Pomo Canyon Environmental Campground

FYI — this campsite is CLOSED for the third year due to budget cuts though you can park at the entrance, walk in and do a hike up on the ridgeline.

Appears to be closed based on state park website.

How long after we (humans, on Earth) are all gone will it be until Nature reclaims all we have taken?
That was my thought when the girlfriend & I visited the Pomo Canyon Environmental Campground on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Nestled into the edge of a redwood grove, it’s hard not to wonder because of how this place looks now that the campground is closed.
It’s been closed for a year now. Already the paths & the clearings for the camp sites are covered in a thick layer of detritus from the trees above. It’s eerily silent. Like a ghost town without the town, only picnic tables, fire pits & a few outhouses.
It felt like a glimpse into our post-​Apocalyptic future. Who knows? Maybe the Mayans were right. Eh, probably my imagination getting the best of me. Anyway, even with the campground closed, there are still some nice, fern-​lined trails that meander through the beautiful redwoods.
Because the campground is closed, the gravel road leading to it is also closed. There’s very limited parking back at the road & it’s a short hike in. We explored the area a while in complete solitude & headed back for the car before it got dark. For a walk in the woods with absolutely no one else around, this is it.
The Pomo Canyon Environmental Campground may be closed but it is, nonetheless, a good starting point for nice hikes in redwoods. It’s also a place that may make you wonder what the world will be like without us.

This campground is now closed due to service reductions at Sonoma Coast State Park.

I wish I wasn’t sick when my girlfriend & I and two friends of ours all went camping here for the 4^th of July!!!
Still, if I was SICK then and still loved my experience there, that has to really really say something about this place…
Other reviews describe it well: Very secluded (way off the highway and you even have to «hike» to your camp site!), beautiful huge redwood trees, deep forest camping at its best.
(You’re so submerged in the woods that the temperature is way less at your campsite vs. where you parked).
There are also amazing views a few miles away at the coast. You can adventure out to a big rock (which we did) and sit atop the water with an amazing view. LOVED IT!
Unfortunately the gf & I had to leave early but we will be back for sure!

My husband and I are more into backpacking and setting up camp far from other people than camping at a campground but now that we have a toddler, we had to make some compromises. We searched for weeks to find a more secluded campground spot, a place where we wouldn’t unzip our tent in the morning and be in our neighbor’s face. This seemed like THE spot. A

This is one of my favorite campsite’s ever. Its first come first serve (get there the night before a holiday weekend). The hike over the hill to the beach is gorgeous and just the right length. I am guessing 2 miles each way. You are in the forest surrounded by a meadow. The deer call out to each other at night. We were there once during a full moon and could see them clearly. We haven’t been back in awhile because they don’t allow dogs. I also had an argument with a lady once who was mad at me for not sharing our reserved site with her. What? I paid for it, I occupy it, why would I want you and your dirt bag husband to co-​habitate in our site?

This is my favorite place to camp in the entire country. The place is four miles off the highway, following a one lane, winding road. The campsites are primitive and there are no showers or electrical hook-​ups. If you’re willing to rough it though, you’ll be greatly rewarded.
The setting is pastoral — you’re surrounded by redwoods and at peace with nature. All camp sites are unique and have a fire pit and picnic table. While camping at site 22 (at the very back, the most secluded and private, and furthest to carry our stuff) we were lucky enough to see a raccoon with her three babies march by while sitting next to the fire.
Not much else to say, other than it’s wonderful and $ 15 a night, which is such a great value. There are usually several other campers there, but you generally won’t be bothered. Most of the campers there are serious about being there and want to enjoy it as much as you.

This is one of THE best campgrounds within a couple of hours of the city. It was voted among the top 10 a few years back in Sunset Magazine, which is how we found it.
It’s a first come, first serve site, so there’s always a chance that you may be out of luck. However, if you get there pretty early on a Friday (that isn’t a holiday weekend), chances are good that you’re in. One time we got there and it was full, & we didn’t think to check back the next day, as many people only camp for one night and then move on.
The campsites are all so unique and absolutely drop-​dead gorgeous. Most are quite private, so you feel like you’re a million miles away from anyone, which was a little freaky for me, as I went up alone on a Wednesday to secure us a site for the weekend.
This super-​strange dude in a VW bus that asked me a question about frog-​jumping while I was unloading later showed up at my site. It was about dusk and I was about to start my fire. He comes wandering over and starts jibberjabbering to me about the history of this land and so on — I’m just trying to will him to leave. He can see into my tent and there’s only one bag, so I’m sure he’s planning on coming back to kill me later on. Eventually my mind control works and he leaves.
Then I realize that if he did kill me, no one would even know I’m here. So I go trompsing through the campgrounds to find someone who, in case of screaming in the middle of the night, will know it’s me — that single girl who is dumb enough to camp by herself. I come across a wonderful older couple who I couldn’t be more grateful to meet, as they are now my new surrogate parents. They offer me food and company and a roaring fire and I just about cry from happiness. After I gather my courage I head back to my site. Although I slept like crap (some young kids were making a ruckus not too far from me, and kept pointing there lights towards my tent, which I was sure was that man coming back to get me), I got over my fear by the next evening.
It’s just a short jaunt to Guerneville, which is an adorable little town with a nice swimming beach if you want to cool off. Bodega Bay has a great, cozy coffee shop, in which I spent one morning just sitting and reading and watching all the locals come in and out. Jenner is right near the campgrounds, and although there’s not much there, we stumbled upon some swing dancing lessons that preceded a town dance at the local firehouse. We weren’t too sure how we’d be accepted, but honestly, we felt so comfortable & ended uphaving a blast!
There are so many tiny little towns in this area, you can explore for days.
Then there are the beaches. The shoreline is beautiful beyond words. There are so many places to hike and explore, it just seems there’s not enough time to do it all.