Searching for a tent camping spot near Lake Sonoma? The Dyrt helps you find campsites near Lake Sonoma with tent camping. From remote to easy-to-reach, these Lake Sonoma campsites are perfect for tent campers.
$48 / night
Austin Creek State Recreation Area is currently under a complete closure at this time and will remain so until further notice.
There have been major impacts to the unit due to the 2020 Walbridge Fire. Due to significant hazards there is NO ACCESS ALLOWED by foot, bike, vehicle or any other means in Austin Creek SRA. If unauthorized vehicles and or people are found in Austin Creek SRA they will be subject to contact and citation. We need this time for clearing hazards and debris so that we can get Austin Creek SRA open at some point down the road. Thank you for your patience.
Bullfrog Pond Campground offers Twenty-three campsites. Campsites #1 through #8 (minus #4 our camp host site) are first-come, first-served campsites. Campsites #9 through #24 are on reservations through Hipcamp. Reserve a campsite by visiting www.hipcamp.com Each campsite has a picnic table and fire ring. There are two sets of bathrooms each with a flush toilet and sink. Unfortunately there are no shower facilities available.
Bullfrog Pond does not offer any group camping. The nearest State Park that offers group camping can be found at Salt Point State Park. None of the campsites at Bullfrog Pond will accommodate vehicles over 20 feet in length. We do not offer any hike and bike sites (reduced fees). The campground is subject to seasonal closure due to extreme weather or conditions. The pond itself almost always goes dry by mid-summer and when there IS water in the pond there may be mosquitos in the area. Ticks are also prevalent in the area so bring a good bug/tick repellant.
In warmer weather it is advisable to keep an eye out for rattlesnakes as they are in the area. If you would like a first-come first-served campsite you will need to register with staff at the Armstrong kiosk. If staff is not available at the kiosk, you can self-register at the entrance to Bullfrog Pond. Official check-in time is 2 o'clock pm. Pay the $35.00 camping fee and any extra vehicle fees ($8.00/vehicle) prior to occupying a campsite. Max occupancy per campsite is 8 people. You are allowed to bring two vehicles, but we do not guarantee both vehicles will fit on your parking spur. If any of your vehicles don't fit on your designated parking spur, please take it up to overflow parking area at Vista Point parking lot. Please ensure the day use parking areas are free from camper vehicles.
Please note that the campground is likely to go into a fire ban in the summer and autumn season. We will keep you up to date.
When available, a camp host will be occupying the camp host spot at campsite #4. Remember that quiet hours begin at 10 o'clock pm and noise significantly carries to other campsites in the campground. We are always looking for a good camp host. If interested check in with staff at the entrance station.
Camp fires, BBQ's, candles, tiki torches, etc. will be prohibited during periods of extreme fire danger. During fire bans, propane camp stoves may be used for cooking.
Dogs are permitted in your paid for campsite, picnic areas and on paved roads ONLY. Dogs are not allowed on dirt roads or on any trails. Dogs must remain leashed at all times.
Bicycles are allowed on paved roads and fire roads. Bicycles are not allowed on any trails.
$30 - $50 / night
Pine Grove is a majestic forest retreat of timeless natural beauty, blessed with abundant mountain spring water. In this oasis, bordered by spring fed year-round Kelsey Creek and overlooked by Cobb Mountain, you will discover a vast and personal connection with the natural world in any season. We invite you for a workshop, personal retreat, family reunion or just the day. Serene year-round cabins, all with inviting redwood decks overlooking Kelsey Creek, and camping give many options for your stay.
$40 - $210 / night
Closed for the 2023 season to repair storm damage. State Forest staff will be focused on repairing winter storm damage to roads and facilities throughout the State Forests in the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit.
Day use will continue to be permitted from sunrise to sunset.
La Bohemia sits atop the world renown Bohemian Grove near Monte Rio, CA. The multi-acre property boast view of the Bohemian Grove and surrounding west county forests. Though it has nearly 280-degree mountain top views, no developed structures can be seen. La Bohemia affords the best that the redwood forest offers.
Because of the sensitive habitat, the desired privacy of the neighbors, and the mission to maintain the pristine forest, LA Bohemia is only available to environmental small parties who are dedicated to environmental conservations. One member of the group must be a member of a environmental or conservation-focused organization such as the Sierra Club, Save the Redwood League, the Fernwood Trust, or similar environmental organization.
The approach to LA Bohemia is a mile long trail that rises 650 feet. It is not strenuous but you should be in good shape with good footwear to reach it. The good part is that you do not need to pack more than clothes, food, sleeping bags, and smiles as La Bohemia is well-appointed with amenities that make your stay comfortable including electricity, refrigeration, food storage, kitchen facilities, a firepit.
