Prairie Creek Campground is my favorite place of all. Elks wandering into our site. Cold and rainy in the winter, and the facilities were poor, but great!
Loved this video, as it was, for us, a fun trip down Memory Lane, having camped at eight on your list. Our all-time favorites are Russian Gulch, our favorite small park of all time, and Hendy Woods. I would add to your list Jedediah Smith State Park outside of Crescent City, with the most spectacular old growth redwood grove I have ever experienced, and Burney Falls State Park. Burney Falls gets really HOT in the summer time. In the Sierras, we love Donner Pass and Calaveras Big Trees State Parks.
Sounds like you guys have been to some awesome campgrounds! These are great additions! Thank you for the suggestions. We definitely plan to make a trip to Burney Falls someday in the near future.
Excellent and very well done!!When Doran Beach appeared I groaned and thought “but what about that WIND?!!…” My first time there over 30 years ago was also my last as a stalwart NorCal-native tent camper. The wind completely flattened our tent poles and I have a photo somewhere of the family we went with peering out of their tent entrance with the tent poles flattened around them. Thanks for the memories!! And now that I camp in a converted van I MIGHT try it again…nah..never mind 😂😂
😆 Yes the wind there is crazy! I would never tent camp there. I have seen multiple people struggle with a tent and then just end up sleeping in the car. You are much braver than I am for even attempting that. But you'd be good in your van. 😁 ...And you might get lucky. We were there a few weeks ago and had no wind. It was amazing and unexpected.
Great video and wonderful information. We travel in a camper van and are heading to Northern Cali next month. This is good information to have. Thanks for sharing.
Love your list, most of them close to home for us. Based on the proximity of most of your choices, I’m assuming we live in the same area. A campground I’ve not seen in this list or your other videos is Lawson’s Landing @ Dillon Beach right at the mouth of Tomales Bay. It’s a rather large privately owned dry campground. The one feature that makes it stand out from the other choices on your list is the beach itself is DOG FRIENDLY!!! They can run OFF leash on the beach and which is nearly 2 miles long with a ridge of dunes separating beach from campground. We’ve only camped there once, but it is our favorite beach for day trips with the dogs.
Thank you for the list! I would like to check them out. Unfortunately you need to plan the trips 6 months ahead to reserve the sites and we’re more spontaneous. We went to Nevada Beach last September and it was wonderful.
Nevada Beach is one of my favorites and I think September is the best time to go 😁 But yeah, you definitely need to plan ahead for these. Sometimes you can get lucky by getting cancelled sites if you aren't too picky.
Thanks! The trees of mystery was a lot of fun, I would definitely recommend it. It was a little pricey but it felt worth it. The kids loved every minute of it and it was nice how dog friendly it was.
Glad you found it helpful! In the video description you'll find links to blog articles for the different campgrounds. You'll find specific campsite recommendations for most of the campgrounds in those posts.
I live in Bodega Bay, California… It isn’t ALWAYS windy but Doran is hit or miss. CAUTION at Wrights Beach… the surf is wickedly unpredictable and there is a steep drop and wide rip currents. Never get in the surf here… keep kids WAY back (sneaker waves) and never let your dog in the ocean at Wrights.☠️ Far too often people drown on our beaches and in the Russian River. Great list.
Great points, thanks for sharing this info! Definitely important to stay safe. We did see several warning signs when we were there that hopefully people will take seriously.
I agree. It's always a bummer to see beautiful trails and not get to go because we don't want to ditch the dog. There's actually an old gravel road nearby, Cal Barrel Road, that is used as a dog-friendly trail. That was our plan but we ran out of time.
Great list! We’re NorCal campers too and we’ve been to most but not all of these campgrounds. We’ll definitely get out to the others this year. Thanks for the recommendations.
How would i find out about Ebike trails? Compliments to you for your vlog, I really appreciated the brievity, clarity and simplicity of your oration, it is right to the points.
Thank you! And good question about ebike trails. I looked into it a bit and there are three different classes of ebikes. A class 1 has pedal assist only, no throttle, and a maximum speed of 20mph. Those can typically be used on any trail that allows a standard bike. Class 2 and 3 ebikes are typically allowed on public roadways, not trails. The California State Park website has a page all about ebikes and lists where there are ebike friendly trails. You can find the page here: www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30521 One of the parks they listed is MacKerricher which was also listed in my video. There is a trail there that is now called the Haul Road Trail (previously known as the Ten Mile Beach Trail) and it is a very popular bike trail. Hope that helps!
Ebikes on trails here can be touchy. Learn and follow bike trail etiquette and you should be fine with a class 1. We have class 1, 2 and 3 e-MTN bikes. We’ve ridden our 1 & 2 on trails and we’ve never had an issues. Rude behavior will screw it up for everybody though. We always stop when we encounter horses. We mind our speed when riding around hikers, dogs, and other bikes. We assist bikers and hikers in trouble and always bring a bag to pick up trash on the trail.🚵♀️
You got great list ! Especially doran & prairie creek ( they filmed jurassic park 2 there). I'd add calaveras big trees ( Columbia state park, moaning caverns & railtown 1897 nearby)
New subscriber here. I look forward to following your page. Are these campgrounds free? I live close to half of these beautiful campgrounds. I live in the San Francisco North Bay Area. Thanks for sharing this is an awesome video!
