Beachside Camping in Northern California

The towering redwoods and windswept shores of Northern California provide some of the most remote and scenic camping opportunities in the state. Several locations along the coast provide a quiet place to camp near the beach. Whether you plan to stay in a tent or an RV, you can find somewhere to do it along the coast of Northern California.

  1. On the Crescent Coast

    • Situated less than 20 miles from the Oregon border, Shoreline RV Park is one of the northernmost beach campgrounds in California. The park overlooks Crescent City Harbor and has spaces for tents as well as RVs. Many campsites include full hookups -- water, sewer, electricity and cable -- and you can choose between sites on the waterfront or a little farther inland. The campground includes hot showers, modern restrooms and laundry facilities. This city-operated park is a destination for fishing, beachcombing and saltwater kayaking. Attractions like Redwood National Park and the Battery Point Lighthouse are a short drive away.

    Under the Redwoods

    • Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is home to some of California's tallest trees as well as two campgrounds. The Elk Prairie Campground sits inland along Prairie Creek, but the Gold Bluffs Beach Campground is close enough to the shore that you can hear the surf from your tent. The beach campground has about 25 campsites, arranged in a loop beneath the shade of redwood, hemlock and fir trees. The accommodations are fairly primitive. Hookups are not available, but the campground has drinking water, restrooms and showers, and each campsite includes a fire ring and picnic tables. During your visit you can fish from the beach, picnic beneath the redwoods and explore 75 miles of hiking trails. Campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

    Between the Mountains and the Sea

    • Nestled between the rocky coast and the rugged slopes of the King Range, Shelter Cove RV Park and Campground is in a region known as the "Lost Coast," so-named for its inaccessibility until the construction of the Pacific Coast Highway in the 1930s. Today, the Shelter Cove Campground has more than 100 campsites for tents and RVs along with a camp store, laundry room, modern restrooms and hot showers. The campground is surrounded by deserted beaches and undeveloped mountains, and the nearby town of Shelter Cove is the only populated spot for miles in any direction. The mountains around the campground are home to elk, deer, bald eagles and, according to legend, none other than Bigfoot himself.

    Deep In the Wilderness

    • Sinkyone Wilderness State Park is named for the Native American tribe that once inhabited the area. This vast state park provides some of the wildest and most remote camping opportunities along the Northern California coast. The Usal Beach Campground is the only drive-in campground in the park, and even here the roads are often impassible to vehicles without four-wheel drive. Most of the park's campsites are scattered throughout the backcountry and accessible only on foot. A 22-mile section of the Lost Coast Trail cuts a path through the wilderness, and a handful of backcountry tent campsites along the way are available to all hikers on a first-come, first-served basis. The sites have picnic tables, campfire rings and pit toilets, but no potable drinking water. Backcountry campers are responsible for carrying in all necessary supplies and leaving no trace of their presence.