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Pomo Canyon Environmental Campground
Rating Details »
7 reviews for Pomo Canyon Environmental Campground
I wish I wasn't sick when my girlfriend & I and two friends of ours all went camping here for the 4th 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!
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.
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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.
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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?
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This is such a great spot. We were lucky enough to get the last site on Memorial Day weekend. It was awesome. CANNOT wait to go back. Great secluded sites, no cars driving through. Beautiful hike to Shell Beach.
My boyfriend and I went here to visit some friends that were camping. Took us some time to finally reach our destination, but I was pleasantly surprised once we finally got there. It had been raining earlier that day so everything was really wet...but it was still amazing! I definitely recommend this campsite. If you're looking for a place super close to the ocean or beach areas though...this isn't the place for you. You have a reeeeeally long hike to get there or you must drive back out in order to reach it. It's a really unique place, you won't regret checking it out. Just remember....it's first come first serve (and cheap). :)
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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. All the reviews were glowing about Pomo including my fellow yelpers. I left early on Friday morning from Oakland to secure a spot and had my heart on site 21, the most secluded and private spot. When I drove up to the parking lot, man was I bummed. The parking lot was full! I noticed a handwritten sign on the self-registration area and was heartbroken. We planned out our first post-baby camping trip at the same time as a huge rednecky group! They took up all the best sites 11-21. And only a handful of the campers from that group were there all huddled in one spot. Campsite 21 was actually empty but these bubbas were sitting at a site before it and said that it was reserved. I replied that is was first come first serve. They said that they had all of them paid for so too bad for me. It totally violated the spirit of a place like this. I can understand holding down a couple of sites but not half of the campground! The only sites left were in the hillside or on crowded in to each other, off the main trail to Shell Beach or surrounded in poison oak (not good for exploring toddler) and our particular site, #9, was kind of sloping so we kept sliding into each other all night. The rednecks were loud as heck too -- all night, screeching and hooting. It sounded like we were at a RV campground.
I'm giving this 3 stars because it's got potential if not a lot of people are there and if you get the sites in the back. We went the first weekend after labor day thinking the crowds might have been gone but it was packed. And at our campsite we were right next to another couple and we could hear them doing it all through the day. We could tell they were kind of bummed they were so close to a family because they kept trying to move their chairs directly in front of the redwood that separated our site from theirs so we couldn't see each other. Not much luck though. Folks were rolling in around 3 pm and no sites were left. We had expected to stay until Sunday but couldn't take the noise. Another camper from Willow Creek Campground (the other environmental campsite) down the road took our spot saying that Willow Creek sucked--way too dusty and way too loud with a bunch of Sonoma college students. I guess we'll have to drive further out to get that backpacking feel that we miss.
