The park at the end of Point San Pedro Road has one official schedule. California State Parks lists China Camp's day-use hours as 8 a.m. to sunset daily, and the gate at Back Ranch Meadows Campground stays open until 9 p.m. The Hunter's Moon hike on Saturday, October 24, runs on different terms. Hikers meet at the China Camp Ranger Station at 4:30 p.m., set out at 4:45 and are scheduled to finish at 8.
The two schedules come from two different bodies. The state sets the daily hours. Friends of China Camp, the nonprofit that runs the park day to day, schedules the evenings. For Peacock Gap households, that means an evening in the park is an event you book, and this month's bookings are already open.
The nonprofit behind the evening calendar
China Camp nearly closed in 2012, and California State Parks credits Friends of China Camp with operating it since then. The arrangement used to sit on shaky legal footing. In the group's Fall 2026 newsletter, Executive Director Martin Lowenstein recalls testifying in Sacramento in 2023 for SB668. That bill removed the sunset clause from AB42, the earlier law that let qualified nonprofits operate state parks, and it passed.
The same newsletter states that Friends of China Camp receives no financial support from the state to run the park. The full-moon hike, the telescope night and the book club are all the nonprofit's own programs. Most are free for members and ask non-members for a suggested $5 donation. That model explains why space is limited and registration is required, and why the group sends cancellation notices by email instead of posting them at a trailhead.
Three October evenings, in order
The October calendar on friendsofchinacamp.org runs through October 27. Three of its programs take place after dark or close to it:
- Marin Stargazers, Sunday, October 18, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Volunteers from the Marin Stargazers set up telescopes in the Back Ranch Meadows Campground parking lot. The plan covers the Moon's craters, mountains and ancient lava flows, the constellations Cassiopeia and Andromeda, and Saturn, which is rising in the evening sky. Ages 12 and up. Anyone under 18 needs a parent or responsible adult. Registration is here.
- Full Moon Hike: The Hunter's Moon, Saturday, October 24, 4:30 to 8 p.m. The hike starts at the China Camp Ranger Station and is timed to catch the moonrise. Ages 10 and up. Registration is here.
- Naturalist's Book Club: The Network of Life, Sunday, October 25, 7 to 8 p.m. The monthly calendar lists the session but doesn't give a location or signup details, so check the event page before you go.
Taken together, that's a stargazing night, a moonrise hike and an evening discussion across eight days. Each needs its own registration, and the two outdoor events start from different spots in the park.
Timing the Hunter's Moon
The hike's timing is strict. The event page asks everyone to arrive by 4:30 p.m. because the group leaves "promptly at 4:45 p.m. to catch the moonrise." The page rates the route moderately strenuous, a 3½-mile round trip with a 500-foot climb. The aim is to reach a high point as the Moon comes up over the hills on the east side of San Francisco Bay.
The write-up also ties the night to the land's history. Friends of China Camp notes that Native American communities here followed the full moon's cycles to mark the seasons, the passage of time and renewal. It frames the October hike around that, a month after the September equinox, when nights have grown longer than days.
For Peacock Gap, the practical detail is the start time. A 4:30 arrival at the Ranger Station sits right in late-afternoon traffic on Point San Pedro Road, so it pays to leave early. The Stargazers night needs less planning. It starts at 6:30 on a Sunday, in a parking lot, with no climb.
The daytime programs that fund the evenings
The evening programs depend on revenue the nonprofit raises during the day, and some of the best daytime offerings this month come from that effort.
The clearest example is the Village Cafe at historic China Camp Village. The Fall 2026 newsletter says the cafe now sells China Camp Lager for $5 a 16-ounce can, and that it's generally open Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The beer was created by Phil Cutti of San Rafael's Ripple Beer Project, a co-founder of Headlands Brewing Company and a park regular. He approached the nonprofit about a beer for the park and asked that 10 percent of sales go to Friends of China Camp. Ernie Stanton, the longtime volunteer who manages the cafe, suggested a lager. Local artist Julia Jackson-Clark designed the can. In the newsletter's account, Cutti explains why:
"I wanted the beer to be a celebration of community, and the hard-working people who make it happen."
You don't have to drive to the Village for it. Andy's Market in Loch Lomond sells it in 4-packs, as do Big Rock Café in Marinwood, which also has it on tap, and Mill Valley Market.
Two other daytime programs this month build on the night-sky theme:
- Birding Walk: The Height of Fall Migration, Saturday, October 17, 8 to 10 a.m. It's an easy, mostly flat ¾-mile walk from the Turtle Back Trail trailhead. Ages 10 and up, registration required.
- The Motus tower at Back Ranch Meadows. The tall antenna on the campground's entrance kiosk joined Motus, a global network of more than 2,000 receiving stations that track tagged birds and bats, with help from researchers at the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. You can follow detections online on the station's Motus dashboard, which makes a natural follow-up to the Saturday morning walk.
For hands-on help, the nonprofit's Give-back mornings run 9 a.m. to noon on October 15, 21 and 27. According to the Fall 2026 newsletter, volunteers and staff do much of the park's work themselves, from resurfacing the Turtle Back Nature Trail in 2020 to running Heritage Day each August.
October's last night out, on the golf course
The month's final evening event is inside the neighborhood, at Peacock Gap Golf Club. The club's Glowball Scramble is on Friday, October 30. Check-in and a taco bar start at 5:45 p.m., with a 6:45 shotgun start. The listing promises draft beer, a costume contest and limited registration.
Combined with the China Camp programs, Peacock Gap has four organized evenings in under two weeks, all within a short drive along one road. None of them happen without someone choosing to run them.
What the 2027 calendar promises
China Camp State Park turns 50 in 2027. In its Fall 2026 newsletter, Friends of China Camp says it will mark the year with a special event every month. The preview lists a kite-flying festival, fun runs, trivia nights, book readings, special speakers, art events and a Halloween witches paddle, which the newsletter leaves unexplained. The series starts in January.
The newsletter gives no dates for the anniversary events. When they're scheduled, you'll find them on the Friends of China Camp events page, with registration links for each event.
Planning a pre-sale project, or just curious which updates matter most for a home this close to China Camp? Garrett Burdick is glad to talk it through, ideally before the Hunter's Moon on the 24th. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
