Tent Camping in California

Tent camping in California provides diverse opportunities for experiencing a truism of naturalist John Muir: “In every walk with nature, one receives more than he seeks.” An early champion of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, especially Yosemite National Park (NP), Muir would have also enjoyed the towering trees at Redwood NP and Sequoia and King’s Canyon NP, the extreme conditions at Death Valley NP, the well-sculpted Channel Islands NP, the desert landscape of Joshua Tree NP, the trembling, smoking earth at Lassen Volcanic NP, and the rocky columns at Devil’s Post Pile National Monument. Each of these locations offers a unique experience for those going tent camping in California.

Sierra Designs Bedouin 4 Tent

The Bedouin by Sierra Designs makes a mobile palace for big groups with lots of gear. The poled vestibule offers ample room for changing or managing gear.

See more tent recommendations from Moosejaw.

Features, fees, amenities, seasonal information and directions to California’s national parks and monuments are available online at: http://home.nps.gov/applications/parksearch/state.cfm?st=ca. The parks map on this site will help you plan your itinerary.

State parks, while less well known to many tourists, provide an even more impressive number of locations for tent camping in California. The state manages 270 park units with almost 15,000 camp sites and 3,000 miles of trails on 1.4 million acres of land. Swimming, fishing and boating enthusiasts will find tent camping opportunities along some 280 miles of coastline and 625 miles of lake and river frontage.

The web site for the California Department of Parks and Recreation provides easy-to-find details, descriptions and directions to tent camping locations throughout the state park system where you’ll find such gems as Andrew Molera State Park (SP) in Big Sur, Benbow Lake State Recreation Area (SRA) on the Eel River, Castle Crag SP on the Sacramento River, Jedediah Smith Redwoods SP on the Smith River, and Silverwood Lake SRA on the 2,650-mile Pacific Coast Trail.

If you prefer tent camping near a convenient city or within a favorite environment (desert, forest, lake, mountain, ocean, river), search for campsites and related recreational activities within one of California’s twelve geographical regions:

* Shasta/Cascade Trinity (Alturas, Chico, Redding)
* North Coast (Crescent City, Eureka, Sonoma)
* Central Valley (Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento)
* Gold Country (Jackson, Nevada City, Sonora)
* High Sierra (Bridgeport, Mariposa, Tahoe City)
* San Francisco Bay (Napa, San Francisco, San Jose)
* Central Coast (Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur)
* Deserts (Barstow, Needles, Palm Springs)
* Los Angeles County (Burbank, Long Beach, Los Angeles)
* Inland Empire (Hemet, San Bernardino, Temecula)
* Orange County (Anaheim, Hunting Beach, Mission Viejo)
* San Diego County (Carlsbad, La Jolla, San Diego)