Best Tent Camping near Hayfork, CA

Big parking lot picnic benches and one group tent site

Loved listening to the creek while falling asleep, lots of shade and the staff was friendly. Sites are nicely spread apart #8 #9 being the best that were open. not rv accessible tent sites

Came here on a last minute trip. Everything else was booked up, but this was available. The campground opens up quite a few tent sites (probably over 50 sites) on first come first serve basis at 2:00 pm. Most sites did not fill up. Felt like we had hiked out to the woods with no one else around. Surrounded by redwoods and aspens. Clean bathroom and showers. Great location to explore the redwoods.

Beehive point offers camping right on the waters of Shasta Lake and has absolutely amazing views. We have been up there a few times and it has rarely been busy. Depending on the water level real estate on the beach can get tight, but there are spots off the beach that are wooded. You can tent camp or bring your travel trailer. The entrance is a little rutted so if you bring a trailer just be cautious. the beach has a ton of drift wood for fires, we have yet to bring our own. There are some small stores and boat launches near by.

This spot is so incredibly scenic for a free campsite. Camp right on the lake/river. We stayed on a Thursday night until Friday morning and there were only a few other people there, we could see any of them from our spot so we felt totally isolated. High clearance helps to get to some spots but we did make it all the way through with our minivan after a little trial and error. Had like 1 bar of spotty service only enough for maybe a phone call (Verizon). Very hot during the day, not chilly at night but cool enough to tent camp and enjoy a fire. The kids loved playing and swimming in the river. One star off because there is quite a bit of trash at the entrance of this place, lots of broken glass so keep your shoes on, and the mosquitoes were bad when the sun started to go down but wasn’t a problem with a fire, thermacel and bug spray. Don’t forget to get a CA fire permit if you want a fire or to use a camping stove it only takes a few mins to obtain online

We stayed here for 4 nights in a towable trailer.  I highly recommend getting a spot near the tents and exit to the river road if you are towing a trailer.  We were on the end of Raccoon Rd and it was fantastic.  The tent sites looked great with plenty of space for you to set up.  Several people even brought small trailers like RPods into the tent area and just didn't use hookups.  There are plenty of dirt paths out to the lake both from the KOA and nearby.  Many people brought ATVs to utilize these and it looked like a great time.  We used out truck and mountain bikes to tootle around on them and had a great time.  This place would be great if you tow a boat and just want to set up with tents in an RV site as well - we saw many people doing that.  Kayaks were available to rent in set 2 hour timeslots, banana bikes available if you are into that.  There are plenty of games like bocci and ladder ball.  All in all we had a great time and would highly recommend it.  Great place to use a base camp to hit nearby rivers, ponds, trailheads, or even the lake.  20 minutes away from the main marina on the south side of the lake where you can rent a boat for the day too!

En route Phone GPS was not reliable, luckily they have a big sign. Check in was ok, family run business and the office was a mess. Small store carries some essentials. You have to drive through several long term older Travel trailers that look like they have been there for years. I camped at site 28, which was actually a group site. It was great to have a large unoccupied area to one side, but the other side had an unoccupied long term TT that stunk like rotten fish. It was so bad we never put out our patio rug, or cooked outside. Across the way was a clean small pool which was very nice. We enjoyed riding our bikes around the loop, and walking down to the Trinity River. There are 2 river spots from the campground. Both are scenic, only one is safe to enter the water and that spot had a very small river rock spot to set up a couple chairs. If you are tent camping or in a smaller RV, their are some better sites that are further away from the permanent old Travel Trailers closet to the entrance. If you are there over a weekend they do have a very large outdoor laser tag area. They technically do have a free Wi Fi, however it is very weak, almost nonexistent. Verizon had no cell coverage.

This is a great little mom and pop rv campground. There are tent sites away from the rv part, but we never checked that area out. The rv spots are very clean, and even though they’re close together with no privacy it was an amazingly quiet park. The park is about 1/4 full time residents, 1/4 permanent vacation spots that people keep trailers at and visit from time to time and the other half is campers. We stayed for a week and became buddies with the camp host Craig who gave us great fishing tips for the area and had some great conversation with as well. The owners were very nice and run a tight ship. The rv spots are full hook up with nice green grass, no cable but ok Verizon signal and we got a few local channels on the tv antenna. They have a nice little store and a fish cleaning stand. We fished Lewiston lake less than 10 min. away and Whiskeytown Lake about 20-25 min. away with great luck. The little town of Lewiston is pretty cool and a 5 min walk from the campground as well is the trinity river. We will definitely be back.

