UKIAH, CA., 6/14/25 — Next week, the Mendocino County Department of Planning and Building Services will be holding its final stakeholder meeting as part of a series the county organized to facilitate discussions about low-intensity camping, informally known as “dude ranches” or “hip camps.”
The stakeholder meeting to discuss an inland low-intensity camping ordinance will be held at the county offices in Ukiah on Wednesday at 6 p.m. These meetings follow a contentious discussion about the topic that happened in February, when county supervisors and local hip camp owners spoke about the positives and negatives of creating a detailed permitting process for low-intensity campsites.
Public commenters at the February meeting included small business operators who utilize the online website Hipcamp, a company similar to Airbnb that allows homeowners to convert their property into camping sites for tourists and visitors.
“There’s a lot of misinformation about low-intensity camping and this is a way for the board, the planning department, and the planning commission to hear what people are thinking and what their concerns are,” said Supervisor John Haschak in an interview. “Hipcamp and low-intensity camping are happening in Mendocino County, and we just need to figure out how to regulate it. But we don’t want to overregulate.”
The county has already held stakeholder meetings on low-intensity camping in areas such as Anderson Valley, Willits and Covelo.
The next stakeholder meeting to discuss low-intensity camping regulations will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Mendocino County Administration Center, 501 Low Gap Road, Ukiah. The meeting can also be viewed on Zoom via a link on the county’s website.