What are some good places to camp on a trip from San Francisco to San Diego?

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I'm going to be traveling by car from San Francisco to San Diego over the course of a week and a half, camping in a tent along the way. Since I have a week to make this trip, it doesn't matter if I take a roundabout route (for example, going inland all the way to the Sierra Nevadas wouldn't bother me).

What are some good places for me to camp on the trip? I prefer to be as secluded as possible, to get away from it all. Also, the cheaper the better!

Thanks!

Answer
As I see it, you have 2 choices: Beach route or inland route. Doing both would take you a lot more than a week.

If you want to head inland, you can always take off from S.F. and head to Lake Tahoe. It is about 5 hours to drive. Then, I'd head south into Yosemite. Your only downfall about these two places is that it is summer and you might be hard-pressed to find a campsite. NO JOKE--in Yosemite Valley you usually have to reserve a campsite 6 months in advance. You might have more luck finding sites that are outside the park. (From Lake Tahoe to Yosemite, take highway 395) After Yosemite you could either stick with the 395 and head to Death Valley, then Interstate 10 to Joshua Tree. You could also leave Yosemite on the 120 and head to Interstate 5, which can take you to places like King's Canyon and Sequoia National Park, and then into the LA area.

If you wanted to go the beach route, skip the 1 (it will take much, much more than a week) and go on the 101. It gives you easy access to Santa Cruz, Monterrey, Big Sur, and San Simeon (Hearst Castle is a must see!), Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, The Santa Monica Mountains (you can hike there to see where the show MASH was filmed), Hollywood, and then to Interstate 5 which will drive down the Southern California coast and into San Diego.

My husband and I have done these trips many times and they are fabulous either way. It just depends on what you want to see. The coastal route offers many beach sites to camp. For a good reference on camping, I would recommend the book "California Camping;" that's our Bible.

Have fun!!!!