Free places to shoot in California?

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I am in OC as well. I go out to the Palm Springs area all the time. It's a two hour drive, but it is open and legal. Call the Palm Springs BLM field office for details on which canyons are open to the public. They will also outline the boundaries of Joshua Tree National Park. You don't want to stray into the park.
Mauerguy
 
Come on down here to San Diego and we can all shoot. I think I can even beat 2 hours by a little.:)
 
Thanks for all the places, but they are all pretty far. Is there anything closer than Palm Springs (which is an hour and a half drive for me)? I'm not too lazy to make some phone calls, but I don't know who to start with. Thanks again for all the input.
 
I live in Norcal and I have the same problem. I really cringe when I see pictures of folks from who-knows-where shooting from their back porch!

I wish I could do that. LOL!

-Dev
 
Try whatever National Forest is closest to you. Websites are somewhat different from Region to Region, but mine for instance, has a section on shooting areas. You shouldn't have to worry about it now, but during fire season, they are often closed.
 
Find the closest National Forests or BLM land, then check to be sure it's okay to go target shooting. A better board to ask this on is CalGuns.net

In SoCal, I believe some of the Nat'l Forests have restrictions during the summer due to fire danger, so check. Also, you can't shoot in Forest "Wilderness Areas", but those are so remote you usually wouldn't want to shoot there anyway. BLM land is virtually always okay to go shooting in (Mauserguy, are there any BLM areas in the Palm Springs area that aren't legal to target shoot in??). National Forests are marked on every road map I ever saw, while for BLM maps you will need to hunt around. I bought the BLM CA CD-ROM map for about sixty bucks.

You also need to check county ordinances governing shooting. There are also the general state laws, which say things like no shooting within a hundred yards of a road, or structures/camp sites.
 
Smilin Steve said:
Thanks for all the places, but they are all pretty far. Is there anything closer than Palm Springs (which is an hour and a half drive for me)? I'm not too lazy to make some phone calls, but I don't know who to start with. Thanks again for all the input.
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Where in OC are you?
 
i'm so glad to see this has gotten at least 10 posts without having to hear about how horrible our state is, or that the best option is just to move out! hooray for CA.

last i checked there was a proposal to ban shooting in some 40 acre area of blm land in the palm springs area. haven't followed up to see if any action was taken, though. a blm map and calling the local regional blm office is defnitely a good idea.

last i shot out in the middle of nowhere was somewhere north of barstow, can't tell you where exactly because i went along with a friend who knew where he was going and drove. best shooting fun i ever had. we had, among other things, a cardboard standup of captain planet and a couple of discarded mannequins. cleaned up our mangled targets and brass, of course.

i'd love to do it more, but the cost/time restrictions of driving so far lead me to spend the typical shoot at lytle creek.
 
Ah, for the good ol' days when Lytle Creek was free!

Oh well.

California ain't what it used to be, across the board. Once a land of free-spirited creative tinkerers, now it's being overtaken by boring control freaks and moonbats.

Surfing is still fun. Otherwise, I'd just as soon move.:)

And I'm a 39-year-old native of Huntington Beach.
 
There used to be a place outside of riverside.....near the the city of parris skydiving airport......as i remember you go past the airport then take the 1st turn off of the main road that runs along the riverbed and follow it out about mile and you'll see all of the shooting spots. Now mind you this was a few years ago that i was out there.
 
Yes, I have been told by one BLM ranger that there are BLM lands in the Palm Springs area that are off limits. I believe that they are neat the utility yards. You can shoot on top of the aqueduct, for example, but not near the nature preserve. I go out to 1000 Palms Canyon a lot. I will probably be out there this weekend. Maybe I will get shaken down by a ranger, again. Ugh...
Mauserguy
 
Also, you can't shoot in Forest "Wilderness Areas",
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Remember, while you can not target shoot in National Forest Wilderness Areas, you CAN discharge a firearm to legally take game animals. It is legal to hunt, but no random shooting.

I think the closest place to shoot would be over the Cajon Pass, and out past Kramer Junction. I like the El Paso Mountains.

I also think Los Padres and San Bernadino N.F. have special shooting restrictions compaired to other National Forests.
 
I also think Los Padres and San Bernadino N.F. have special shooting restrictions compaired to other National Forests.
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For Los Padres at least, where I do my shooting, the only real restriction in most of the designated areas is a fire restriction, usually prohibiting shooting from around Aug-Nov, depending on conditions.

I'm actually surprised they are so "pro-shooting" here, especially if you see the garbage dump-like appearance of some of the areas. I get so disgusted that I always haul a couple of hefty bags of garbage out with me when I go, just to try and make a little dent in the mess (but my hatred of slobs is anothert topic).
 
Not free but reasonably priced

I usually shoot at Prado Olympic park. Good outdoor range. Runs about $12 for the pistol range all day. First and third Saturdays are IDPA, second and fourth Sundays are IPSIC. Other than that they are open to the public the rest of the time. they also have a nice trap/skeet range as well.

http://www.prado-idpa.com/
 
I'm not a fan of PRado. They're litterally a couple miles from me. But I hate going there. and 12 bucks you say? TRY $15. That;s what they charged me. i paid 30 for me and my dad and we only shot for like an hour, just a couple weeks ago.

I asked if there were any military discounts. None. most places give me one. I asked about membership. I forget the ridiculous price. But i asked if it was at all transdferrable because I'm not gonna be in the state for a full year (again, I'm in the Army)...can I transfer it to my dad when i leave. THey said no. Not to mention you still pay like $10 even WITH membership.

A big thumbs down to prado. they're not impolite or anything. im just not a fan of thier ridiculously high prices and inabilty to be complete bureaucrats to accomodating military who aren't goiing to be in the state for a full year. Every single range i talked to about this offer both a discount and/or some way of transferring membership over to my dad. I would have been able to live with all that...but the prices are still unreasonable.
 
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