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Best Tent Camping near Foothill Ranch, CA

1,279 Reviews

Tent campsites near Foothill Ranch, California range from established state parks to primitive walk-in areas, with several options within driving distance. China Camp State Park Campground offers tent-only sites in a natural setting with access to hiking trails and beach areas, while Manker Campground provides tent camping opportunities in the San Gabriel Mountains with nearby trail access to Mount Baldy. Hoegees Trail Camp and Spruce Grove Trail Campground also provide primitive tent camping experiences within hiking distance.

Most tent sites in the region require carrying gear short distances from parking areas, with China Camp specifically offering wheeled totes to help transport equipment. Tent pads are typically set on mixed terrain including dirt and forest duff. According to one visitor, "China Camp is located in beautiful Marin County and is in close proximity to the San Rafael bridge. This area is easy to get to, not overly crowded, and super beautiful." Fire regulations vary by location and season, with some campgrounds like Manker prohibiting fires completely while others offer fire rings. Vault toilets are available at most established sites, though primitive backcountry camping areas may lack facilities entirely.

The tent camping experience in these areas provides opportunities to see local wildlife and enjoy natural surroundings. Areas like Little Jimmy Trail Campground offer free tent camping with basic amenities including drinking water and toilets. As described in feedback on The Dyrt, "You can hike from the campground and see spectacular views of the bay and its marshlands." Many sites become busy during summer weekends, so mid-week camping provides more solitude. Thomas Hunting Grounds Yellow Post Campites offers free tent camping with fire rings in a more primitive setting. Most walk-in tent sites provide greater separation from neighboring campers than traditional drive-in campgrounds, creating a more immersive outdoor experience. Wildlife sightings are common, with reviewers noting encounters with deer, rabbits, coyotes and various bird species.

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Best Tent Sites Near Foothill Ranch, California (38)

    1. Doheny State Beach Campground

    35 Reviews
    Capistrano Beach, CA
    15 miles

    $50 - $350 / night

    "Excellent beach camping and tent friendly. plenty of shade and nearby restaurants and shops. Definitely recommend this location."

    "the restrooms were clean and showers hot. great views and great for families. most sites are a good size but only room for two vehicles. No wifi but a good book will do. The staff was nice."

    2. China Camp State Park Campground

    10 Reviews
    San Rafael, CA
    16 miles
    Website
    +1 (415) 456-0766

    $35 - $175 / night

    "The campground was not busy and this allowed me to pick a spot hidden away from others. There are restrooms and a place to get water, but when I was there the showers were closed.  "

    "This walk-in campground is part of China Camp State Park. Only 33 tent-only sites! Wheeled totes can be borrowed to haul your gear up some little hills to your campsite under oak and bay trees."

    3. Falcon Group Campground

    1 Review
    Trabuco Canyon, CA
    12 miles
    Website
    +1 (951) 736-1811

    $60 - $120 / night

    "It is very hot during this time so we ended up going down to the Lake to cool off. The campground was very well priced and it had bolted toilets and a water spout. No showers or sinks. "

    4. Yucaipa Regional Park

    20 Reviews
    Yucaipa, CA
    43 miles
    Website
    +1 (909) 790-3127

    "The bathrooms are decent, no showers. We stayed in group campsite A. Tent camping is only allowed in group sites. They do have about 30 to 40 RV sites as well."

    "Great tent camping facilities, privacy from neighbors, access to Zanja Peak Trail head, 3 lakes for fishing, water park during the summer, and friendly helpful staff"

    5. Manker Campground

    13 Reviews
    Mount Baldy, CA
    40 miles
    Website
    +1 (626) 335-1251

    $12 / night

    "Although the restroom are very dirty but overall it was a great stay!"

    "Tucked away at the top of a precarious winding mountain road. It is very basic, simple and beautiful."

    6. Thomas Hunting Grounds Yellow Post Campites

    13 Reviews
    Angelus Oaks, CA
    48 miles
    Website
    +1 (909) 382-2882

    "These sites aren't monitored and don't have picnic tables or any amenities, although there is a restroom down the road a little ways where the campsites start, but that's it."

    "This particular site has 8 campsites which do have signs to mark the general area, although it is entirely up to you to where to set up camp in the general area."

    7. Millard Trail Campground

    9 Reviews
    Altadena, CA
    46 miles
    Website

    "Cool drive to get to the campground. You drive up and down these hilly roads up the mountain to get there. Once there, there's a parking lot that fits about 20 cars."

