Low-driving vacation spots in California
June 23, 2019 8:25 AM Subscribe
I'm trying to find a good place in California to make into our annual vacation spot -- somewhere with rental cabins where kids and adults can explore and walk to fun outdoor activities without everyone having to pile in a car. Please share your best camping or vacation rental experiences if you would!
Growing up, our family rented a cabin in this former summer camp turned into private rentals. Some years, family friends or our cousins rented cabins too. There was almost no car traffic, so us kids could walk or bike to visit our cousins, play at the playground, explore a woodsy area, go fishing, buy ice cream, or take a swim. It was a really safe area, so except for swimming, our parents let us roam independently, and we loved having all that freedom. I'm trying to recreate this somewhere in California.
What are your best low-car vacation spots in/near California, where some people can head out to outdoor activities without us needing to pile the whole family in the car?
I'm okay with a range of accommodations -- tents, small rental houses, bigger houses, hostel-style accommodations. In my ideal world, it'd be kind of a basic, small house or even a rustic cabin -- something with indoor showers and a kitchen, but otherwise not super "nice" (no internet, no A/C), to keep the focus on getting outside. And ideally, there would be multiple smaller places so that other families could join the trip without us having to always coordinate a co-tenant situation. But I'm open to anything. (I'm just giving more details in case it sparks other ideas.)
The more budget-friendly, the better! But I'm open to hear whatever you want to suggest. If you don't want to share your best place on the open internet, feel free to send me a memail instead! Any ideas would be much appreciated, thanks!
Growing up, our family rented a cabin in this former summer camp turned into private rentals. Some years, family friends or our cousins rented cabins too. There was almost no car traffic, so us kids could walk or bike to visit our cousins, play at the playground, explore a woodsy area, go fishing, buy ice cream, or take a swim. It was a really safe area, so except for swimming, our parents let us roam independently, and we loved having all that freedom. I'm trying to recreate this somewhere in California.
What are your best low-car vacation spots in/near California, where some people can head out to outdoor activities without us needing to pile the whole family in the car?
I'm okay with a range of accommodations -- tents, small rental houses, bigger houses, hostel-style accommodations. In my ideal world, it'd be kind of a basic, small house or even a rustic cabin -- something with indoor showers and a kitchen, but otherwise not super "nice" (no internet, no A/C), to keep the focus on getting outside. And ideally, there would be multiple smaller places so that other families could join the trip without us having to always coordinate a co-tenant situation. But I'm open to anything. (I'm just giving more details in case it sparks other ideas.)
The more budget-friendly, the better! But I'm open to hear whatever you want to suggest. If you don't want to share your best place on the open internet, feel free to send me a memail instead! Any ideas would be much appreciated, thanks!
Response by poster: Northern CA -- anywhere within, let's say, 6 hours of Davis (just west of Sacramento). (Closer is definitely better, but if it's a particularly great place, we could make the trip.)
Budget is flexible, but lower is better.
posted by slidell at 3:13 PM on June 23, 2019
Budget is flexible, but lower is better.
posted by slidell at 3:13 PM on June 23, 2019
I ended up not needing the answers to this question but there might be some inspiration there. Costonoa might be the sort of thing you're looking for.
posted by hoyland at 5:13 PM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by hoyland at 5:13 PM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
We would go stay at a family friend's cabin in Bear Valley (which we would drive to from San Francisco) when I was a kid. There was a pond with a dock that we would walk to every day and swim in, which is the source of most of my fond memories!
posted by mollywas at 5:33 PM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by mollywas at 5:33 PM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
Oz Farm is our go-to, but Hipcamp has lots of lovely glamping.
posted by rdc at 9:02 PM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by rdc at 9:02 PM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Pines Resort fits the bill (except maybe cost). I stayed there for a wedding and was too busy to explore too much, but I know one of the other guests used to do family vacations there as a kid. It's about 3 hrs from Davis, and it's got relatively easy access to Yosemite and the giant Sequoias for when people want to go farther afield.
posted by natabat at 9:12 AM on June 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by natabat at 9:12 AM on June 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by hampanda at 11:46 AM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]