[3] A 75-acre (30 ha) district, including the shrimping village and a prehistoric shell midden, were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for having state-level significance in archaeology, architecture, commerce, settlement, and social history.

[4] China Camp State Park, along with the Rush Ranch Open Space Preserve, is part of the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

[5] Prior to the 1700s, the area now containing the park was inhabited by indigenous Coast Miwok people, who lived by hunting, harvesting acorns from the local oaks, and fishing and gathering seafood from the bay.

In 1844, the Spanish granted much of the land that now comprises the park to Timothy Murphy, an Irish settler who became mayor (alcalde) of San Rafael.

China Camp was one of approximately 26 such shrimp-fishing villages established along the coast by Chinese Americans, many of whom had moved from San Francisco to escape racial prejudice and persecution.

Chinn Ho donated the 36-acre (15 ha) site of China Camp village for preservation as a memorial to Chinese American history.

[6] The park offers a variety of outdoor activities, including overnight camping, picnic facilities, hiking and biking trails, kayaking, paddleboarding, and sailing.

China Camp also celebrates a Chinese-American Heritage Day each August, with lion dances, acrobatic and tai chi demonstrations, arts and crafts sales, activities for children, and a visit by the replica Chinese junk Grace Quan and other historic boats.