$200 - $800 / night
This campground winds along beautiful Cole Creek. Cole Creek campground offers 26 well shaded campsites and 2 Hike and Bike sites. Each site has a fire ring, a table, and a food storage box. Nearby restroom facilities offer pay showers and flushable toilets.
$30 / night
Scout
This was a nice place had a good time the site was a bit small. I would say you can’t really tell how big the site is the pictures are a bit hard to tell. They are taken sideways from the road not straight on for all the campsites. It was nice and quiet and beautiful area and not far from the beach. But if you aren’t careful you can really get a super small site.
ScoutOverall the campground was good. Close to the water and relatively quiet and not busy. However, when booking online they don’t do the best to describe how your site is set up. Based off the picture I was expecting the site to be fairly spacious, with a large driveway for parking and area for setting up tents. I was wrong. The parking for most spots is a small pullout alongside the road barely big enough for two relatively small vehicles. The usable space on the site was pretty limited as well. There was almost zero level area to set up a tent, and sites were really small. With that being said, if you do your research and know what to do expect/plan accordingly I’d say it’s worth staying.
Traveler
Visit was for 11/19/2024 found the gates locked, no entry. Seasonal? No signage to tell.
Traveler
Great camping, hiking, boating. Lots of nature trails. Super friendly staff
Scout
We visited this park earlier this spring. Yes it was wet, but we didn't mind. Liked the spaces and layout so much...we are going back this fall. Plus we love that whole area.
However, DYRT got some info wrong. While there are plenty of full hookup spaces for RVs, there are no pull thru sites. Only back in for trailers and drive-in for coaches. Many tent camping spaces and RV spaces w/just water and power. The folks are friendly and helpful.
M.R.
Legend
Have you been over to Bodega Bay? I think you'd like it there. Our friends sure know us well! While the town doesn’t look much different than when it appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, the cafes in the village have definitely upped their game.
Bodega Dunes State Park is a great way to experience the area without the same activity and noise in the camp grounds down closer to the water. The campsite loops wind through the coastal Live Oak and Bishop Pine trees and provide some privacy in between sites in some areas, though some sites are right on top of each other.
They are generally smaller pull-in sites geared more toward tents, vans, and small travel trailers. There are just a handful of sites that can accommodate bigger RVs. Many of the sites have decent open sky resources for solar power and satellite internet, though many in the lower areas had standing water and torn up asphalt pads from the heavy rains the last couple of years.
The bathrooms were clean and comfortable with flush toilets and warm showers (coin operated). My only complaint about the bathrooms is that there weren’t quite enough for the demand, in my opinion, but a few port-o-potties might help offset that during the busy season.
Hiking among the sand dunes and along the beach provide some really stunning scenery. Reaching the beach, you’ll find as much coastal sand as you can handle with miles and miles of it to yourself. The water, which is normally pretty cold year round, can also be pretty rough for swimming.
A short drive away is the gorgeous Bodega Head Trail which winds up along the headland and offers amazing scenery. It’s sort of like a small Point Reyes National Seashore, but much easier to get to.
Bodega Bay has a couple of small grocery stores, gas stations, and more than a few restaurants to meet nearly any craving. The area is known for its Dungeness Crab Harvest, so be sure to check that out when it's in season!
Legend
Along the forgotten coast of Central California along Hwy 1, this small state park offers a great way to explore the area.
The upper campground is relatively small and was still heavily impacted by 2023-24 winter storms, many downed trees still had some campsites closed in the spring of 2024. Most of these sites would accommodate smaller rigs and tents only. The campground is tucked in between the remaining coastal pines and live oak. The bathrooms were small but tidy with flush toilets and running water, no showers. We drove through here and then headed to the overflow lot...
If you are in a self-contained vehicle, the most stunning place to camp in this park is the “overflow” camping lot closer to the beach. Here you can camp with a 180 degree view of the ocean and the rolling hills leading to the beach. The lot is completely open to the sky, so solar and satellite internet work great. The only downside is that the closest bathroom and fresh water spigot is either in the day-use area down toward the water, or back uphill at the campground. But the view and scenery were more than worth the minor inconvenience.
If you’ve got a solar powered system, you could have the most inexpensive California beach vacation around. The rocky beach area is great for wildlife viewing, we saw sea lions, seals, and even the occasional spout from migrating gray whales. While not necessarily good for swimming, the beach area is great for fishing. Hiking is right from the campground and leads to the north or south from the headland area.
