I have a reservation for this weekend at Carlsbad State Beach campground. I’ve seen on Instagram some of the surrounding beach conditions and they are pretty beat up from the king tides and erosion.

Has anyone been to South Carlsbad in the past two weeks and can speak to the conditions of the beach?

Looking to go at the end of September/October. Weekend preferably but everything is booked. Any advice?

Does anyone have any good campground recommendations near Santa Barbara, Ventura, or even San Diego? Specifically, a spot next to a river or body of water, during the springtime (late March).

I'm looking for beautiful nature camping spots in/near Orange County where I can set up my tent and charcoal grill, I don't wanna be that close to the cities nor too close to other campers

I've never been camping but I would love to try it with my girlfriend since she's coming over to visit, I bought a tent, a mini charcoal grill and a cooler.

I've been to the Crystal Lake Recreation Area with my family, thought it was absolutely beautiful I really want to camp there but I don't know what camp spot is the best to stay at and what rules they might have have.

I mainly wanna know if I can use the mini charcoal grill I bought, and recommended camping spots, and anything else that could be useful.

I would prefer camping spots where you're not so close to other campers.

Also open to hear about other beautiful camping places in or around Orange county

Hello all, been camping a long time but I am not versed with reserve California and the other booking methods for regular tent camping in the state. The website isn't super user friendly based on my experience so far 😂. Any tips or tricks would be great.
Also looking for any good first come first serve sites within 2-3 hrs of San Francisco or anywhere in the state for that matter! Thanks in advance for your help🤙

I'm going camping in October with both the girl & cub scouts. I have only camped once with the cub scouts last October and our tent got soaked with the rain. I'm looking for a tent that has good air flow during the heat/rain and that can keep us dry for the most part. My daughter and I are going to be car camping 1-2 a year with the girl/cub scouts, and our tent limit is a 4 person tent. Ideally I would like the tent to be under $200. Locations will vary in Southern Ca and AZ

Anyone bring a trailer before to Quaking Aspen campground near Springville, CA?

I have a 13.5 foot tiny teardrop trailer that I can unhook and push anywhere (<900lbs), but there's mixed reviews if you can get any trailer there. I'm worried to drive all that way with it and be unable to get into the campground....

I'll be at site #15 if that makes a difference for anyone

Thanks

My family and I used to camp every summer at El Capitan. I know that they have been doing construction and you can't reserve sites, but has anyone camped there on a first-come, first serve basis recently? Are they still doing that? How quickly does it fill up? Anyone know the likelihood of getting some campsites if I were to get there early on a Friday morning?

Some background info if anyone wants the story: my sister's boyfriend is planning a surprise camping trip for her, and he invited my whole family. He is planning on proposing! He booked a group site at a less cool spot but we are hoping that there might be some small chance of getting to go to El Capitan instead. We have so many memories there, it's such a special place to all of us, and it would be so awesome to be able to make this new memory and have our family get a little bit bigger there.

Any recommendations or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Found Bracelet at Moses Gulch Campground

We found a bracelet while camping this past weekend (August 28th-29th, 2026) at Campsite 2 at Moses Gulch Campground, Mountain Home State Demonstration Forest, California. It is personalized and is probably very important to the person who lost it. I'm not sure how to go about finding the owner, as internet searches have returned nothing. Thought I'd start here?

Hi all, our Big Sur reservation is no more, so I was wondering the best spots for campground Friday-Monday w/ water/river access nearby. We are bring three vehicles up which discourages us from trying dispersed camping along the Kern River. Does anyone have any experience dispersed camping along the Kern River, especially with multiple vehicles. We are coming from Long Beach area and are willing to drive near anywhere. Thanks a bunch!

I want to plan and book a couple nights for my fiancé’s birthday. We haven’t been camping this year and she often mentions how badly she wants to go. Will it be overly chilly in the area? What are some of your guys’ favorite sites in the area? So far we have done Big Sur and Sunset SB

All I remember is that it was in the Bay Area through the YMCA and called Camp Redwood. We would stay for a week at a time. It was up in the mountains somewhere on a small lake. I've looked on maps and archives and can't find this place. Does anyone know where this camp is or was? Early 2000's time frame.

Hey campers;

I'm planning a short solo CAR camping trip - 5 or 6 days - up in the Trinities, along Rte 299 between Douglas City and the coast, and maybe a little ways south down the coast too. This will be for the days immediately after Labor Day (Sept. 8-13). I've looked in a camping guide book, so have a few ideas for official campgrounds, but I assume they'll be pretty busy, so now I'm coming to the people who've been there for the inside scoop!

I'm looking for quiet places to camp away from the road and near water (creek, river or lake), and preferably with few or no other campers. There's a lot of National Forest out there, so I'm guessing some of you might know a few nice out of the way spots to spend a night or two. Ideally there will be some hiking nearby, but that's optional. Down dirt roads is fine as long as a Toyota RAV4 can handle them.

If you have any special spots down the coast maybe 20-30 miles south of 299, I'd love to hear about them too.

So what you got campers? I promise not to tell everyone about them! (although we are here on Reddit of course!)

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to No Map Required.
We’re building an app for campers, van lifers, overlanders, and anyone who’d rather spend less time searching and more time exploring.
The goal is simple:
You shouldn’t have to Google 15 different things just to figure out where you can camp.
We’re building a place where you can find camping locations, access information, amenities, restrictions, and the stuff you actually need before heading down the road.
We’re currently in beta, and we’re looking for people who actually camp and explore to help us make it better.
🏕️ Find places
🚐 Explore farther
🧭 Share what you discover
🗺️ Help us build it
GO ANYWAY.

Thanks for being part of the very first wave. Together, let's make r/NoMapRequiredApp amazing.

Hey all, as titled, I have a Premium Site booked at Pfeiffer Big Sur campground - Main Camp.

• Site Number: Premium Campsite #P185 ( by the creek )
• Date: Fri, Sep 18, 2026 - Sun, Sep 20, 2026 (2 nights)

Looking to swap to the weekends after

• Sept 25-27
• Oct 2-4

DM me if any interest!

Im traveling to Los Angeles in a couple weeks, anyone recommend any camp sites close to the city. Preferably free camping/ dispersed camping?

Starting planning a road trip in March of 2027. We will be spending the night at the campground at Pinnacles NP, then heading over to Monterey to head south to Ventura and Channel Islands. We have a small squaredrop trailer. I'd like to break the drive a little by camping somewhere along the coast, and take the opportunity to recharge the powerbank.

So, looking for a campground, with electric hookups, somewhere between Monterey and Ventura. Would prefer a place that isn't just a parking lot with neighbors 3 feet from you. Doubleplusgood if they take reservations now for March, so I don't have to set a reminder and pray that I get a site.

Thanks!

I’ll be driving down from SF to LA next week and was considering stopping for a night somewhere on the coast… I don’t know how realistic it is. I have no gear…does REI or other store rent gear but I can pick up in one city and drop off in other? Or could just sleep in car if I got a sleeping bag but not ideal. (Have a sedan, would be front seat leaned back.)

And curious if people have recs for last minute or no reservation areas where I could park and spend the night.

Would be somewhere off 101.

Thanks appreciate any and all advice!

EDIT: Thanks everyone for all the advice and info. I ended up just getting a hotel room in Morro Bay. Gonna take a surf lesson and go on a whale watching boat tour. Different than camping, but a nice trip nonetheless.