Camping Along Pine Creek Road
If you enter Pine Creek Road off of Sunrise Highway (Laguna Meadow Road if you are using Apple Maps), there are dispersed campsites about 5 miles down the road. Pine Creek road becomes gravel and there are a few dirt roads to pull off of with open spots to use as camping sites.
A Wilderness and Visitor Permit is required from the Forest Service. Email SM.FS.descansord@usda.gov for the permit, or visit the Descanso Ranger District office (see link above). They usually get back to you in a business day. You can also download the permit from here.
The dirt roads do require some clearance to get through due to quite a bit of erosion. I had a stock RAV4 and got through fine but proceed with caution.
