Best Cabin Camping near Whitethorn, CA

This State Park is awesome to experience camping in the dense redwoods. They have flush toilets and showers available which were nice and well maintained. We went in the beginning of May and the mosquitos were out in abundance. The young lady manning the entrance kiosk was very nice and allowed us to check out the sites in advance of deciding whether to stay or not. Each site had a fire pit, picnic table and bear cabinet. No reservations were required and was first come first served on a wednesday afternoon in May. We stayed only one night and was worth the $35. Very nice park.

Henson's Hideaway is located between Weaverville, CA and Trinity Center, CA, along Highway 3 on the west side of Trinity Lake. It is centrally located to a number of the Trinity Alps trails, as well as boat access to the lake. Also, it is an easy drive to get food, supplies, beer, etc in either town. The road is plowed year round and the cabin is only a few minutes off of Highway 3.

Cabin Review: Henson's Hideaway is bookable on VRBO https://www.vrbo.com/300244) and Michelle is very easy to deal with, and very accommodating. Prices vary depending on the time of year and holiday weekends, so check with the listing page linked above for up to date info. The cabin itself is fantastic. There is a large deck downstairs that opens into a garage that has been converted into a bonus room with TV/Satellite, a pool table, extra full bathroom, and additional sleeping areas. The pool table was a fantastic unexpected bonus for a cabin in the woods. Upstairs is a very comfortable main living area with a bathroom, bedroom, full kitchen, dining/living room and a deck outside with seating for at least 4 adults. It was a very comfortable cabin with plenty of creature comforts, the kitchen was well stocked with cooking/cleaning/silverware etc. It was plenty of room for two couples, two toddlers, and two labs. The only downside was that it doesn't have a bbq. They don't keep one around because it attracts mountain critters, but people are allowed to bring their own if they would like. As always though, check with the owners for the latest info. I have posted a few pictures I took, there are more at the link above.

Product Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products. At the Henson's Hideaway, I tested the Renogy ELumen Multi-funtionial Flashlight (https://www.renogy.com/renogy-e-lumen-multi-functional-flashlight/.)

The flashlight comes equipped with a flashlight (obviously) with three settings (high, low, strobe), a recessed seatbelt cutter, a glass shattering hammer, a compass embedded in the butt of the grip, a solar charging panel built into the flashlight handle (here is where you can insert the old joke about solar powered flashlights, but it does work thanks to a built in lithium ion battery), LED side lighting (both red and white lights, including a strobe function), a magnet for mounting/storage and USB input/output to charge the flashlight or charge electronic devices off the flashlight's battery. Enough of the specs, on to the review. This flashlight rocks. It is plenty light for nighttime wandering around a camp/cabin. The LED side lighting is great for illuminating a small space without blinding anyone, similar to a lantern, the red strobe LED side lighting is great for roadside emergencies or to use as a beacon. I haven't had to test the glass shattering hammer or seatbelt cutter, knock on wood, but they both look like they will do the trick, and the flashlight is living in the center console of my truck for just such emergencies. It charges quickly via USB and seemed to charge quickly enough from a fully dead battery to work fine, I just set it on the dash of my truck while I drove to the cabin and when we got there it worked all weekend. The only downside is the compass, I have tested it a few different times and places and it is always a few degrees off from my other compass and the one on my smart phone. Close enough to be useful in general, but I wouldn't trust it trying to route-find.

Henson's Hideaway receives 5 stars and the Renogy Flashlight receives 4 1/2 stars due to the minor issue with the compass. Overall it is a fantastic item that is light enough to backpack with, especially given the multi functionality of the product. I highly recommend car campers and backpackers alike get one for their travels, especially given the very reasonable price of $25.

We were lucky to get a site right next to the beach for our class B RV. This is a beautiful site along Highway 1.

PS if this site is full, there is a dry camp about a mile north on Highway one. It is right next to the remains of old Highway One and it’s called Oyster Point. It is a rustic grass lot with space between sites, but not much privacy.. There are picnic tables and fire rings. A couple of pit toilets are located around the site. There are about 45 campsites here. Sites here are on a first come basis and self registering. The photos included here are for oyster point.

Jughandle is a beautiful area between Mendocino and Fort Bragg. It contains excellent hiking, a beautiful beach, and even a Pygmy Redwood Forest. I booked it through Hipcamp and you could tell that was the majority of their campers. 

We were able to score a site that was very secluded at the end of the road before the private property line. It was the perfect spot to set up two(or more) tents. There was a great fire ring and picnic table at the site. 

A short less than a minute walk to the porta potty bathroom that is at the edge of a big field. In the field are two more sites on either side of the road and a large communal cooking area with a water source. 

There is also a large fire ring with stump seats in case you want to have a gathering. The sites were pretty quiet even when they were all full and you were able to get to your site without distracting others too much. 

There is a hiking path that takes you down to Jughandle Beach where you will find all kinds of tourists, animals, and great sand to play in or up to the pygmy redwood forest.

Gorgeous campground in the Redwoods. We have stayed here twice. Once in March and once in July. The shade from the redwoods makes this a cool haven from the hot California summers. Campsites are mostly shaded. Campsites are large with good fire pits and picnic tables. Lots of redwood stumps for the kids to play on. If you plan to hang your hammock, bring extra rope as the trees are SO BIG that regular hammock ropes won't reach around the trees. Spent several afternoons reading in the shade of the redwoods in our hammock with a blanket on top of us. Even the 13-year-old boy fell asleep reading in the hammock. Short walk to a beautiful swimming hole when the sun warmed things up in the afternoon. The closest store is okay for snacks and essentials but not much else. No real restaurants nearby. Be sure to have your cooler fully packed and bring your meals with you. Clean restrooms with coin operated hot showers. Water spigots close by to campsites.

We came here in early October 2020 for a Friday - Monday trip. The campsite is large and spots are spaced out. Due to COVID a lot of sites were closed, which made everything feel very spaced out.

The area is beautiful. The campsite it self has tons of beautiful redwoods and ferns on the property. It was beautiful to just sit and admire the scenery.

Bathrooms and showers were clean and the campsites were across the street from some short but beautiful hikes.

The visitor center was closed but right next door. The area to check in did sell wood and we noticed a lot of staff throughout our trip.

The campsite was super quite and very peaceful.

We brought our dog which was great. Lots of trees and lots of shade. I think almost every site was shaded. Bring your hammocks because there was plenty of locations on each site to set them up. I would be aware that many of the upper sites are on a slope.

Each site came equipped with a fire ring/grill, picnic table and bear box.

We had the best time and went a little ways up north to go fishing outside of Fortuna. We actually caught a fish this time :) Fishing near the campsite was not recommended due to the low water level. However, their were plenty of options just a short drive away.

We stayed at site #35 which was large but had a slope. However, we were able to find two kind of flat spots to put tents and it was totally fine.

My partner and I stayed at the Burlington campground in Humboldt Redwoods State Park in March and could not have had a better experience. We were able to get a first come first serve site without much difficulty (we were very concerned about this as we were driving up from San Francisco). Our site was nestled amongst historic, giant redwoods in the heart of the avenue of giants. The site its self was clean and came with a fire pit, picnic table, and bear locker. Staff was helpful and accommodating. There are several breathtaking trails that connect to the campground and others close by car. We can't wait to go back!