best secluded campsites in northern california?

Look for an area run by the BLM normaly they are free. and quite empty.. there should be lots of area like this in NOCAL..maybe look around big sur or redwood forsest

There's a place near Yosemite, near Fresno Dome called Little Sandy and Big Sandy. Its gorgeous. You can camp right next to the river for free.

some hours from SF, Northern California, no longer too a approaches north, no longer that a lot element... out of your description and the actual incontrovertible reality that you positioned it on Yahoo! solutions provides me a concept that your lake is comparatively large, so i will provide a number of my recommendations. Lake Berryessa (between Santa Rosa and Sacramento) sparkling Lake (possibly too large) Folsom lake (purely east of sacramento) Lake Oroville (farther north than Folsom lake)

You need to look for "dispersed" camping area's. These will be in the national forests and there is an unlimited supply of spots for that.