Mt.Shasta/Bowman Lake Disperse Camping
Something about getting away from the city life is so relaxing. Staring at nature and forgetting all of your responsibilities over the weekend is so soothing and calming for the mind.
So let’s begin a week of disperse camping around Northern California. We left on a Monday (June 20th) and our first stop is Lakeview Campgrounds (39.101418885948284,-122.75854278965818) in Mendocino. It took about 3-4 hours to reach the destination from San Francisco and find a solid spot.
Since we went on a Monday, there was no one camping around us and we barely saw cars coming in and out. Most of the campsites had trash (probably because there is shooting allowed). There was probably only 2-3 spots with a lake view. I don’t think we would ever come back because the amount of bugs were crazy at night and there was nothing really around for us to do like any walking trails, it was pretty deserted. So we only stayed for one night.
BUGS:
We saw deers, lizards, bees, and I believe it was gnats we saw at night. There were probably over 50 of them at night near the lights. It was really annoying and didn’t want to stay outside since we didn’t have any mesh nets yet.
Our itinerary was to go to Lassen next specifically Manzanita Lake, and as beautifully as it is, sadly there is no dispersed camping there. We wanted to check out all these spots listed below:
Yellow Creek Breach (40.124847, -121.246632)
Butt Valley (40.1459° N, 121.1739° W)
Thousand Lake Wilderness (40.7005936, -121.587812)
Crater Peak (40.69802, -121.619024)
Burney Falls (41.0121° N, 121.6518° W)
However, there was no signal at all until we reached Mount Shasta. We had all the coordinates to put in the Tacoma GPS, but all these coordinates did not work! It said no location found. So HUGE LESSON learned, download all the maps or make sure the coordinates work in your car GPS…
From Manzanita Lake to Mount Shasta, there is only one road you take which is about 4 hours long with no service at all.
Mendocino to Castle Lake was about a 6-8 hour drive. What a trip that was to get here.
Finally, Day 2 (June 21st) we reached Castle Lake (41° 14' 8.4023" N, 122° 22' 44.4187" W) around 8pm and was able to find a good spot for dispersed camping with a view of Mt. Shasta. There are a couple spots here with the view, average amount of people doing dispersed camping here and everyone was respectful of each others space. I love how it’s super close to Castle Lake, you can drive to it in about 5mins, bike it in 20mins, or walk it about 35mins.
Weather: high 80s to 90s from 7am - 7pm. about 60s-70s at night time.
BUGS: tiny spiders on the floor, mosquitos, moths, bees, and deers.
We only stayed here till June 23rd because there wasn’t much around except Castle Lake and as amazing as the view was, we wanted to see and explore more!
We really didn’t have another destination to go to and thought we could just find one around Shasta-Trinity National Forest, however, we drove all around (5-6 hours) and we weren’t satisfied with any of the views.
If you know any amazing spots around there, please let me know! (:
Because of that, we decided to drive all the way to Lake Tahoe for Bowman Lake because the view is so gorgeous and relaxing and it was the best way to end our trip.
Bowman Lake (June 24th)
Big Sur
Prewitt Ridge Road - Off-road Camping
May 27th 2022.
This was our first ever off-roading camping trip and Big Sur was one of the very few spots we found around the Bay Area. We went during Memorial Day Weekend, we left SF on May 27th at 4am and got to Big Sur around 10am (5-6 hour drive no traffic). By the time we got there, there were VERY FEW spots left to camp and the very first spot we found, we got kicked out. As you drive up Prewitt Ridge, there is no vehicle camping on the right side (I forgot what the park ranger said as to the reason why). You can do ground tents but no vehicle tents and try to remember this so you don’t get a ticket! You also need to get a campfire permit to use stovetops, super easy to get online (takes about 5mins). Also, there were no campfires allowed when we went (fine of $5000 per person if you get caught).
We checked the weather app, it said it’ll be 50s to high 60s so we packed heavy jackets! But since we’re very high up the mountain, it was actually in the 80s during the daytime so always remember to pack summer clothes! When we went, at night it did get down to the low 50s and when you wake up, expect to be sweating.
What you cannot forget to bring for 2 people:
expect to use 2 gallons of water per day for washing dishes, hands, rinsing your body, making food, and etc. This doesn’t include your drinking water.
load up on lots of ice on highway 1 !!
butane cans - we only had the tiny portable stove and only brought 2 cans. This was a big lesson learned. Because it’s so windy up in the mountains, the gas usage goes by so fast! So expect to use 2 a day to be safe especially if you want to hotpot at night because it gets chilly!
sunscreen and bug spray
As to what bugs we saw…
there were lots of lizards, fruit flies, bees, butterflies, moths, and huge ants.
This is the route you take, it should lead you to highway 1, there will be little to no service! Make sure you download all the necessary maps!!
Overall, it was a great first trip. Super relaxing and enjoyable. You wake up to an amazing view, cook some food, go on a little walk, and come back to enjoy some cold beers.
