Under Age??
 

Hi I am, a 16 year old boy from Arcadia, CA who loves to cycle with my friends. Unfortunately, one of our friends this year is moving to a different city and as a fair well party we were planning to ride to Lake Arrowhead and camp there for two days during the summer. Our parents thinks it is a great idea, but we don't know if we can reserve a campground. Does anybody know the minimum age in CA to reserve a campground?

Ask one of your parents to make the reservation for you.

Ask the particular campground. But where I am from, at public campgrounds (i.e., state and county parks), there must be at least one person 18 or older.

Don't let that get in your way, check first to see if your parents can make reservations for you, and if someone has to be 18 with you, either just stealth camp somewhere, or just go to the campground anyways. Back when I was 16-17 we camped at places all the time, just showed up right before dark, and if they asked for ID, just say you don't have it on you. In 90% of cases they will let you stay there anyways.

1+. To be on the safe side, have your parents write a note, documentating their permission for the tour, with contact numbers. For nosy authority figures. Might help at the reserved camping sites too.

thnxs guys this made me a lot better, and if all else fail I'll just stealth camp.

Sounds like a great adventure. Have a good time and be safe.

A few thoughts, isn't that in the SBNF? If it is in SBNF you have some options if you can't rent a campsite for the night. SBNF has "Yellow Post" sites that are not in Campgrounds, but usually found off the beaten path up some Forest Service Roads. You can have a campfire at Yellow Post Sites, but I think you need to stop by the Ranger Station and get a fire permit, which IIRC is not as much as a campsite, and you usually won't have any neighbors nearby. Another option is dispersed camping, and the only drawback is you can't have a fire, and must use a propane stove. Hope it all works out, have a good time and be safe.

Not sure about the rules etc. in your area, but I was 15 when I took my first long tour 50 years ago. During that time, young people had to have chaperons or parental guidance for darn near everything. My buddy and I stealth camped (it was great fun being sneaky) and had a great time, even though many adults were nosy about us as we entered new communities along the way. Have a great experience, just don't do anything outrageous to draw attention to yourselves.

you can just call the Forest Rangers office and ask. The Angeles Forest website is sort of hard to navigate but you can find a lot of information there. And I do believe you can wild camp, so long as there are no signs prohibiting camping in the area. It really shouldn't be that hard to do that, but be prepared to do without camp amenities. Or you can find out if a parent can reserve it for you.

oh yea, no camp fire in dispersed camping. google that term and angeles forest for more info. There are ways to do without a camp fire, though.

This is very good advice, which can make a huge difference when dealing with the police (who are looking out for your well-being) and campsites.

Have a great trip :)

Most of the State Parks I've seen in California have a Hiker Biker site which is cheaper and requires no reservations.