Good Northern Calif places for camping with family?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

I'm assuming you're bringing a 4x4? Gold lake is beautiful. Gold lake OHV is not big, but empty and also beautiful. There are other lakes as well. Camp near Packer Lake with a trailer, there are wells and toilets. You need to reserve in advance.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/plumas/recreation/rec_areas/lakesbasin.shtml

taking the 100 with a popup and a bunch of lovely :princess: and we'll be far away from homebase so don't want to do anything too hard. But some dirt roads just rough enough to keep the riffraff away will be perfect...! :)
 
If I were you I'd do Trinity, then take the S.B. route to the coast, it's a slow windy beautiful!!! canyon road (A number of 1 lane spots... :D That's exciting right??? Hehehe) If you want to spend a few days in the S.B. area I can direct you to some great spots. :D I don't live there anymore, but I work there a lot doing construction stuff, in fact I was there this morning :D Mixing concrete......

What kind of dates do you have for this little excursion?
 
If I were you I'd do Trinity, then take the S.B. route to the coast, it's a slow windy beautiful!!! canyon road (A number of 1 lane spots... :D That's exciting right??? Hehehe) If you want to spend a few days in the S.B. area I can direct you to some great spots. :D I don't live there anymore, but I work there a lot doing construction stuff, in fact I was there this morning :D Mixing concrete......

What kind of dates do you have for this little excursion?


OK, will look at that road too. Planning to leave today or tomorrow for 2 or 3 weeks. How much time should one plan on to see the Trinity Shasta area well enough without rushing and without changing camps every day (BTDT)?
 
Tamarack Lake and Twin Lakes - out of Castella on I5 before Dunsmuir, by the Castle Crags National Park. Also Trails off of Sims road and out of Sweetbrier. PM me for details. I dont want to give away all my fish.
 
OK, thanks all.
Off tomorrow, with a fully loaded 100, a tad low in the back...
(but please do add to the above if you know of a good spot, I'll try to check on the road...)
aaaah, the road is calling.... and the woods.... and the lakes.... and the coast....
see ya (too) soon!
 
Thanks for the kind note on my windshield in Fort Bragg! I read this post before we left for our trip and wondered how far north we would get before coming back home (Redwood City) only to get ready for our trip to the sierras tomorrow. Hope you had a great time. It's always cool to come across fellow cruiser heads.
 
I appreciate this post! I'm taking some of my family and our old tent trailer and heading that way Saturday. My neighbor wrote a book called "Traveling the Trinity Highway". We were going to try that route, hit the Redwoods and then head up the Oregon Coast for a few days. I was hoping to find some dirt roads to take off to camp. Sounds like we may be able to. Hope to see some Mud Stickers in windows along the way.
 
Great info, thanks guys. I too am thinking about heading a bit south of Grants Pass to Nor Cal for a few days of family camping and always look for the "off the beaten path" spots (like to bring the dogs and not worry about other people or their dogs, or leash regs.). I've seen some really nice pics of some swiming spots on the Salmon River, so how's the camping around there? Will I be able to find some off the beaten path camping along the Salmon? I see Sawyers Bar and that looks out there. Maybe even too far out there, isn't that considered Bigfoot country? :eek: What about access onto the sand at the beaches along the coast? Is it possible? I'm not talking about tearing up the beach, but is there anywhere where you can actually drive along the shore on the sand? Anyway, thanks for the local knowledge being thrown out, it's always a plus to have some idea of what you're getting into beside what the maps show.
 
back! unfortunately....


had a blast!

the perfect Norcal trip. Mostly redwoods, rivers, and lakes.

That part of the state is really great.

Highlights: Lost Coast, small fast cold rivers with swim holes in the mountains, houseboat on Trinity Lake, and numerous remote spots and small lakes in the National Forests East of Redding...

Main camping lesson: weekends availability without reservations for the main / popular campgrounds (e.g. National Parks, main recreation areas) is likely to be impossible, but there are many campgrounds in the National forests that are without water and showers and much more likely to have sites available since the weekend warriors are likely to shun them. During the week, never had trouble finding a great spot in a nice campground.

Other lesson: on the lakes, the jet skis are like the quads on the trails or on the beach... 'nuff said... :mad:

Yet other lesson: it gets really old to store all the food, utensils, stove, and dirty clothing in the truck every night to avoid turning the camp and trailer into bear magnets... Gotta figure something out....

Still other lesson: must take fishing implements in that region. Everybody was out taking fishes everywhere....

One more lesson: for towing the trailer in the mountains, the 100 is a real pleasure. The 80 would have struggled in some spots.

Finally, a camping spot in old growth trees on the beach of a clear lake at 5000 ft can't be beat for sure....

Sorry I could not contact some of you who offered. Little phone reception where we went. Thanks for all the suggestions. They made the trip!


Going back again for sure.

:cheers:
 
Last edited:
Finally, a camping spot in old growth trees on the beach of a clear lake at 5000 ft can't be beat for sure....

Yes, and this would be where exactly? :D

Sounds like a fun trip. The wife and I drove up to the lost coast a couple years ago and have been itching to go back ever since. Pics if you got um.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom