Dispersed camping
Dispersed camping in California
Camping outside developed campgrounds is free on most national forest and BLM land — but every forest and field office writes its own rules for how long you can stay, how far from the water, and which roads you can camp along. Here they are for 10 national forests and 1 BLM field office in California, each read from that office's own orders and pages.
How long you can stay
Stay limits here run from 10 to 21 days depending on where you are, and each forest and field office counts the days its own way — per location on some, forest-wide on others. There is no California-wide number; read the page for the ground you're headed to.
| Forest / office | Stay limit | Where you can camp |
|---|---|---|
| Eldorado National Forest | 10 days | Allowed unless posted |
| Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest also in Nevada | 14 days in any 30 | Designated sites in some areas |
| Inyo National Forest also in Nevada | 14 days | Designated sites in some areas |
| Lassen National Forest | 14 days | Designated sites in some areas |
| Plumas National Forest | 14 days | Allowed unless posted |
| Sequoia National Forest | 14 days in any 30 | Designated sites in some areas |
| Shasta-Trinity National Forest | 15 days in any 30 | Designated sites in some areas |
| Sierra National Forest | 14 days in any 30 | Allowed unless posted |
| Stanislaus National Forest | 21 days | Designated sites in some areas |
| Tahoe National Forest | 14 days | Designated sites in some areas |
| BLM Lake Havasu Field Office also in Arizona | 14 days in any 28 | Designated sites in some areas |
"Designated sites in some areas" means camping is generally allowed but certain corridors and high-use areas are limited to marked sites — each page names the orders that draw those lines. We don't list campsites or coordinates anywhere on this site: the rules are ours to summarize, the spot is yours to find.
Fires are a separate rule
None of the pages above says you can have a campfire — that answer changes with the weather. For 2 of the 11 pages above, the current fire order stage shows live on the camping page itself; every page says where to read the current order before you light anything, and the forests we watch have their stage on one list.
What stage 1 and stage 2 mean — and remember the county you drive through sets its own burn rules on private land.
Rules change by forest order and posted signage — confirm with the ranger district or field office before you go. Every page above names the office and, where published, the phone number.