Best Dispersed Camping near Orleans, CA

Dispersed camping along the river banks after walking through the Tall Trees hike. Easy overnighter.

• dispersed camping
• no amenities
• a beautiful open field with the woods in the back and Trinity lake in the front
• you could camp in the open field or in the woods

I talked to the host at the Clam Beach Campground. They told me that the State had shut down all the camping north of their campground because of “rowdiness.” I drove the frontage road from Clam Beach exit to the Crannell exit on 101 north. Everywhere one could pull off to the side and camp there were multiple signs saying no camping. I think this particular dispersed camping location should be taken off the Dyrt site.

Sand camp is essentially a dispersed camping area. There is a large gravel parking lot and a pit toilet available. There is a path down to the Smith River where you can set up tents and tent camp if you want. 

The toilet was a basic pit toilet, but it was fairly clean as far as those go. 

We parked our VW Bus in the gravel lot for the night, it was very quiet. Though its next to a road, there is very little traffic at night as this area is fairly remote. The sky was dark and clear, perfect for stargazing. The few other people camping there were quiet and friendly.

Don’t be confused when you arrive and head up the hill where you’ll find camping spots. Even has an area with picnic tables under the trees.

A great spot overall and a nice drive up. We were there when it rained all day one of our days and it didn’t affect the roads much.

We even pulled up our rear drop camper and had no issues at all.

Great spot. The site is very secluded and well maintained. Note the gps coordinates take you to the right of the sign at the top of the hill after you turn off the main road. I would recommend going straight. Just follow it to the end. There is three fire pits and a bathroom. That is okay. But it will do. Note there is no trash can on site and the closest gas station is probably an hour from the camp site. After you drive down the dirt roads. They are a little road but any vehicle could make it.

Beautiful area, cool drive in. But the map on here is misleading… Follow Pine Ridge Road all the way till you hit dispersed sites with picnic tables and fire pits on the right.

(41.0051476, -123.7848194)

The location it’s not what it says on this map. It’s about a mile heading to eureka. It’s okay it’s small camp site it’s right next 101 it’s bit noisy

This secluded camp is well worth the effort to find.  I've been 3 times and finally decided to add it to The Dyrt.  Upon this return, I tried to find it online (Six Rivers's official site) but found no info.  There are two ways to this camp, the longer from Willow Creek, or the shorter from Hawkins Bar.  Both ways are via forest service roads that are "fair".  There are 3 sites, each with a picnic table and fire ring.  There is one vault toilet that was stocked with 'the papers'.  There is NO trash service or cans and NO POTABLE WATER.  There is a tiny creek running nearby if needed.  There is MAYBE one (1) bar of Verizon service, but it is extremely unreliable.  I came here to see the Perseids Meteor Shower, on a Sunday night/Monday, and did not see a soul.

When you get to the area where apple maps says park and walk, just take the pine ridge or whatever trail a couple more miles up. you will pass a single designated camp site( was occupied when I came up). and a ways on past it you will find the Lacks campground! nice little campground and my only complaint is people! Please pack your trash out. the fire pits arent garbage containers. Fruit boxes to soup and beer cans were in almost every fire ring. That’s just irresponsible and is the kind of crap that leads to more and more of these places being closed?

Awesome pull outs on easy terrain. Lots of hiking and mountain bike trails too. Quiet, well maintained spots. Mosquitoes are bad this time of year so prepare well!

Can easily drive a van or pick up. I saw one large trailer here, but there are only 1-2 spots, as corners are too tight as you get higher.

It was great very peaceful. Only saw one person in the whole time I realize I’m probably going in the off-season thing I went in the middle of November.

Other than the long bumpy dirt road this site was great! Easy to find and great views. Had pretty good cell service with AT&T. Very quiet

Clean, level, spacious campground sites, close together trees so you can hang a hammock, hilltop view, pristine feel. Deep grateful breath. Gaia happy here.

We didn’t end up going because it is NOT RV friendly. You have to hike in with your tent

https://www.nps.gov/places/redwoodcreekdispersedcamping.htm

These coordinates lead us to private property, a driveway to a couple of houses. Maybe there was something a little further, but it was all blocked off. We had to turn around and camp elsewhere.

The coordinates on here were off, and the campground is actually located further down the road, and it's an official site you can find on Google. The sites are walk to (very short), and there are signs saying no camping in the parking lot, violators will be fined. We didnt want to chance sleeping in our van because it seemed like a place that would be patrolled. Would be excellent for tents.

Had a awesome time at sand camp very nice and quiet. Would go back again and again with friends and family. Clean and nice.

Sand Camp had no parking lot camp, and it was getting late so we stayed in a pull out on the highway. There are a few to pick from, but make sure you're not on one with a sharp turn because that can be dangerous being in the blind spot of on coming cars. I was definitely uneasy at first and felt pretty exposed, but we didnt have any trouble. As I said, works in a pinch.

This was a perfect spot for a quick one night stay as we were passing through. The coordinates were off though and it took us up to a private residence road so I would not follow that. There’s multiple side dirt roads leading down to the lake from the main road so I would just look for those. Beautiful views at night and in the morning! It was wide open with no other campers in site.

The coordinates and GPS lead to a random part of the highway surrounded by hills. Not real or inaccessible in vehicle, lake may be dried up.