well off the beathen path

Lost Coast Camping, NorCal The USA Lumber Company ran a big wood mill on this part of the redwood coast back in the early days. This camp's name gets shortened to USAL. Usal Beach Campground near Shelter Cove, California This idyllic prime yet primitive, hard-to-reach beach campground is tucked well away from the crowds along the Pacific Coastal Hwy 1.  The region is California BLM land King Range National Conservation Area, or better known as the Lost Coast of California ... a famous stretch of wilderness coastline in between Mendocino and the Humboldt Redwoods. Dense forests and steep terrain located on the county line of Mendocino & Humboldt. Sinkyone Wilderness State Park is nearby. Usal Camp is the only place for drive-up car camping on the beach front in Northern Cal. All other developed camps in the area are located further inland (with forested surroundings), or backpacking, hike-in primitive campsites. Usal Campground on Usal Creek , has several idyllic se...

Camping sites in Southern California While camping in California is an amazing experience overall with thousands of picture perfect settings to pitch your tent, camping in SoCal definitely has it's limitations. The primary reasons are.... Camping in SoCal is - 1. crowded (half the population is located in the lower third of the state) 2. dry terrain (minimal rivers, dry seasonal streams, few waterfalls) 3. wildfire prone (with average rainfall of only 10") 4. costly (all developed campgrounds charge fees) 5. not secluded (with suburbia spread into foothills, busy roads nearby) With the California population nearing 40 million, you will need to do your research in order to find a good, secluded, scenic camping area. Coastal camp sites are the most popular on the list and you should seek advanced reservation w/ the State Park system. City camping is mostly RV parks and a few county parks. Beyond the neighborhoods, countryside camping in the coastal footh...

Tent Camping in California Car camping is also referred to as 'tent camping', where you drive to your destination and pitch a tent to sleep in. Minimal crowds w/ maximum scenery is what most seek. Peace and quiet all weekend is often the goal. Hiking trails, biking trails, horseback trails too. Few RV campers,  if any; Small campgrounds located on one-lane roads, or better yet - dirt roads! mountains • foothills • deserts • beaches • rivers • creeks • meadows • waterfalls • trailheads •  parks • forests • groves • lakes Whether you seek a developed campground: paved, level parking spot w/ toilets; or a primitive spot on a dirt road w/ creek and rock campfire ring... we have all of them listed on this web site. National Parks, National Forests, State Parks, county campgrounds, backpacking trailheads, free car camping, PG&E lake camps, 4x4 camp sites . Here at Total Escape we focus mainly on the secluded camping - off the beaten path, forested back roads camp sites...

Lifetime warranties on outdoor gear are few and far between. Most supplies subjected to hard weather conditions and wilderness elevations damage quickly, unless they are designed to withstand these kinda harsh conditions. A new, non name brand, dirt cheap tent can last a year or two. There are plenty of used tents and gear on Craigslist.org.  Coleman tents usually last an average of 10 years, depending on the user frequency. Total Escape's DanaMite camps out about 20 times per year, so a more durable tent was needed. Wind-proofing is non-existant, but weather proofing and bubble designs make tents more wind resistant. Eureka tents can hold up to some mighty crazy wind gusts and many campers swear by this brand alone. Over a decade ago, a small gear company named Paha Que asked us to review a small tent of theirs. This is the 10-year-after-the-fact write-up on that product. Awesome vestibule (extra large rain fly) that allows extra space for cooking or storage Bl...

California has the best beaches on the west coast & they draw millions of tourists here each year. From RV camping on the beaches of San Diego to Northern California's rural Lost Coast, we have a variety of public & private Campgrounds along the coastline for every style of camping. The best coast camping is along the scenic Central Coast of California, also known as Big Sur CA . A 100 mile stretch of natural beauty that spans from Carmel to Cayucos . Partington Cove is a great day hike with redwood forest & rocky coves; just north of Julia Pfeiffer State Park. At the southern end of the Big Sur coast, Sand Dollar Beach is a great dog friendly beach w/ Plaskett Creek Campground is directly across the street. There are camp sites in: oak canyons, on dirt roads, on ridges, on rocky bluffs, or inside dense redwood groves. Primitive camping on ridges via forest dirt roads. Walk in camps at Andrew Molera , drive in RV camps at Big Sur State Park & backpacking in the ...