Ouka

Hi all,

Looking for a campground with the following criteria:

Required:
2-5 mile hike in to campground from parking lot
swimming (lake or beach)
fires allowed

Optional:
Toilets

Northern Cali, or Bay Area preferred.

Anyone have any suggestions?

janisj

Well - since Cali is a city in Colombia shouldn't this be posted on the South America forum???

november_moon

I don't have any specific suggestions, but the Lakes Basin near the Sierra Buttes has a lot of great backpacking. And because it is mostly National Forest land, you can collect firewood for campfires (this is forbidden in National Park land and probably on State Park land as well). This area is off of Hwy 49 near Sierra City.

hazel1

Here are some suggestions from Tom Stienstra, the Outdoors columnist from the San Franciso Chronicle:

http://www.tomstienstra.com/topten.html

Ouka

Thanks all, this points me in the right direction!

Otis_B_Driftwood

You're talking about summer, right? One Bay Area camp that comes to mind is Wildcat Camp in Point Reyes.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/wildcat-camp...-reyes-station

Swimming can be dangerous in the ocean but there's a lake (Bass Lake) about half way in from the trailhead that's fabulous for swimming when the weather is warm.

Another great place is Lake Eleanor in Yosemite. It's at a lower elevation than most Sierra lakes so you can start swimming in June instead of July.

http://www.allyosemite.com/lakes_riv...ke_eleanor.php

There's really tons of great hike-in campsites in Northern California during the summer. Check out the Moon book, "Northern California Camping".
http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Northern-...1427702&sr=8-1

Regarding the use of the term "Cali", see:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cali

Use it at your peril.

november_moon

Great link Otis. Yes, use the term at your peril, indeed