Northern California’s Redwood Coast Camping

California’s Redwood Coast is a pristine coastal habitat sporting a temperate rain forest. Majestic redwood forests that are hundreds of years old grace state and national parks. The campgrounds go from primitive hiking camps to deluxe state park facilities with showers.

Here’s the top 3 campgrounds on the Redwood Coast

1. Dry Lagoon – Humboldt Lagoons State Park
Dry Lagoon campground is a small walk-in campground between Patrick’s Point and Redwood National Park. It is a beautiful camp set in a dense forest on a hill overlooking the Pacific (wonderful sunsets). There is an open meadow (dry lagoon) to the north. The six camp sites are well spread out on a forested hillside along a path. The top entrance is the camping parking area, the bottom entrance is the day use area. There is one composting toilet at the top and another near the day use area at the bottom. Sites #1 and #2 have ocean views, others may have a filtered view, but all have spectacular views of the forest. Most sites get little to no sunlight, so it can be a little chilly even in summer ( so make sure you know how to start a fire).

2. Miner’s Ridge
This camp isn’t in any guide I’ve seen or on the Redwood Park Maps, so I didn’t even knew it existed. I stumbled across it on a morning constitutional from our campsite at Gold Bluffs Beach. It is located on a bluff overlooking the other campground. The entrance is about 250′ up the Miner’s Ridge Trail from the parking area. There is one composting toilet and water spigot at the entrance. Miner’s Ridge Camp is not used much except by backpackers heading into the forest. The campsites are spread among the semi-dense forest. The front two are on the bluff edge overlooking the beach and the ocean. The back one is on a bluff overlooking a forested creek. All are pretty, but I’d imagine the ocean view ones go first. The back one does give more privacy. Like stated earlier, this camp is best utilized by hikers but could be used as an overflow for Gold Bluffs Beach. The walk in isn’t good for most car campers (I wouldn’t want to drag an ice chest up here).

3 Patrick’s Point Patrick’s Point State Park
This is arguably the most popular campground in the state of California. I would never recommend anyone coming here without a reservation. This place is so busy, and with good reason. It is gorgeous. The campground has clean, very well maintained facilities. It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean on three sides. The campground is huge and facilities are scattered throughout. Campsites are very private with dense forest and ground foliage (not to mention chronic fog in summer). I saw deer toward the back along the coast. There is a lot of shoreline fronting the park. Did I mention this place was gorgeous? There are some walking trails in the park (wouldn’t really call them hikes).