In the middle of all the rain yesterday I got out the hard copy(yes, that is good to have) Rand McNally Road Atlas. Then using that to find the names of towns and Bing Maps, I was able to come up with quite a few checkpoints within a 2-3 hour driving radius of home. The idea being I would be up to driving a couple of hours, 3 at the most, to get to a good camp site, hiking point or adventure.

Then I got out the Backcountry Adventures: Northern California, and looked for trails near my checkpoints. The idea being, leave home in the morning, hit the trail about noon, travel to about half-way and camp. Sunday, finish the trail and head for home. Some of the trails are short, which means more time camping and hiking and some are longer. Actually some of the short ones can easily be done in one day. Some of the trails are more challenging and call for high clearance. None of the one I chose required 4-wheel drive.

Most, if not all, will be within the Stanislaus National Forest where camping is not usually a problem. Most will not have amenities, so we pack out the trash and carry water. The main advantage is scenery, away from the big crowds and using your RV for the reason you bought it!

You can use this same approach to State Parks and find some great ones near .

I think this is a good idea wherever you are. Guests coming for the weekend and they cancel . . . no problem, jump into the Sprinter and head out. You already know where you are heading.

Tags: weekend camping

This entry was posted on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 2:40 pm and is filed under Camping, Just thinking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.