Where to go
Unsure of where to start while planning your California adventure? Here are our recommendations!
Emigrant Wilderness / Stanislaus National Forest
Pros
- Easy to obtain free permits
- Gorgeous! Comparable beauty to Yosemite, but far less busy and much easier to access (because no permits).
- Lots of water sources and lakes to camp at (though you should, of course, check where those sources are before you go)
- Great weather in the Fall
Cons
- Fires are an issue this year. Check the AQI before you go
- Need a car to get there
Pros
- Diverse desert landscape, containing more sand dunes than Great Sand Dunes National Park, more Joshua trees than Joshua Tree National Park, canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon… seriously, so cool
- Free dispersed camping without permits, you just have to be at least 1 mile from any paved road
- Great weather in the winter and spring when most other backpacking destinations in California are snowed out
Cons
- No water, so you should plan to carry it all in and keep extra in your car
- Need a car to get there
East Bay Regional Parks
Pros
- Convenient, accessible by foot!
- Views of the Bay for most of your hikes
- Super sick Redwood trees in Redwood Regional Park, one of the only places in the world you can see them
Cons
- Dispersed camping is not allowed, so you would have to reserve a backpacking site. These cost a small fee. Click above to find more info on getting permits.
Pros
- No permits required! Free dispersed camping as long as you’ve hiked away from Highway 1
- Ocean views
- Might have a better chance of good air quality
Cons
- Need a car to get there
- More popular trails can get pretty crowded
Yosemite National Park
Pros
- Incredibly beautiful and diverse landscape, featuring granite formations, waterfalls, forests, and meadows
- Accessible by public transit
Cons
- Crowded
- A bit more complicated to get permits
- Potentially impacted by wildfires, check the AQI before you go