Last year I got to do hardly any camping because, silly me, I forgot to make any reservations 4 months ahead of time! This year I am determined not to be foiled, but I realize that I don’t know much about the great places to camp in the West. I mean sure, Yosemite, but there are lots and lots of individual campgrounds within the park to choose from. I did a bunch of research on the national parks website and the CA state parks website as well, but still don’t feel I know the really great spots to camp.
So I turn to my fellow Dopers. Please can you suggest some great spots to camp in national parks and state parks? I’m in San Francisco, so Central and Northern CA, Southern Oregon, maybe Nevada are the areas I’m interested in. I’m looking for lazy-style car camping instead of serious back-country adventures because I’ll be 6+ months pregnant by May, and won’t be able to hike long distances or sleep without my blowup air mattress. Swimming would be a plus, views would be a plus, but basically I’m looking for spots to hit on a weekend to soak up a little nature and sleep in a tent.
I found the Trinity-Lake Shasta-Whiskeytown area near Redding, CA wonderful for a short trip from San Francisco. Swimming at Lake Shasta was excellent as was the swimming at Whiskeytown Lake and there were tons of great car camping campsites everywhere we went. Lake Shasta also has a really neat cavern tour with some great (easy) hiking.
I can’t remember the highways since I am in SoCal these days, but its only about 2-3 hours North of Sacramento as I recall. For that matter, just outside of Sacramento is the American River, and the whole California gold rush thing. I remember really enjoying the drive from Auburn to Placerville which takes you through Coloma and a bunch of really neat Old West towns.
You’ll also find all kinds of great camping and hiking in the Lake Tahoe area as well. There’s a nice innertubing thing you can do on the Truckee river that I’d say is ‘pregnancy-friendly’. Lake Tahoe is always super cold though, so I don’t know if you can swim there per se
I grew up in Norcal and camping was a huge part of my life growing up. Lassen National park is fantastic. It was the first mountain peak I ever climbed.
I never really liked Shasta and it can be hot and the bugs miserable in the summer. YMMV
If you’re in the bay area. Mendacino/Fort Bragg may not have the attraction that pulls in people from the valley. It’s usually foggy even in the summer, so not much different than SF. 3 good state campgrounds, McKerricker, Van Damme and one other I can’t remember.
Van Damme - Van Damme! Almost every year I stop there to pee, after I drive through Albion (which apparently has NO public restrooms). It’s BEAUTIFUL there!
Try the Inyo National Forest in the area around Mammoth Mountain. It’s a bit remote but the scenery is amazing and the area is not nearly as crowded as Yosemite. And if you ever do become interested in a long hikinh trip, try heading up to the Minaret Lake. It’s a beautiful spot that almost nobody ever visits.
Having grown up in Southern Oregon/Nor Cal, my wife highly recommends Lassen; Beautiful scenery, dipping your toes in the river, good fishing and pretty much crowd free.
Also on the recommended list are:
Redwood state park. The Klamath/Crescent City area has good campgrounds and some easy hiking. You may want to take a slight detour on the way and visit the Avenue of the Giants.
Crater Lake. But be warned, it gets over a million visitors a year so try for the start or end of the season. My wife worked there for a season and, trust her, you don’t wanna be there when it’s busy.
If you want to go to the coast, Bandon, OR is gorgeous.
My personal favorite is Macarthur Burney Falls, which is located in Burney CA, about an hour past Redding if you come from San Fransisco. In my opinion, it has everything. Great trout fishing above the falls, great skiing on Lake Britton, and easy to moderate hiking. If you do go, the first thing you must do is hike down to the base of the falls. On top of being a breathtaking veiw, it is about 15-20 degrees cooler at the base.
A few more good things about Burney Falls is that the sites are relativley spaced out so you do have space to yourself and are not forced to sleep next to a bathroom. And it is also not too far from both Lake Shasta and Lassen, so you could make a week out of it and go all over.
BTW, while the Shasta Caverns were awesome, it has quite a few stairs and not something I would want to do if I were 6 months pregnant. ( I was 19 when I went and my knees were killing me. )