    "When you can’t do a 2h hike before setting camp, but you also don’t want to camp close to your car, Millard campground is perfect. The parking lot is just behind the corner out of view."

    8. Mount Lowe Trail Campground

    8 Reviews
    Mount Wilson, CA
    45 miles
    +1 (818) 899-1900

    "No water, fountain is capped now"

    "There's no water right now but that could change after first rain or snow. Stayed here last week & it's still great."

    9. Spruce Grove Trail Campground - TEMPORARILY CLOSED DUE TO FIRE

    5 Reviews
    Mount Wilson, CA
    43 miles
    Website
    +1 (818) 482-8937

    "This is a backpackers campground. First come first serve, picnic tables and fire rings included. I think there is only about 8-10 sites. Nice creek flows though the campground."

    "This is a hike in campground that has stoves and a creek running through. The sites are nicely spaced and there is plenty of shade. Perfect little backpacking trip."

    10. Hoegees Trail Camp Campground

    5 Reviews
    Mount Wilson, CA
    42 miles
    +1 (818) 899-1900

    "You can only access this campground by backpacking in. There's about 12 campsites with picnic benches and fire rings. There's a creek that runs through. it's beautiful and feels completely isolated."

    "Hoegee’s is 2 miles hike from Chantry Flats by way of the Lower Winter Creek Trail. The site is named for Hoegee’s resort which stood just upstream."

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Recent Tent Camping Photos near Foothill Ranch, CA

67 Photos of 38 Foothill Ranch Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Foothill Ranch, CA

1279 Reviews of 38 Foothill Ranch Campgrounds

  • Tony C.
    Sep. 20, 2020

    Little Jimmy Trail Campground

    Local gem of a campsite

    This campsite is located in California and is one of my favorites. Located above Crystal Lake you’ll find Little Jimmy, it’s a backcountry hike-in only campground nestled just 2 miles off the Angeles Crest Highway. It has around 7 first-come, first-served sites with fire rings, vault toilets (which are currently not in service), and vintage backcountry ovens. After parking at Islip Saddle, cross the highway and begin hiking for 2 miles up the switchbacks until you reach Little Jimmy Campground on your right. Popular with Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, this scenic spot offers a chance to get away from established campgrounds and live amongst the Coulter Pines and Big Doug Firs. Campers turned hikers have easy access to hop on the legendary Pacific Crest Trail which runs through the camp. There is no fee to camp here other than an Adventure pass for your parking. In the summertime, bears can be common visitors so make sure and secure your food in provided bear boxes or bring your own bear canisters. As always, make sure you follow the "Leave No Trace" principles and pack everything in and out!

  • Les R.The Dyrt PRO User
    Aug. 6, 2018

    Buckhorn Campground

    Most beautiful campground in the Angeles National Forest!

    We've wanted to camp here for so long, but we've never been able to get a spot. We finally did this weekend, and it fully lived up to our expectations. Because this campground is set within a ravine that has a stream during the rainier months, so the landscape feels very different than the other nearby campgrounds - very green with tall trees. The campsites have plenty of space between neighbors, so we felt we had privacy and weren't disturbed by any noise from other sites. Each site has a picnic table, firepit, and bear box for food storage. There is a water spigot at the campground, but the ranger advised that it's not potable.

    There's day parking at the end of the campground for the trailhead to Cooper Canyon Falls. In the summer the "waterfall" is barely a trickle, but the hike still has a nice stream and is worth doing.

  • Luis N.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jun. 19, 2020

    Black Jack Campground

    Great site!!

    Great campground that is very accessible to the trans Catalina trail. The campground has potable water, lockers, vault toilets, an outdoor shower (very cold water), trash cans, picnic table, fire pit, food storage box. Foxes are common on this campground as they look for any food, campers may leave behind so make sure you clean up after yourself

