kennedy (* beep *), then grab the tent zipper and venture into the night.

It’s a Wednesday (or Thursday morning, I think?) In April and we’re camping for the first time in San Francisco at the city’s oldest campsite – an idyllic 4-acre lot on the highest point of the Presidio with four unique campsites, one of which only two are open to the public (the other two are reserved for the Camping in the Presidio program).

The Army built the campsite in the 1940s shortly after World War II and was San Francisco’s only campsite for more than 70 years until six new campsites opened in the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area in 2018. Rob Hill received a generous $ 4 million donation from the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund in 2010 thanks to clean, well-lit toilets, paved walkways, bike racks, an emergency box, and all of the campsite amenities that yours means Heart desires (fireplace, picnic tables, charcoal grill, storage container for food).

And while it promises quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., obviously nobody follows them.

I stumble to the tiny parking lot next to the campsite to see if anyone left their door ajar (* beep *), then saunter past the other campsite to look for a low battery reminder on another’s bluetooth speaker Find Person (* Beep *) – Make your way to the next major intersection on Lincoln Boulevard to see if there is some kind of night building (* Beep * * Beep * * Beep *).

It’s so late and so dark that I give up and go back to our tent. I slide two headphones in my ears and turn on the white noise playlist that I usually reserve for my 2 year old.

— —.

We first got to Rob Hill around 3pm (after a quick stop to pick up more supplies). Surrounded by majestic eucalyptus trees overlooking Baker Beach and the Pacific Ocean, the campsite made our first really big decision.

We usually pitched our tent and then headed out for a hike, but the confidence bubble that you usually like to camp somewhere like the Big Basin feels a little different in an urban camping setting. We finally decide to put our trust in those around us, pitch our tent, and explore the Presidio.

We hike for about an hour and a half on the Bay Area Ridge Trail, which connects directly to Rob Hill Campground. Highlights include the National Cemetery Lookout – one of the most beautiful lookouts in all of California – Andy Goldsworthy’s Tower (which already has an updated Presidio Trust sign listing the fire that damaged it in the summer of 2020) and Andy Goldsworthy’s Wood Line and Lucasfilm’s Yoda Fountain.

What sets this camping adventure apart from anything we’ve done so far is next. We decide to stop for dinner, except instead of having sandwiches lying on the bottom of our backpack or a makeshift charcoal grill, we duck a few blocks from the Presidio and enjoy one of the best burgers in town in Causwells.

Fueled by burgers, beers (for me), and sodas (for them), we return through the Presidio, this time hiking the north side of the National Historic Landmark. We discover the Fort Scott tennis courts, marvel at all of the old military districts and check the progress of the parkland over the highway tunnels near the Golden Gate Bridge.

We make it back to our campsite just before sunset (which we mostly miss because of a thick blanket of fog), then make a campfire and break out our S’Mores kit. We find out in a weird way that we bought the wrong size marshmallow and spend most of the night trying different solutions, from 10 tiny balls to a full-size ball, to a row of 10 on our marshmallow -Bat staff. All solutions are equally delicious.

Wiped away by six miles of hiking, we fall asleep under the stars.

— —.

(* Beep *)

I wake up at 5 a.m., shaken by a crazy dream that the noise was actually being made by murderous robots taking over San Francisco, and I found them both in the woods and took photos of them to share with the world.

I pull a pair of headphones out of my ear to see if the beeping has stopped and it’s still strong.

I’ll sleep a few more hours before Kennedy starts moving. We put on our walking shoes and head to the starting point of Batteries to Bluffs, a 10-minute walk from Rob Hill to watch the sunrise over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Just as we are leaving the campsite, we see a coyote turning around and looking at us directly. I freak out immediately and realize that I have no idea what to do (play dead? Look tall? Run? Freeze?) – years of safety tips for mountain lions and bears flash before my eyes just before the coyote just looks away and us continues.

We finally make it to one of the old abandoned military batteries, just see an absolutely unreal view of a bridge as the fog clears, and it hits me.

The beeping. It’s the foghorn of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Rob Hill Campground is located in the Presidio and requires a reservation, which you can make here. Reservations for July 2021 can be made starting today at 9 a.m. It’s $ 100 per location per night during peak hours and $ 75 per location per night during off-peak hours.

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It’s Presidio Month at SFGATE. We’ll be delving deep into the neighborhood throughout May as part of a new series where we’ll highlight a different corner of San Francisco every month this year.