By Cheri Sicard
The video above, produced by my personal RVing app Campendium, shows some of the multitude of camping in California options available to RVers. In fact, our host says that California is arguably the best state for RVers based on its geographic diversity and the sheer volume of free camping opportunities.
Campendium compiles user reviews of campgrounds and campsites. For the video, they compiled the best 5-star reviewed California campgrounds that also just happen to be free!
Watch the video to see how gorgeous each of these spots is and for additional details about each.
Campendium’s best FREE camping in California picks
#1 Joshua Tree South dispersed camping: Near the south entrance to Joshua Tree National Park, expect quiet camping with spectacular sunsets here.
#2 Alabama Hills Recreation Area: In the Sierras, the views of Mt. Whitney from here will blow you away!
#3 Sawtooth Canyon Campground: This Mojave Desert campground features awesome hiking and rock climbing along with beautiful starry night vistas.
#4 The Pads: You will want to plan your seasonal visit to this beautiful Death Valley spot, as in summer it is literally the hottest place on earth. Conveniently located near the eastern entrance to Death Valley.
#5 American Girl Mine Road dispersed camping: Off of I-8 about 24 miles from Yuma, AZ, this camping spot offers another breathtakingly beautiful desert spot.
#6 Keysville North Recreation Site: This camping spot in the Sierras offers a mountain setting complete with rushing rivers and nearby Lake Isabella.
#7 Glass Creek Campground: Further north in the Sierras near Mammoth Lakes, this campground features clean, wooded campsites. Glass Creek, a favorite of trout anglers, runs right through the campground.
#8 Owens River Road dispersed camping: Right down the road from Glass Creek, this spot offers a similar experience, albeit with less water.
#9 Williams Hill Recreation Area: Near the Paso Robles wine country, free camping off California’s 101 is rare (I wish I had known about this one when I was through there last time). On the downside, be prepared to do some climbing to get here.
##RVDT2352
Camped at Alabama Hills for years before covid. During covid it became overrun with people leaving garbage and human waste EVERYWHERE to the point that BLM came in and shut down at least 50% of the area that used to be open to camping. Drove through once after and will never go back. Really sad.
Thank you, Cheri! 🙂 I will try to remember these if we ever get that far west. Meanwhile, thanks again and safe travels! 🙂
What about Anza Borrago State Park? The second largest state park and almost the entire park is FREE !!! This should be #1 imo. We love Joshua tree but honestly the BLM land south of the park (not in the park) is not great unless you like the non-stop sound of big rigs as you’re right next to interstate 10. I’m always amazed at the level of hate anti California folks express on here. It’s truly the most diverse and amazing state to travel in an RV. I haven’t quite traveled all 50 states but there is certainly beautiful places in most of them but where’s the BLM land? The mountains, the deserts, the coastal scenery all within a few hours drive, amazing. Expensive? Not in an RV.