Welcome to one of the Bay Area’s best kept secrets: Portola Redwoods State Park. I’ve never seen this park busy, with more famous tree spots to the north (Muir Woods), and to the south (Big Basin). However, neither (currently) have backcountry sites that allow you to sleep beneath these towering giants. As of posting, Big Basin’s trail camps are all currently closed due to the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in 2020.
After many years of coming to this state park, I finally ticked off my bucket list item of hiking into Slate Creek Trail Camp. Here are all the details you need for your own successful trip to sleep beneath the redwood trees.
Table of contents
Backpacking Portola Redwoods State Park Stats
To get to camp
Trail: Slate Creek Trail
Mileage: 3.27 miles/5.26 kilometers
Elevation gain: 1,005 feet/306 meters
Elevation loss: 394 feet/120 meters
To get water
Trail: Slate Creek Trail
Mileage: 0.76 miles/1.22 kilometers round trip
Elevation gain and loss: 148 feet/45 meters
Best time to backpack Portola Redwoods State Park
One of the best parts of being in the Bay Area is you can backpack Portola Redwoods State Park year round. Each season has its pros and cons.
Winter
- Wet, this is a pro or a con. The redwoods in the rain is my most favorite. They look so magical with fog and moisture. But setting up and breaking down a wet camp is no fun.
- Cold
- Shorter days
- Empty park
- Deadfall. This park does not see many visitors compared to other state parks in the area. Trail maintenance relies heavily on volunteer crews for work. Even in warm, early March and low rain year, we were crawling over trees.
- Banana slugs!
- Water will be available in Slate Creek.
- Poison oak has no leaves and is not all over the trail.
Spring
- See winter, but make it milder.
- Poison oak is starting to come in.
Summer
- Hot, which is a pro or a con. The forest tends to be cooler than the South Bay in the summer, especially in the evenings. You can go here for a reprieve from the heat. You can bring a lighter sleeping bag, which means reducing weight. But sometimes, it can still be warm.
- Busier
- Dry and dusty
- Buggier. The mosquitoes love to come out here in the summertime.
- Water may or may not be available in Slate Creek. When you reserve and pay for your permit, the person on the phone will update you on conditions, like water. If there is no water in Slate Creek, you’ll need to pack everything in.
- Fires. The Santa Cruz Mountains have been hit by fire in the recent years, which could potentially close the park and trails. Bad AQI from fires elsewhere in the state or along the West Coast may make it very unenjoyable to go outside.
- Poison oak is in full force.
Fall
- See summer’s bullet points, but make it milder.
- Water might not be available in Slate Creek.
- Poison oak might be in full force, or it might be dying off.
Note: the Slate Creek Trail is generally well-maintained and well-traveled. There was minimal poison oak on the sides of this trail. If you decided to hike the Peters Creek Loop, keep an eye out for poison oak popping into the trail.
How to book Slate Creek Trail Camp
To camp at Slate Creek Trail Camp, you need to have a reserved site. No dispersed camping is available due to the sensitive environment. Sites are bookable up to 60 days in advance. Booking a campsite at Slate Creek Trail Camp (and other trail camps in the Santa Cruz Mountains) is slightly annoying.
Trail camps cost $15 per night with an $8 administrative fee. This includes parking for one car at Portola Redwoods State Park. Additional vehicles will need to register.
First, you need to check the Trail Camp Calendar.
Then, you submit a request for your desired date and site via the Trail Camp Request Form. After doing this, you sit and twiddle your thumbs until someone emails you back. Requests for Slate Creek Trail Camp and other sites in the Santa Cruz Mountains are processed Monday through Friday between 1-5PM.
Once you receive the email approving your request for camping at Slate Creek Trail Camp, you need to call the permit office to pay. When your request has been approved, your reservation will be held until 5pm the following business day pending payment. If your reservation is not paid by 5pm the following business day your request will be canceled and you will need to submit a new one. The person on the phone will take your credit card information down, and chat with you about arrival time, site conditions, water levels, rules, and other things. Confirmation of your site and reservation happens once Your site is confirmed and reserved once you have paid.
You can reserve up to two campsites on each reservation.
The sites at Slate Creek Trail Camp
Your Slate Creek Trail Camp reservation is not for a specific site. Sites are first come, first served, so get there early if you want to have your pick of them all. Each site has a picnic table and a bear box. There aren’t bears in the Santa Cruz Mountains, but there are raccoons who will happily eat all your food.
Each site has a maximum occupancy of 6 people.
Site 1
Site 1 is good for one larger tent or perhaps two small tents. It’s fairly small. It’s right off the trail.
Site 2
Site 2 is the most spacious, if everyone in your party has a tent. It’s also the closest to the bathroom, which may or may not be very stinky depending on the time of year. It’s wide and flat, and the most open. It offers less privacy than the other sites.
Site 3
Site 3 has the flattest spot to pitch your tent of all of the sites. It is right off the trail through camp, so doesn’t offer much privacy.
Site 4
Site 4 is fairly spacious, but it is right off the trail through camp. It also was not super flat for large groups.
Site 5
Campsite 5 is tucked in the trees, and feels quite remote. It is good for parties with one or two small tents, because there’s not very many flat spots.
Site 6
Slate Creek Trail Camp Site 6 was where I stayed. We picked it because it was far back from the camp trail. Because of this, it’s quite secluded. It’s also a more spacious site. It is closest to the fire road to get water and has a path that cuts straight through.
Slate Creek Trail Camp has a pit toilet.
California State Parks has a list of rules for site and trail etiquette available here.
What to bring to Slate Creek Trail Camp
You’ll need to bring your parking pass and two copies of your backcountry permit. One permit needs to be kept on your person. The other goes on your dash, along with your parking pass.
If this trip will be your first time backpacking, you can rent gear at REI (Berkeley location) or at Sports Basement (multiple locations across the Bay Area). This way, you can start to get an idea of what gear you like or don’t like before committing hundreds of dollars.
Below is most of the gear I brought for this trip.
What to do at Slate Creek Trail Camp
You can hike the Peters Creek Loop. This trail is one of my favorite redwood hikes in the Bay Area.
You can hike to the Page Mill Site. This spot is also where you go to filter water when the creek is flowing.
Things that you cannot do are hammocking and foraging. Hammocking is tough here because you can’t hang from redwood trees. Foraging is not allowed in the park.
