Best Tent Camping: Northern California

Wendy Speicher’s love affair with the outdoors started in childhood, as she was growing up on her parents’ 10-acre farm in rural Northern Michigan. Memories of nights spent in the popup camper in the state’s sandy campgrounds and of campfire-cooked dinners of baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and sirloin steaks are still some of her fondest. Wanderlust runs deep in the family gene pool, and it drew Wendy to Northern California’s Yosemite Valley on a summer break between college semesters. After that, there was no turning back. Wendy studied journalism at beautiful Humboldt State University and cut her teeth in the business covering sports, recreation, food, and entertainment at a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites in the Lake Tahoe–Truckee and Sacramento areas. Her first book, Day & Section Hikes: Pacific Crest Trail: Northern California, was published by Wilderness Press in 2010.As a young mother, Wendy has temporarily retired her long-distance hiking shoes in favor of the car-camping experience, which allows her the convenience of introducing her son, Archer, to outdoor living without the burden of a fully loaded pack. Spending time outside with Archer and her husband, Greg, is the joy of her life. As a true jack-of-all-trades, when she isn’t writing, Wendy is a professional massage therapist and yoga and fitness instructor and enjoys helping people attain new levels of health and well-being. Learn more at wendyspeicher.com

• Overview MapMap LegendAcknowledgmentsPrefaceBest CampgroundsIntroductionThe CoastBig Basin Redwoods State Park CampgroundsButano State Park CampgroundsSalt Point State Park CampgroundsVan Damme State Park CampgroundsRussian Gulch State Park CampgroundMacKerricher State Park CampgroundsNadelos and Wailaki CampgroundsPatrick’s Point State Park: Agate, Penn, and Abalone CampgroundsElk Prairie CampgroundMill Creek CampgroundJedediah Smith Redwoods State Park CampgroundsWine CountrySugarloaf Ridge State Park CampgroundsHendy Woods State Park CampgroundsAlbee Creek CampgroundShasta-Trinity and Surrounding AreasMary Smith and Cooper Gulch CampgroundsAntlers CampgroundTish Tang CampgroundCastle Lake and Gumboot CampgroundsDillon Creek CampgroundTree of Heaven CampgroundThe Cascade RangeWarner Valley CampgroundJuniper Lake CampgroundCrater Lake CampgroundAspen Grove and Merrill CampgroundsMcArthur–Burney Falls Memorial State Park CampgroundsMill Creek Falls and Blue Lake CampgroundsFowlers CampgroundHemlock CampgroundIndian Well CampgroundThe Sierra NevadaOak Hollow CampgroundWakalu Hep Yo CampgroundPine Marten CampgroundHighland Lakes CampgroundSilver Creek CampgroundBlue Lakes CampgroundsSilver Lake East CampgroundWoods Lake CampgroundGrover Hot Springs State Park CampgroundsWrights Lake CampgroundD. L. Bliss State Park CampgroundsSardine Lake and Salmon Creek CampgroundsWyandotte CampgroundUpper Jamison CampgroundHaskins Valley CampgroundYosemiteTwin Lakes CampgroundMinaret Falls CampgroundBenton Hot Springs CampgroundWhite Wolf CampgroundSaddlebag Lake CampgroundBuckeye Campground