Dumbarton Quarry Campground on the Bay: Grand Opening on August 28

Campground Reservations Start Today

Four decades in the making, Dumbarton Quarry Campground on the Bay located at the foot of Dumbarton Bridge in Fremont will be dedicated in a public celebration on Saturday, August 28, 2021. Reservations for camping dates are available by:

• phone - 888-327-2757, option 2
• online - click here. 

Located on the site of a former rock quarry that contributed to the development of much of the East Bay’s early freeways, bridges, and roads infrastructure, the campground is East Bay Regional Park District’s first urban campground developed along the San Francisco Bay and one of the newest large campgrounds opened in California in three decades.

The campground includes 63 family campsites: 60 with full recreational vehicle (RV) hookups. Other amenities include a camp store, two shower buildings, a playground and day use area, reservable picnic sites, and access to scenic waterfront trails in Coyote Hills Regional Park and Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. Future plans call for a special event center and 19 additional family campsites, 28 convenience cabins, and two large group camping areas.

The campground development is a story of creative innovation, local reuse, and a strong public/private partnership to create a publicly accessible urban parkland amenity serving the growing East Bay region’s diverse population. The 60-acre site was built without the use of taxpayer funds for $15 million by the Oliver DeSilva Company, former owner of the rock quarry that operated on the same land since the 1950s.

“The public has a Bayfront local destination perfect for urban family camping and, importantly, paid for by private funding,” said Park District Director Ayn Wieskamp. “That’s an exciting reason to celebrate.”

In the 1970s, DeSilva began negotiating with the East Bay Regional Park District, City of Fremont, and US Fish and Wildlife Service to convert the longstanding quarry into a public park upon the closure of aggregate mining the site. The agreement was approved by the public agencies in 1977, but the quarry did not cease operation until 2007.

Plans first called to transform the 320’ below sea level quarry pit into a public recreation area with a freshwater swim lake but were not feasible due to difficulty obtaining a reliable freshwater source. Rather, the quarry pit was filled with six million cubic yards of clean dirt and fill from major construction projects in the region, including the Bart extension to San Jose, SF Central Subway Muni extension, and Hetch Hetchy water pipeline tunnel crossing the Bay, among others. A groundbreaking ceremony for Dumbarton Quarry Campground occurred in 2015. The pit, which was heralded as the lowest quarry pit in the Western Hemisphere, took 12 years to fill.

“This project represents the best of public/private partnerships and is a win for the local economy and environment. Opening this wonderful campground may have taken 40 years but it has been worth the wait,” added Director Wieskamp who has served greater Fremont, Pleasanton and Livermore for 22 years on the Park District’s Board of Directors.

A dedication celebration is scheduled for Saturday, August 28, 2021, and is open to the public by RSVP ONLY. The event kicks off with naturalist programs and walking tours from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. A formal dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony begins at 12:00 p.m., with walking tours continuing after the ceremony. RSVP to msalas@ebparks.org.

Drive-in family campsites are available by reservation year-round for tent camping, walk-in camping, bike camping, and RVs. Sixty sites are paved and have hookups for water, sewage, and electricity (50 amp). Three sites are water only and unpaved. The campground has restrooms, hot showers, picnic tables, open areas, and connections to park trails.

The fee for entrance into the day use area and campground is $5. There is also a $2 fee for dogs, which must be on leash at all times.

Camping fees include $65 a night for sites with water, sewer, electricity and $45 a night for sites with water only. There is also an $8 reservation fee.

For more information about the campground, visit ebparks.org/parks/coyote-hills/dumbarton-quarry.