Closest Casino to San Francisco – List & Map of Indian Casinos Near the Bay Area

Although the state of California is brimming with casinos, (66 of them to be exact), the Bay area lacks its fair share of gaming parlors, especially given its population.

Nevertheless, there are five casinos within 100 miles of downtown San Francisco. Four are north of the Bay area, one is south of Sacramento in Elk Grove.

The Graton Resort is the closest casino to San Francisco
The Graton Resort is the closest casino to San Francisco

In addition to these four, there are numerous card rooms, or poker rooms in the area. These include Lucky Chances and Bay 101, however here we’re just focusing here on casinos with slot machines, craps, blackjack and the like.

Casinos in San Francisco

All that said, the closest casino to San Francisco is the Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park. The Graton is located 50 miles north of San Francisco on Highway 101. The casino boasts that you can go from “Bay to Play” in just 43 minutes.

Like all the other 66 casinos in California, Graton is an Indian Casino. The Sonoma County resort is also beautifully designed and very modern-looking. The $800 million dollar property opened in November of 2013.

It happens to be one of the larger casinos in the United States, at least in terms of games offered, with 3,500 gaming machines spread throughout the 135,000 square feet of casino floor space.

The Graton Resort Casino has 3,500 slot machines
The Graton Resort Casino has 3,500 slot machines

There are also over 100 table games. You won’t find a craps table here, but there is blackjack, baccarat, Pai Gow, etc. Graton’s twenty table poker room has a progressive bad beat jackpot and high-hand promotions.

Overall, the resort has a little over a half a million square feet of space, not including its 5,511 parking spaces.

(Here’s a map of the four casinos closest to San Francisco. The orange star is the Graton Resort & Casino)

For the first three years of its existence, the Graton was without a hotel. That changed in November 2016, when the resort unveiled a $175 million expansion that included a 200 room, six-story hotel, two more bars, a 10,000 square foot spa, and added meeting space.

All total, Graton has four sit-down restaurants, and seven quick-service restaurants at “The Marketplace,” not including a Starbucks. There’s also a spa, several bars, and a 10,000 square foot entertainment venue.

The casino is managed by Stations resort. You may be familiar with them, from their numerous Las Vegas properties, (i.e. Palace Station, Sunset Station, etc.)

Graton Casino Address, Phone & Website

288 Golf Course Drive West
Rohnert Park, CA. 94928
(707) 588-7100

GratonCasino.com

Graton Casino Bus Service

The Graton offers (for a modest fee), shuttle service from various points in the Bay area out to the resort and back.

There are ten different Shuttles, ranging from San Jose to Chinatown, to Antioch, Santa Clara, Daly City, Hayward and numerous other origination points. The cost depends on pick-up location, but ranges from $10 to $15. Best of all, buying a ticket at many of the locations gets that exact amount back in the form of either free play or match play at the casino.

To get an updated list of casino bus pick locations and times, you can go to Graton’s Bus Schedule here: Graton Shuttle Bus Service.

Other Casinos Near San Francisco with Slot Machines

(Distances as measured when starting at City Hall downtown)

River Rock Casino (Black Star) – 81 miles

The Sky River Casino in Elk Grove is 93 miles northeast of San Francisco
The River Rock Casino in Geyserville, CA.

This 62,000 square foot facility north of San Francisco in Geyserville features 1,150 slots and 18 table games.

Twin Pine Casino (Green Star) – 89 miles

The Twin Pine Casino in Middletown, CA
The Twin Pine Casino in Middletown, CA

Billing itself as “The friendliest casino in wine country,” Twin Pine is modest-sized casino in Middletown, with 500 gaming machines a few table games. There’s also a 59 room hotel.

Cache Creek Casino (Purple Star) – 90 miles

Cache Creek is a beautiful casino resort just 90 miles from San Francisco
Cache Creek is a beautiful casino resort just 90 miles from San Francisco

The other big casino resort near San Francisco, Cache Creek is an hour and half drive (at optimal times) north east of San Francisco. The resort has 2,700 slot machines and 120 games, along with 659 hotel rooms, a golf course, concert venue, spa and more.

Sky River Casino (Brown Star) – 93 miles

This new 1/2 billion dollar resort opened in the summer of 2022 and is situated 18 miles south of downtown Sacramento. The 300,000 square foot complex (100,000 of which is casino floor space), boasts 2,000 slots and 80 table games.

The Sky River Casino in Elk Grove is 93 miles northeast of San Francisco
The Sky River Casino in Elk Grove is 93 miles northeast of San Francisco

Other Casinos over 100 miles from San Francisco

Hopland Sho-Ka-Wa Casino – 103 miles
Thunder Valley Casino Resort – 113 miles
Konocti Vista Casino – 118 miles
Hard Rock Sacramento Fire Mountain – 119 Miles
Harrah’s Northern California – 121 miles
Red Hawk Casino – 122 miles
Jackson Rancheria – 125 miles
Garcia River Casino – 131 miles

Distance to Graton Resort Casino from Bay Area Cities

Even though there are 42 casinos in Northern California, the Graton is still the closest to all cities in the Bay Area.

Here are mileage figures to the Graton:

Inside the Graton Resort & Casino
Inside the Graton Resort & Casino

San Francisco Casino FAQ

One additional side note.

The San Pablo Lytton Casino is located just 18.2 miles away, off I-80 north of Berkley.

However we’re not counting it as “real” casino due to the fact it only has what’s known has Class II gaming machines.

Unlike all of the other Indian casinos that are part of a compact with the State of California, San Pablo Lytton Casino doesn’t offer the more traditional Class III gaming machines.

(Related: Distance and driving time from San Francisco to Las Vegas)

Without getting bogged down in the details, San Pablo’s Class II machines are bingo-determined machines generally considered less desirable than Nevada style class III gaming machines found in most of the tribal casinos in California. For example, if playing a Class II video poker machine, strategy doesn’t matter, as the outcome is already determined.

And while there are some table games, the house takes $1 commission, even at a $5 blackjack table.

The San Pablo Lytton doesn’t offer games like craps or roulette.

(By Steve Beauregard. Photos courtesy of the Graton Resort & Casino, VisitVallejo.com, and Sonoma County Tourism.)