Mount Tamalpais State Park · California
Nine rustic cabins above the surf at Rocky Point, and the hardest booking in the California state park system. Cancellations return the next morning at 8 a.m., and everything the Reservation Drawing does not claim goes back on the ordinary ReserveCalifornia calendar six months out.
Get an alert when Steep Ravine Cabins opens on your dates.
After the draw, your alert keeps catching cancellations.
Source: parks.ca.gov
70% of the openings our scanner caught on Steep Ravine Cabins were gone within 10 minutes.
As of September 2026, Steep Ravine Cabins in Mount Tamalpais State Park, California requires a permit issued via lottery. Steep Ravine Cabins is one of the most competitive permits in the United States, rating 10/10 on PermitSnag's demand index. Cancelled Steep Ravine Cabins permits are re-released on the booking system, and PermitSnag alerts you the moment one opens. The permit season for Steep Ravine Cabins runs year-round.
Permits get cancelled daily. Peak cancellation times are 24-48 hours before the trip date.
Get notified when cancellations happen. Pro and $19 single-permit alerts are checked about every minute, 24/7; free accounts are checked hourly.
Find this permit on the managing agency's booking system, then verify your email and add payment info ahead of time.
More on Steep Ravine Cabins: Live availability activityWhen Steep Ravine Cabins permits open upSteep Ravine Cabins lottery datesDo I need a Steep Ravine Cabins permit?Estimate your lottery oddsBoost your odds with a poolReserveCalifornia permit and campground cancellations
Steep Ravine Cabins permit fee: Free to enter the reservation drawing; nightly cabin rate is set in ReserveCalifornia at booking.
The terrace itself: nine rustic cabins plus seven primitive campsites, one mile south of Stinson Beach
Follows Webb Creek through tall redwoods; hikers climb a steep ladder to return to the start of the trail
Mount Tamalpais summit, with views of the Farallon Islands 25 miles out, San Francisco Bay and Mount Diablo
15 first-come sites about 100 yards from the parking area, with drinking water, firewood and flush toilets: your backup plan
Nine wood-stove cabins on a marine terrace above the Pacific, one mile south of Stinson Beach. Cancellations come back the next morning at 8 a.m., and we alert you when one does.
Steep Ravine Cabins are nine rustic cabins on a marine terrace at Rocky Point, one mile south of Stinson Beach, inside Mount Tamalpais State Park. Each cabin has a small wood stove, a picnic table, sleeping platforms and an outdoor barbecue. Bring your own water. Restrooms and water faucets are nearby. Only one vehicle and five people may occupy each cabin.
Cancellations and unclaimed nights are the opening a cancellation alert is for: anything nobody claims goes back into the regular six-month rolling window, and cancellations return the next morning at 8 a.m. The first claim goes through California State Parks' Reservation Drawing, which made Steep Ravine its pilot in October 2023: you apply for free up to eight months ahead, the drawing runs seven months ahead of the reservation date, and winners have 30 days to claim and pay.
The park around the cabins is 6,300 acres with more than 60 miles of trail, and the Steep Ravine Trail up Webb Creek starts within walking distance. Mount Tamalpais State Park is open daily 7 a.m. to sunset year-round.
This is a drive-to stay, not a hike. The campground sits on a marine terrace one mile south of Stinson Beach, below Highway 1, and California State Parks limits each cabin to one vehicle and five people. Everything you carry down is what you have for the night: the cabins have a small wood stove, a picnic table, sleeping platforms and an outdoor barbecue, but no running water. Restrooms and water faucets are nearby on the terrace. Up the mountain behind you, the Steep Ravine Trail follows Webb Creek through redwoods and finishes on a steep ladder. It is the park's most-loved short hike and an easy add-on the morning after.
Demand here is so far past supply that California State Parks made these cabins the pilot for its Reservation Drawing program in October 2023, and by July 2025 it had logged more than 100,000 entries for this one site. Nothing else in the state park system carries that number. Every cancellation after the drawing goes back on the calendar, and that is the opening to be ready for.
The cabins sit on an open terrace with the surf directly below, so the sound never stops. There is no running water inside and no electricity. You feed the wood stove, you cook on the outdoor barbecue, and you walk to the faucet. Fog rolls the Marin coast most of the year, and when it clears the ocean opens up straight off your steps.
Best for: Anyone who wants a night on the open Pacific without carrying a pack. You drive to the terrace, so the only work is hauling water, wood and bedding from the vehicle.
Recommended experience: None. If you can run a wood stove and pack in your own water, you are ready.
Not recommended for: Anyone expecting plumbing or power. There is no running water in the cabins and no electricity, and you are capped at five people and one vehicle.
Trailhead information
The campground terrace one mile south of Stinson Beach, below Highway 1. Cabins and the seven environmental campsites share it.
One vehicle per cabin or campsite, no exceptions.
