722 Public Boat Ramps in California

We track 722 public boat ramps and landings across 57 counties in California, spanning 275 different rivers, creeks and lakes. Every listing is sourced from official state and federal agency records, not crowdsourced guesswork.

Synced on a regular schedule · Primary data: California Department of Parks and Recreation + U.S. Geological Survey

California Boat Ramp Map

Explore public boat ramp locations across California using the map below. Click a marker to open the corresponding county page, or zoom in to explore a specific area.

Click a marker to open that county's page, or zoom in to explore a specific region of California.

Browse by county

Counties are listed alphabetically. Each one shows how many public boat ramps we currently track there.

Counties with the most boat ramps:

Browse California by waterway type

California's public boat ramps are located on 137 lakes, 25 rivers, 26 bays, 53 reservoirs, 9 harbors, 2 oceans & gulfs, 7 marshes & swamps, 2 creeks, 2 sounds & straits, 2 canals and 1 pond. Browse each waterway type below to find launch locations.

California by the numbers

A few facts pulled straight from the same live data as the rest of this page - nothing hand-written or hardcoded.

• The average county in California has 12.7 public boat ramps
• 11 counties have more than 20 public boat ramps
• 1 county contains more than 40 launch sites
• Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta appears in 33 listings, more than any other waterway in California
• Alameda County has the most public boat ramps of any county here, with 48

How this information is organized

Every ramp in California is grouped two ways: by county, useful if you're traveling to a specific area, and by waterway, which combines ramps from multiple counties along the same lake or river - handy when a single reservoir or river stretches across county lines and you want to see every launch point on it at once.

Planning a trip

A few things worth checking before you head out, whichever county or waterway you're launching on:

• Check the local weather and wind forecast for the day
• Confirm the ramp's current hours and operational status on its listing
• Verify fee status - it can change independently of everything else
• Watch water levels if you're heading to a reservoir or tidal area - see our guide on ramp depth
• Review your trailer pre-launch checklist if it's been a while since your last trip

Data sources

Listings for California are sourced directly from:

• California Department of Parks and Recreation
• U.S. Geological Survey

Verified on a regular schedule - see our full methodology.

Frequently asked questions