Description:
Tom Stienstra, outdoors columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and an enthusiastic promoter of California's wild country, has been collecting information on the state's campgrounds for years--mostly, he writes, so that he would never have to "get stuck again looking for a spot." That wealth of information has been transferred into California Camping, as complete a guide to the state's under-the-stars sleepovers as has ever been assembled. Drawing on a team of fellow enthusiasts for up-to-date information, Stienstra here lists more than 1,500 campgrounds, ranging from the large venues with hundreds of spaces that lie within Yosemite National Park to the tiniest of public-lands facilities (such as Millard Falls outside Los Angeles, where only five tent sites lie within shouting distance of a 60-foot waterfall). More than a hundred of the listings detail wilderness campgrounds without services, while many more catalogue facilities that are appropriate for RV campers and extended stays. Stienstra takes a generally upbeat view, as when he calls Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay "one of the most beautiful and popular state parks on the planet," but he also warns campers about less-than-ideal conditions, such as the interstate highway noise that awaits overnighters at San Onofre State Beach north of San Diego. California Camping is a valuable reference for any camping enthusiast with a California destination in mind. --Gregory McNamee
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