Camping and Back Country Motion Picture Locations
Contemporary, period, horror films and background scenery shots.
Name: Mount Tamalpais State Park
Features: Mount Tamalpais has redwood groves and oak woodlands with a spectacular view from the 2,571-foot peak. On a clear day, visitors can see the Farallon Islands 25 miles out to sea, the Marin County hills, San Francisco and the bay, hills and cities of the East Bay, and Mount Diablo. On rare occasions, the Sierra Nevada's snow-covered mountains can be seen 150 miles away.
Travel: From San Francisco (SFO) 27 miles ~ Drive Time 51 minutes
Website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=471
Name: Calaveras Big Trees State Park
Features: Calaveras became a State Park in 1931 to preserve the North Grove of giant sequoias. This grove includes the "Discovery Tree", the first Sierra redwood noted by Augustus T. Dowd in 1852. This area has been a major tourist attraction ever since, and is considered the longest continuously operated tourist facility in California.
Travel: From Sacramento (SMF) Airport 115 miles ~ Drive Time 2 hours, 20 minutes
Website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=551
Name: Mount San Jacinto State Park
Features: The summit of Mount San Jacinto stands 10,834 feet above sea level, and is the second highest mountain range in Southern California. The mountain's magnificent granite peaks, subalpine forests, and fern-bordered mountain meadows offer a unique opportunity to explore a scenic, high-country wilderness area.
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway takes visitors to the Mountain station which has spectacular views
of the desert floor below can be seen.
Travel: From Los Angeles (LAX) Airport 124 miles ~ Drive Time 2 hours, 34 minutes
Website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=636
Name: Los Osos Oaks State Reserve
Features: The reserve features ancient sand dunes that are covered with centuries old coastal live oak trees. The larger oak trees can grow to be 25 feet in height with the branches and trunks twisted in all sorts of fantastic shapes.
Travel: From San Jose (SJC) Airport 197 miles ~ Drive Time 3 hours
Website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=597
Name: Big Basin Redwoods State Park
Features: Big Basin is California's oldest State Park, established in 1902. Home to the largest continuous stand of Ancient Coast Redwoods south of San Francisco, the park consists of Old Growth and recovering Redwood Forest, with mixed conifer, oaks, chaparral, and riparian habitats. Elevations in the park vary from sea level to over 2,000 feet. The park has over 80 miles of trails. Some of these trails link Big Basin to Castle Rock State Park and the eastern reaches of the Santa Cruz range. The "Skyline to the Sea Trail" threads its way through the park along Waddell Creek to the beach and adjacent Theodore J. Hoover Natural Preserve, a freshwater marsh.
Travel: From San Francisco (SFO) 56 miles ~ Drive Time 1 hour, 30 minutes
Website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=540
Name: Mendocino Woodlands State Park
Features: The Mendocino Woodlands State Park is a year-round group camping retreat facility and environmental center nestled in the heart of the Redwood Forest, just northeast of the town of Mendocino. A 720 acre park, the Woodlands offers three private group cabin camping areas that can accommodate groups of 30 to 200.
Travel: From Sacramento (SMF) Airport 197 miles ~ Drive Time 3 hours, 40 minutes
Website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=443
Name: Montaña de Oro State Park
Features: This park features rugged cliffs, secluded sandy beaches, coastal plains, streams, canyons, and hills, including 1,347-foot Valencia Peak. It also features golden wildflowers that bloom in spring.
Travel: From San Jose (SJC) Airport 204 miles ~ Drive Time 3 hours, 15 minutes
Website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=592
Name: Mac Kerricher State Park
Features: Mac Kerricher State Park offers a variety of habitats; beach, bluff, headland, dune, forest and wetland. Tidepools are along the shore. Seals live on the rocks off the park’s Mendocino coast. More than 90 species of birds visit or live near Cleone Lake, a formal tidal lagoon. The nearby headland provides a good lookout for whale watching and there are two freshwater lakes in the park.
Travel: From Sacramento (SMF) Airport 184 miles ~ Drive Time 3 hours, 36 minutes
Website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=436
Name: Humboldt Redwoods State Park
Features: Humboldt Redwoods State Park encompasses nearly 53,000 acres, of which over 17,000 are untouched old growth coast redwoods. Created in 1921 with the small Bolling Memorial Grove, the park has grown to include a diverse ecosystem. It includes the entire Bull Creek watershed and the Rockefeller Forest, the largest remaining old growth redwood forest in the world.
Travel: From Sacramento (SMF) Airport 231 miles ~ Drive Time 4 hours approx.
From Rogue Valley Int'l Airport-Medford, Oregon 247 miles ~ Drive Time 4 hours approx.
Website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=425
Name: Caswell Memorial State Park
Features: The park is located along the Stanislaus River near the town of Ripon, California. The park protects a fine example of the threatened and still declining riparian oak woodland, which once flourished throughout California's Central Valley. Caswell is home to several endangered animal species, including the riparian brush rabbit which is not known to occur anywhere else.
Travel: From San Jose (SJC) Airport 74 miles ~ Drive Time 1 hour, 20 minutes
Website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=557