Discovering the Adventure
Northern California Camping

Northern California Camping Options are Endless

Look what Northern California camping has to offer: what with camping in California State Parks - some of the best state parks in the country; camping in the mountains or the redwoods; along a rocky rugged coastline; beside lakes, rivers and streams...

Choose between forest camping, beach camping, or Yosemite camping...

Privately run camps or public; large campgrounds or isolated lonely spots...

NorCal camping offers just about every environment you could imagine!

Whether you prefer to drive straight to your campsite and pitch a tent or park your RV - or you'd rather hike, bike, horseback, or mule pack deep into the untrammeled mountains, you can't go wrong camping in Northern California!

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Choose the Northern California Camping
Style that's Right for You

This is our essential guide to Northern California camping. It will help you find the NorCal region and style of camping that's perfect for you!

National Parks and Forests

California has an extensive system of National Parks and National Forests, many of which are in Northern California!

Camp at Lassen Volcanic NP, Point Reyes National Seashore, Redwood National Park, or Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP. And, of course, nothing beats Yosemite camping!

Some of the National Forests that allow camping are Shasta-Trinity, Modoc, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Tahoe, Sierra, Monterey, and Six Rivers forests.

California State Parks

California also has one of the most extensive State Park systems in the United States!

You'll also find State Beaches, and State Historic Parks; Protected Areas, and Reserves; plus the actual State Parks and their campgrounds.

You can't camp at all state facilities - for instance, you can't always camp on a State Beach.

But there's usually camping of some kind around - either public or private - so you can camp nearby and enjoy the non-camping portions of the California State Park system on a Day Use basis.

You'll find state facilities in the mountains, along the Northern California coast, in the grasslands and farmland of the Central Valley, in the foothills of California Gold Country, and in the redwood forests of both the coastal ranges and the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Civilized Camping

You might be surprised to learn that there are many camping facilities, both public and private in such civilized places as the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Napa and Sonoma of California's premium Wine Country.

A region that's as populated as the Bay Area is doesn't usually conjure up visions of camping, wilderness, and wildlife. But hilly San Francisco was built atop the Coastal Mountain Range, and you'll discover stretches of unpopulated rolling hills and broad valleys within a hair's breadth of The Big City and the East Bay.

There are also many isolated and secluded places to camp in the Napa and Sonoma Wine Country! Look around and you'll discover peacefully hidden worlds, old-growth and mist-covered redwood forests, camping along the coast, and peaks with sweeping views. Hmmm, camping and wine tasting - unexpected pairing!

Rustic Camping

Travel just about anywhere in Northern California and you'll find camping opportunities - some a little harder to find than others.

Some of the places that immediately come to mind: the Lost Coast of Mendocino and Humboldt Counties; the Klamath Mountains and Trinity Alps in Siskiyou and Trinity Counties; the Ventana Wilderness of the Big Sur area and Point Reyes in Marin County; the Coastal Redwood forests in Del Norte, and the Giant Sequoias of Yosemite, Calaveras, and the rest of the Sierra Nevadas.

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For more about Northern California camping, click on the links below:

• Big Sur Camping
  Beaches, waterways, and wilderness
• Family Camping Tips
  From our family to yours
• Yosemite Camping
  On the Valley Floor, or up in the High Country
  

Please continue your exploration of what Northern California has to offer by using the Nav Bars in the left and right columns or by using the links at the bottom of the page.

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