Expert: Steve Summers - 4/25/2010

Question
hi, my name is heather and im from out of state. im out traveling with my boyfriend and our son. i was woundering if there was any free campgrounds for people with tents in venice, ca or around that area.

Answer
Hi Heather,

Sorry to say, but nothing is free in California. If there were free camping, it would be filled to capacity all-year round by people who can't afford to live in apartments.

Over the past several years, there has been a dramtic rise in campground fees. To begin with, there aren't any campgrounds anywere close to Venice, which is a rather urban area. The nearest tent camping is Leo Carillo State Park, which is about 27 miles north on PCH. The next closest is Doheny State Beach, about 70 miles south of Venice. You can make reservations at www.reserveamerica.com.

If you are thinking of trying to set up your tent on some lonely stretch of beach, I would strongly advise against it. First, there are no "lonely" stretches of beach in the SoCal area. Every square inch of beach is jealously guarded by residents and local law enforcement. In fact, I'm guessing that you wouldn't have your tent set up for 5 minutes before one of the authorities would be telling you to take it down and move on. I'm only mentioning this because we get a lot of people who think that you can just camp on the beach here, and that's not the case at all.

So check out reserveamerica.com, and try your luck with the state beaches.


Good luck!