That's right... we need your support, visits, and clicks to continue our back roads research. This is Total Escape - an independent guide to California. One crazy camper girl and a simple dream... to show you more of hidden Cali.
Help us help you! Spread the word. We can continue offering up our monthly trips, do more research and build this amazing database of California content, but we need to be known; well known. Get your free bumper stickers right here!
Total Escape is about no corporate America crap & no big time investors! Documenting all the cool places in California - it's the wildest idea since trekking across the entire country in search of gold.
Total Escape is about educating adventure seekers on their lands, the environment, exploring dirt back roads, discovering good camping practices & finding unique destinations in California. Spend any amount of serious time digging thru our pages & thousands of digital photographs on this web site & you will soon know that this stuff takes a great deal of time to find, research & publish. Thanks for following. I promise I will not get you lost, unless you want to be!
Secluded California Camping, Rural Small Towns, Relocation California
TIME
is the season
Total Escape is California, off the beaten path
Due to the ongoing wildfires, numerous forests, parks and campgrounds are closed to the public. Campfires may not be allowed, even inside of developed campgrounds.
Most National Parks, California State Parks, County Parks and BLM lands are still open for recreation. Certain parks and forests have re-opened. Some National Forests are partially OPEN: Plumas NF, Sierra NF, SixRivers NF. Several remain CLOSED, due to forest fires: Eldorado National Forest (Caldor Fire); Sequoia National Forest (Windy Fire); Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park (KNP Complex Fire); Lassen National Forest (Dixie Fire)
#totalescape
Rural California Directory: Now that you've found this independent California resource, you can discover more local destinations online. Find your own rural place, a homestead way up in the hills, or just a forested camp spot for the night. Discover that perfect spot for summer vacation, a hidden meadow, the secluded waterfall, the secret alpine fishing lake or maybe, just a bike rental shop at the beach. We list it here, all outdoors, all local. Travel the back roads of the west, on the cheap. Camp year round, without the fees, from Baja to Shasta. Find secluded spots. Historic, independent inns to remote yurt resorts, yoga weekends to primitive hot springs, RV resorts, or dispersed camp sites. Hiking trails, kayaking lakes, fishing streams, gold mines and ghost towns, and all the topographic maps to go with.
We're still here, thousands of pages and decades later. Way outside the city limits, beyond the county line. No wifi, no smart meters, no gaming addictions, no traffic lights, no city noise. Rural living in California still exist. Hike on the weekends, bike to work, boating mid-week, we have you covered for destinations. Find a new creekside camp spot, a waterfall, trailhead or an ancient lava cave. Total Escape - Two whole decades online. Not quite obsolete.
Craving the Wild? Before the tweets, the constant memes and paralysis of our current culture, DanaMite started this travel web site way back in 1996. Catchy phrases like, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) did not yet exist.
Total Escape features abundant real photos of real places. Secluded destinations, camping and lodging, examining the best back roads, side routes, the topo maps (to get you out there). Locals-only travel tips, gear reviews, festivals and events. This unique travel site is updated every month, for the past 24 years!
Juicy content specific only to California. Focusing on outdoor destinations, small towns and budget-minded travel since 1996, we've recreated the weekend getaway - without the crowds. Escape the matrix, the city life, the traffic jams and learn how to avoid the tourist traps. Drive on past the factory outlet malls and the water slides, we've got much more to show you. Way out there, on the back roads, and in the backcountry.
Wilderness in California - more nature, less people.
