Camping areas in Northern California?
April6
I live in San Francisco, and I want to go camping with a couple of my friends. We want to get the real wilderness feeling with some rivers and lakes. Do you guys no of suck Camping areas
I live in San Francisco, and I want to go camping with a couple of my friends. We want to get the real wilderness feeling with some rivers and lakes. Do you guys no of suck Camping areas
It depends on where you want to go… Sierras or Santa Cruz Mtns. There are lots of great places to camp.
A few places I’ve been or have known about:
Big Basin, Big Sur, Pt. Reyes Natl Seashore, Redwoods State Park, Yosemite, Silver Lake in the Sierras off Hwy. 88 are a good start.
Hope this helps!
Try the tahoe national forest, lakes, rivers, tons of hiking and backpacking trails. It no sucks.
Well there are some great answers already but I would also contact your Department of Natural Resources. They are the ones that are incharge of the camping sites and are the ones that make most of the laws on where you can and can’t camp. So I would give them a call too to help you and your friends find just the perfect camping spot! Good Luck too!
If you have a vehicle, the entire range of the Sierra is at your doorstep. You could go to Lake Tahoe and venture into Desolation Wilderness, up HWY 108 past Sonora and visit the glorious Emigrant Wilderness, or beautiful Yosemite National Park, the high country of Tuolumne Meadows, The Eastern Sierra, King’s Canyon, Sequoia. It’s all up there, just plan carefully, bring a map and compass, pack your gear, and go.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/recreation/wilderness/desowild/
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/stanislaus/visitor/emigrant/
http://www.nps.gov/archive/yose/wilderness/tripplanning.htm
It’s weird that ‘redneckride’ mentions Mark West Springs Road as a camping hotspot because I used to live right near there and have been to every park in the Sonoma County day hiking and I wouldn’t waste one second trying to car camp around there. There isn’t any wilderness around there, just small parks made of protected land. Maybe I’m prejudiced, but to me camping means alpine mountains or maybe deep redwood forests or secluded beaches. North Bay Area camping would be like camping in my front yard.
I also suggest the Tahoe area, but I also live in SF, and I’ve really enjoyed a little place called Samuel P. Taylor state park. It’s up by Point Reyes Station, about an hour and a half drive north from the city. Check ‘em out online, it’s like like camping in Muir Woods.
I lived in Redding for nearly 15 years and still go up there to camp. I now live near Tracy and miss the greatest camping area/region in the State.For free camping on water you can go to Denny Camp, just east of Burnt Ranch on Hwy 299. Or try Beaver Creek up in the Siskoyous North of Yreka. Both are National Forest Service Camp grounds. In Redding you can camp on lake Shasta or Whiskeytown Lake. Head East from Redding and camp on a live, active volcano! Mt. Lassen. or just down the hill in Shingletown at Lake Mc Cumber on Hwy. 44. The Redding area is a outdoor lover’s Dream! Tons of camping, hiking, fishing and much more to keep you , friends and family busy. The Trinity Alps West of Redding have some of the best and most beautiful high mountain lakes close to a large community. Take the time and check it out soon!
Take Highway 101 north and exit Mark West springs road (river road) North of Santa Rosa. Go west. There will be many campgrounds. All are nice places to camp. The river is right there for swimming tanning and such. You can rent canoes and paddle the river, fish, and go to town if you wish. For fishing from shore or a canoe I will suggest a small spinner yellow brown and dark red all work well. If you drive West you can be at the ocean (Jenner) in 30-40 minutes. A great place to whale watch. Also north of the town of Gurneville is a nice park with some large redwood trees. There is the Korbel Champaign cellars for those who enjoy the spirits. If you go east on the road is Calistoga hot springs and the petrified forest. I also know there is an area out there known for it’s geysers. If you want to goto the Lake, Lake Sonoma is not far and there is a Salmon hatcher at the base of the dam that is nice to visit also. Enjoy I have enjoyed this place for many years and miss it now.
Another place would be out east in the Sierras. It is called lake alpine it is on Highway 4 past Angels Camp this is a nice lake with many places to hike bike off road and Camp. The lake is crystal clear and was a great place for my family as I grew up. The better places to fish here are along the dam. Cast parallel to the dam and not perpendicular you will have better luck this is a nice trout lake. To get here hake 80 east to 99 go south to Highway 4 then take highway 4 east until you are lake Alpine. I would expect this to be about 3-4 hours.