1) Folsom Lake State Recreation Area
Folsom Lake is a 11,500 acre lake NE of downtown Sacramento and a popular place for locals and visitors to go swimming, boating, sailing, fishing and camping. There are three different campgrounds in the park with Beal’s Point being the modern campground for tents and RV’s. It is located north of the Folsom Dam (a great fishing spot for largemouth bass) and has 69 campsites with 20 of those having full hookups. Restrooms, showers and drinking water are all centrally located. For a more secluded campground you might want to stay at Peninsula where there are 85 primitive sites for smaller trailers and motor homes as well as tent campers. There are no hookups but there are restrooms and a dump station. If you are camping with a large group for a family reunion or celebration there are three sites that can accommodate groups from 25 to 50 people. So spend the day swimming at one of the beaches, biking on the American River Bike Trail or paddle boarding around the coves of the lake, then head back to your campsite for an evening around the campfire. You can see why this is one of the absolute best places to camp near Sacramento!
2) Sherwood Harbor Marina and RV Park
Just 6 miles from the downtown area of Sacramento is the Sherwood Harbor Marina and RV Park. It is located on the west shore of the Sacramento River, in fact it is the only RV park in Sacramento that is right on the river. With a marina that has 130 boat slips you can dock your boat just steps from the campground. Take the river down to the Delta where you can fish for salmon, striped bass and steelheads! Some urban RV parks are more like a large parking lot with a couple of trees, but not Sherwood Harbor. There are large riverside campsites with cottonwood trees lining the banks. Choose from one of the 14 sites with full hookups or 30 sites with water and electric. Restrooms, laundry and a pump out station are all conveniently located right at the campground. You will forget you are so close to the city at this lovely riverside campground.
3) Tradewinds RV Park
This next one would make for an amazing home base for exploring Sacramento, San Francisco, Nappa Valley and the whole bay area. It is centrally located to the Bay Area, just 58 miles from Sacramento. It makes for a great weekend getaway to explore the San Pablo Bay and Grizzly Bays where you can catch good-sized striped bass and white sturgeon, or take a charter out past the Golden Gate Bridge to the Pacific for an all-day deep sea fishing trip. Can you imagine reeling in a trophy-sized leopard shark? Now that would be quite a fish tale! The RV Park does have a more urban feel with sites close together, but the park is well maintained and offers full hookups, picnic tables at each site, free Wi-Fi and cable and a BBQ area. You are close to restaurants and shops for easy dining options or to grab a bite and bring back to your site to enjoy in the great outdoors. With so much to do in the surrounding area it is unlikely that you will spend much time at your campsite anyway so this makes a great home base!
4) Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park: Lodi, CA
One of the absolute best places to camp near Sacramento is the Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park in Lodi, CA. At Tradewinds you might not spend much time at the campground but Jellystone is the opposite where you might spend all of your time right at the campground! The main attraction is the large water park with waterslides, water playground, splash pad and lazy river. You can also check out the Laser Tag, Mini-Golf and scheduled hay rides. Planned activities occur at the park regularly so check their website for all the fun activities. There are tent sites, RV sites and cabin rentals available with a variety of pull-thru, back-in and hookups. The onsite Marina on the Delta offers boat rentals if you want to take the family out for the afternoon or try your hand at some fishing. Boat over to the San Joaquin River and drop a line, or dock and try some fly fishing, for good-sized trout!
5) Pleasure Cove Marina and Camping on Lake Berryessa
Another great lakeside camping experience is at the Pleasure Cove Marina and Campground on Lake Berryessa. Enjoy lake view campsites for RV’s and tents with a choice of full or partial hookups. Another great option (while not technically “camping” it is really cool!) is renting a houseboat for the weekend or week. Each houseboat has first class accommodations with beds, a kitchen, private bath and waterslide off the back of the boat! A great option for exploring the Putah Creek and Lake Berryessa area. If you want to take a kayak or canoe out you can explore the coves around the lake and look for white pelicans, flickers, bobcats, or maybe a deer family coming down to the banks of the river for a drink. For fishing, anglers love to fish for rainbow trout, channel catfish and black crappie. Definitely one of the best places to camp near Sacramento!
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