We stayed for one night as we were passing thru from Oregon to Central California.

Pros

• No cell service
• In the trees, very secluded
• Flush potties.
• Nice swimming hole, the water was warm in mid June. This seems to be the primary attraction for this area. Most of the families were gathered along the shore and playing in the water.
• Hiking straight out of the camp ground. But, it is a very steep trail, so make sure you bring a walking stick(s) and wear proper gear. This is also a heavy bear area, so pack your bear spray.
• Best for tent or car camping.
• Nice fire pits, wood for sale at office
• Fantastic place for kids… so many families with young children.
• The camp host and other campers were really friendly.

Cons

• Close to the road, we heard vehicles all night. We were in a hard sided camper two rows away from the road and could hear them inside. It’s got to be really loud for people closer and in tents.
• Tight spots and everyone is packed closely together (Check out the video).
• No electric, site water, dumping, or showers.
• Not suited for most RVs and travel trailers, you need to be very small and fully self contained. Our 19’ A-Line barely fit into our spot. The sites are close together, short, with roots coming up in the road and parking areas, and sharp angled turns to get into your spot. A lot of spot have over hanging tree limbs. We made it in our spot because our camper is super low profile during travel mode. Would not have been able to fit under the tree limbs with a normal camper.
• Hwy 36 from the 101 is very curvy with lots of narrow areas and very few turn offs.
• Not a good place for dogs, very few areas they are allowed other than your camp site. Upon arriving we receive a yellow sheet letting us know why our dog was a problem for wildlife in this area and all the reasons we should not bring him with us next time.

Over all, I this campground would be a fun place for families, wanting to disconnect from technology for a weekend of tent camping.

Campground Review: No matter where you find yourself on Shasta Lake you will be surrounded in houseboats and the beauty of the lake. On the way in (heading south on I-5 you will see Mt. Shasta in all of its glory standing in a blanket of hills and trees. There are plenty of cool places to drive for a better view if you can stomach some hilly land and loose sand, and the spider webbed lake won’t disappoint any way you approach it. When you’re camping in a roof top tent (Kukeman 3 by Tepui) any place with semi flat ground is a good place to camp! Though the drive from Seattle is quite long, it’s worth it once you get a load of the view of the lake and the bridge you’ll soon forget the hours you spent in the car. I highly recommend coming here and tent camping, car camping, cabin camping, or houseboat camping.

Product Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt I get to review some great and often very practical products. This trip I was lucky enough to review RŌM Pack, a blanket, poncho, and tent in one.

This little combo is heavy duty and ready to take a beating. It may start out as a backpack, but as soon as you need a place to sit the soft inside and waterproof outside is ready for the job. I went straight to the RŌM Pack when I spilled water on the mattress of my Roof Top Tent and it kept us dry all night. The poncho feature is very warm, and it was very warm at Shasta Lake (about 80 degrees) so I didn’t get to test out that feature too much, but the pack is very comfortable on your back, as a blanket. And as a way to keep you warm once it cools off. There are plenty of places to stash things (like a snack or a drink)! I’d recommend this to anyone who wants a tough blanket for outdoor activities, but also a durable bag and poncho. It’s very nice looking, stylish, and durable.

Large state park campground that was completely sold out, but offered a small section of non-reservable tent campsites. We checked in on a Monday when there were only a few other sites around us occupied, but by the time we were leaving on Thursday most of the non-reservable sites were full.

The campground is very well maintained with bathrooms and showers that were cleaned every morning. They allow campfires in fire rings and sell firewood on site for $8 a bundle.

There is a redwood grove hiking trail behind the campsites that takes you from one end of the campground to the other. You can also walk across Avenue of the Giants from the entrance to a trail that leads you down to the South Fork Eel River. We stayed in July when the water was warm enough in which to swim and the fish are very playful. Bring a blanket or pad to sunbathe, the scenery is beautiful. Careful hiking around the area though, poison oak is abundant.

