Dispersed camping means camping on national forest or BLM land outside a developed campground. No reservation, no fee, no host, no toilet, no water. In California it’s legal on most Forest Service and BLM land unless a sign or a forest order says otherwise, and it’s the one kind of camping that doesn’t sell out.

Searches for “dispersed camping california” are up 60% over five years, and “joshua tree south dispersed camping” is up 250%. People are looking because the parks are full. Here are the rules, where it exists near the parks that sell out, and what it costs you in comfort.

The rules

You can stay 14 days in one spot on most national forest and BLM land, then you have to move. [VERIFY: current stay limits for the forests below; some districts use shorter limits]

You need a California campfire permit for any campfire, charcoal or gas stove outside a developed campground. It’s free, it’s online, it takes about five minutes, and it’s valid for a year. [VERIFY: current permit site and validity period] Searches for “california campfire permit” are up 70%, which tells you how many people are finding this out at the trailhead.

Fire restrictions override the permit. In summer and autumn most California forests ban open fires outside developed campgrounds, and in bad years they ban stoves. Check the forest’s current restrictions the morning you leave, not the week before. [VERIFY: current restrictions per forest at publishing]

Camp well away from streams and lakes, off the road surface, in a spot that’s already been used. Don’t clear a new one. [VERIFY: each forest’s distance-from-water and distance-from-road rules]

Pack out everything, including toilet paper. Bury human waste far from water and camp, or pack it out where the forest requires it. [VERIFY: whether any of the areas below require pack-out] Don’t cut live wood. Don’t leave a fire ring you built. The spots that get closed are the ones that got trashed.

Los Padres National Forest, near Big Sur

Big Sur’s public campgrounds are among the hardest in the state to book. Andrew Molera and Plaskett Creek scored 100 (nothing bookable on any night) in the three weeks from September 10 to 30, 2026. Pfeiffer Big Sur (153 sites) and Limekiln (18) rated High. The private places (Ventana, Fernwood, Riverside, Big Sur Campground and Cabins) book direct and cost more, and no alert service can watch them.

Los Padres National Forest surrounds all of it, and dispersed camping is allowed in parts of the forest. The honest caveat: not along Highway 1. Roadside camping on the coast highway is closed and enforced. The dispersed spots are inland, up the forest roads that climb into the mountains behind the coast, and in the backcountry you reach on foot. [VERIFY: current Monterey Ranger District dispersed camping rules, Highway 1 corridor closures and forest road status] Expect an hour of dirt road from the ocean, and you won’t hear the waves.

The southern end of the same forest, above Ojai, holds Wheeler Gorge, which produced 28 of our alerts in four weeks, second only to San Onofre statewide. The forest roads above it are the dispersed option.

Inyo National Forest, east of Yosemite

Yosemite Valley’s three campgrounds scored 98 in our late-September window. Tuolumne Meadows is Moderate in summer and High in autumn. When those are gone, cross Tioga Pass.

Inyo National Forest, on the east side, allows dispersed camping across most of it. The usual areas are around Lee Vining and the June Lake Loop, and the roads off Highway 395. It’s high, dry and cold at night, even in August. [VERIFY: Inyo NF dispersed camping restrictions near Lee Vining, June Lake and Mammoth]

Tioga Road closes for the winter, and until it reopens the east side is a long way around from the Valley. [VERIFY: Tioga Road closure and opening dates] Even in summer, the Valley is a couple of hours away. This is a Tuolumne and high-country trip, not a Half Dome trip.

BLM land south of Joshua Tree

South of the park’s Cottonwood entrance, on the road down to Interstate 10, there’s free BLM dispersed camping. That’s the “joshua tree south dispersed camping” everyone is searching for. [VERIFY: current BLM boundaries and any closures south of Cottonwood]

Timing decides whether you need it. In September, Joshua Tree’s own campgrounds are wide open: Jumbo Rocks (119 sites), Indian Cove (97) and Black Rock (94) all rated Low, meaning room on nearly every night. Nobody wants the desert in the heat. In the cool months the same campgrounds book months ahead, and that’s when the BLM land south of the park fills with the people who missed out.

Sierra National Forest, near Kings Canyon

Sheep Creek campground in Kings Canyon produced 11 of our cancellation alerts in four weeks. Sierra National Forest sits between Yosemite and Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Forest wraps the south side. Both allow dispersed camping across much of their land, reached by forest roads off the highways into the parks. [VERIFY: current Sierra NF and Sequoia NF dispersed rules and post-fire closures near Kings Canyon] Parts of both have burned in recent years and closures move around, so check the forest’s alerts page before you commit to a road.

What it costs you

Not money. Everything else.

There’s no water, so you carry all of it. There’s no toilet, no trash can, no table, no fire ring, no host, and often no cell signal. The last few miles are usually dirt, and after rain some of them want high clearance. On holiday weekends the well-known spots near the parks are crowded, because everyone read the same forum post. If you want to be alone, go another mile.

In a bad fire year you may not be allowed a fire or even a stove, which turns dinner into sandwiches.

For a lot of people that’s a fair trade for a free site with a view and no 8am race. For a lot of others it isn’t.

Or wait for the site you wanted

The other route is to keep chasing the campground you wanted. Of the 329 alerts we sent between August 13 and September 10, 2026, three quarters were for sites that came back within a week of the arrival date, and Tuesday (41) and Wednesday (40) were the big cancellation days.

Set a free alert on the park you wanted and we email you the moment a site comes back: campsitescan.com. Keep the dispersed spot as the fallback, and if the email lands first, take the site with the toilet.

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How we score sellouts is explained in how we measure.

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