- Natural Bridges - just north of downtown - whales, seals, otters, tidepools, butterflies (includes the Monarch Butterfly Natural Preserve with 100,000 Monarchs migrating each winter between mid-October and the end of February)
- Nisene Marks - 6kms north of Aptos (Take the State Park Dr exit of Hwy 1, go east on State Park Dr to Soquel Dr, turn right into Soquel Dr, turn left into Aptos Creek Rd before the train station). - remote campsites ($5 in 2006 but require reservations)
- New Brighton Beach - Capitola (Take the New Brighton/Park Avenue exit of Hwy 1) - campsites on a bluff overlooking Monterey Bay ($25 in 2006)
- Butano - near Pescadero beach - campsites ($21 in 2006, the remote campsites are $10 but require reservations)
- Ano Nuevo - north of Santa Cruz off Hwy 1 - elephant seals (require reservations the best time of the year)
- Henry Cowell - Felton - old and tall redwood trees
- Fall Creek - Felton - northern part of Henry Cowell Park
- Big Basin
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The Bay Area is not camper-friendly. Campgrounds are extremely expensive,
hard to book and run like concentration camps.
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