• California State Parks rolled out a new reservation system, ReserveCalifornia, in August of last year, with new features still being phased in. Users who create a profile can reserve campsites and lodging six months in advance from the date they go online. Reservations also can be made through the customer call center, available daily from 8 a.m to 6 p.m. Pacific time. Best times to call are midday and midweek, according to the website. Additional information about state park camping can be found here.
• Reserve America handles reservations for hundreds of public and private campgrounds and day-use areas in California. A dog icon designates those that are dog-friendly.
• Recreation.gov is an umbrella site for camping on federal lands, including national parks, national forests and lands managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
• Pacific Gas & Electric Company, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and other utility companies operate lesser-known campgrounds around the state.
• If you don’t have a copy of California Camping by San Francisco Chronicle outdoor editor Tom Stienstra on your bookshelf, get thee to Amazon or a local bookstore and obtain a copy. The most recent (2017) edition of the “bible” of camping guides lets readers choose a region and zoom in on the options, with information on reservations, dog-friendliness, amenities, scenic attributes and more. Also available are Northern California, Southern California and West Coast RV Camping editions. In the same series are California Hiking, California Beaches and California Fishing guides. See Stienstra’s Amazon page for a complete list of titles.
Photo Credit: Anybetty's pics (CC)
