Discover the best forest campgrounds near Los Banos, California

United States
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California
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Los Banos

72% (704 reviews)

Popular camping styles for Los Banos

Dog-friendly getaways

6 top forest campgrounds near Los Banos

97%

(186)

Terra Cultura

5 sites · Lodging, Tents5 acres · Aromas, CA

Our farm is nestled in the scenic hills of Aromas, CA, just 15 minutes away from the ocean. Whether you’re passing through on a road trip along California’s majestic coast, or looking to spend some time getting to know the lush landscape of the Central Coast, we welcome you with open arms! We are a nonprofit educational eco-arts farm and your booking supports environmental stewardship and arts education for underserved communities. Thank you for your support! We place the highest value on respect--for the land, and for the people, plants, and animals that call this area home. While you are here, please consider yourself a partner in stewarding this place.

San Juan Bautista Dog Friendly

8 sites · Lodging, RVs, Tents10 acres · San Juan Bautista, CA

DOG FAMILIES - ATTENTION! Mi Querida invites you to enjoy the Dog Days of Summer 2024 - Kids & dogs stay FREE all the month of September. Book now! Known to many in the Bay Area as the "Nearby Getaway," Mi Querida is a quick and easy drive from the SF Bay Area. Come to relax in peace and quiet, pleasant outdoor. A short drive away but far from troubles you've left behind! Relax and rejuvenate. The weather is always temperate, sometimes the evening marine layer lavishly blankets the rolling hills like cotton. Evening campfires are cozy and safe. For the ultimate Nearby Getaway book the entire property and bring along your own selected guest list of friends or family. We invite private groups to exclusive use of the property for Getaways, family & friends picnics, celebrations, reunions, even weddings. Day use or overnite facilities. Groups of 1-100. Easy access to Highway 101 for "Nearby Getaways" or convenient stops along your travels. NEWS FLASH: Skip the long stopover at urban EV charging stations. Charge your EV overnite! Special rates for stopover charging! Easy off and on to Highway 101, 129. 156 and on your way! Come to your "Nearby Getaway" at Mi Querida - an easy drive from the SF Bay Area - for great sky views, and pleasant country walks, or step back in time to the Mission-era town of San Juan Bautista without commercialism! Well, we do have a gas station, a market, the active mission, of course, a step back in history, a few quaint restaurants, craft beer and local wines in our "one-horse" historical town. Host is a well-experienced event and tour planner. Simply ask for recommendations. Learn more about this land: This is a large flat site with rolling hills, lovely rural views, rolling oak studded pastureland, open views, lovely sunsets and beautiful mornings. Very quiet, private, peaceful and serene. Afternoon breezes while red tailed hawks ride the thermals, and woodpeckers work on their treasure hoarde. Spot the breeding pair of Bald Eagles who swoop down almost low enough to touch! Wildlife abounds. Easy access from Highway 101, yet private and secluded. Historic San Juan Bautista Mission and town nearby. Monterey/Carmel 30 minutes. Santa Cruz/Beaches 20 minutes. Hollister, Salinas, or Gilroy 20 minutes. Site will accommodate RV, Sprintervan, or trailer 50/30/20 amp service. Tents welcome too! Water. Ranch "outhouse" with flushable composting style toilet, running hot & cold water, shower and electricity. Bunkhouse rustic accommodations available. Contact Host for details. Tent and Car Top Tent sites also available. Contact Host for details. Beautiful peaceful historic San Juan Bautista. Quaint historic mission town nearby with restaurants. Hiking trails nearby Horseback riding woods & beach. Equine Facilities available. 20 min to beach or redwoods. Beautiful rural area. Weddings, anniversaries, celebrations of life; event camp; event site. Family groups and events always welcome! Call for more information. NOTE: This property is located in a very private country area. It is approximately 10 minutes from the small historic town of San Juan Bautista. We meet our first time guests at the Park & Ride as a welcome courtesy so you can easily follow us in and around the potholes on our rural roads! Let us know if we can assist you with any special interests or attractions in the Monterey Bay and Central Coast Area. As your hosts, our goal is that you will rest easy, enjoy the relaxation, peace and harmony for your "getaway."

