Nacimiento-Fergusson Road

There are a few pulloffs along the creek where you can camp for free. I found one between the two NFS campgrounds that was setback from the road better and right on the creek. 36.003932, -121.396091 The creek was completely dry when I got there, but started running a bit in a couple days. Crystal clear cool water. The site had a couple places to pitch a tent and it was pretty dusty with loose silt but no worries about getting stuck. There was the usual human waste and TP scattered around, even in the creek bed, always disappointing. The flies can be annoying. Very quiet at night. So quiet that when there was loud crashing along the creek at dawn it definitely got my heart pounding. The deer bound along to get over the fallen logs and make quite a racket. A nearby pulloff seems to be a regular place to stop and use a convenient tree to pollute the forest. A couple guys shuffeling through the leaves sounds a lot like a big bear. On the weekends the car clubs and motorcycle clubs fill the twisting narrow mountain road but the interruption is brief. Ponderosa campground to the East has well water, trash and pit toilets. Nacimiento campground to the west has trash and pit toilets. There is no cell service along this road. You can drive about 7 miles East to get 4G or 7 miles West to Cone Peak road then 7 miles up to end of Cone Peak rd to get usable 4G. There is some weak signal right at the East edge of the NF border on top of the hill.

Don't confuse this with the official campground, which costs $20 a night. You'll pass that on the way in (coming from the coast), but keep going to find this spot, which is really just a big pull out with some nice shady spots next to the creek. There's lots of old trees and incredible scenery. I think only one car came by all night. Very isolated feeling but still on a main paved road so none of the hassles with worrying about getting stuck in a 2wd car. The only negatives were it was hot and humid in July and the bugs are very bad. Bring mosquito repellent.

We stayed here on our way to Kirk Creek campground. I goofed on our reservation date and we needed a place for the night. This was perfect! The area is really wide so you can fit multiple vehicles. The river water was a beautiful clear blue. It rained while we were there but the ground was nicely packed so we weren’t worried about getting stuck in the mud.
On our way back from a walk we came across two men from Fish and Game. Apparently this is a very popular spot for fishing but people come out during off seasons and with no license.
Further down Nacimiento-Fergusson rd roadside camping is not allowed.
Also this road has a lot of sharp curves. We took it slow and were fine but I’d be very careful in anything big.