Come prepared with food and gas! Supplies will be difficult to come by, as there are only a few small convenience/ general stores and restaurants, in nearby Jenner. The larger grocery outlets will be inland in Santa Rosa about an hour away. This is the price you pay to have a stunning California beach vacation without the normal crowds.
LegendSalt Point State Park has 3 separate camping areas: Woodside Campground, Gerstle Cove Campground, and Gerstle Cove Overflow. The overflow is a lot that overlooks the ocean, and you don’t have to wait for the campground to be full to be able to camp here. You can ask to stay here when you arrive at the ranger station at the entrance.
The overflow is for self contained RVs only. No tents or car camping allowed. There is a trash bin in the center of the lot but no other amenities. It seems to be mellow during the week and busy on weekends. We’re glad we were just paying day by day because it got too crowded for us when the weekend hit, so we decided to leave.
There are beautiful hikes in this area, and a trail straight from the lot to the ocean. You can also see whales from the lot!
Dogs ok, cell service is good, the lot isn’t very level but it isn’t too bad. No designated spots so just come down and figure out a good place to set up once you get there. This is a beautiful place to camp and we do love it, even at $30.
Legend
Great (and big) park in Bodega Bay with several separate campgrounds. We got lucky and snagged a last minute spot for 2 nights in August. Easy access to the beach, lots of day use areas all around this park, and bonus: a dog beach that was available on a trial basis when we were there- dogs got to run free on this little patch of enclosed beach- wonderful. Hope it becomes a permanent feature!
Showers were $2 for 5 minutes, there’s recycling here (a separate bin for propane cylinders too).
This campground has a lot of in and out traffic and day use visitors and overall more activity than the Westside campground across the way. We enjoyed both of them.
Legend
This is a mellow, low key, beachy Sonoma County campground in Bodega Bay. It’s got that vibe that so many beach campgrounds do, a little run down, no frills, open layout, and happy friendly campers. We stayed here for a couple of nights and had a great time.
There’s hiking all over this area, lots to explore and see. Cell service was good. Showers here are expensive at $2 for 5 min, quarters only. There’s a host on site who’s been hosting here for something like 15 (maybe 30) years. There’s a boat ramp adjacent to this campground, lots of boats in and out for fishing.
There’s a dump station for a $7 fee (though the website says $10, so maybe it's actually $10), honor box at the station to deposit your money. Water fill available here as well.
Recycling available, as well as a separate bin for green propane canisters. Camping is $35/night, plus $2 fee per dog per night (boo), plus whatever online reservation fee ($8?). Reservations must be made online. Hosts obviously do not handle that and there was nobody in the entrance shack when we arrived- though a ranger swung by later to collect the dog fee (that fee can’t be paid online when you make the reservation). Anyway, confusing process but just go with it and have a great time.
Scout
This campground lives up to all the other positive comments BUT the raccoons were extremely aggressive and even ate its way into a tent at 2AM. It would have been nice if the host had warned of them when he visited to check reservation and sell us wood!
ScoutThere is upward of 90 sites, many are for just tents and are on sand with fire pit. I have our travel trailer there and are the site # in the 70's and are on a asphalt pad, which makes it cleaner and level. Down side would be close to a road and traffic during day, but at night very quiet except for fog horn which is no big deal. The beach walks and adventuring the coast and local fair makes it all worth it. Water and dump station available, not at campsites but at entry of park
Traveler
Lovely campsite with very sweet camp hosts. Always waved when they drove by.
Chose site 17 because of the beautiful tree seen in another review but was felled prior to our arrival, so no big tree. We did however get a beautiful view of the stars.
Two things to note, some of the sites (didn’t look like all of them had this issue) have an incredibly fine dusty dirt that gets on absolutely everything, it made our feet, legs and sandals completely beige from the dust and we had to wipe them with wet wipes before going into our tent and tracked a fair amount into our car upon leaving.
The other thing we were disappointed with was that we had to pay for showers on top of already paying over $50 for our site for one night, we felt that was a pretty big con and that it should be included in the fees.
Overall, you can’t get closer to the wineries and it was an otherwise lovely site.
Scout
I got there after they closed (closes at 5pm.) But there's a number to call that was posted for after hours. A camper in front of me had already called and someone arrived within minutes. They were very helpful and friendly. I got a beautiful spot secluded from everyone. I loved it! Just me and nature. I played some music dance by myself as if nobody was watching.
Scout
Very enjoyable stay. The park is clean,quiet and there’s a few trails that take you to the Beach. It’s about a 30 min walk but an easy one. Theres electric, cable and water at the pole. The sewer is up near the entrance. All in all a nice peaceful retreat. I work remote and have had meetings all week. No issues with Verizon or T mobile Hot spots.