Song of the Ancients

18 sites · RVs, Tents40 acres · Paicines, CA

In the oak studded world of the Diablo Mountain Range, the ocean influence sends cool breezes here that gently wind their way through the oaks; always offering cooling shade, even through the heat of the summer. Rest and relax the world away, this is a place to regain your balance; come with your cares leave clear and regenerated. Children laugh, run, and play and adults join in. This is a place to sing and dance, to talk late into the night as the night sky fills with stars and the campfire dies down. This is your place to be what you want to be. We are at same latitude of Carmel (but a world away), Between Hollister and the Monterey - Salinas metro area and Los Banos and the San Joaquin Valley, close to the vast San Francisco Bay Area; which includes Berkeley, Oakland, Walnut Creek and all the East, North, and South Bay to Pinnacles National Monument and the town of Paicines. You can spend the day in San Juan Bautista at the Mission and Shops or breakfast or lunch at Flapjacks in Tres Pinos, Monterey at the Aquarium, walk on the beach at Moss Landing, hike at Pinnacles, Fremont Peak, Griswold Mountains, or Panoche Hills. Then back home to sit in a quiet world under the stars. You can also...do nothing. Read a book doze in the shade drift off in a hammock or walk and discover the land and recover your place in this world. The Blue Oaks are hard at work at the job they have held for 3 million years; shading and cooling California. Summer is a coming in! Come and cool off under the Blue Oaks during the warm days and cool dark skies of summer. The annual grasses are turning gold and now you can see the green of the native grasses and plants with stars of color amid the gold. The days are bright and sunny and comfortably warm. The nights are cool and crisp and filled with the song of coyote and their frog chorus'. Bring your family and friends outside and laze around in the hammock or put your feet up on the side of the campfire, throw your head back and lose yourself in the galaxies above. You can pitch any where from 1 to 15 or more tents at each campsite. Our campsites are RV friendly but remember we are off grid so we do not have blackwater facilities or electricity for RVs. We do have garden hoses to fill up the RV water tanks. Song of the Ancients is a program of wildfarmers, a 501c3 not for profit woman led organization. Bringing people back in touch with the ancient woods of California for over fourteen years. Our main focus is restoring and saving the Blue Oak Ecosystem for the future. Pitch your tent or park your camper amid the ancient Blue Oaks of California. Warm yourself by your campfire as you drink in the dark skies. Shake the dust off your work worn spirit. Let the celebration begin. Dance to the music in your heart sing along with the songs of the ancients. Regenerate. A place to breathe and to hear yourself breathe. A sacred place in the shade of the blue oaks. It's time to take time. Time to play and enjoy with friends and family. A place to bask in opulent starlight and absorb the sounds of darkness. A quiet place to clear your soul and revive your spirit. As the air softens and relaxes listen closely to the ancients singing in the oaks. Lend your voice to the Song of the Ancients and let Coyote sing you to sleep. What we provide is: outdoor hot shower, flush toilet, clean clear water from faucets, and at your campsite a fire pit and grill to cook on, picnic table with benches, and the blue oak savanna. Firewood for $15/bundle, fire starters -first two free in the winter then $0.50/each. Our firewood is sustainably harvested from downed trees and branches. We sell it for a neighbor. No healthy live trees are harmed in order to produce firewood. No native trees are felled in order to plant fast growing hardwood for fire or anything else!

Redwood Ranch with Sweeping View

8 sites · Lodging, Tents6 acres · Gilroy, CA

Our 6+ acre ranch Misthaven sits in the redwood forest at Gilroy, just 20min from Gilroy downtown and 45min from San Jose. This ranch has huge space, lots of ranch amenities and many ranch related activities. If you are planning a short trip that you do not have to drive several hours to the busy lake Tahoe, Misthaven would be an ideal destination for family retreat, team building, or even a birthday party. The ranch includes a 2,000 sq ft large barn with spacious indoor space, a 400 sq ft woodworking and crafts workshop, a 1,000 sq ft ranch center with microwave, oven and refrigerator, an amazing zipline, a shooting range for archery and BB gun under our staff guidance and supervision, a fenced petting zoo with goats, chicken, bunny and guinea pig, hammocks in the redwood forest and plenty of beautiful redwood trees. With the ranch booking, you will have the access to: - BBQ and fire pit usage (charcoal/propane with extra charge of $20) - Fire-Roasted Golden Marshmallow Challenge (bring your own marshmallow or purchase with us, we provide skewers) - Trampoline - Hammock - Tree climbing - Petting zoo ($5/cup snack food for pets and animals) - Edible garden - 2,000 sq ft large barn indoor space - 400 sq ft woodworking and crafts indoor space (woodworking activities need to be booked separately) - Water gun - 18ft inflatable Water slide - Outdoor movie projector/screen - Tables and folding chairs There are plenty of ranch activities that you can book with us WITH A FEE separately during your stay. All will be supervised and guided by our professional instructors: - archery - Knife Throwing - Learn survival techniques for lighting your campfire - Spear making - Water filtration in an outdoor environment - Shelter building - Tomahawks - Outdoor BB gun arcade - Camp Zipline and fun forest features. - Woodworking such as Candy dispenser making, Bird feeder making, etc - Pizza making and Ice cream making, butter churning - and many others 20min to the Mt. Madonna County park. 20min to the Gilroy Garden theme park. 50min to Santa Cruz beach and the beautiful Capitola beach. 1hr to Monterey/Carmel.

