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Dispersed camping · California

Shasta-Trinity National Forest dispersed camping rules

You can camp up to 15 days in any 30 on this forest, with some corridors limited to marked sites. The card below is the whole rule set — every line links the order or page it came from, and all of it was checked on .

15 days in any 30

Order 14-25-24 (effective September 30, 2025 through September 30, 2027) prohibits camping outside a developed recreation site "longer than 15 days within any 30-day period in all other locations", "longer than 7 days within a 12-month period" in three mapped areas (Area 1 west of I-5 roughly between Castle Creek Road and Stewart Springs Road; Area 2 adjoining the Mount Shasta Wilderness boundary; Area 3 within 300 feet above the highwater mark of Shasta Lake), and "longer than 30 cumulative days in any 12-month period" forest-wide. Developed recreation sites carry their own 30-days-in-any-12-months cap under the same order.

Where you can camp

Designated sites in some areas

Forest FAQs: "You may camp outside of developed campgrounds in undeveloped or dispersed areas, unless restricted by Forest Order." Standing orders carve out exceptions: no overnight camping outside developed campgrounds in the McCloud River Loop Recreation Area (Order 14-25-23), and camping only within developed recreation sites in the Mount Shasta Plantation Closure Area (Order 14-26-06). source

Keep your distance

  • 200 ft — "Camp at least 200 feet from springs, water, meadows, trails and roads" - the forest FAQ's "General Rules for remote camping", stated as a direct instruction; the same sentence covers meadows. Not tied to a numbered order. source
  • 200 ft — "Camp at least 200 feet from springs, water, meadows, trails and roads" - forest FAQ "General Rules for remote camping". source
  • 200 ft — "Camp at least 200 feet from springs, water, meadows, trails and roads" - forest FAQ "General Rules for remote camping". source
  • 1,320 ft — "Camp at least a quarter-mile from designated campgrounds, picnic areas, trailheads" (1/4 mile = 1,320 ft, converted from the FAQ's quarter-mile) - forest FAQ "General Rules for remote camping". source
  • 1,320 ft — "Camp at least a quarter-mile from private property and state highways" (1/4 mile = 1,320 ft, converted from the FAQ's quarter-mile) - forest FAQ "General Rules for remote camping". source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

Forest FAQs state the general travel rule: "Street legal motorized vehicles can ride on any designated Forest Service road. OHV usage is restricted to designated routes. Motorized Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) may be obtained in person or through the mail at any Forest Service Office." No official page read today ties dispersed-camping vehicle access or an off-route parking distance to the MVUM specifically.

Fires right now

We don't watch this forest's fire orders yet — check its own site before you light anything. Here's what stage 1 and stage 2 mean when an order is up.

Closures and special orders

  • Order 14-25-24 - Forest-wide camping stay limits The stay-limit order: 15 days in any 30 outside developed sites (7 days per 12 months in three mapped areas near Mount Shasta and Shasta Lake), 30 cumulative days in any 12-month period, and 30 days per 12 months in developed sites. Effective September 30, 2025 through September 30, 2027 - read Exhibits A-C for the 7-day area boundaries.
  • Order 14-25-23 - McCloud River Loop dispersed camping restriction No "overnight camping, outside of designated developed campgrounds" in the McCloud River Loop Recreation Area (McCloud Ranger District, south of Highway 89). Effective September 30, 2025 through September 30, 2027.
  • Order 14-26-06 - Mount Shasta Plantation area camping and fire restrictions Camping in the Mount Shasta Plantation Closure Area is prohibited "except within a developed recreation site"; campfires outside developed sites are prohibited there too. Effective July 29, 2026 through July 29, 2027 - read the order's map exhibits.

Rules checked against the pages linked above — the full list is below the card.

Rules change by forest order and posted signage — confirm with the Forest Supervisor's Office, Redding at (530) 226-2500 before you go.

How to read these rules

Dispersed camping means camping outside a developed campground — no fee, no table, no toilet, no water. You pick an already-used spot, pack out everything you brought, and the rules above are the whole deal you're agreeing to. The stay limit counts the way the card says it counts, not the way it counts on the forest next door: some places count per spot, some across the whole forest, some inside a radius, and moving a short distance often doesn't restart the clock.

Distance rules come in two shapes. Keep-away rules ("at least 100 feet from water") protect the thing you're camping near; stay-close rules ("within 300 feet of the road") keep vehicles on ground that can take them. A line marked recommended on the card is the office's guidance, not an order — the rest are enforceable rules, and a posted sign at the site beats everything on this page.

The motor vehicle use map is the legal answer to "can I drive in there to camp" — if a road isn't on it, that road is closed to your vehicle, and many forests only allow roadside camping along the roads the map marks for it. It's a free PDF; download it before you lose signal.

Fires are a separate rule with a separate clock. Nothing on this page says you can light one — the card's fire line says where that answer lives today. If a fire is allowed when you get there, buy your wood near camp — hauling firewood from home is how tree-killing pests reach new forests, and the BTU chart says what that local bundle is actually worth.

Where these rules come from

Every rule above was read on the forest's own pages and orders on the dates shown — nothing here is borrowed from another forest or an old guidebook. The managing agency is U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region (R5).

Before you go