Cazadero, CA is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. Camping, hiking, biking: however you want to spend your days near Cazadero, you'll find great campgrounds with The Dyrt. Find the best campgrounds near Cazadero, CA. Read reviews from campers like you and find your perfect campsite.
Highlands Resort
31 min away
Austin Creek State Rec Area
54 min away
$48 / night
"He put us in a very level spot that was great for my rooftop tent situation. Can’t say enough good things about him and his staff. Everyone was very friendly."
"Location location location…. The Schoolhouse Canyon Campground is located about 400 yards off the Russian River / 1/2 mile down the road from the Korbel Winery (amazing deli!!!)"
"Right by Armstrong Redwoods State Park there is a steep winding road at the end of which there is literally a pond. "
"We had spot number 23 but I think 24 or 21 would have been the best for shade and privacy. THERE ARE NO SHOWERS HERE! we did not know this before hand."
$30 - $50 / night
"Outdoor kitchen with grill and gas stove. ice machine, Camp among beautiful redwoods in Guerneville just off the Russian River. Many bars and restaurants in walking distance. Nearby supermarket."
"Tucked away from the world, cozy little camp under a bridge and looking out of a crack to see huge waves coming in n! Almost like it will swallow us hole. Will be back for sure!"
"Beautiful river along with campsites surrounded by tall tress. Nice place to relax,hike, fish and or kayaking. full hookups and well maintained campground along with a decent rec center."
"It’s kinda tucked away and not too busy, which made it perfect by my book."
$50 / night
"The hike in camp is only a 1.3 ish mile hike and it was awesome."
"There is short backpack trip to Sky Camp which is litereally on the ridge. You are in the Point Reyes National Seashore up on a ridge. Beautiful views when there is no fog - but expect fog."
"You can buy or rent a portable toilet if you want to camp at a more secluded beach or just camp at Marshalls beach and you can walk to the pit toilets there."
"The beach camping is primative but there is a restroom. Crossing the bay can be treacherous so study the weather - especially winds before you set out. "
LegendGeneral: 19 general and six walk-in campsites among giant redwood and Bay Laurel trees on the Gualala River. Sites 17 & 18 are a double site.
Site Quality: Level sites with bear box, picnic table, and fire ring. Site One’s camper pad fit our 18-foot camper van, but it would not accommodate anything much larger. Several other camper pads looked short as well. No hookups.
Bath/Shower house: Three individual units with toilet, sink, soap, and paper towels. One shower that takes quarters – three minutes for $2.00.
Activities: There is a trail that leads through the walk-in sites, under Highway One, and to the beach, approximately 1.5 miles. You can also drive to the day-use area for a shorter walk. We were there on a weekday but there were many activities scheduled for the upcoming weekend including kayaking on Bodega Bay, outside yoga, and healthy hustle circuit training – I was sad to miss all of these options.
This campground is beautiful and peaceful. But note that although we did not encounter any, several other campers experienced over-eager raccoons while eating dinner. There was also a sign warning of mountain lions but we did not encounter any. Shout-out to the ranger who shared a lot of good information about the area.
TravelerLocation • state park located north of Sonoma and an hour south of Mendocino • in the Virgina redwood forest • closest town: about 6 miles away
Facilities • Bathrooms & showers easily accesible for all sites - cleaned regularly • some bathrooms updated very recently • Spigots every few sites with good draining • campfire theatre • firewood sold on premises • about 70 campsites • some cabins • day use picnic area • wheelchair accesible trails
Ambiance • quiet hours 10pm - 8am • mostly families • dogs allowed on leash
Sites • Small to medium, close together • More open than private; good for groups who need multiple sites • Most hace at least part shade throughout the day • ring fire pits with grill • wooden food locker at each site • wooden picnic table at each site • enough space for 3-4 cars
Things to do • Variety of easy hikes/walks • drive to Mendocino • wine tasting in town
Beware • Poison oak
LegendGeneral: Located between Bodega Bay and Bodega Harbor, this county park has over 140 sites in four campgrounds: Shell, Gull, Cove, and Jetty. There is also tent camping, a group campsite, and a hiker/biker camping area. No hookups in any site.
Site Quality: Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. Sites all appeared to be level. Depending on your site, you may have more privacy/separation than in others. Site 21 (in Shell) was nicely positioned, however, the sites on either side of us were not occupied during our stay so we had more privacy.
Bath/Shower: Self-contained units with a toilet and sink with soap, HOT water, and air dryer. One coin-operated shower house for Shell, Gull, and Cove campgrounds, located between Gull and Cove. Additional showers in the tent-only section and the Jetty campground. Generally clean.
Activities: Hiking, fishing, birding, beachcombing, wading, and water sports. There was a very short boardwalk and sandy walking paths, although some of these were very overgrown.
One thing I appreciated was propane cylinder recycling. We learned there is a program where select vendors will refill the small cylinders and we hope this becomes more readily available. This is a much larger county park campground than we have been in before and it was very busy when we were there on a weekday in late October. Nice but I prefer the smaller and quieter campgrounds.
TravelerA 5 mile hike from the Bear Valley Trailhead leading to a small campground with 12 sites. We stayed at #9. Potable water and vault toilets are available, with each site also having a picnic table, charcoal barbecues and bear boxes. Wood fires are not permitted. A stream runs beside the campground and there are hiking trails leading to the sea.
