California Dispersed Camping: Free Campsites on BLM and National Forest Land

California has millions of acres of free camping on BLM and national forest land, from the desert outside Joshua Tree to the granite of the Alabama Hills. The catch is that the rules change with every boundary: each national forest sets its own stay limit, some popular areas allow camping only at numbered sites, and the Lake Tahoe Basin bans it outside a few trail and road corridors. Here's where free camping works, the rules for each area, and what you need before you light even a camp stove.

The rules that apply almost everywhere

• California Campfire Permit. On national forest and BLM land, you need this free permit for any campfire, charcoal barbecue or gas stove outside developed campgrounds. Fire restrictions can still ban open fires; see our California camping guide for how to get one.
• BLM land: stay 14 days within any 28, then move at least 25 miles away until the 29th day. Don't leave property unattended more than 10 days. For a whole winter, the BLM's desert Long-Term Visitor Areas allow up to seven months with a permit; see our California guide.
• National forests: the Forest Service's California region asks you to camp at least 150 feet from water (the Inyo requires 200), and not near developed campgrounds, picnic areas or trailheads. Stay limits vary by forest (table below). Each forest's free Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) shows which roads are open to vehicles.
• No facilities: no toilets, water or trash pickup. Pack out everything, including human waste where the area requires it.

For how dispersed camping works in general, see our dispersed camping guide.

Joshua Tree: BLM land outside the park

There's no free car camping inside Joshua Tree National Park: the park prohibits car camping and dispersed camping on its backcountry roads. The free camping is on BLM land just outside, mapped on the park's camping outside the park page:

• North of the park, between the West and North entrances: a block north of Highway 62, east of Cascade Road, between Sunflower and Reagan roads. It's surrounded by private property where camping isn't allowed, so follow the map.
• South of the park, where Cottonwood Springs Road meets I-10, about 5 miles south of the Cottonwood Visitor Center: several blocks on both sides of the interstate, including along Box Canyon Road.

Camping is allowed in these areas except within 300 feet of roads or where signs mark it closed. There's no water or toilets, all plants are protected, and campfires need a permit.

Backpacking inside the park is the other free-ish option: a $6 permit from Recreation.gov, camping in one of 15 backcountry zones, at least a mile from the trailhead and half a mile from any road (designated sites only in the Boy Scout zone). No campfires in the backcountry; stoves are fine.

Eastern Sierra: Alabama Hills and the Inyo

The Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, below Mount Whitney, are among the most popular free campsites in the state, so BLM manages them closely:

• Camping outside developed campgrounds is allowed only at designated semi-primitive campsites, marked by a tent symbol.
• You need the free Alabama Hills permit, valid for a year, online, at the Eastern Sierra Visitor Center in Lone Pine, from a ranger, or at the Movie Road kiosks. It doesn't reserve a site; they're first come, first served.
• Don't create new sites or move rocks. There are a few portable toilets; otherwise pack out solid human waste.
• Campfires only in existing fire rings, with a Campfire Permit. Tuttle Creek Campground (83 sites) is the developed alternative nearby.

BLM Bishop Field Office land, around Bishop, allows dispersed camping for only 14 days a year.

Inyo National Forest (Mammoth Lakes, June Lake, Big Pine, Lone Pine high country):

• Camp at least 200 feet from water, and not inside the forest's Recreation Restriction Areas around developed campgrounds and paved roads.
• No more than 14 consecutive days within 10 miles of the same spot, and 28 days a year forest-wide.
• Bears: there are no bear boxes at dispersed sites. Store food and trash in a locked heavy-duty cooler or bear-resistant container inside your vehicle. Bear-resistant containers are required in several wilderness zones, among them Mammoth-Rush Creek, Duck Pass/Purple Lake, Little Lakes Valley, Bishop Pass and Mount Whitney.
• Check the Inyo's alerts for project closures before you go.

Southern California: Big Bear's Yellow Post sites

The San Bernardino National Forest has Yellow Post sites: free, numbered primitive campsites. Around Big Bear Lake there are 13 of them on dirt roads north and south of the lake:

• No fee, open year-round, 14-day limit, up to 8 people and 2 vehicles per site.
• High clearance recommended; 4WD may be needed.
• A fire ring at each site, usable only with a valid Campfire Permit (needed for stoves too).

Elsewhere in the San Bernardino, dispersed camping is allowed up to 14 days within 30, with your wheels on or near the road.

The other Southern California forests are stricter:

• Angeles: no more than 7 consecutive days outside developed campgrounds, 3 days a year within 300 feet of a city, county or state road, and 21 days a year in total, under an order that runs to December 15, 2026.
• Cleveland: dispersed camping only with a permit in specific areas (Descanso outside Laguna, Palomar's backcountry, San Mateo Canyon Wilderness), and no wood or charcoal fires outside developed sites, ever.
• Los Padres: 7 consecutive days, 21 a year, outside developed campgrounds. The Big Sur ridges are closed after the 2026 fires through at least January 31, 2027; see Big Sur dispersed camping.

Anza-Borrego: free camping in a state park

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park works differently from most state parks: its entire backcountry counts as a campground, so you can camp along its designated dirt roads.

• Park no more than one car length off the road, without disturbing natural features.
• 30 days a year maximum for the same people or vehicles.
• No ground fires. Fires only in a camp stove or a metal container with a bottom and sides, and none at all during heat or fire-danger warnings.
• Street-legal vehicles on designated roads only. Coyote Canyon is closed north of Lower Willows.

Death Valley

Death Valley is one of the few national parks that allows free roadside camping: along many dirt roads, at least a mile from any paved road or day-use dirt road. Echo Canyon, Hole in the Wall, Cottonwood/Marble Canyon and Greenwater Valley are the exceptions: they need a reserved permit at $10 a night. See our Death Valley camping guide.

Northern California forests: stay limits

Around Truckee the rules are strict: in the Truckee and Sierraville districts' Restricted Use Areas, among them Truckee, Truckee South, Jackson Meadow, Little Truckee, Alpine Meadows, Highway 89 South and the Donner Summit PCT trailhead, you can't just pull off a forest road. Use a campground or one of the forest's designated dispersed sites.

Forests not in the table (Lassen, Mendocino, Six Rivers, Klamath, Modoc, Eldorado, Sequoia and others) also allow dispersed camping on most of their land under their own orders. Get the forest's MVUM, check its alerts for stay limits and closures, and look for existing campsites along open forest roads. These orders change every year or two, so check before a long stay.

Before you go

• Get the Campfire Permit before you leave home, and check the current fire restrictions: under the strictest stages, no fires of any kind are allowed, and stoves only with the permit.
• Bring all your water and a way to pack out trash and waste.
• Check the road: many free sites are on dirt roads where high clearance or 4WD helps, and some close in winter.

Looking for a developed campground instead? Start with our California camping guide.