Welcome! Hopefully you get to check some of these campsites out! They aren't free, the nightly range varies by campground. Several of the State Parks are $35 a night.
Tents are allowed at all of those campgrounds, though I wouldn't recommend tent camping at Doran Regional Park. There is a lot of wind there and we've seen some tent campers having a pretty rough time with it. I don't include prices just because that info can change but these are all regional and state parks so the average cost is around $40/night. I plan to add some more details next time I create a video like this so I appreciate the feedback 😊
Are you looking for something in a particular county? There are some nice campgrounds near Burney and Hat Creek including Burney Falls State Park. There are also some nice options in the Eldorado National Forest such as Sunset-Union Valley. I've heard good things about Pinecrest, though we haven't made it there yet. And we always enjoy Tahoe. We like Donner Memorial in Truckee and Nevada Beach near South Lake.
@@RoginaRoaming im thankful to live in CAlifornia, a state that cares about its environment and parks.....50% of California is public open space, 2% of texas is public open space.....we are truly blessed
Prairie Creek Campground is my favorite place of all. Elks wandering into our site. Cold and rainy in the winter, and the facilities were poor, but great!
Agreed! The amount of elks wandering around felt really special to see.
Loved this video, as it was, for us, a fun trip down Memory Lane, having camped at eight on your list. Our all-time favorites are Russian Gulch, our favorite small park of all time, and Hendy Woods. I would add to your list Jedediah Smith State Park outside of Crescent City, with the most spectacular old growth redwood grove I have ever experienced, and Burney Falls State Park. Burney Falls gets really HOT in the summer time. In the Sierras, we love Donner Pass and Calaveras Big Trees State Parks.
Sounds like you guys have been to some awesome campgrounds! These are great additions! Thank you for the suggestions. We definitely plan to make a trip to Burney Falls someday in the near future.
Thank you :) This was helpful
No problem! Glad it was helpful 😊
Thanks for sharing! I especially appreciate you sharing details for the pups, as it gets hard after a while figuring out where the dogs can walk!
No problem! So glad you found it helpful. I'm always surprised how difficult it seems to be to camp with your dog.
Excellent and very well done!!When Doran Beach appeared I groaned and thought “but what about that WIND?!!…” My first time there over 30 years ago was also my last as a stalwart NorCal-native tent camper. The wind completely flattened our tent poles and I have a photo somewhere of the family we went with peering out of their tent entrance with the tent poles flattened around them. Thanks for the memories!! And now that I camp in a converted van I MIGHT try it again…nah..never mind 😂😂
😆 Yes the wind there is crazy! I would never tent camp there. I have seen multiple people struggle with a tent and then just end up sleeping in the car. You are much braver than I am for even attempting that. But you'd be good in your van. 😁 ...And you might get lucky. We were there a few weeks ago and had no wind. It was amazing and unexpected.
Great video and wonderful information. We travel in a camper van and are heading to Northern Cali next month. This is good information to have. Thanks for sharing.
No problem! Glad you found it helpful. Enjoy your trip!
Thanks! Beautiful fam.
Thank you! And I'm glad you found it helpful 😊
Love your list, most of them close to home for us. Based on the proximity of most of your choices, I’m assuming we live in the same area.
A campground I’ve not seen in this list or your other videos is Lawson’s Landing @ Dillon Beach right at the mouth of Tomales Bay. It’s a rather large privately owned dry campground. The one feature that makes it stand out from the other choices on your list is the beach itself is DOG FRIENDLY!!! They can run OFF leash on the beach and which is nearly 2 miles long with a ridge of dunes separating beach from campground. We’ve only camped there once, but it is our favorite beach for day trips with the dogs.
We'll have to check that out, we haven't been there yet but that definitely sounds worth a trip. Thanks for the tip!
Thank you for the list! I would like to check them out. Unfortunately you need to plan the trips 6 months ahead to reserve the sites and we’re more spontaneous. We went to Nevada Beach last September and it was wonderful.
Nevada Beach is one of my favorites and I think September is the best time to go 😁 But yeah, you definitely need to plan ahead for these. Sometimes you can get lucky by getting cancelled sites if you aren't too picky.
Great information; I’ve been wanting to camp near & visit the Trees of Mystery.
Thanks! The trees of mystery was a lot of fun, I would definitely recommend it. It was a little pricey but it felt worth it. The kids loved every minute of it and it was nice how dog friendly it was.
Great camp idea, thanks! I think it would be nice to mention good campsite numbers.
At the end of the video you mention that info is on your website. Should have waited to comment until the end. Lol
Glad you found it helpful! In the video description you'll find links to blog articles for the different campgrounds. You'll find specific campsite recommendations for most of the campgrounds in those posts.
Hello!! Just found your channel thank you for all the campground information super helpful! Great Video!
No problem! So glad it was helpful!
