02/21/2022
About twice a week, I get asked if Schoolhouse Canyon is a state park. It always makes me smile and feel like I’m doing a good job. It’s beautiful here and I consider it a compliment when people look up at the redwood trees and think they are in a state park.
The campground is in fact a privately owned park that happens to be in a little nicer setting than most of the others on the Russian River. As many of you know, the campsites are secluded and surrounded by redwood trees, most of which have never been cut. The canyon is 6 or 7 acres and is surrounded by a 200 acre nature preserve. Aside from River road, there is very little noise other than what the campers make.
Unlike so many campgrounds that have gone the way of an RV park (read – paved parking lot) Schoolhouse is still the real deal. If you are a car camper with a tent, a pickup truck owner with a camper on the bed or a Westfalia owning overnighter, this is your campground. You can pop up after work on a Friday night and stay the weekend without much effort. We are only about 90 minutes from San Francisco, but you will feel like you are in a whole different world.
