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Dispersed Campsites in El Dorado National Forest in CA

PostPosted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:55 pm
by pvc22
Are there any dispersed campsites near Packsaddle Pass forest road near highway 50 in California? The forest road is south of highway 50. The forest road is near Cody Lake. I thought I may have saw some areas on Google Earth where you can turn out to camp. Could someone correct me if I am right or not? I may have saw a few more possible campsites near Cody Meadow forest road also. Packsaddle Pass road leads into Cody Meadow road. According to the El Dorado National Forest rules you can camp for free off a forest road at least 150 feet away from a forest road. Are there any forest maps available that show the locations of dispersed campsites?

Dispersed Campsites in El Dorado National Forest in CA

PostPosted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:54 pm
by pvc22
Ok. If there is a fire ring at the end of the turnout areas, they are probably campsites. I'll plot the coordinates of the dispersed campsites on my GPS and check out the dispersed campsites. I called the Placerville Ranger District about this, but they did not seem to know where the dispersed campsites really are.

PostPosted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:15 pm
by Eric O
I'm an old Eagle Scout from Troop 1 in Sacramento, used to attend Camp Cody at Cody Lake every summer. Have traveled over Packsaddle Pass numerous times in the course of riding bicycles from Sac to Tahoe and other adventures.

There certainly are repeatedly-used camp spots up there, but they're more of a bulk phenomenon -- in other words there are plenty out there but no one is necessarily going to be able to point you to an exact specific spot unless you somehow get ahold of the specific people who have used them.

Put it this way: if you arrive in that general area during daylight hours you should have no trouble finding places within reach of ordinary motor vehicles that make good campsites, weather depending. Please be extremely fire-safe up there!

Dispersed Campsites in El Dorado National Forest in CA

PostPosted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 9:11 pm
by pvc22
I found a dispersed campsite on the road to Cody lake with a fire ring. It looked like some people camped there before me. There was a nice shady spot I found. There were alot of annoying flies and mosquitoes around in the campsite, but great views of Pyramid Peak.