Mt. Shasta Camping

[JohnF]

I was entertaining myself the other day with Google Earth. I was looking at the dams in Northern California. With the Oroville Dam in the news, I thought I would educated myself on the topic. While panning the area around Mt. Shasta, I came across the attached landscape. It is near the volcano. The patches of brown spots caught my attention. I zoomed in on them and believe they are patches of cleared trees, likely harvested for lumber? The area is very remote and I was wondering if it is possible to travel to these spots and boondock with an RV. If anyone has done this or lives in that area, I am curious if it can be done.

John

[MtBiker]

Most of those clearings are in National Forest lands so yes you can just drive out and camp pretty much anywhere.
We ride dirtbikes and often come across these clearings. We have found a few that are suitable for camping. Some have great road access and others not so good. Some look like an absolute war zone and can be very muddy or very dusty.
Lots of scraps for firewood and you can collect all you want with a permit.
So it is kind of a hit and miss. go out and explore and you will find a great spot if you look.
We have a spot in the Mendocino National Forest that is great. It took us a few years of exploring to find it. Good road in, lots of firewood around, level area about 2 acres with a view across a valley. Even on a three day weekend we rarely see anyone else, including rangers. This is nice as the dogs can roam around.
Narrow down an area and stop in at a ranger station and talk with them about where you plan to start. Go get yourself a location close in and then start exploring all the roads. you will not likely hit a really great spot on your first time out, but when you find one it will be worth the trouble.

[High Desert]

Used to live in the area after retiring and camped and hunted in the national forests of the area. If you want to get out in the woods and boondocks - not a problem. There is a lot of tree cutting going onion the national forests around Mt. Shasta, and between Fort Jones and Trinity Center. At the same time, once you get north of Redding, Ca, you begin to hit an area that is sparsely populated, especially from Dunsmuir, north. The area is all National Forest land and easy access. Out of Dunsmuir you have an area called Gray Rock that is a large area to explore. Be advised a lot of these forest service roads are maintained, but you can find yourself in crappy roads, real quick if not careful. The Fort Jones / Etna area has Klamath National Forest and a coupe of wilderness areas so it is remote. Out past Mt. Shasta, heading towards Oregon on US 97 there are lots of FS campgrounds and once you get around the McDoel area, if you go east you are back into a lot of National Forest land. No issues camping for free if you boondocks. Only two things to be aware of in these areas - bears and mountain lions.