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Dispersed camping · California

Sierra National Forest dispersed camping rules

You can camp up to 14 days in any 30 on this forest, anywhere that isn't posted closed. 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 .

14 days in any 30

Order 05-15-00-25-20 (effective December 18, 2025 through December 18, 2027) prohibits "camping on a single Ranger District for more than 14 days within any 30-day period" - counted per ranger district, not forest-wide. The same order applies the 14-in-30 limit to parking or leaving a motor vehicle or trailer on a single district. No move distance is stated.

Where you can camp

Allowed unless posted

Forest camping page: "Pick your own spot, (dispersed area camping) is an option available throughout most of the Forest." The Pacific Southwest Region dispersed-camping page that governs R5 forests adds: "Dispersed camping is the term used for camping anywhere in the National Forest OUTSIDE of a designated campground," and "dispersed camping is NOT allowed in the vicinity of developed recreation areas" such as campgrounds, picnic areas, or trailheads. "Campfire permits are always required on the Sierra National Forest." source

Keep your distance

  • Recommended: 150 ft — Pacific Southwest Region dispersed-camping guidance, worded as a request: "Please place your campsite at least 150 feet from any stream or other water source." The same page puts fire rings and human-waste holes at least 100 feet from any water source. source
  • Directional rule, no number stated (Pacific Southwest Region dispersed-camping page): "dispersed camping is NOT allowed in the vicinity of developed recreation areas such as campgrounds, picnic areas, or trailheads." source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

Forest maps page: "The Motor Vehicle Use Map shows roads and trails designated for vehicle use, and their opening/closing dates on the Sierra National Forest... It is your responsibility to reference the MVUM to stay on designated routes for motor vehicle use." No off-route parking distance for camping access is stated.

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

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, Clovis at (559) 297-0706 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