Stinson Beach, one mile north on Highway 1.
Restrooms and water faucets are on the terrace; there is no running water inside the cabins.
September and October are the payoff months on this coast: the summer fog thins and the terrace opens up. Spring and summer highs run in the 80s and 90s per the park, fall and winter in the 50s, and fog is common in any season. Because the drawing runs seven months ahead of your dates, decide your target window roughly eight months out and apply then.
Warm on the mountain (the park lists average highs in the 80s and 90s for spring and summer), with fog still common on the coast.
Crowd level · high
Fog is at its most persistent on the Marin coast even while the upper mountain bakes.
Crowd level · extreme
The clearest window on this coast. Park guidance puts fall and winter temperatures in the 50s.
Crowd level · high
Cool and wet, with storms driving straight onto the terrace. Temperatures in the 50s per the park.
Crowd level · moderate
Trailhead (5,000 ft)
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Sunset, straight off the terrace. The cabins face open Pacific, so the sun goes down in front of you rather than behind a ridge.
Late afternoon on a clear fall day, when the marine layer has burned back past the headland and the wood siding takes warm side light.
You are one of nine cabins with a five-person cap. The terrace is never crowded. The crowds are at Stinson Beach a mile north, so shoot the coast early and drive down to town later.
Emergency contacts, ranger station locations, and satellite communicator tips for Steep Ravine Cabins.
Bear canister requirements, approved container lists, and rental locations for this permit.
Gear Checklist: Required and recommended gear for Steep Ravine Cabins · Shuttle Services: Trailhead transportation options · Guide Services: Experienced wilderness guides
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On ReserveCalifornia, two ways. Cancellations and unclaimed drawing nights go back on the ordinary calendar, and a cancellation alert catches them. The first claim goes through the California State Parks Reservation Drawing: you apply for free up to eight months in advance, the drawing runs seven months ahead of the reservation dates, and if you win you have 30 days to claim and pay. State Parks launched this here in October 2023 as the pilot for the program.
No. Applying for the Reservation Drawing is free.
They go back on the ordinary ReserveCalifornia calendar, and so does anything anyone cancels later. California State Parks publishes both halves in the Reservation Drawing FAQ (parks.ca.gov ?page_id=31271): "Any unclaimed inventory is released for reservation during the normal six-month rolling window" and "Any canceled inventory is released during the on-sale six months in advance or the following day at 8 a.m. if it is within the six-month reservation window." That next-morning release is what a cancellation alert on this permit catches, and it is why losing the drawing is not the end of it.
Yes. The drawing decides who gets first claim on a night, and the calendar decides who gets it after that. The calendar is a normal ReserveCalifornia booking grid. We poll it and alert you when a cabin night opens. You enter the drawing yourself, free, on ReserveCalifornia.
Nine. The Rocky Point / Steep Ravine Environmental Campground has nine rustic cabins and seven primitive campsites, on a marine terrace one mile south of Stinson Beach.
No. Each cabin has a small wood stove, a picnic table, sleeping platforms and an outdoor barbecue, but no running water. Restrooms and water faucets are nearby on the terrace.
Five, and one vehicle. California State Parks applies that limit to each cabin and each environmental campsite.
Yes. California State Parks lists Cabin #1 and environmental campsite #7 at Steep Ravine as accessible.
Mount Tamalpais State Park allows dogs only in developed areas. They are not allowed on trails, dirt roads or in backcountry areas.
No active conditions reported
Sign in to report trail conditions.
Seven primitive walk-in sites on the same marine terrace as the cabins, booked through ReserveCalifornia.
Same view, same ocean, no wood stove and no roof. Campsite #7 is the accessible one.
Walk-in environmental sites at Sonoma Coast State Park, about two hours north.
Another walk-in coastal camp with a fraction of the demand, but no cabins and no wood stove.
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Two ways to land it
We check Steep Ravine Cabins for cancellations 24/7 and alert you when a spot opens so you can book before it's gone.
Set a free cancellation alertApply with a crew. Each person multiplies your combined odds. We coordinate invites, deadlines, and outcomes.
See plans to start a poolMost crews do both: get alerts for cancellations, and pool for the lottery.
Lottery concierge
Missed the draw or skipped it? Set an alert and we tell you the moment a Steep Ravine Cabins cancellation opens. We remind you about the lottery dates too.
Better odds with a crew
Steep Ravine Cabins permits are drawn by lottery. Every friend who applies adds another entry, so a crew gets more shots at the same permit than any one of you alone.
One of you runs the pool (Pro or a $19 alert). Everyone else joins free.
Auto win-detection tells you the moment your Steep Ravine Cabins application wins, so you never have to go looking for the result. It reads the result email you forward us, so it takes a one-time setup in your inbox (about two minutes, and we walk you through it). Auto win-detection is on Pro or a $19 permit alert.
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