Are These the Most Coveted Cabins in America?
Cabin life doesn’t get more perfect than this. (Photo: Jo Piazza)
On the first day of each month, at the stroke of 8 a.m. PST, slots open up for the nine Steep Ravine cabins in Mt. Tamalpais State Park, in Northern California.
The cabins are booked six months in advance, and at 8 a.m. on that one day you can reserve them for up to a week at a time for the month half a year away. The spaces are often gone within 60 seconds.
A bird’s eye view of Steep Ravine. (Photo: Jo Piazza)
Ask Bay Area residents about the cabins (just a half hour from downtown San Francisco) and they take on a wishful tone, referring to the properties as a bucket-list adventure.
These may just be the most coveted state park cabins in the country and for good reason. Perched secretly on the bluffs above the Pacific Ocean, each rustic cabin has million dollar ocean views and a sense of seclusion and complete tranquility.
Each cabin has the basics — a small wood stove, a picnic table and benches, sleeping platforms, and an outdoor barbecue. The cabins do not have running water or electricity. Modern toilets are just up the hill, and firewood is available for $8 a bundle on the honor system.
For everything else, it is BYOE (bring your own everything): food, sleeping bags, drinks, games, lanterns, and music.
It can get cold at night. Get some wood. (Photo: Jo Piazza)
This idyllic little stretch of land off of the Coastal Highway One was purchased by a private investor right before the turn of 20th century. During the Depression, a group of folks lived on the cliffs above the beach in a makeshift driftwood version of Hooverville. Thirteen cabins were constructed in 1938. They were subsequently used as a fort during World War II and then an artist’s enclave during the fifties and sixties, when the area became known as Hot Springs Beach, due to the springs that bubbled up into the cliff rocks during low tide. The photographer Dorothea Lange famously rented one of the spaces for just $450 for the entire year.
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This is your view — from every cabin. (Photo: Jo Piazza)
Today, the cabins cost $75 a night and can hold four adults (who don’t mind close quarters) and a few kids. They’re simple and rustic and perfect for a weekend getaway from San Francisco. For the better part of six months I have tried to reserve one of them using the website. Each time the cabins open up, no matter how quickly I click and I type, they are gone before I can nab one.
An early morning hike from Steep Ravine. (Photo: Jo Piazza)
Sometimes fate is kind. People cancel and the $75 a night fee is just enough that guests want to try to recoup their money. If you check the website often enough, at just the right moment, you’ll get lucky. That’s what happened on Jan. 1 — not a terrible way to begin 2016.
The cabins are numbered and whimsically named — Dipsea, Hot Springs, San Andreas, Farallon. On a clear day you can see straight out to the Farallon islands just west of Point Reyes. All through the night you will hear waves crashing onto the beach.
A poem by Margaretta Mitchell that had been pinned to the inside of our cabin, Dipsea, or cabin 2, read: “Here is a different state of being where a morning cobweb becomes a fairy handkerchief.”
Sunset along the Steep Ravine bluffs. (Photo: Jo Piazza)
Getting there
There is one parking space allotted for each cabin. It’s easy to drive straight there, but there are also plenty of hikes that will take you right in, the most famous of which is the Dipsea Trail. The Dipsea stretches 7 miles from downtown Mill Valley, through Muir Woods, and then uphill, skirting the slopes of Mt. Tamalpais.
On clear days you can see the Sutro Tower, San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, Mt Tamalpais, and a huge swath of the Pacific Ocean.
The trail continues all the way to Stinson Beach, but a mile detour will take you onto the Steep Ravine Trail, alongside a babbling creek and right to the entrance of the campsite.
There is something magical about arriving at such a beautiful destination by walking, powered entirely by your body. If you’re up for it, I highly recommend it.
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Hiking down the Steep Ravine Trail. (Photo: Jo Piazza)
The perfect packing list
LED lantern. Bring a couple lanterns and a bungee cord to hang them with. There is no electricity in the cabins, so make sure to charge before you go or bring along extra batteries.
Curtains. The cabin windows are unobscured, so if you want a modicum of privacy, bring along your own window coverings. There are clips above the window frames, so a sarong or small sheet will do the trick.
Foam pads. The “beds” here are wooden platforms, and they can take a real bite out of your back.
Sleeping bags. It can get awfully chilly at night, even with the wood-burning stove.
A little rug. Cabin floors are bare, so a little rug will be a nice addition for in front of the fire.
The wood stove warms up the entire cabin. (Photo: Jo Piazza)
Binoculars. You’ll need these to catch site of dolphins or whales off the coast, depending on the season.
A cooler. For all the delicious drinks and cheese, of course.
The campsite provides wheelbarrows to help you lug all of your things from the car.
You may never want to leave. (Photo: Jo Piazza)
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