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Bay Curious

Campsites Are Hard to Get in California. Try Dispersed Camping Instead

Bay Curious

KQED

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, History

4.81.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2026

⏱️ 18 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you aren't the type of person to wake up at 6:30am six months before you want to go camping to reserve a spot, you might be interested in dispersed camping. It's a free way to get outside and into nature that takes a little more preparation, but can yield big rewards. We break it down for you with KQED's Sarah Wright. Additional Resources: Dispersed Camping 101: How to Find Free Campsites Near the Bay Area How to Find Free Camping in California's National Forests Tips and Tricks to Snag A California Campsite Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Sarah Wright. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Support for KQED podcast comes from Rinse. Rinse knows that greatness takes time, but so does laundry.

0:08.8

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pens or that daunting Beef Wellington recipe card and leave the laundry to us. Sign up today at

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rinse.com. Rinse, It's time to be great.

0:40.3

Support for KQED podcasts comes from Landmark College, offering summer programs for high schoolers that support executive function and transition to college skills.

0:51.0

Learn more at landmark.edu slash summer.

0:56.0

From KQED. The Bay Curace audience has shown us over the years that you all are very interested

1:03.1

in camping. In 2017, we did a story about how bots snap up campsites, making it nearly impossible

1:10.4

for real humans to click their way into a

1:12.9

Primo reservation. And you made it one of our most popular stories of the year. Last year, we

1:18.8

offered a little update on that story. TLDR, things are better, but still, it's tough out there.

1:24.5

And we offered some tips on how to be a camping reservation making master.

1:29.6

This year, we wanted to help you even more by going in depth on how to get out and go camping

1:35.3

if you're maybe not the type of person who could wake up early and make a reservation six months in

1:41.1

advance. Or maybe if you feel like being at a campsite that's a stone's throw from the

1:45.4

next group isn't quite getting away from it all. Today, we're talking about dispersed camping.

1:52.0

No reservations needed, just show up, set up, and go. Could it be camping at its finest, easiest,

1:58.9

truest form, or could it be more than you bargained for?

2:02.4

Here to guide us through it all and answer your questions about dispersed camping is KQED's

2:07.1

outdoor reporter Sarah Wright. Welcome, Sarah. Thanks so much for having me. So I got to start by

...

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