CALIFORNIA CAMPING GUIDE

Campgrounds In California

California has the best of many worlds when it comes to great camping spots and campgrounds for you to enjoy with your family. From going up into the mountains and camping in the National Forest, to camping at a nice campground at a lake, and back down to the cooler temperatures of the coast, with a lot in between. Having a great campfire ring or campfire pit for your next camping trip brings out the kid in all of us to roast hot dogs or marshmallows around the campfire. Also don’t forget a good set of campfire starters.

Camping In California National Forests

California has 20 National Forests across the state. Some of these forests are shared with other states as they cross state lines. This image to the left is from the USDA Forest Service, and it shows all of the different national forests across California. Some of the best camping are in the national forests.

Rent an RV For Camping

Cleveland National Forest Camping

The Cleveland National Forest spans across 720 square miles and is the southernmost National Forest in California. The climate within the Cleveland National Forest is warm and dry as most of the forest is chaparral.

Sequoia National Forest Camping

This forest is situated in the south of the Californian mountains of the Sierra Nevada, and spans across 1864 square miles. The majestic and huge Giant Sequoia trees are what gives this forest it’s name.

San Bernardino National Forest Camping

The San Bernardino National Forest spans across 1287 square miles. The forest has a wide range of elevation, with heights ranging between 2,000 and 11,499 feet.

Holloway’s RV Park Camping

Holloway’s RV Park is located right on the water at Big Bear Lake in Metcalf Bay. The view is amazing, and there is a convenience store within walking distance and many restaurants and attractions nearby. It is located directly next to Holloway's Marina, where you can rent boats, go fishing, take a tour of the lake, and more! The RV sites are large, level sites with a lake view! Full Hook-ups, picnic table at some sites, small convenience store with groceries, supplies, ice, beer, soda, restrooms, and metered showers. The clean heated buildings have hot water, laundry room, propane, and a dump station. The campground has fishing licenses and fishing tackle, propane, a playground for the kids, horseshoe pits, basketball, and more. They have a party patio with beautiful sunsets. Rates Starting at $65 per night.

Sierra National Forest Camping

The Sierra National Forest is on the west side of the Sierra Nevada’s. It spans across 2046 square miles, with elevations going as high as 13,986 feet.

Dinkey Creek Campground

Dinkey Creek Campground is spread out along the banks of Dinkey creek, in a thick forest of Ponderosa pines and cedars. The campgrounds high country setting with trees, streams, and open space, make it a beautiful camping destination for your friends and family. It has a group site that can accommodate up to 50 people. The rest of the camp sites are a mixture of standard or tent only single sites. All of the camping sites have paved spurs, picnic tables and fire grills. Drinking water is available at the campground, as well as vault and flush toilets. There is a Campground host on site, and there is a picnic area located on a large sandy flat above the creek at the north end of the campground. They also have an on site amphitheater that provides educational programs on summer weekends. Anglers can fish Dinkey Creek for brown trout and rainbow trout. Fees: $34.00 Single site, $68.00 Double site, $202.00 Group site per night and $10 fee for each additional vehicle. Holiday fees increase $2 per site. Camping Reservations: 1-877-444-6777 or online at recreation.gov RV’s: Maximum RV length is 35' - No hookups Open Season - May to October

Kids Marshmallow or Hot Dog Roasters for Camping!

This 3 piece kids campfire cooking set includes 2 roasting "fishing poles" in a deluxe camo print storage bag. The roasters are made of food safe stainless steel and are designed to minimize food dropping and poking risks, so they are safe for kids. Roasting mashmallows around the campfire gets kicked up to a whole new level of cool with this Campfire Cooking Fishing Rod Roasters with Camo Bag Set. Cook hot dogs, marshmallows and more!

Angeles National Forest Camping

The Angeles National Forest spans across 1024 square miles. Most of the forest is chaparral, and has altitudes reaching up to 10,064 feet.

Los Alamos Campground

The Los Alamos Campground has 93 family sites with tables, and drinking water. There are no showers, or RV water hookups. There is a large group campsite that accomodates up to 50 visitors. Has piped water, flushing toilets, and a camp store. Potable water and a dump station is free for overnight guests. This campground is the closest campground to Pyramid Lake, but it is not located on the lake. The lake does have boat launch ramps. Campground campers do have first priority to Pyramid Lake but they must be in line to enter the marina area by 6:15 a.m. Pyramid Lake is 2.5 miles away and offers swimming, waterskiing, wakeboarding, jet skiing, and fishing. Fees: Standard sites $20 per night, Premium sites $35, $10 reservation fee Camping Reservations: 1-877-444-6777 or online at recreation.gov RV’s: Maximum RV length is 26' - No hookups Open Season: Open year round

Vacation Cabin Camping Rentals

Looking for a cabin style vacation rental for any destination you wish to go? Vrbo has vacation homes, cabins, and cottages for many locations that would be great for your next family vacation. Start your adventures today.