Misthaven Ranch

3 sites · Lodging6 acres · Gilroy, CA

Our 6 acre ranch nestled in the redwood forests of Gilroy will provide an unforgettable escape into nature. Wake up to the sound of our roosters call, and play on our zipline and trampoline. Try your hand at archery, axe throwing, and BB gun shooting. Hike scenic trials, and walk along our bubbling creek and enjoy the view from the mountaintop. Enjoy our adorable animals in our petting zoo, which include our goat, sheep, kunekune pigs, chickens, ducks, and bunnies. Breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the stunning sunset. Use our BBQ grill to cook a delicious meal and gather around the campfire for s'mores. At night, you can climb up the hill and stargaze, and even see the Milky Way because of how amazingly clean the air is. This experience will unlock your adventurous side and encourage you to unwind and reconnect with the natural world. Book our ranch and have a one of a kind trip.

Rideout Adventures

5 sites · Tents30 acres · Santa Margarita, CA

Welcome to Rideout Adventures, Rideout Adventures consists of 30 acres is located within the Carrizo Plain National Monument which encompasses approximately 200,000 acres of grassland and three mountain ranges. The grasslands and mountain ranges are teaming with wildlife, black tailed jack rabbits, great horned owls, antelope ground squire's and prong horned antelope to name a few. This terrain is loved by artists and photographers alike. The Carrizo Plain is famous for it’s “Super Blume” which occurs in March, April and early May depending on spring rains. Rideout Adventures is camper friendly with gentle sloping grasslands and some low mountain range areas that hikers will love to explore. The Hideout has a small pond which is visited by wildlife in the surrounding area for their daily watering. There are (4) campsites with fire pits scattered around for a feeling of isolation and privacy. We hope to see you there, Tom and Darleen As a personal note, this land was inherited from my great uncle and has been in our family for over 100 years.

Nearby parks

Explore the area’s public lands.

100%

(2)

McConnell State Recreation Area

Livingston, California

Awesome camp ground - amazing views and spectacular oak trees. Lots of families, so not very quiet, but that's car camping for you.

89%

(36)

Henry W. Coe State Park

Morgan Hill, California

80%

(7)

Caswell Memorial State Park

Ripon, California

Forest camping near Los Banos guide

Overview

Situated within the San Joaquin Valley southwest of Merced, Los Banos has quickly grown to become a central hub for many natural attractions in northern California. Along with its own historic downtown and a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home, Los Banos also offers easy access to nearby camping opportunities. Henry W. Coe State Park (the largest state park in the region) presents a bounty of wildflowers, mountain views, and hiking as well as backcountry camping or drive-in campsites. Sierra National Forest is the gateway to the Sierra Nevadas, a mountain range full of fishing, hiking, and snow activities. Or set up camp in Pinnacles National Park to experience geologic wonders, awe-inspiring terrain, and birding opportunities.

Where to go

Henry W. Coe State Park

Encompassing over 87,000 acres of hillsides and mountain ridges, Henry W. Coe State Park is the largest state park in northern California. It offers a rich natural display, particularly in spring when the wildflowers bloom and blanket the fields. Campers can trek through more than 250 miles of hiking trails and ranch roads to take in views of the area. The park also hosts fishing spots for anglers and horseback riding trails for equestrians. Along with rugged backcountry camping, there is one on-site developed campground outfitted with 20 drive-in campsites. Each site has a fire pit, picnic table, and access to vault toilets and potable water nearby.

Sierra National Forest

An hour and a half east from Los Banos is the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Sierra National Forest presents a diverse habitat comprising five wilderness areas, two nationally designated scenic rivers, and three nationally designated trails. The forest is also known for its incredible mountain vistas and pristine lakes that offer fishing opportunities. In winter, campers can snowmobile, cross-country ski, or downhill ski and snowboard on forest hills, as well. Then, spend the night at one of the campgrounds at Bass Lake, Merced River, Rock Creek, or High Sierra.

Pinnacles National Park

Pinnacles National Park is the result of massive volcanic and geologic activity millions of years ago. It now includes diverse biomes of chaparral, canyon bottoms, and oak woodlands. Hike over 30-miles of trails that travel through talus caves, over rocky spires, and across stretches of wildflower-covered grasslands. Or rock climb among local birdlife including California condors and acorn woodpeckers. Pinnacles Campground offers several campsites for tents and RVs with fire rings and picnic tables as well as water, flush toilets, coin-op showers, and even a swimming pool (April to October). Most RV sites have electrical hookups and nearby dump stations, as well.

When to go

Los Banos features year-round camping fun for the entire family. Summer months, particularly holiday weekends, are popular times to visit. July is historically the hottest month with an average high of 92°F. December is considered the coldest month with average lows of 38°F. While winter might be offseason to some, the nearby Sierra Nevadas and Sierra National Forest are favorites among campers who enjoy skiing, snowboarding, and other winter activities.