My Recommended Public Park Campgrounds

Camping at a County, State, or National Park is typically less expensive than a Hipcamp. Public Park campgrounds are located all over, you just need to know where to find them.

County Parks – National and State Parks are normally the first campgrounds reserved; therefore, make sure to check out the local County Park.
State Parks – The easiest way to see what State Parks are around is to do a search on Google Maps.
US National Parks – All of the National Parks/Forests I have camped at have been amazing.

County Parks

When looking for a place to camp, do not forget to see if there are any county parks. They can be hidden gems not many people know about.

Sanborn Park – Santa Clara County, CA

Link to Sanborn Park location
Link to Sanborn Park reservations

When I just want to get away or I am looking at trying out new gear, Sanborn Park is within 30 minutes from my house so if I forget anything I can go back home and pick it up.

Other than Sanborn Park is close by, one of the reasons I continue to go back to Sanborn Park is because it is amongst the redwood trees and some of the sites are private. If you continue past the campsites, you can hike the Sanborn Trail all the way to Santa Cruz and the Pacific Ocean.

Sanborn Site Map with my site preferences

It is a steep climb to the sites. There are carts available; however, I bring my own because it rolls easier

Using tinfoil to deflect heat from the fire

Site #30 – 1/4 mile steep uphill hike; but it feels like you have the place to yourself

Site #6 – We wimped out and booked a much lower site.

Sanborn is at the edge of the Redwoods – lots of nature and trees

State Parks

To find a State Park, I search for “camping” around a specific town on www.googlemaps.com and it will show me the camping places around the area.

Big Basin – Redwood Forest, California

Link to Big Basin location
Link to Big Basin reservations

NOTE – A fire, caused by a lightning strike, raged through here in August 2020. The park is recovering; however, the camp sites are still not available as of May, 2025.

Big Basin is what got me hooked on camping. My first real camping experience was site #86 in the Wastahi campground. It is a 1/4 mile hike; however, this site is on the end and you cannot see any other campsite. It feels like you have the forest to yourself. This site set the standard for what I am looking for in a camp site.

When Wastahi is full or I want to be lazy. Huckleberry is a nice alternative. I back in my car (except for the walk-in sites) and can just unload into the site.

What started it all. #86 – you have to hike all of your gear in, but it is worth it.

Celebrating my 40th at Wastahi #86. Mother Nature decided to dump 2″ of rain while on this trip.

Site #66 in Huckleberry. First time I camped where the car was right there. I did not have a camp site on either side of #66.

Entrance to Huckleberry #54. Large site and tucked away from the rest of the campground

Huckleberry #54 – a little “nook” for my tent.

Can hike to a waterfall – This was in the middle of the summer.

Always look out for nature – this was dew on a spider web.

New Brighton Beach – New Brighton, California

Link to New Brighton Beach location
Link to New Brighton Beach reservations

The Pacific Ocean is only steps away! I only camped at New Brighton State Beach for 1 night. The area is very open so do not expect much privacy. To camp on a site right near the ocean, you do have to pay a little more for those sites.

There is little to no trees or bushes to separate the different camp sites. Do not expect much privacy

The reason to camp here is to be right next to the ocean and hear the crashing waves.

Since New Brighton State Beach is on the West coast, you do have beautiful sunsets

US National Parks/Forests

The National Park Service has a great website to download National Park maps for each US national park. It also shows you what National Parks are in which State.

Wyeth Campground – Columbia River, Oregon

Link to Wyeth Campground location
Link to Wyeth Campground reservations

Wyeth Campground is located just south of the Columbia River in Oregon. We stayed at Campsite #9; any of the Wyeth Campground sites are a great place to stay.

Site #9 – lots of space and I had privacy from other sites

Plenty of room to set up my cooking space amongst the trees

Mike and I brought our bikes on this trip. It allowed us to bike to Cascade Locks for lunch by the Columbia River.

Since Wyeth Campground did not have firewood; I had to improvise for s’mores

There are lot of hiking trails near the campground

With all of the rain, Oregon has some fantastic waterfalls!

Bridge of the Gods spanning the Columbia River

TRAIN! There were trains going by every 30mins or so.

Another great hike amongst the trees near our camp site

Grand Teton – Wyoming

Link to Grand Teton camping locations
Link to Grand Teton reservations

When I visited Grand Teton National Park, I stayed at site 328, Loop O, in Colton Bay Campground. I chose this Campground because it is central to Grand Teton and site 328 is on the outside loop. So, even though this Campground has A LOT of sites, I had no one camping behind me.

I situated the RTT to block the view of my neighbors across the way.

Camping in the outside loop equals no one camping behind me.

Even though it was late June, prepare for all kinds of weather.

One of the famous Mormon Barns with the Grand Tetons behind it.

The glacier carved mountains behind Jenny Lake.

Beautiful geography can be seen in Grand Teton.

Found this still lake out hiking, and it provided a great reflection shot.

This busy beaver was working on building its house.

Yellowstone – Wyoming

Link to Yellowstone camping locations
Link to Yellowstone reservations

When I visited Yellowstone National Park, I broke my trip up into 3 parts – South (hot springs), North (wild animals), and Lamar Valley (wolves). I spent over a week in Yellowstone National Park and it was AMAZING! If I had to stay in one place, it would be Mammoth Campground. The hot spring area would be over an hour away; however, the amount of wildlife I saw from my campsite was fantastic!

Indian Creek Campsite #25. Nice site with room. I have stayed in worse campsites.

Mammoth Campground #45 – Campsite was not very big; however, I picked it for the view.

Here is my view – I had Grizzly, Elk, and Bald Eagles come through the 3 nights I was there.

Slough Creek #10. There is a creek, but not moving very fast so be prepared for mosquitos.

The Grand Prismatic – the colors are created by bacteria located at different temperature depths.

The good news about Old Faithful is it is predictable. Bad news is it is crowded

Mammoth Hot Springs located very close to my Mammoth Campsite

Grizzly bear and 2 cubs – they wandered through my Mammoth Campsite

Red-dog Bison – the nick-name given to baby Bison because of their red coat.

This Bison decided to cross the river to where all the photographers were.

Yellowstone Grand Canyon Upper Falls – plan to spend a day wandering around here.

Why Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon is call Grand Canyon.

Elk and calves – 30-40 elk passed my Mammoth campsite

One Elk decided to wander around the Campground and found the WC.

Wolf 1479 – daughter of Wolf 907. 907 lived an amazing 11 years!

Links to find camping spots

US Parks Reservations – US National Park Service Reservation System.
Canada Parks Reservations – Canada National Park Service Reservation System.
Campflare Reservation Cancellation Notification – Set up this website for notifications when there is a cancellation in a US State or National Park. This is a great way to find a last minute spot.

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