Traveler
I tent camped here on a September weeknight. The campground is very spacious on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Very few other campers so I had plenty of options for sites. It was cool, sunny, and no wind-perfect weather! Stunning views all around, with a trailhead to Stillwater Cove. Very quiet and relaxing stay here!
TravelerThe views are worth the drive! The cliffs are just spectacular and there are places to walk and explore the coast, albeit it can be windy. We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and there were plenty of spots to choose from. Most campsites are fairly spacious, the general store is well stocked and prices are reasonable. The outdoor showers are a win, as we stayed 4 nights and it was so quite once the weekend passed. If the guy with the BBQ oysters is set up on the weekend - they are fabulous! Cafe Aquatica in Jenner has amazing chowda and quaint outdoor seating. Sunsets for days...
GuideWinding downhill road in a valley to get there only to find basically a trailer park. Restroom in need of repair and not very sanitary. There was only one site available when we arrived and the rest were mostly permanent/long term residents. The host was very friendly and helpful in getting us settled in and other guests were very friendly. Overall I’d say avoid unless you’re very weary of driving
GuideQuiet stop, but I wouldn't call it the most beautiful stop I've ever stayed. Camping spots are to the left and the right I'd the day use. Pit toilets. No garbage.
Traveler
This is the worst campground I’ve ever seen. There was trash throughout the campground - including a used condom and condom wrappers in our campsite - bathrooms were dirty and had no soap, and there were several loud groups well after the posted quiet hours. We stayed one night and left early. If you’re into obnoxious parties, then this place is for you. The “potable” water is brown out of the tap.
Scout
Full Disclosure: I know the owner of the property and stayed at La Bohemia for free.
Nevertheless, this is an amazing spot. The owner and his young daughter have done an amazing job restoring the forest and making a special place over the past few years. It is a great getaway from everything. No sign of any building insight.
I must admit, my favorite part was watching football on the large outdoor screen and eating BBQ by the campfire. It was an amazing experience in an amazing place.
GuideThis rv site was awesome.It's quiet beautiful, lush green. Be aware tho. It's full of poison oak!!!! But yiu can get around it.
There are no hook ups. But the sights are mostly shaded, so it was a great help and I did not go in a hot time of the year. They have good hours for use of generators as well
We Brought our electric bikes and rode to the geyser in Calistoga and to multiple wineries It was a great way to travel
TravelerOk, I was originally hoping for a cabin, which is included in my search, but this CG is either tent or RV only. Luckily, I also brought a tent.
I was there 2 weeks ago. It's a fairly large area and flat. Lots of space for kids to play including a play area.
Sheep roam freely in one area towards the back.
It's a great place for families. Showers are great. Includes a small shop for goodies.
I love it there. Only negative is there are only portapotties. Except for a couple that are constantly in use.
Guide
Wow! This place is busy and expensive. We stopped at this KOA because it was a good halfway point for us heading to the Redwoods. This KOA offers a variety of activities that cater to children, such as petting zoos, jumping pillows, climbing walls, and pools, which are excellent for keeping the young ones engaged and entertained. To me it was overcrowded and the firepits were so close to the RV’s I was afraid it would set my neighbors RV on fire, or our neighbor was going to set ours on fire. For those without children (like us), the bustling environment might be overwhelming, but it also provides an opportunity to enjoy the lively atmosphere.
Ranger
This campground is nice with newer bathrooms and shower facilities, but it's also very open and exposed. Great access to Spring Lake's water-based activities and hiking trails, plus easy access to Trione-Annadel State Park for hiking and mountain biking. Howarth Park, a city park, also borders Spring Lake Regional Park and provides access to boating and fishing on Lake Ralphine, plus they have a small train, carousel, tennis courts, and a softball field. Overall a good campsite for families in need of lots of recreation options, but not the best for those wishing to "get away from it all."
Guide
Nice place. Friendly people. Well maintained. WiFi not reaching our campsite.
GuideHot weather looking for a cool, on lake CG. We didn’t camp there. Thought we might but, instead just drove through. Day-use area close. Parking lot for boaters open. CG host said full; grounds not well maintained. Open sites with expired occupancy dates on them. Large groups with extra vehicles. Some sites looked like long term occupancy. Pleased there was no room. Don’t think would’ve been comfortable experience.
Tent camping near Lake Sonoma offers a serene escape into nature, with a variety of well-reviewed campgrounds that cater to outdoor enthusiasts.
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Lake Sonoma is Schoolhouse Canyon Campground with a 5-star rating from 8 reviews.
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