Free Camping Near Truckee | Forest Road 07

Believe it or not, you can find free camping near Truckee! There are a number of great dispersed camp spots off Jackson Meadows Road, or Forest Road 07. Several forest roads branch off of the main Forest Road 07 leading to lakes, trails and pretty sights. For those of you car/tent camping, there are more options found on these forest roads. If you’re looking for dispersed camping near Truckee with a rig, then Forest Road 0720 is probably your best bet.

The dispersed camp spots on Forest Road 0720 can be found tucked into the trees, some located near the creek and of varying sizes. This area does get busy, especially on weekends so it’s a good idea to check availability by scouting ahead. The best park about camping near Jackson Meadows Road is the wealth of beauty and adventures in the area. Check it out!

Quick Info: Free Camping Near Truckee

Ownership: Forest Service; 14 Day Limit

Cost: Free

Directions: From Truckee, follow the CA-89 N for about 14.5 miles until you reach Forest Road 07/Jackson Meadows Road. Turn left onto Forest Road 07 and follow that for about 5.5 miles then make another left onto Forest Road 0720. There are several dispersed camp spots throughout this area.

Road Conditions: Good; Forest Road 07 is paved and Forest Road 0720 is a well maintained dirt/gravel road.

Miles From Town: 15 miles from Sierraville and 22 miles from Truckee

Cell Service: No

Solar: Ok – most of the camp spots are in the woods so sunlight is limited.

Water: None but there is a river nearby if you’re set up to purify water.

Our Experience: Camping Near Truckee

While we were camping at the beautiful Kyburz Flat, we kept driving up to Jackson Meadows Road to go on adventures. So finally we looked for dispersed camping on the nearby forest roads and found some good spots. So we packed up and made the move!

The spot that we found was tucked into a patch of woods with a great meadow view! We had plenty of shade to hang out in but parked the trailer as close to the opening to the meadow as we could for better solar.

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As always, we walked around the area while we were camping near Truckee and checked out the other dirt roads. We found a lot of other dispersed camp spots. Many of them were being used even during the middle of the week. From our spot, we didn’t experience much traffic but we could see people coming and going on the main forest road nearby. Traffic definitely picked up on the weekends but nothing crazy. Also, even though we were down near the meadow, we could hear the traffic from up on the paved Forest Road 07.

We really liked our spot here. The combination of open meadow views and a cozy patch of woods was perfect for us. And of course, we enjoyed checking out some of the adventures in the area!

Adventures While Camping Near Truckee

While we were camping near Truckee we did our usual exploration of the nearby forest roads. But from this spot there were many other adventures to check out too.

One of the coolest adventures that we went on while we were camping near Truckee was our river adventure to Webber Falls. As we were getting to know the area, we noticed the Little Truckee River running through it. And one day we rock hopped and walked up river until we reached these awesome pools at the base of Webber Falls and went swimming.

Another memorable adventure nearby was a day hike to the top of Mount Lola (9,143 feet). The hike through the woods was really pleasant with meadow views and rushing water paralleling the trail. And the snowy sections kept us on our toes! But the views from the top were just amazing!

If you follow Forest Road 07 all the way to the end you’ll find Jackson Meadows Reservoir. Continue on the dirt roads from there and there are a bunch of lakes to explore. We decided to check out a cluster of lakes via an overnight backpacking loop. The loop started from Grouse Ridge Trail at Sawmill Lake and did not disappoint! There were so many lakes and some really gorgeous scenery!

And for some random sight seeing we drove up the paved Forest Road 07 to see what we could find. There are several lakes that can be accessed off this road including Independence Lake, Webber Lake, and Lake of the Woods. These lakes were all pretty large and scenic.

Thanks for reading!

We really enjoyed camping near Truckee! The spot itself felt cozy and scenic with plenty of new sights to check out without driving anywhere. And it was also cool how much there was to see and do within a short driving distance. If you’d like to read about some other cool boondocking locations, check out the links below:

• Free Camping at Laguna Mountain Recreation Area
• Dispersed Camping Near Holy Cross Wilderness
• Free Camping at Volcanic Tablelands
• Dispersed Camping at Logandale Trails

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