There’s a small town called Meyers Flat just south of the campground on Avenue of the Giants where you can get some last-minute camp supplies, beer and ice. The market does have some groceries, but not enough to do all your shopping there. I also recommend taking a drive North on Avenue of the Giants to Ferndale or Eureka for a day trip.

Definitely a great summer spot with the river, and a great anytime spot for a place in the Redwoods. You will hear traffic from the Highway 101 in the evening and morning, but it quiets down enough at night you wont even think about it.

The Campsite itself is closed due to Covid. However, 8am to 8PM it is a swimmer's Paradise. Really nice Camping spots and cannot wait to visit here when open. $25 a night to camp in tent and $1 per pet.

Price and campground make this a must stop. Signs at each campsite tell you what kind of camping it is: tent, RV. Not meant for big rigs and the 5 mile road back is very narrow and windy but the drive is beautiful.

Nice campground for trailers and tents with relatively large sites interspersed in the redwood trees. The shared bathrooms have showers (25¢/minute for water) and are all clean and updated. There are fire pits and picnic tables in each site. The summer charge was $35/night.

The sites are narrow. The water was really low down. No beach. It was really hot! Not much around. Plus will we were there at least two trees came down. Thank goodness they did not land on our tent! There are a lot of Geocaches though.

[Internet. Verizon via iPhone 12: 16 mbps down and 0.20 mbps up with 38 ms ping. T-Mobile via Nighthawk MR-1100 - 6 mbps down and 0.69 up with 97 ms ping.]

I just love this campground. It’s an immersive experience. We were so glad to extend our trip from 2 to 4 days. There’s these birds that sing at dawn and dusk (springtime at least). It’s a kind of sound that starts strong and drops off like they they gave up singing halfway. Such a wonderful sound to wake up to. The bird is called a varied thrush. ❤️

PROS

→ You are camping in the redwood forest. → Next door to visitor center. You can get quarters for the showers here. → Has cell signal which I normally wouldn’t care to have in a place like this. Since there was signal, we could stay in this beautiful place and I could work on the two additional add-on days instead of having to move on to Eureka right away in search of signal. → It has a woodsy camping experience. RV sizes are limited to 25 feet so there’s mostly tent campers. → Sites are spaced apart. There’s no privacy trees but I mean redwoods aren’t good privacy trees. They are good at absorbing sound though so it’s quieter. They won’t save you from running, screaming kids though.

CONS - low level cons at that

→ Right off Avenue of the Giants so there’s some car noise but not bad at night. → Showers are quarter operated which is par for the course in California. Here it’s 25¢/minute. The water is mostly warm but pressure and temperature drop when toilets are flushing. I highly recommend showering midday since there’s less people in the campground thereby less people using the bathroom facilities. → Firewood is $10 but burns well. Standard bundle size.

4.5-stars — It’s near perfect except for the pay showers which gets me every time. For weekend warriors it’s likely a 5-star campground!

FYI ON RESERVE CALIFORNIA: The website doesn’t allow online reservations within 48 hours of your intended camping start date. I kept checking online to see if there was a last minute cancellation. Online kept showing 0 sites available. I went to the camp office and their system showed our site being free for two more days. You can only pay for the site one day at a time FCFS. They take credit card. When the office window is closed, then I believe it’s cash only envelope style.

—————————— [Rig. Mercedes Sprinter. 22 feet]

Dump station? - No Water fill? - No but there are water spigots throughout Clean site? - Yes Clean bathroom? - Yes (even has soap!) Flush toilet? - Yes Showers? - Yes, quarter operated Laundry? - No Dish washing sink? - Yes

There is something truly humbling camping under such big trees. This camp site was beautiful. We were in site 9 and it felt pretty private because it was up further from the two neighboring sites. Downsides are that it was across from the bathroom (I was traveling with a 1 and 2 year old so that was done on purpose) so it was car traffic from people too lazy to walk there. I didn't expect that. I'm also a tent camper and tents are mixed in with rv's so you get the rv buzz to until generator shut off time. The bathrooms were nice running water and flush toilets. Showers are pay showers too. Half the campground was closed when we went for renovations so it was not as busy as it probably usually is. The highway was close so you could hear some car noise but it wasn't as bad as the other reviews have implied. Nice amphitheater and trails around the site!