Tahoe National Forest Camping

This forest spans across 1361 square miles, within the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Fishing Guides and Charter Boats While You Are Out Camping

There are many different fishing guides that offer guided fishing trips for halibut, salmon, trout, and pretty much any other fish that you may want to target. FishingBooker is a service of local guides that you can choose from and schedule your next guided fishing trip. Book A California Fishing Guide Today!

Los Padres National Forest Camping

This forest spans across 2,970 square miles within parts of the Californian coast and parts of central California, reaching an elevation of up to 8,847 feet. One of the best areas for campgrounds in the Los Padres National Forest Camping is in Big Sur.

Big Sur Camping In Los Padres National Forest

Big Sur is a beautiful and rugged mountain section of the Central Coast of California. It is located between Carmel and San Simeon, right where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise up out of the Pacific Ocean. It is a truly unique, and breathtaking scene to walk along the coast. For more information, check out our Big Sur Camping page. It is a breathtaking scene along one of the longest undeveloped stretches of coastline in the US. If you are looking for peace and tranquility, this is the place you are looking for. The wonders that await you when you travel into Big Sur are amazing redwood forests, hiking trails, coastal beaches, fishing, and camping. There are four to seven million people that visit Big Sur each year, making it one of the top tourist destinations in the nation.

Mendocino National Forest Camping

Mendocino National Forest spans across 1,427 square miles and stretches into six different counties.

Upgrade Your Camping Gear

Nothing makes for better camping than adding some new camping gear for your trip. It may be time to upgrade your sleeping situation with a brand new tent, like the Coleman Dark Room Skydome 8 Person Camping Tent. A great family tent for quick weekend getaways or extended campouts, this 8 person tent is sturdy with a quick setup in under five minutes.

Stanislaus National Forest Camping

This forest spans across four counties in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and has a size of 1,403 square miles, with over 800 miles of streams and rivers.

Lassen National Forest Camping

This forest spans across 1700 square miles and encloses the Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Eldorado National Forest Camping

This forest, in the Sierra Nevada mountains spans across 932 square miles.

Modoc National Forest Camping

The Modoc National Forest spans across 2,625 square miles, with altitudes reaching up to 7,921 feet.

Plumas National Forest Camping

Plumas National Forest was created spans across 1,859 square miles.

Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Camping

The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is a forest that spans across 235 square miles.

Six Rivers National Forest Camping

The Six Rivers National Forest spans across 1,496 square miles. It is located in the northwest of California.

Klamath National Forest Camping

The Klamath National Forest spans across 2,715 square miles and is located in Northern California in the Klamath Mountains.

Shasta Trinity National Forest Camping

This forest spans across 3,452 square miles, and has elevations up to 14,179 feet.

Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest Camping

This forest spans across 9,829 square miles.

Inyo National Forest Camping

The Inyo National Forest spans across 2,973 square miles, with elevations that reach up to 14,505 feet.

Rogue River Siskiyou National Forest Camping

This forest spans across 2,685 square miles.

Add Camping Comfort with a New Sleeping Pad or Cot

Take your camping experience to the next level by upgrading your sleeping comfort with a nice quality sleeping cot, or camping sleeping pad. The Cabela’s Big Outdoorsman XL Cot with Lever Arm is perfectly oversized to fit campers of all sizes, providing better sleeping comfort that you can really count on. If a sleeping pad is a better option for your family, the Cabela's All- Season Campbed Double Sleeping Pad is a great choice due to it’s size. Highly durable, and built to last season after season.

Sleeping Bag For Camping

Sleep comfortably with a new sleeping bag, even when it’s 0⁰ F outside, in the Coleman Big Game Big and Tall Sleeping Bag with cotton canvas cover and cozy cotton flannel liner. The full-cover construction locks in the heat by eliminating quilting cold spots, making it perfect for extreme and cold weather sleeping. The bag’s roomier design keeps campers up to 6 ft. 5 in. warm from top to bottom. The specially-designed, patented zipper system plows fabric away from the zipper every time to avoid snags. The Comfort Cuff feature surrounds your face with softness when you sleep to give you that full body warmth and comfort. The Thermolock System reduces heat loss through the zipper to retain the heat your body generates throughout the night.

Heater for Tent Camping

Tent camping in the winter months can get rather cold on those cold nights. A good heater for camping can warm the tent to keep you warm and cozy. I have used a lot of different portable heaters for camping in my lifetime, and the best portable propane heater for camping by far is made by MR HEATER. The Buddy series from Mr Heater works wondefully. My family stays cozy and warm when we are in our tent, we absolutely love it.