I live in Bodega Bay, California… It isn’t ALWAYS windy but Doran is hit or miss. CAUTION at Wrights Beach… the surf is wickedly unpredictable and there is a steep drop and wide rip currents. Never get in the surf here… keep kids WAY back (sneaker waves) and never let your dog in the ocean at Wrights.☠️ Far too often people drown on our beaches and in the Russian River. Great list.
Great points, thanks for sharing this info! Definitely important to stay safe. We did see several warning signs when we were there that hopefully people will take seriously.
I love your first pick- I used to hike there and have camped recently. The only drawback is the inability to take dogs on the trail
I agree. It's always a bummer to see beautiful trails and not get to go because we don't want to ditch the dog. There's actually an old gravel road nearby, Cal Barrel Road, that is used as a dog-friendly trail. That was our plan but we ran out of time.
Great list! We’re NorCal campers too and we’ve been to most but not all of these campgrounds. We’ll definitely get out to the others this year. Thanks for the recommendations.
No problem! Hope you have a great time!
Thanks, Rogina, for sharing the valuable information on NoCal campgrounds.
No problem! I'm happy to hear it helps 😁
Ha ve been camping at Burlington for the last ten years. One of my favorites.
It really was a nice place to camp. We loved being in the middle of the redwoods.
Thanks for the great list! Do you have a video like this for Southern California?
Glad you liked it! No, we haven't been to many Southern California campgrounds yet.
How would i find out about Ebike trails? Compliments to you for your vlog, I really appreciated the brievity, clarity and simplicity of your oration, it is right to the points.
Thank you! And good question about ebike trails.
I looked into it a bit and there are three different classes of ebikes. A class 1 has pedal assist only, no throttle, and a maximum speed of 20mph. Those can typically be used on any trail that allows a standard bike. Class 2 and 3 ebikes are typically allowed on public roadways, not trails.
The California State Park website has a page all about ebikes and lists where there are ebike friendly trails. You can find the page here: www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30521
One of the parks they listed is MacKerricher which was also listed in my video. There is a trail there that is now called the Haul Road Trail (previously known as the Ten Mile Beach Trail) and it is a very popular bike trail.
Hope that helps!
Ebikes on trails here can be touchy. Learn and follow bike trail etiquette and you should be fine with a class 1. We have class 1, 2 and 3 e-MTN bikes. We’ve ridden our 1 & 2 on trails and we’ve never had an issues. Rude behavior will screw it up for everybody though. We always stop when we encounter horses. We mind our speed when riding around hikers, dogs, and other bikes. We assist bikers and hikers in trouble and always bring a bag to pick up trash on the trail.🚵♀️
Great list. I live up here and have stayed at a few of these and a few others that didn’t make the list
Glad you enjoyed it! There are so many good options.
SueMeg Park (formerly Patrick's Point) is one of my favorite campgrounds.
Thanks for the suggestion! We haven't been there yet but we want to. That looks like a nice campground.
You got great list ! Especially doran & prairie creek ( they filmed jurassic park 2 there).
I'd add calaveras big trees ( Columbia state park, moaning caverns & railtown 1897 nearby)
Thanks for the recommendation! I just added it to our list of campgrounds we need to check out 😁
@@RoginaRoaming i'd stay away from the campsites next to Hwy 4 (noisy) . North Grove #2-11 are best imo & will fit your rig.
That is great info!! Thank you!
New subscriber here. I look forward to following your page. Are these campgrounds free? I live close to half of these beautiful campgrounds. I live in the San Francisco North Bay Area. Thanks for sharing this is an awesome video!
Welcome! Hopefully you get to check some of these campsites out! They aren't free, the nightly range varies by campground. Several of the State Parks are $35 a night.
Only somewhat useful without mention of costs of campgrounds and whether or not tent camping is allowed.
Tents are allowed at all of those campgrounds, though I wouldn't recommend tent camping at Doran Regional Park. There is a lot of wind there and we've seen some tent campers having a pretty rough time with it.
I don't include prices just because that info can change but these are all regional and state parks so the average cost is around $40/night.
I plan to add some more details next time I create a video like this so I appreciate the feedback 😊
Was there poison oak at your favorite site the northern California campsite by the redwoods
I don't remember seeing poison oak at Elk Prairie. It's entirely possible some of the sites have some but it wasn't prevalent.
What about the inland campgrounds?
Are you looking for something in a particular county? There are some nice campgrounds near Burney and Hat Creek including Burney Falls State Park. There are also some nice options in the Eldorado National Forest such as Sunset-Union Valley. I've heard good things about Pinecrest, though we haven't made it there yet. And we always enjoy Tahoe. We like Donner Memorial in Truckee and Nevada Beach near South Lake.
The parks dont allow dogs so we have tons of wildlife roaming free. SO AMAZING
That does sound nice, I'm glad there are some pros. 😊
@@RoginaRoaming im thankful to live in CAlifornia, a state that cares about its environment and parks.....50% of California is public open space, 2% of texas is public open space.....we are truly blessed
I completely agree! It's awesome to have so many beautiful places to explore. We love the state parks here.