  • j
    Mar. 25, 2021

    Millard Trail Campground

    Great campground for hiking/biking

    Cool drive to get to the campground. You drive up and down these hilly roads up the mountain to get there. Once there, there's a parking lot that fits about 20 cars. There's about 100 yd hike to the campsites. There's a road that leads to the campsite but it's been blocked off. Only the campsite managers use that road so it's not accessible by RV, just tents. A campsite manager stays in a little trailer overnight so if there's any problems there's somebody there you can go to and ask for help. There's about six campsites and their first come first serve, no reservations. I went during the week and was the only one camping. This place is heavily used for day camping and hiking. There's not a lot of privacy because there's always lots of people passing by who are hiking and biking. You can stay overnight which I did and everything was fine but there's not a lot of privacy. The next day as I was leaving there was another guy sitting up his tent. I bet on the weekends they can fill up pretty fast. It's in Bear country so they provide food storage for each campsite also trash containers too. Each side has a picnic bench and a fire pit. The fire ban has been lifted so you can have a fire. Each fire pit had wood left at it so you didn't have to go searching for campfirewood. Bathrooms included male and female toilets but no showers or water. There's a creek that runs through the campground which makes it very pretty. I saw two to three cabins along the outskirts of the campground that I assume were for rentals. There was one family at one of the cabins the night I stayed. About a 20 minute hike and you can end up at a waterfall which is very pretty. But there are several trails to take for hiking and biking and I saw lots of people doing that. Overall a good campsite four stars. Would have been five stars if they had showers and running water. I didn't see any bears although there was an animal outside my tent at one point in the night I could hear him nosing around. So it's important to keep all of your food and anything with any kind of smell in the bear boxes

  • K
    Jan. 5, 2022

    Oakwilde Trail Campground

    Half Sunk, Overgrown

    The camp site looks like it was buried in mud from a flood a few years ago. There’s been no maintenance to this camp. The cook stoves are covered, half of the one picnic table was underground. But still, it’s a beautiful and remote spot. The river was running when I was there in January and it was just gorgeous. Looks like there’s really only one usable flat spot to set up a tent. But you can’t have a fire or anything. I didn’t camp just hiked in and checked it out. Dunno if I would try camping here.

  • Shari G.The Dyrt PRO User
    Oct. 20, 2023

    Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park

    A World Away from the City Surrounding It

    Tucked on the outskirts of Mission Viejo is an oasis of green grass and groves of the twisting and searching limbs of Coastal Live Oak trees.  If you stuck me in the middle of this park, I’d never know that I was miles away from the sprawl of suburbia of a major metropolitan area…shhh don’t tell anyone.

    There are 3 campgrounds within this regional park -- one soley dedicated to RV's that require electrical hook-ups (Ortega Flats), a group campground (San Juan Meadow), and another which is a mix of tents and off-grid RVs (Live Oak).  This review is specifically for the off-grid Live Oak Campground which s aptly named because you’ll find yourself enjoying the ample shade of these amazing arbors, but plenty of sun to run our solar powered system.  

    The campsites can be reserved but there is plenty of room for first-come first-served travelers as well.  The sites offer enough space to tuck away a tent in the corner, or set up the longer trailer, as well as the typical picnic table and fire ring.  Plenty of port o potties are scattered throughout the campground and served the large groups gathered here on Easter weekend.  We indulged in making a fabulous brunch of Wood Fired Waffles to celebrate the holiday!  As of April 2023, they were still experiencing a well water issue, so no water was available from the faucet, but the river running through the park was useful for obtaining water to wash dishes.

    Hiking, biking and horseback riding trails meander throughout the park. The campground borders on a small creek for fishing, but is off-limits to wading and swimming because of the instability of the opposite bank. Keep an eye on the kids!  Be sure to check out the volunteer-run Nature Center on the property which is full of great information about flora, fauna, and native history.

    The closest store for firewood, and groceries is just a few miles back toward town.  And, the closest beach is just about 30 minutes away, so a great option for a day trip.

  • Tony C.
    Jun. 24, 2019

    Henninger Flat - PERMANENTLY CLOSED

    Great local campsite

    I recently moved to WA from Los Angeles so this review is legit 😁 This was and still continues to be one of my favorite campsite close to Los Angeles, I have plenty of fond memories with close friends at this site. It’s completely exposed all the way to the top, a well worth 3 mile uphill hike to three different camp sites. My favorite is the middle site where you get a clear view of the city, beautiful views at night. They say there’s no water but there is, there’s a spout located by the restroom close to the museum, you’ll have to treat it before using (but don’t take my word for it, they tend to shut it off so take plenty of water for your time there and check it out if you need more) If you continue past the middle campsite to the upper site, you’ll have plenty of space for tents and hammocks just no view due to the trees on the edge. If you continue on that trail for another 3 miles i believe, you’ll get to idlehour campground. It’s a small site right next to a creek, you can continue on to Mt Lowe campground and inspiration point. Back to Henninger, plenty of trees for hammocks and sometimes they have firewood collected. At the museum you can buy soda cans so take some change. Hauling a 24 pack of cold Modelos in my pack was not fun at all, but boy did they taste good at the top hahaha. Bugs can get annoying so carry some bug spray, hang your food and PACK IT OUT!!! Leave no trace behind.

