Please recommend a campground

Hello all.

I’m driving up north tomorrow last minute and need to find a campground that I can go to without a reservation and have a good chance at getting a spot.

It’d be nice to be as close to SF as possible.

I will be using a roof top tent if that makes any difference.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions you can give.

 

You can try hollister ca ohv park. Or look up a fireroad and pull over for a night.

 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-opens-Bay-Area-s-first-24-7-safe-14029362.php



Or you know, you can rent a room, get an airbnb, or couch surf. Just can't guarantee your vehicle won't be broken into within 15 minutes of parking somewhere unattended.

 

Most state forests have dispersed camping allowed

 

Thanks!
This sounds like a great spot.

 

If you make it up to shelter cove, there is free camping on black sands beach.

Blm land is generally free.

 

Coastal spots are EXTREMELY hard to find.

 

You can try Lake Chabot regional camp grounds in Castro Valley.

 

Just FYI there are only a few STATE forests in California, and while some allow camping, the one closest to SF (Soquel Demo) does not ... although people do spend the night in the parking lot. I'm not positive, but I suspect even the ones that have campgrounds don't allow dispersed camping. We recently camped in northern Los Padres NATIONAL Forest in a dry campground (not dispersed, though some of that is allowed as well near Big Sur) on a Saturday ... no reservation, no crowds. China Camp off the Tassajara Road.

 

There are so many spots like this in the el dorado national forest. I don’t see it being talked about in this forum often, and I would like to keep this place as quiet and lightly used as possible. I won’t speak about here.

Shoot me some a PM if you want details.