Angel Island State Park

After a short ferry ride from San Francisco Ferry Building Terminal, the start of the trail head is close to the dock on Angel Island. A gradual climb around the island at a higher level until we arrived at Mt. Livermore where a 360 degree view awaited us. The views were amazing along most of the trail. We then took the Sunset trail back down to the dock after about three hours of exploring.

An excellent historical and landmark site with easy hiking. Too bad the ferry schedule is so short that it is impossible to complete the hike around the island unless riding the bike or camp overnight. Bike rental is expensive on this island but you can bring your own. The island provides 360 panoramic views of the cities in the bay area. Great hiking for all ages.

Angel Island is great for hiking and biking. I strongly recommend doing the perimeter trail, where you can see amazing views of the bay and cities. Also, there are lots of historic places throughout this trail, including the Immigration Station.

Awesome island, rich in both history and nature. We spent about 3.5 hours on the island and only got to see a glimpse of the beauty of it. We visited the immigration station and hiked a bit. Saw a few deers. Wonderful views all the way. If I ever come back here, I’ll definitely take the first ferry in the morning, pack some food and spend the whole day here.

Great place for hiking/sightseeing/exploration. Me and friends did two most prominent trails: the Perimeter Loop which follows the island's outline and the North Ridge, which goes through the tallest point of the island. They are both of moderate length. Perimeter Loop passes through several points of interest, like the remains of the Fort McDowell and the Immigration Museum hosted in the former detention center. The latter is a somber place, the installations feature personal items donated by the immigrant families (not all items are authentic, but some are). They are vivid, and easily evoke the visions of daily life of immigrants who lived there awaiting the permission to move to the mainland US.

The island also hosts cool wildlife, e.g., we ran into a curious coyote near Fort McDowell

Great place for a day trip from San Francisco. You can hike up Mt. Livermore, and explore most of the island in 3 hours or so.

Watch the schedule carefully, because the Ferry only comes every two hours, or so, and the final Ferry departs pretty early.

Great place to spend an afternoon. Well preserved buildings with so much history and stories.

A beautiful island to visit and it’s just a 30 minute ferry crossing from the Ferry Building, Gate B.
There’s a paved perimeter road, 5 miles in total, that provides some excellent views of the surrounding main land and city. If the road and cycling isn’t your thing there are plenty of walking routes too. Lots benches and picnic tables can be found to sit down and appreciate the scenery.
It’s worth checking with the Parks Service about the talks that are held on certain days explaining the history of the island.
The cafe was closed on my visit, not a problem for me, but it’s a good idea to pack your own food and drink anyway.
You’ll find restrooms and information boards upon arrival at the landing dock. The wildlife one is a good one to check out.
Camping is permitted at the designated areas.
Don’t forget to check the ferry times too, it’s on the website and also will be written on the information boards.

7/17/23 Monday small but very beautiful island. Short ferry from tiburon n take a tram tour. Island has bikes on rent, rest rooms, Cafe, food is expensive but understandable.

Easy to access from San Francisco or Tiburon by ferry. Island offers enough to do for a day. It has well managed campsites for anyone interested in camping (permits required). Fantastic 360 views of the SF Bay from the top of Mt. Livermore. Some disturbing history about quarantining of immigrants and good for future generations to be aware of.

Wonderful and clam place. It is small island but looks like it was very important during wort war 2. Lot of structures built and used during war time are preserved. Some of them are now state park office.

Has ferry service from SFO ( ferry building) and Tiburon.

Tiburon has more frequency of ferry.

Island has nice and small tram tour.. runs approximately 1 hour. Search on island website about tour. Advance booking for tour is recommended.

Island has small cafe with limited food options.

Bicycles are available on rent. Normal bike and e bikes

Lot of hikes
Lot of picnic area.

Good place to hand out for a day.

Camping options are available as well.

Beautiful views for sfo and surrounding from island

Bikepacked from the peninsula. Got site 1. Due to rough road, gravel, and erosion, it is difficult to reach with a heavy load and no suspension. But with a bit of electric assist, I was able to walk it uphill. Nice secluded site and a lovely biking destination. Site 1 is massive with many areas to pitch a tent. There was a clearing behind trees that has a great view of the Bay Bridge which looks lovely at night!

Key things:

No wood fires. They say gas and charcoal is fine. I used a charcoal grill for food and gas stove to boil water.

Potable water is at a spigot about 100 feet from site 1s entrance. There is also a restroom there.

Sometimes, some hikers may pass through as there appears to be an unofficial trail coming from lower. I don't mind, but for those seeking more privacy, keep it in mind.

Lots of hazards biking up. Gravel, pinecone, and heavy erosion make it difficult with a heavy load and no suspension or dirt tires. If riding an e bike, I'd walk it up with some electric assistance to save the tires and chassis.

Overall, excellent campsite within reasonable time from the city!

I have been in Angel Island 4 times. It is one of my favorite hikes in SF as you get the chance to see the city from all sides. Simply amazing!

Had an absolutely magnificent day here! We were practically the only ones on the ferry and the island! One part of the perimeter trail was closed because of landslides but we took the trail to the summit then the fire road down to the barracks. Walked almost 5 miles. No food or water for purchase so take your own. There is a small store with souvenir items open.

Lovely place that is well worth a visit. Tons of opportunities for every type of traveller whether you want to bike the perimeter, walking along the paved perimeter, hiking throughout the interior of the island, even a tram ride for those that want to stop by the cultural destinations at the perimeter.

However for the best views, you must hike to the summit. It’s a very easy hike and well worth it. Beautiful views of the Golden Gate bridge, SF-Oakland Bay bridge, Richmond-San Rafael bridge.

State park in San Francisco Bay with stunning views and interesting history. Arrival by boat. Stayed at the Marina in Ayala Cove.

Beautiful Historic Island. Great hiking trail, fantastic views to San Francisco, Oakland, the whole Bay, so beautiful, Wild life, deer, birds, etc. Worth a daytrip, or several, just a wonderful place to visit.💕

Amazing place, great for hiking and biking. Perfect for spending the weekend with friends and family. Great for picnic too. We went there for picnic as a big group from work. The island also provides catering services with good food. We rented bikes in the island and did a loop ride. It was not very difficult, took us about 2 hrs with siteseeing. Rhe weather was luckily amazing, the view of golden gate bridge, belvedere, Sausalito , san francisco and bay Bridge was phenomenal. The roundway ticket from ferry building to angel island was also not too bad. About 25$ round trip.

You can also bring your own boat and park here. The parking fee was somewhere around $15. One of our friend brought his own boat.

This place is totally recommended

Loved going through the perimeter road on bike! Some of the best views of the SF Bay are found here, without a doubt. A lot of historic sites to visit as well, for those seeking cultural knowledge.

The Ellis Island of the west, now a perfect place for hiking, biking, or picnicking. Accessible by the Angel Island Ferry that runs from Tiburon in a quick 15-minute crossing. We cycled the perimeter road which is a relatively easy paved road, 6 miles round. Great views of the Bay all the way around (subject to the whims of Karl the Fog). There’s a good cafe at the harbor where you can watch the boats come in and out. Lots of wasps around at the moment (July) which were a bit annoying.