Stargazing

Cloverdale/Healdsburg Campground

61 RV Sites, 18 Cabins, 46 Tent Sites, 14 Lodges

Cloverdale Healdsburg Campground in California's Alexander Valley offers 61 RV sites, 32 cabin and lodge units, and 46 tent sites on a ridge overlooking Sonoma County wine country, with 30 and 50-amp full hookups and rigs accepted up to 100 feet. Premium view, premium pull-through, and standard categories join a pool, spa, game room, and dark-sky stargazing. Sixty-one sites span 30/50-amp standard, 30/50-amp standard pull-thru, 30/50-amp premium, 30/50-amp premium pull-thru, and 30/50-amp premium view categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric with site WiFi, sized to 100 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. One hundred feet is exceptional and accommodates the longest coaches with a tow. The premium view category is the one to request. Thirty-two cabins and lodges and 46 tent sites round out an unusually deep lodging inventory. A general store, laundry, and restrooms handle the practical side. An outdoor pool and spa anchor the property, with a game room, pond, walking trails, and dog park filling the grounds. Fishing and swimming run on site. Pets are welcome. The dark-sky certification is the differentiator — this is one of the few certified campgrounds in Northern California, and on a clear night the ridge position delivers what that promises. The Alexander Valley appellation spreads below, with Healdsburg's tasting rooms and restaurants a short drive south. The campground has been operating for 34 years. Harvest season and summer drive the heaviest demand in Sonoma. Reserve well ahead for August through October.

from $63/night

Mendocino Magic

Mendocino Magic in Laytonville, California, is a multi-format camping destination in inland Mendocino County offering RV sites, glamping setups, and traditional tent camping — a versatile outdoor accommodation property in the US-101 corridor of the North Coast Range where the Eel River's wild and scenic stream country, the Cahto Wilderness, and the drive to the Mendocino Coast's redwood groves, sea stacks, and art galleries give guests the most complete North Coast camping experience available from a campground positioned between the redwood coast and the inland mountain valley. Laytonville's Mendocino County position on US-101, 45 miles east of the Mendocino coast and 50 miles south of Humboldt Redwoods State Park, gives the campground the specific North Coast corridor character of a property at the intersection of the coast road's scenic tourism appeal and the inland mountain valley's quieter outdoor recreation character. RV sites, glamping setups, and traditional tent camping give Mendocino Magic the complete spectrum of overnight outdoor accommodation in a single Laytonville property — the glamping format specifically gives the comfort-seeking non-camper the curated outdoor accommodation experience that the Mendocino County inland mountain setting sustains without the tent camping infrastructure logistics, and the RV site gives the self-contained traveler the hookup service for the North Coast leg of the US-101 coastal tour. The campground's multi-format accommodation reflects the specific Mendocino County market of the coastal artisan and agricultural heritage tourism that the North Coast's unique culture sustains. Pets are welcome. Humboldt Redwoods State Park, 50 miles north of Laytonville on US-101 in Humboldt County, protects the largest remaining contiguous old-growth coast redwood forest in the world — 17,000 acres of ancient Sequoia sempervirens forest in the Eel River's Bull Creek drainage where the Avenue of the Giants 32-mile scenic alternate to US-101 passes through the Rockefeller Forest's 10,000-acre old-growth stand, the world's largest preserved ancient redwood grove, in a grove of trees that include the confirmed tallest individual specimens in the forest. The coast redwood's maximum height of 380 feet and the 2,000-year age class of the Bull Creek drainage's oldest trees give the Humboldt Redwoods the specific scale and antiquity that no other temperate forest in the Northern Hemisphere matches. The Mendocino Coast, 45 miles west of Laytonville via CA-162 and CA-1 at Fort Bragg, provides the dramatic sea stack and headland coastline of the Mendocino Headlands State Park, the Mendocino village's Victorian architecture and artist colony character, and the Noyo Harbor's working fishing fleet and salmon charter boat operation that give the Fort Bragg-Mendocino corridor its specific combination of natural coastal scenery and North Coast cultural heritage. The MacKerricher State Park's 10 miles of beach north of Fort Bragg and the Glass Beach's sea-polished glass deposits give the Mendocino coastal day trip its accessible natural and geological attractions. Mendocino Magic serves guests through Mendocino County's North Coast camping season, with the spring whale migration from February through April giving the coastal viewpoints their spectacular gray whale observation and the summer fog season from June through August creating the coastal marine layer conditions that the inland Laytonville valley's warmer, clearer summer temperatures specifically complement for the guest who values the inland camp over the often-foggy coast campground in the summer. The Cahto Wilderness in the Mendocino National Forest gives the campground's immediate backcountry hiking access in the Laytonville area's inland mountain terrain. Reserve sites and glamping accommodations ahead for the summer US-101 coastal tourism season and the fall harvest season in Mendocino County's wine and apple country.

