Rankings

Best California Counties for Public Land Access

A sourced public land ranking from county-clipped public land layers.

Ranking boundary

Rankings Are Discovery Leads

A high ranking means a county is worth researching first. It is not legal advice, a recommendation to buy land, or proof that any parcel will qualify for a specific use.

Read disclaimer

sourced

Public land access uses county-clipped public land acreage and a derived access score.

Source confidence

Ranking Confidence Strip

A quick trust check for the top-ranked counties: verified profiles, major source coverage, citation depth, and the number of source inputs behind this ranking.

top 10 covered

Top 10 profilesverified

10/10

Sourced county profiles

Source coverageverified

10/10

Major sourced layers present

Citation depthsourced

152

Top 10 county citation URLs

Ranking inputssourced

Source groups used by this ranking

Methodology Data status Source glossary

#1San Bernardino CountyPartially sourced10,878,468 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for San Bernardino County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#2Inyo CountyPartially sourced6,403,893 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Inyo County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#3Riverside CountyPartially sourced3,125,609 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Riverside County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#4Siskiyou CountyPartially sourced2,580,353 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Siskiyou County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#5Imperial CountyPartially sourced2,150,170 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Imperial County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#6Mono CountyPartially sourced1,864,146 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Mono County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#7Lassen CountyPartially sourced1,814,416 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Lassen County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#8Modoc CountyPartially sourced1,732,151 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Modoc County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#9Tulare CountyPartially sourced1,604,027 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Tulare County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#10Trinity CountyPartially sourced1,552,423 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Trinity County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#11Fresno CountyPartially sourced1,537,334 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Fresno County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#12Kern CountyPartially sourced1,508,350 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Kern County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#13San Diego CountyPartially sourced1,427,683 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for San Diego County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#14Plumas CountyPartially sourced1,194,747 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Plumas County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#15Tuolumne CountyPartially sourced1,112,375 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Tuolumne County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#16Shasta CountyPartially sourced1,024,999 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Shasta County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#17Santa Barbara CountyPartially sourced891,192 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Santa Barbara County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#18Los Angeles CountyPartially sourced867,440 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Los Angeles County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#19Humboldt CountyPartially sourced720,196 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Humboldt County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#20Ventura CountyPartially sourced645,422 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Ventura County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#21Monterey CountyPartially sourced595,452 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Monterey County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#22San Luis Obispo CountyPartially sourced567,579 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for San Luis Obispo County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#23El Dorado CountyPartially sourced551,501 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for El Dorado County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#24Madera CountyPartially sourced520,393 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Madera County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#25Del Norte CountyPartially sourced509,863 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Del Norte County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#26Tehama CountyPartially sourced508,182 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Tehama County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#27Mendocino CountyPartially sourced486,816 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Mendocino County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#28Mariposa CountyPartially sourced485,499 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Mariposa County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#29Sierra CountyPartially sourced455,967 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Sierra County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#30Alpine CountyPartially sourced450,443 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Alpine County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#31Placer CountyPartially sourced405,066 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Placer County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#32Lake CountyPartially sourced402,873 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Lake County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#33Glenn CountyPartially sourced243,099 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Glenn County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#34Nevada CountyPartially sourced218,737 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Nevada County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#35Butte CountyPartially sourced205,669 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Butte County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#36Calaveras CountyPartially sourced135,876 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Calaveras County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#37Colusa CountyPartially sourced132,427 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Colusa County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#38San Benito CountyPartially sourced117,389 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for San Benito County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#39Napa CountyPartially sourced111,539 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Napa County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#40Santa Clara CountyPartially sourced101,462 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Santa Clara County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#41Merced CountyPartially sourced101,353 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Merced County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#42Amador CountyPartially sourced100,569 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Amador County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#43Marin CountyPartially sourced97,557 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Marin County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#44Yuba CountyPartially sourced91,878 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Yuba County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#45Orange CountyPartially sourced78,112 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Orange County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#46Sonoma CountyPartially sourced61,764 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Sonoma County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#47San Mateo CountyPartially sourced57,277 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for San Mateo County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#48Santa Cruz CountyPartially sourced55,856 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Santa Cruz County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#49Contra Costa CountyPartially sourced52,552 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Contra Costa County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#50Alameda CountyPartially sourced46,887 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Alameda County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#51Stanislaus CountyPartially sourced42,255 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Stanislaus County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#52Solano CountyPartially sourced38,487 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Solano County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#53Yolo CountyPartially sourced28,634 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Yolo County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#54Kings CountyPartially sourced27,871 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Kings County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#55Sacramento CountyPartially sourced25,884 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Sacramento County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#56San Joaquin CountyPartially sourced13,255 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for San Joaquin County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#57Sutter CountyPartially sourced4,842 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for Sutter County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

#58San Francisco CountyPartially sourced4,288 acres

Official California county-rule source anchors added for San Francisco County; direct office confirmation remains pending before verified status.

Ranking Source Trail

Public land rankings use county-clipped acreage and a derived access score for recreation context.

Source glossary

Primary Public Land Layer

Public land acreage layersCounty-clipped public land acreage and derived recreation access signal.

Context

Climate and snowfall layersCounty-level climate context used for off-grid and homesteading discovery, not parcel design.Dataset coverage reportLayer-by-layer coverage status for live county datasets.