GuideFirst, you stay here for the views. Great views from the first two rows closest to the water. There are very few plantings between spaces. No hook ups at all, but water is available if you fill before you park. Seven dollar dump station. Each campsite has a fire ring and a wooden picnic table and grass. Since there’s no hook ups between the hours of 8 AM and 8 PM, you will always be listening to somebody’s generator running. Always. No privacy at this campground. I did not check out the bathrooms for the campground, but I did look at the bathrooms for the large boat launch area next-door. No showers in that bathroom, but it was clean. A bit spendy for no hookups. Safe. Zero long term campers when I was here. There are no first come first served campsites at this location. All camping spaces had a reserve sign on them, even though the place was about 40% full. Completely dark at night, which was great.
TravelerSecond time I've been here. Five years ago, I thought it was pretty bare-bones but just what I wanted: first-come, first-serve tent spot within 3 hours of San Francisco and within a walk of the ocean. No city lights to speak of = incredible stargazing. Oceanside = fall asleep to the sound of crashing waves. Did I mention first-come, first-serve? Nearly all the other campgrounds on the CA coast require a reservation 6 months in advance for weekends, with weekday availability not much better. This small campground had a number of empty spots available at 8pm on a Saturday.
This year, it was nearly the same story. Park funding cut back, so no host = no firewood (KOA up the road sells bundles for $8). And it's only open on weekends until further notice. The vault toilets had plenty of TP, and the sites were well maintained so clearly someone is looking after the place. In fact, the overgrown grass and coastal scrub that previously lent some extra privacy to sites was cut down, a bit of a bummer. Go for the spots on the northern loop. The trees there offer some wind protection and the views over the valley toward Alder Creek are worthwhile. I wanted to set up my hammock, but tree-less sites closer to the road render that a non-option. For site variety, spaciousness, privacy, and amenities, I'd say Manchester is more like 2-2.5 stars. But last-minute availability bumps it up to 3.
There is still a pasture full of cows across the street and the Pt. Arena lighthouse just beyond to greet you in the morning, and the ocean still crashes within earshot. Salt Point and Gualala campgrounds are warmer and woodsier. Mackerricher and Russian Gulch offer much more to do. But in a pinch, Manchester will continue to be my impromptu coastal road trip stopover.
TravelerSince my friend and I decided to plan a last minute camping trip, reservations were hard to find anywhere. I'm from Santa Cruz and hardly ever make it north of San Francisco so Bushay Campground sounded like a nice getaway. However I was a little hesitant since there were so many open sites here and no reviews anywhere but it really was just too perfect.
We stayed Sat-Mon and it was pretty much empty by Sun (workweek + predicted rain). Everyone else staying the weekend was very friendly and helpful. The rain only made the campsite so much more lush and beautiful and luckily we were prepared for the rain. The sound of frogs and turkeys added a nice touch and we also saw tons of fascinating birds (including a bald eagle!!). I'm used to camping on hard dirt so the cushion of the grassy campsites was really nice, plus the dead grass served as decent tinder.
Also, I accidentally left my camping chairs behind :( and an employee reached out to me to let me know! I wish it wasn't a 3+ hour drive for me because I would love to already head back lol.
Anyway, here are the takeaways:
GuideAs the title says! Due to a cancellation at another state park, we booked a site at Sammy P. last minute, 2 days prior to our check-in date. It rained during our trip which we knew about beforehand.
We stayed at campsite #56, which was a surprisingly small lot. Keep in mind, not all campsites at Sammy P. are the same size, but I noticed the handful that we saw were smaller than what I’ve seen at other state parks. Not much space to pitch a larger size tent - we used our Big Agnes Big House 4 person tent and barely had enough space to set up the tent’s guy lines, however, a 2-3 person tent would fit just fine I think. Don’t plan on pitching more than one tent though, if you book site #56. I’d like to add that the area designed for you to deploy your tent was on a slope; you can tell there was an effort to make the area flatter but there was still a slope. This was a little problematic during the rain because the rain runoff would pool up in that area. We didn’t actually take on water inside our tent, but the footprint and lower outside area of the tent body were extremely muddy.
The site’s accompanying picnic table was positioned oddly close to the fire ring and was sitting on top of wooden planks to keep it level. I guess you could move the table away from the fire ring if you wanted but you might end up with a wobbly picnic table (also remember: not much space). The food locker onsite is made of wood. Make sure you bring a pad lock as there is no locking mechanism on the door. Also, most of our goods got wet from the rain so the food locker is definitely not waterproof. Keep your eyes peeled for wild life and your food no matter what time of the day it is. We were harassed by cute little chipmunks and birds that didn’t seem too intimidated by humans. The bathrooms were about what you’d expect to see at a public facility, nothing fancy and clean enough to use. The sinks had hot water and good water pressure. We never ended up using the showers because we were deterred by the rain.
Enough of the “bad”, the local trails and creeks were breathtaking. We hiked Pioneer Tree Trail which was the perfect length for a novice hiker. Hiking through the forest felt like you were walking through a scene from Fern Gully. The various runoff creeks that you hike alongside were so neat to see. We would like to visit again, it was definitely a great last minute trip.
GuideNestled in the heart of California's stunning landscapes, tent camping near Cazadero offers a perfect escape into nature, with a variety of campgrounds that cater to outdoor enthusiasts.
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Cazadero, CA is Schoolhouse Canyon Campground with a 5-star rating from 8 reviews.
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