Placerville RV Resort & Campground

48 RV Sites, 3 Cabins, 20 Tent Sites

Placerville RV Resort & Campground in Shingle Springs, California, offers 48 RV sites, three cabins, and 20 tent sites in the Sierra Nevada foothills, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted up to 121 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout — the most generous length allowance in this tranche. A water slide, pool, hot tub, and mini-golf serve Gold Country travelers. Forty-eight sites span 30/20-amp back-ins, water-and-electric back-ins, water-and-electric pull-ins, and pull-through categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted, sized to 121 feet, with picnic tables, BBQ pits, cable TV, and site WiFi. Individual sites are listed by number in several categories, so you can pick your spot. Three cabins and 20 tent sites round out the accommodations. A general store, laundry, propane fills, dump station, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. An outdoor pool with a water slide anchors the summer, with a hot tub and sauna, mini-golf, an arcade, and a recreation center besides. A pond supports fishing, with a playground, dog park, horseshoes, and strong stargazing across the foothill sky. Pets are welcome. Shingle Springs sits in El Dorado County on the US-50 corridor between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe, where Gold Rush heritage meets the Apple Hill agricultural district's orchards and wineries. The elevation trades the Sacramento Valley's summer heat for mountain air. Directions: from Placerville head west on Highway 50 about six miles — do not exit at Ponderosa Road — then take Exit 39, Shingle Springs Drive north. Summer and Apple Hill harvest season drive demand. Reserve ahead.

from $64/night

Saddle Mountain

16 RV Sites

Saddle Mountain in Carmel, California, offers 16 full-hookup RV sites on 89 acres of wooded forestland off Carmel Valley Road, with 30 and 50-amp service, cable TV, and rigs sized to 30 feet. Popular, Popular XL, and Premium categories join cabins and luxury tents, with an outdoor pool, hot tub, and sports courts. Sixteen back-in sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp with cable TV, sized to 30 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and BBQ pits. The 30-foot cap is the key planning detail — this suits smaller trailers and vans rather than large coaches, and the three tiers let you match site to rig. Cabins and luxury tents round out the lodging, and both come with beds, linens, pillows, towels, and washcloths; cabins have central heating and air conditioning as standard. Restrooms, showers, and WiFi handle the practical side. An outdoor pool and hot tub and sauna anchor the property, with sports courts, basketball, ping pong, horseshoes, corn hole, walking trails, hiking, and a playground across the acreage. Stargazing is strong under the forest canopy, and wine tasting and a golf course are nearby. Pets are welcome. The 89 acres of private oak, Monterey pine, and coastal redwood sit five miles from Highway 1 and 30 miles up the coast from Big Sur. That distance from the highway is what makes the seclusion real rather than nominal, while Carmel-by-the-Sea, Point Lobos State Reserve, and the 17-Mile Drive stay within easy reach. Summer is peak on the Monterey Peninsula. With 16 sites, reserve well ahead.

from $102 $89/night