  • S
    Aug. 21, 2021

    Dogwood

    Beautifully wooded sites

    This park has something for everyone. I used a site that provided electric. There are tent and dry sites throughout. While the sites are everywhere, they are spaced in a way that feels private. There are bear boxes, picnic tables and fire rings at each site. The bathrooms were clean, with flushing toilets. Places to get water are all over. There are so many hiking opportunities for every level.

  • Javier L.
    Oct. 31, 2020

    Palomar Mountain State Park Campground

    Southern California- Quick Getaway

    This park is great for all Southern California natives to get away for the weekend. Has clean facilities and the campgrounds have ample space between them. This area has a ton of beautiful landscape, during the fall/winter wonderful foliage appears. Leave no trace & enjoy our lands!

Guide to Foothill Ranch

Tent camping near Foothill Ranch, California includes accessible primitive sites and established campgrounds between 1,000-5,000 feet elevation in the nearby San Gabriel and Santa Rosa mountain ranges. The region experiences distinct seasonal changes with summertime temperatures often exceeding 90°F at lower elevations while higher elevations remain 10-15 degrees cooler. Winter camping requires preparation for overnight temperatures that can drop below freezing at higher elevations.

What to do

Hiking to waterfalls: At Millard Trail Campground, the trails lead to scenic water features during wet seasons. "There is a creek that runs through the campground which makes it very pretty. About a 20 minute hike and you can end up at a waterfall which is very pretty," notes one camper who appreciated the accessibility of natural attractions.

Mountain biking access: China Camp State Park Campground offers excellent cycling opportunities within camp boundaries. "Located on the west side of the San Rafael/Richmond Bridge, on San Francisco Bay, this park is extremely popular with mountain bikers. The trail running and hiking is great too," according to a visitor who enjoyed the multi-use trails.

Peak summiting: From Little Jimmy Trail Campground, hikers can access multiple mountain peaks. "After parking at Islip Saddle, cross the highway and begin hiking for 2 miles up the switchbacks until you reach Little Jimmy Campground on your right. Campers turned hikers have easy access to hop on the legendary Pacific Crest Trail which runs through the camp," shares a regular visitor.

What campers like

Proximity to water features: Tent sites at Yucaipa Regional Park provide easy access to multiple water features. "Great tent camping facilities, privacy from neighbors, access to Zanja Peak Trail head, 3 lakes for fishing, water park during the summer, and friendly helpful staff," notes a regular camper who appreciates the diverse recreation options.

Wildlife viewing: The natural setting of these campgrounds supports diverse wildlife observation opportunities. "This is more of your traditional campground where you must carry all your food and gear to the campsite. There are many hiking opportunities and chances to see wildlife (deer, wild turkey, rabbits, squirrels, racoons, and birds)," reports a camper at China Camp State Park.

Free camping options: Thomas Hunting Grounds Yellow Post Campites provides no-cost camping with basic amenities. "Excellent place to camp. And free, no less. Need high clearance or 4wd vehicle for a rough road but once you get to the top, the sites are great! Limited shade during middle of day but well worth the trip," reports a visitor who appreciated the value.

What you should know

Fire restrictions: Regulations vary significantly by location and season. "If you take the Upper Winter Creek Trail it's an easier hike but not as pretty as the Lower one. Campsite is very nice with enough sites for about 20 campers with a privy but no running water. Be aware of any fire restrictions," advises a visitor to Hoegees Trail Camp Campground.

Limited privacy: Some sites experience high visitor traffic during peak hours. "This campground is not a campground if you want to get away from people because there is a lot of people passing by looking at you. You can't really be isolated or have privacy even though it is a campground. People come here to hike into the trails to the waterfall," warns a visitor to Millard Trail Campground.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Foothill Ranch, CA?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Foothill Ranch, CA is Doheny State Beach Campground with a 4.1-star rating from 35 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Foothill Ranch, CA?

TheDyrt.com has all 38 tent camping locations near Foothill Ranch, CA, with real photos and reviews from campers.

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