San Francisco North / Petaluma KOA

We stayed at San Francisco North / Petaluma KOA in Petaluma, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Another nice RV park in another wine country.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-04-30
Check out: 2023-05-07
7 nights

Weather:

Cloudy and drizzle
High temps ranging between 58-64°F, lows around 43-47°F
Negligible wind in the shelter of redwood trees, apparently up to 25 MPH gusts nearby

Noise:

No freeway noise
No road noise
Distant train noise, rarely heard
Occasional neighbor noise (kids)

Site:

#17, back in, gravel
Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
Very unlevel; used blocks on front jacks
Medium site: about 40 feet long by about 40 feet wide
Swing seat, table & chairs, fire pit on nice concrete patio
Tall trees; shrubs and hedges between sites

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
55 PSI water, conveniently located
Loose sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 20 Mbps down, 5-14 Mbps up, 45-140 ms ping
AT&T: 11 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
Verizon: 16 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Swimming pool
Petting zoo

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A bit expensive, but pleasant enough after the initial hurdles

We stayed for a week in a deluxe patio back-in site in the redwood grove. The beginning of our stay was not auspicious: firstly, my husband went to check us in but didn’t have his wallet, and they demanded ID, so I had to go in with my full wallet because they not only wanted ID but to also actually physically see the “card on file” and made me swipe it instead of just charging it from the computer.

Secondly, unlike most KOAs, we did not have an escort to show us to our site…which was occupied by a long-term resident. So we had to drive our rig back around to the office to get that sorted out. They were due to leave the following day, but we got the (almost) as good site next to it. So even though I’d paid the site lock fee (like a chump), I didn’t get the site I’d selected (and did not get a refund).

The site was unlevel front-to-back and was just big enough for our 40-foot motorhome. Any longer and we would have either 1) hit the berm behind the site or 2) had our nose out in the street.

However, once we settled in, we enjoyed our stay here. The large family groups were in another part of the park, and the redwood grove area was nice and quiet. We also enjoyed the hedges between the back-in sites, which provided some privacy on the lovely patio. We camped at San Francisco North / Petaluma KOA in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: The Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa is fun for Peanuts fans. Lots of fantastic wineries in the area. If you enjoy bubbly, definitely check out Iron Horse. Head to Muir Woods for a beautiful walk and take the scenic route along Hwy 1 back to camp.

Interactive map:

The RV park map; it says our site was #16, which was the one we had chosen (and paid the site lock fee to reserve), but when we pulled up to the site, it was occupied. So we went back to the office, and they reassigned us to the site next to it, #17:

Map