Best Dispersed Camping near Meadow Valley, CA

Recent Dispersed Reviews in Meadow Valley

18 Reviews of 23 Meadow Valley Campgrounds

• H

  Har Rai K.

  Scout

  

  Jan. 12, 2025

  Grouse Ridge Campground

  Beautiful views and lakes

  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.

• T

  Tyler B.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 1, 2024

  Antelope Mountain Dispersed Camp

  Basic primitive cell service

  Not a bad place to spend a night or two primitive camping

• S

  Shawn M.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 6, 2024

  Bowman Lake Dispersed

  Lake side Campsites

  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.

• 

  Claire D.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 3, 2024

  31N17N - North Manzanita Dispersed Camping

  Convenient dispersed site near Lassen

  Same experience as the other reviews. Arrived late Friday night on Labor Day weekend and found a spot right at the beginning of the dirt road - coming from Redding direction, turned right off of 44 onto the dirt road then took the first right. The turnoff is on Google maps and was easy to find even in the dark. Nobody else around that we saw, even given the busy weekend! Agreed with others on the road noise but it was fine. Just a few minutes from Manzanita lake. Great find!

• 

  Chris N.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 21, 2024

  Bowman Lake Dispersed

  Great Late Spring Escape

  This place was a slice of heaven, but only accessible by way of 4 x 4 with decent clearance. The trail will take you off road for quite some time , but it's well with the adventure. Traction boards and a winch could help you through unexpected obstacles and are recommended to have on hand, but you most likely won't need them. No running water, but there are restroom buildings, fire rings and bear boxes to use. Mosquitoes are abundant here. Don't forget your repellent. The lake is gorgeous, a great fishery, and there are plenty of inspirational views and solitude to be had.

• R

  Robert N.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 13, 2024

  Christie Hill Basecamp

  Dispersed camping

  No water or outhouse. If you have a low clearance vehicles, pick your pins carefully.

• L

  Linda L.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 30, 2024

  Grouse Ridge Campground

  Amazing spot for a campground.

  The last five miles to get to this campground was narrow and rocky. Once we got to the campground, I realized narrow and rocky are okay. We were there last weekend in June and there was still snow on the ground. Woot! It was awesome. Quite a few sites there with fire rings, beat up, bear boxes that didn't open and picnic benches that were in bad shape. They had two pot toilets. This was a very busy campground. Lots of traffic on and out, I'm sure to beat the heat. It was 25 degrees cooler up there than in Sacramento. We loved this campground. I can't wait to go back.

• E

  Elaine S.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 20, 2024

  31N17N - North Manzanita Dispersed Camping

  Exactly what we needed

  About one mile south of the northwest entrance, so it’s convenient. Follow the instructions from other campers as they’re spot on. We camped to the right of the road, as we saw another camp site that was filled to the right. Tent campers will have no issues finding a spot. We didn’t venture too far down the road due to having a lower car, but we had plenty of options.

  Although you feel secluded, the highway isn’t too far, so you’ll have some road noise (nothing crazy). We did hear coyotes off in the distance, which is so cool and spooky at the same time. Bear activity was reported in the area before we arrived, so keep that in mind. Make sure to bring your buh spray!

  Will definitely stay here again if we visit the park again. Arrived June 19, left June 20.

• S

  Sarah J.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 6, 2024

  Bogard USFS Dispersed

  Be very prepared for mosquitoes !

  Mosquitoes EVERYWHERE! We pulled in to the area around 6 PM on a Tuesday evening, not a single person around. We originally pulled near the little bog. When we got out we noticed TONS of mosquitoes, so we drove about a quarter to a half mile down the road and made a left. Still tons of mosquitoes, but absolutely beautiful night sky!

• P

  Paul T.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 5, 2024

  31N17N - North Manzanita Dispersed Camping

  Very much a Nike camp area, "Just Do It

  Immediately prior to turning down road to Lassen turn in to dirt road. Again less than 50 yards on right is area to camp. Could also turn a big rig.

  A 4 wheel drive is not required, it's just a dusty road. About 100 yards further, you could walk up the road and grab some water from the stream.

  No Verizon phone or internet reception

• C

  Casandra E.

  Scout

  

  Mar. 24, 2024

  Grouse Ridge Campground

  Several camping spots. Numerous lakes to hike and a lookout tower with great views .

  Great camping spot and quiet.

• c

  cassie

  Scout

  

  Aug. 7, 2023

  Christie Hill Basecamp

  Quiet camping 4 miles outside Lassen NP

  Just off the main highway. Gravel road in. We had a Ford van that had no problem driving over the dirt and gravel road. There are sites with fire rings and relatively flat ground. Great location for dispersed camping just minutes from the southern lassen entrance.