Best Camping Chairs

If you are looking for a name brand that has been around a really long time, that has been proven as durable, reliable, and dependable when you are out on your camping trip, Cabela’s is the brand name that I buy and trust. I have used their chairs for most of my life, and have never had an issue with any of my chairs. They are strong, and durable, even in the harshest of conditions. They outlast all other camping chairs that I have ever used. Strong, and stylish too! Take a stroll down the virtual camping chair aisle and find the perfect chair for you.

Camping Cooler Ice Chest

When it comes to storing your food, you definitely want to have a nice quality, large sized cooler ice chest to keep your food and drinks cold and fresh. The Igloo BMX 52- Quart Cooler has a heavy duty, blow molded construction, so it is ready for your rowdiest family adventures! It has super thick foam walls with an insulated lid to to keep your ice for up to 5 days in 90°F weather.

Camping Stove

Now that your meats and veggies are ice cold and kept fresh, you should venture on over to the camping stove page and take a look at some of the best camping stove’s on the market with the latest technology. Like the Camp Chef Expedition 3X Triple Burner Stove packed full of great features like three 30,000 BTU burners for massive cooking power to cook your food fast and completely even in high altitude. It has a 3 sided windscreen to keep the flames going and not blow out on those windy evenings. This camping stove also comes with a matchless ignition system for easy lighting of the cooking burners. It even comes with a professional style griddle ready to use right out of the box.

Camping Kitchen

Turn your camping trip into a Glamping trip. Give yourself all of the comforts of home by getting a new camp kitchen. Give yourself the counter space to stretch out in and be the ultimate chef in the outdoors. Enough space to add your camping stove, spices, cooking utensils, and more. The worst part about cooking in the great outdoors while you are camping, is the fact that it is hard to be organized with the stuff you need to stretch out, and do some gourmet camping cooking. This camp kitchen is quick and easy to setup, and will get you organized in a jiffy. The camping kitchen that I like the best is the Deluxe Camp Kitchen by Cabela’s. It provides you with plenty of storage, a place to put your camp stove, all your camping cooking utensils, your lantern, a paper towel holder, plenty of shelf space to stretch out and have your own little kitchen in the woods. Speaking of lanterns, don’t forget a high powered flashlight as well.

Camping Generator

A Camping Generator or power inverter is great to have for powering up the RV at full capacity, and for tent camping you can power whatever it is that will make the camping trip a little more comfortable. I bring a microwave when I bring the family, and my generator is perfect for that. You can also power up some lighting, and a blender for some nice mixed drinks, the possibilities are endless. Give your RV, campsite, home, or outdoor entertainment space full electrical power quickly and easily with the Champion Power Equipment 3500W Remote Start Inverter. Comes with a remote key fob that allows you to start and stop your generator from up to 80' away. The inverter's reduced emissions, air-cooled 4-stroke, single-cylinder engine runs at only 59dB for quiet running at campsites and RV parks. Easy-to- use motor starts easily with its electric push button, recoil start, or remote control fob.

Rent the best camping gear, each time you camp!

Buying your own camping gear can be really expensive, especially if you are starting from scratch, or have a lot of equipment to replace. Having your own camping gear is a great idea if you camp several times or more a year, but if you only go once in a while it is hard to make the large investment, especially when you have to store it and maintain it until your next trip. Reserve for Free - Submit your reservation for free today to secure what you need at the best rate. Change or cancel your order anytime before your order ships. Get what you need delivered anywhere in the contiguous United States. Ship to your home, hotel, Airbnb or even 10,000+ FedEx or FedEx affiliate locations. This process is so simple, every order includes a free return label. Place items back in your box and adhere the label and drop off at any FedEx location to ship the gear back. Check out the camping gear rental options today!

Rent the best camping RV, each time you camp!

If tent camping is not your style, another option for a spring camping trip for your family’s spring break, may be to rent an RV. It’s a great alternative to buying an RV, as they can be rather expensive. It’s also a great idea to rent an RV if you are in the market to buy an RV but you can’t decide between a few different models that you really like. You can rent one of the same model, so that you can give it a try before you settle on which model to purchase from an RV dealer. You can save up to 25% on your travel costs by booking an RV through RVshare. Now that you have all of your new cool camping gear, it’s time to get out and enjoy your next family adventure camping trip! About The Author Mike Mendenhall is the the founder of Mendenhall Outdoors. This website is an extension of the Mendenhall family’s lifestyle and passion for the great outdoors. Everything that they learn, and experience, along the way that they find may be valuable to our website visitors is on the site for you to enjoy. We highlight products and services that you might find interesting. We frequently receive free products from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. If you click a link on this page, then go on to make a purchase, we might receive a commission – at no extra cost to you, and does not impact the purchase price of any products that you may purchase. The Best California Camping Guide Experience Awaits!