America’s Camping Report Card
California
#37 of 43 for camping
Better than 14% of graded states · overall grade B — campers like it.
Graded on 86,979 written reviews from California - no star ratings, just what people wrote.
The breakdown
Letter grades reflect how campers actually felt about each topic - A means they loved it, not that it beat other states.
What campers praised
- beautiful campground797
- beautiful place596
- beautiful scenery503
- great location503
- beautiful area434
What campers warned about
- windy conditions44
- no shade39
- little shade22
- low water level18
- lake very low16
- Praised by
- 48.8%
- Warned by
- 2.5%
- Rank
- Better than 67% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.462 (±0.004, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- hiking trails138
- hiking trails nearby91
- fishing75
- great hiking74
- nearby hiking trails66
What campers warned about
- not much to do18
- fishing was poor9
- limited things to do9
- nothing to do5
- fishing not good4
- Praised by
- 26.5%
- Warned by
- 1.4%
- Rank
- Better than 41% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.251 (±0.003, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- spacious sites529
- great campsite363
- spacious site285
- nice campsite261
- beautiful campsite211
What campers warned about
- sites very close together141
- sites close together129
- sites too close together101
- no shade45
- no shade at site37
- Praised by
- 35.2%
- Warned by
- 12.6%
- Rank
- Better than 2% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.226 (±0.004, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- clean bathrooms1580
- clean1079
- very clean971
- well maintained762
- clean restrooms692
What campers warned about
- dirty bathrooms62
- bathrooms not clean32
- trash left behind30
- bathrooms not cleaned28
- dirty restrooms24
- Praised by
- 30.8%
- Warned by
- 8.2%
- Rank
- Better than 26% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.226 (±0.004, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- friendly staff548
- friendly camp host211
- friendly camp hosts203
- friendly host201
- friendly hosts198
What campers warned about
- no camp host67
- no camp host present63
- no host present51
- rude camp host25
- no camp host on site24
- Praised by
- 24.8%
- Warned by
- 5.2%
- Rank
- Better than 36% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.196 (±0.003, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- bathrooms286
- clean bathrooms285
- flush toilets211
- bathrooms and showers191
- restrooms187
What campers warned about
- no showers421
- no water available238
- no running water209
- no potable water125
- no water85
- Praised by
- 23.3%
- Warned by
- 14.2%
- Rank
- Better than 36% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.090 (±0.004, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- quiet1197
- quiet campground614
- very quiet581
- quiet atmosphere411
- quiet and peaceful224
What campers warned about
- sites close together110
- road noise91
- sites very close together84
- highway noise73
- sites too close together55
- Praised by
- 15.9%
- Warned by
- 13.2%
- Rank
- Better than 5% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.028 (±0.004, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- family friendly91
- dog friendly66
- friendly people53
- friendly campers46
- friendly neighbors39
What campers warned about
- felt unwelcome4
- not family friendly4
- not kid friendly3
- racist treatment3
- disrespectful campers2
- Praised by
- 2.7%
- Warned by
- 0.5%
- Rank
- Better than 41% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.022 (±0.001, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- close to town206
- easy access146
- easy to find123
- convenient location104
- easy to get to99
What campers warned about
- no cell service63
- close to highway22
- rough road in21
- no cell reception13
- hard to find at night12
- Praised by
- 11.1%
- Warned by
- 9.6%
- Rank
- Better than 62% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.014 (±0.003, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- free camping65
- affordable60
- great price54
- free45
- free campground39
What campers warned about
- too expensive16
- overpriced11
- expensive10
- firewood expensive10
- firewood overpriced10
- Praised by
- 3.4%
- Warned by
- 3.6%
- Rank
- Better than 12% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment -0.002 (±0.002, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- felt safe99
- safe77
- felt very safe32
- feels safe24
- very safe24
What campers warned about
- no cell service20
- no bear boxes10
- bear precautions9
- bears at night8
- bear encounter7
- Praised by
- 2.1%
- Warned by
- 4.2%
- Rank
- Better than 7% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment -0.021 (±0.002, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- easy check-in35
- would book again23
- will book again19
- last-minute availability15
- no reservation needed13
What campers warned about
- hard to get reservations30
- hard to get a reservation23
- double-booked site18
- hard to get a spot18
- hard to get a site16
- Praised by
- 2.3%
- Warned by
- 4.8%
- Rank
- Better than 17% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment -0.025 (±0.002, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- dog friendly58
- quiet hours enforced22
- quiet hours respected22
- pet friendly21
- dogs allowed17
What campers warned about
- quiet hours not enforced130
- no campfires allowed60
- no fires allowed42
- quiet hours ignored33
- rules not enforced26
- Praised by
- 1.2%
- Warned by
- 5.3%
- Rank
- Better than 12% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment -0.041 (±0.002, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- no bugs31
- no mosquitoes21
- no mosquitos12
- wildlife sightings12
- few bugs11
What campers warned about
- mosquitoes103
- lots of mosquitoes86
- windy conditions65
- very windy conditions58
- poison oak everywhere47
- Praised by
- 0.9%
- Warned by
- 9.3%
- Rank
- Lowest-ranked among graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment -0.084 (±0.002, 95% CI) from 86,979 written reviews, 65% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
We read every written review of a campground in California and used AI to label what each camper praised or complained about, across 14 topics. A topic’s score is the share who praised it minus the share who complained, and the letter is absolute: A means campers loved it, F means they were frustrated — on a fixed scale, not a curve. So a topic isn’t marked down just because another state scored higher. Switch to Raw numbers to see the share who praised vs. warned behind every grade.
The rank (California vs. other states) is shown separately, because most states are genuinely good overall — the ranking is what tells them apart. The overall grade is the average of the topic grades, weighted by how often campers raise each one.
Only states with at least 2,000 reviews are graded, and every topic carries a 95% confidence interval from its sample size.
Topic weights
- Scenery15%
- Campsites15%
- Cleanliness13%
- Facilities12%
- Staff & hosts10%
- Things to do9%
- Crowds & noise8%
- Getting there6%
- Bugs & weather3%
- Booking2%
- Value2%
- Rules & policies2%
- Safety2%
- Welcoming1%
Methodology v3-absolute-grade-plus-rank | 43 states graded | updated June 2026.