Camping and Back Country Motion Picture Locations

Contemporary, period, horror films and background scenery shots.



Name: Mount Tamalpais State Park
Mount Tamalpais SP
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/default.asp?page_id=471


Calaveras Big Tress SpName: 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/default.asp?page_id=551


Mount San Jacinto SPName: 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/default.asp?page_id=636


Los Osos Oaks SRName: 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/default.asp?page_id=597


Big Basin Redwoods State ParkName: 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/default.asp?page_id=540


Mendocino Woodlands SPName: 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/default.asp?page_id=443


Montana de Oro State ParkName: 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/default.asp?page_id=592


MacKerricher State ParkName: 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/default.asp?page_id=436


RedwoodsName: 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/default.asp?page_id=425


Casewell Memorial State ParkName: 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/default.asp?page_id=557