Best Dispersed Camping near Cool, CA

Plenty of dispersed camping spots. My flat spot that I found not too far from a Creek and I even had 2 bars on my cell phone and watch the movie.

The coordinates listed on the app are simply for the entrance to the dispersed camping. There are infinite amounts of primitive roads to drive down and find camp. I stayed at N38.768811• W 120.238630° — on top of a peak that offered 360° views with sunrise and sunset right from my tent. At this specific sight, there are no overhead trees. Despite being primitive, the roads are well kept, even if you have a small SUV. It could get slightly tricky with a car. I stayed here for 7 days (10/31-11/6) and only saw one other person on the primivite roads. The above coordinates are about a 6 mile drive in from US50. You will see a campground on your right about 5 miles down when driving in, about a mile further down the road you will come up on the dirt road leading you up the mountain.

A couple of notes:

1. You are required to have a permit for any day/overnight use in Eldorado, including this area. They can be easily acquired at recreation.gov
2. Cell phone reception is very spotty, in and out of a couple of bars throughout the drive in. — AT&T coverage. At the above coordinates, there were 2 bars of low grade coverage allowing basic texts to send. Not enough service for web browsing or sending photos via text.
3. This area has been widely burnt by fires last year. There are still large areas unburnt. You will find yourself going in and out of them while driving.
4. KEEP IT CLEAN — this area is immaculate and besides dug out fire pits, human trace is non-existent. Leave it cleaner than you found it, pick up your trash (and other’s if you see any), respect the area and it will respect you.
5. NO CAMP SERVICES — There is no trash service or even dumpsters at the signed entrance; pack it in pack it out. There are no restrooms in the area either.

We recently spent a night at this campsite and found it to be perfect for a quick overnight getaway. The area is spacious and conveniently located not too far off the main road, making it easy to access without feeling too isolated.

There are plenty of sites to choose from, catering to different preferences. However, we recommend taking some time to survey the land before setting up camp, as some spots are slightly sloped.

A huge plus is the gas station just about 5 minutes down the road. It’s well-stocked with all the convenient store items you might have forgotten at home, making it easy to grab any last-minute necessities.

Overall, it was a delightful stay. Just remember, always practice Leave No Trace principles—pack out what you pack in!

We backpacked up to the high loch levens lake where we found many available campsites. But also a lot of the nice view spots were occupied since we didn’t start our hike up early, we started at 5:30pm. The middle lake is very large and had many beautiful spots to camp. But we headed to the upper lake since a lot of day hikers go to the middle lake and don’t always pack out what they pack in. All the sites are very dispersed and you have so much privacy. We saw some people even camping on the boulders! It was very serene and quiet with very respectful campers. The trail up is a bit confusing if you don’t pay absolute attention to where you are going. You can find some orange markings or stacked rocks that help you stay on the path. Reaching our destination was amazing. We swam in the lake and napped in our hammocks. I will say that there was a lot of mosquitos. Even with bug spray I left with 7 bites. But, it’s the outdoors what do you expect? Overall very beautiful area to camp!

The views from this place are amazing. The abandoned ski lifts are pretty cool to look at and hike along them as well. I camped right on the edge where the view was as far from the highway as possible. The only downfall is that you can hear the highway. I went on a Tuesday. But I could tell the place gets busy at some point. I would go again.

Got stuck for over a day trying to get to the site. Tow truck also got stuck. Would not recommend coming until spring.

We took Salmon lake trailhead which is shorter trail.

Not sure if my wife and I found the right spot or went far enough, but we found a great spot about 4 miles before silver fork camp ground. Nice and flat, right next to the stream, already had some stones for a fire ring. Easy road to get out there.

We went mid week in August and it wasn’t too crowded. The views were beautiful and the water was perfect. The road was much more technical than a standard forrest service road, but doable in most stock crossover vehicles or better. We had a borrowed AWD Transit van and did it with some patience and strategic line choice.

The road in is paved until you reach the real spot where you can actually set up camp. It is VERY rocky and looks like it’s pretty beaten up by Off Road Vehicles.

If you have a Trailer or RV this is NOT the place to go. There is another spot down the road that is better.

Forecast said no rain… it rained. Woke up this morning to 4inches of snow! It was majestic.

If you are looking to be near the water and no service, this is perfect. The rough road in I believe must keep some folks out but the lake is amazing.