hoping someone can recommend some spots to check out for camping and light off roading somewhere between sacramento and tahoe area. maybe somewhere with not so much traffic and/or crazy amounts of bears. want to go out with some friends in stock vehicles and don't want to go too crazy and break stuff. any recommendations? thanks in advance.

 

maybe try going up ice house rd. or try off foresthill. lots of camp sites to be found.

 

eagle lake rd./ greenhorn creek/mt watson lots of places around there is a good book about the nor-cal trails at amazon.com

 

I'm definitely looking for something like this too - something fun, but not too difficult. I'm looking to take a bunch of friends camping, but would like to do a bit of wheeling to get there. Anything near a lake that anybody knows of? Or a nice easyish trial(fireroad+, friends are beginners/non-built 4x4) to get around the back side of a lake? Also looking in the Northern California/Central Valley region. Thanks all!

 

not meaning to thread jack or anything, just build upon....

 

I am getting this guide I found on Amazon. I am in the same boat since my Runner is my daily driver, I won't be doing any rock crawlin for awhile.
I wanted to go camping soon as well but I wanted to do some easy trails to get to a unpopulated campsite. Hope this helps.

http://www.amazon.com/Northern-Calif...7218255&sr=1-1

 

so what is the legality of offroading and camping in those areas? can you just go anywhere? can you camp anywhere you like or do you have to stay in a campsite? we are hoping to go out tomorrow if possible, maybe stay for a few nights, but still are undecided on where to go. preferably we don't want to be around lots of people with trailers and all their kids and dogs and stuff, so are there campgrounds with less traffic, maybe with no reservations needed?

 

Get this book also:

http://www.amazon.com/Backcountry-Ad...7623051&sr=1-1

And, this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Californi...7623107&sr=1-1

And, with the one already linked above, you'll have a ton of information and 100s of places to go!

 

thanks! i just bought them on amazon. ended up going down icehouse road and found camping where we could have a fire at yellowjacket. hit up a lot of roads, trying to have a good time, but most of them are 2wd roads unfortunately. found a nice trail up toward loon lake that popped out at the chalet. that was pretty cool. found the trailhead of the rubicon and did some farting around on the rocks. if you guys have any other places to recommend, i'd love to hear them.

 

check out some spots on nor cal ttora.com

 

Mendocino National Forest does offer some trails, as well as camping, and even a lake that you can drive around.

 

I recommend the Bowman Lake area, take Bowman Lake road off of Hwy. 20 (between Nevada City and Truckee). Easy fire roads for the most part, but there are a ton of little lakes in the area and lots of cool dispersed camping spots.