• 

  Nick C.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 13, 2023

  29N22 Dispersed near Lassen NP

  Limited Option Near Lassen NP South Entrance

  This is a small flat area near the base of Christie Hill. The turn off of the Hwy 89 is at the McGowan SnoPark area (really just a logger's staging area). There are a handful of very rough roads one could pull off the road and camp in a tent on (or 4x4 van). For a larger RV or travel trailer, we found only one spot (40.390996,-121.540748) that was large enough to accommodate our 32 foot travel trailer. It is right along the road, but there is virtually no traffic here, so we found it acceptable. 

  I do not believe there are any good spots further down the road. A word of caution as well - the lake just beyond here (McGowan Lake) - is privately owned and gated. It is not available for camping.

• 

  Salvatore F.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 7, 2023

  31N17N - North Manzanita Dispersed Camping

  Great dispersed spot near Lassen Volcanic NP

  We found this spot based on advice of the rangers in LVNP. Overall a great place to camp if your looking for a free option to camp/boon dock very close to the park.

  Right when you turn off 44, go up a small hill, maybe 100m, then there is a clearing on the west side of the road. There is a perpendicular dirt road at the clearing (running west/east) with several spots to park a van, trailer, or even smaller RV. We saw four distinct sites where people had made fire rings—however due to the number of pine trees the ground is covered in a thick layer of pine needles— make sure you sweep at least a 20’ fire ring down to dirt around the rock pit before you make a fire. You can also hear noticeable road noise from 44 in the front spots so not super secluded.

  Many of the sites we checked (near the entrance and deeper into the woods) had bumble bees coming out of holes in the ground so be careful picking your site, particularly at night so you don’t wake up to an unpleasant surprise.

  Going further south down the main road you can find many other more hidden camping spots deeper in the forest, but the road is rougher and only suited for a 4x4.

• 

  Aliza N.

  Legend

  

  Nov. 1, 2022

  29N22 Dispersed near Lassen NP

  Dispersed camping near Lassen NP

  Lovely quiet remote dispersed camping spot. No services. On a very nice gravel road marked for winter cross country skiing. Saw a few others in the area. Most camp spots are right on the edge of the road but lots of room and plenty of privacy. Leave no trace. Pack in, pack out.

• 

  Daisee Mae S.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 25, 2022

  CA-139 Pull Off Area

  Somewhere to Rest

  This is literally right off the highway, it might be hard to spot unless someone else is there.

  The roads to the spots are a little rutted, no low profile vehicles, but it’s easy to access.

  There is no name to this place, and the bulletin board has zero information.

  Possibly 5-6 spaces. The most people that was here any given night were just stopping for a place to rest for the night.

  No bathrooms, trash or water. One of the locals said there is a junk yard you can walk to from here but we never found it.

  Traffic noise dies down around 10/11PM. Unless the occasional driver is honking at absolutely nothing, it’s pretty quiet.

  We heard gunshots around 9PM that lasted for about an hour. Seems the people around here hunt at night.

  Definitely just a place to rest or gather yourself for a couple of days. I’m not sure about the amount of time you can stay here. But hey, it’s free!

• k

  kami

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 18, 2021

  Bogard USFS Dispersed

  Perfect Getaway

  The campsite was very easy to find, but also very secluded. When we arrived, only 3 other sites were taken. We met a very kind older woman who had been there a while & said that not many people know this place exists, so it doesn’t get very busy. The campsite was well kept. We had a picnic table, campfire & plenty of trees for our hammocks. I left my dog’s food out one afternoon & a chipmunk got to it but other than that, we had no issues with wildlife!

• 

  Laura M.

  Legend

  

  Apr. 21, 2021

  Bogard USFS Dispersed

  Good for a night or two - can be muddy in Spring

  The main road to Bogard Campground had too much snow for us to be able to pass through, so we found this small clearing tucked away off of Forest Route 32N09 in Lassen Nat’l Forest to stay overnight instead. 

  It’s a nice open flat-ish space, big enough for several rigs as well as big enough to do a complete u-turn in our 26ft class c without having to back up. 

  It’s quiet except for lots of distant road noise from the highway and surprisingly frequent train noise in the distance. We stayed here on a Sunday night in April, and did not see another soul. There seems to be a lot of logging activity in this area though, and we wondered if this clearing was some sort of staging area for the loggers.  

  There’s a small pond here at this time of year, probably from runoff from snow melt. Be aware of the ground near the water being deceptively solid but saturated with water and muddy. Our tires sank a bit when we tried to park too close to the water. 

  Zero cell service for any of the 3 major carriers, and our cell booster did not help much.