Yosemite

[super doody]

I'm thinking about a Yosemite trip in late April or May. Any suggestions on campsites within the valley and also outside of the park would be appreciated.

Jim

 

[ski3pin]

WTW members have posted a lot of information on Yosemite here -

Yosemite National Park

 

[Ted]

It is a nice time to visit. In a normal winter, the waterfalls are fantastic in May. You can check reservations but the valley campsites are most likely booked solid by now. You probably will need to find something outside of the park.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

There is lots of good camping info at Camping-USA.com. Try this link for campgrounds inside and outside Yosemite NP. There is also dispersed camping on the national forests east of Yos and south of Mono Lake.

 

[CALIcamperdad]

Just a side note. The last time I was up there I found it interesting that the online bookings showed it was booked solid but when we were there they had lots of vacancies and talking with some of the park employees they said this was an ongoing issue people were buying up dates and re selling them for profit and they were seeing lots of no shows as a result. This was about 4yrs ago so they may have changed up the process to help cut back on this but we were shocked we could have easily found a site in the park had we planed on just showing up or calling and talking with them directly.

 

[Lighthawk]

We found disbursed camping along Evergreen Rd., which is the route to Camp Mather from 120.
This area burned heavily, so I'm not sure what it looks like now.

When we were there four years ago, people were sleeping out of their cars right on the road.
We drove most of the way towards Camp Mather and found a FS road that branched right where we found a good spot.

 

[super doody]

Thanks all for the feedback. I'm going to get a campsite in the valley with the crowds. This will be my 1 yr old daughter's very first trip to Yosemite. Any advice on which campsite within the valley is preferred?

 

[Bseek]

Take whatever you can get and be thankful. Since the flood, there are so few sites, it is a crap shoot. Upper Pines toward the back is shady and close to the Happy Isle Shuttle stop, so that is where I try for. North Pines is a little too close to the stables for my preference. Lower Pines is closer to the river and central valley, so preferred by many. But all three are really in close proximity so there isn't much difference.

 

[100acrehuphalump]

I always like to show up and just ask if there are any cancellations. It works for me except on Memorial Day weekend.

 

[CALIcamperdad]

Thanks all for the feedback. I'm going to get a campsite in the valley with the crowds. This will be my 1 yr old daughter's very first trip to Yosemite. Any advice on which campsite within the valley is preferred?

Take what you can get. And bring bikes!!! We spent 4 days all day long on the bikes just out enjoying the park.

My recommendation which has worked very well for us old GT mountain bike frame with rigid fork - used craigs list kids seat on the back rack, front rack set up with cheap panniers we used the cheap panniers sold at Osh for two years zippers are junk but for $20 they old lots of stuff. I then bungied a medium sized soft sided ice box on the top of the front rack. I was the pack mule but the bike was balanced and easy to ride we packed lunch, snacks, diapers, beach gear towels and toys and would leave the parking lot in the valley at 9am and return around 5pm some times earlier. My daughter was 1.5yrs on that trip and loved it. We went back last year for a few days she rode the trailer bike behind mom and my 2yr old son was in the kids bike seat on the pack mule again.

We have done the same sort of thing in Tahoe and a few other places simply spent the whole day out and about with all our need junk with us no car or parking issues to deal with no parking fees except in Yosemite parking for the day etc. You get to see more and slow your pace down etc. Hands down the only way to see Yosemite is by bike lots of paths and trails the valley is pretty flat etc. If you don't bring bikes you'll wish you had after being there a day.

We wore out the cheap panniers and I upgraded to JANND Panniers I had a simple rack bag from them bought back in HS and still use it pretty much every weekend wife liked it so I bought her the same bag to sit on the top of her front rack and then we bought these http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C4GJX0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Pricy but basically life time bags made exceptionally well you'll never own another set. We use them for the farmers market every weekend and our summer trips as described above etc.

 

[super doody]

Booked in seconds this morning. We have 4 people (4 computers) trying to reserve at the same time.

 

[Bseek]

Congratulations. Multiple people really helps.

 

[super doody]

Sorry, I meant all the sites were booked in second this morning. . We'll try again nice month. However, we did book sites in Kirkcreek and Sequoia.

 

[joelm]

Check out Nelder Grove. In the NF just south of the park. Come in from Sugar Pine or Oakhurst. You can camp right in the Sequoias with few to no other people around.