Suitable camping spots in Mendocino

matjam

matjam

Crusty old UNIX engineer
Figured some of you knowledgeable people in here might know of any dispersed camping areas/spots in Mendocino that aren't too difficult to get to but would be suitable for a saturday/sunday escape from the city? I was looking at Lett's Lake but it seems pretty popular even though it's not a reserved campground.
 
Starpower

Starpower

Well-known member
Watch the weather and go for the Mendo. Coast. - Navarro Beach, or Van Dam. Both State parks with camping. Navarro Beach would be my 1st choice as you camp virtually on the beach. There are a couple more inland a bit in the Redwoods if you prefer.
 
dravnx

dravnx

Well-known member
He's looking for dispersed camping recommendations. That means not campgrounds. BLM land or National Forests.
 
SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
boney said:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3516185,-123.0059013,536m/data=!3m1!1e3

SSSSHHHHH! :shhh
Click to expand...

... cool! I'll have fun looking for this spot ... :ride

I'll play:

20150514-213753.jpg


Bald Mountain by the intersection
of M1 and M61 ...

I've dispersed-camped on top of Mt. Hull, too, just off
M1 fourteen miles above Lake Pillsbury ...

I find it easier to carry water (rather than look
for a water source) when I disperse camp in
Mendo ... my thing is finding a view ...
water usually equals people, too ... :dunno

... there are a couple of dispersed spots on the Eel River
off M6 on the right, northeast of Lake Pillsbury ...
kind of first-come first-served style ...
 
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boney

boney

Miles > Posts
Your spot is better John. That's just a little meadow, not very level, that's easy to get to. Not much of a view.

mnf011111%20009-L.jpg


mnf011111%20013-L.jpg


If you look at the satellite image from my link you can see the logs in the above picture.

mnf011111%20006-L.jpg
 
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SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
boney said:
If you look at the satellite image from my link you can see the logs in the above picture.
Click to expand...

... meadow is very cool ... great pics ... can almost think where it is,
but I've never been ... totally checked out sat image ... :laughing

... my two mountain tops are a bit chancy on
my loaded KLR ... :party
 
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TTTom

TTTom

Well-known member
You can get Mendocino National Forest campfire permits online now. You need the permit even to use a camp stove.

http://www.preventwildfireca.org/Campfires/

Watch a short video, take an 8 question fire safety quiz and then fill out and print a campfire permit good for the rest of the year on any BLM or Forest Service land.
 
SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
matjam said:
Oh thats awesome. Do you have co-ords you can share? say, from dropping a pin on google maps?
Click to expand...

... ha, pin on google maps ... who would have thought of that? :laughing

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bald+Mountain/@39.6199289,-122.9772426,16z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8082240ecfabf69b:0xed07610fff8831d7!8m2!3d39.6204353!4d-122.9738921?hl=en

... I usually just say something lame about how
I don't use a gps ... :rolleyes

oobus said:
One of my favorite spots, but usually snowed in until May, this year, maybe end of June?

John has been here as well.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/A...4ac34a7!8m2!3d39.8462656!4d-122.9644504?hl=en
Click to expand...

Anthony Peak! :ride

... there will probably be snow access issues this spring
on each of the mountains mentioned ...

20140505-122114.jpg


Snow on Anthony Peak ... spring, 2014 ... :party

see you around
the campfire,
-- SFMCjohn
 
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matjam

matjam

Crusty old UNIX engineer
haha yeah I'm going up to trinity with some mates (not camping there tho) early next month but want to camp on the way up and way back, so I expect there will be snow issues. But hey, snow is free water! So, that's a bonus.

brr.

I'll probably end up just riding north and then cutting in as far as I can go before I start finding the path impassable.

So I can camp anywhere in the national forest, right? as long as I stay out of the wilderness areas? I don't think I'll be going that deep in the first few trips but when the snow melts I'll be sure to check out those mountains as they look completely awesome.

Got my fire permit thanks TTTom.
 
SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
matjam said:
I'll probably end up just riding north and then cutting in as far as I can go before I start finding the path impassable.

So I can camp anywhere in the national forest, right? as long as I stay out of the wilderness areas? I don't think I'll be going that deep in the first few trips but when the snow melts I'll be sure to check out those mountains as they look completely awesome.

Got my fire permit thanks TTTom.
Click to expand...

Yes the fire permit link is cool, thanks TTTom! :ride

I also try to get fire permits in the watchtowers when
they are manned ... gives me something to talk about
with the person in the tower, ha.

... the wilderness areas in Mendo are pretty easy to avoid,
there's usually a big locked gate across the road and
big signs ...

I feel like there are endless options for camping
in Mendo as long as I have three liters of water
for an overnight ...
(four sixteen-ounce hot drinks and a half-liter of
water for dinner and breakfast, usually a couple of 1.5
liter waters from the gas station, Aquafina bottles
hold up the best) ...
pretty much camp anywhere when I carry water ...

I think they drive a bulldozer over
Mendocino Pass (FH7?) in the spring ...
I'm planning to go see if I can get over that
during the SheetIron weekend ...

... Trinity is awesome! :thumbup
 
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oobus

oobus

Dirt Monger
matjam said:
haha yeah I'm going up to trinity with some mates (not camping there tho) early next month but want to camp on the way up and way back, so I expect there will be snow issues. But hey, snow is free water! So, that's a bonus.

brr.

I'll probably end up just riding north and then cutting in as far as I can go before I start finding the path impassable.

So I can camp anywhere in the national forest, right? as long as I stay out of the wilderness areas? I don't think I'll be going that deep in the first few trips but when the snow melts I'll be sure to check out those mountains as they look completely awesome.

Got my fire permit thanks TTTom.
Click to expand...

There is always USAL Beach, but I avoid that place on the weekends.

Had a great trip there last year, I think we arrived on a Thursday night and stayed in a site just in the trees next to the beach. Was so quiet all you could hear was the ocean. This was in August so the temperature was perfect.
 
Kalvin00

Kalvin00

Well-known member
SFMCjohn said:
I think they drive a bulldozer over
Mendocino Pass (FH7?) in the spring ...
I'm planning to go see if I can get over that
during the SheetIron weekend ...
Click to expand...


Glenn County usually plows that around mid May, at least in years past. It could be a little later this year.
 
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