Camping Archives - Just Ahead

Where Should I Camp in Sequoia and Kings Canyon?

September 30, 2019 Bob Howells

This post is part of Just Ahead’s Sequoia and Kings Canyon Trip Planner—our guide to what you need to know to plan your trip to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Click here to see the complete series. And be sure to download our Just Ahead smartphone audio tour of Sequoia and Kings Canyon before you head to the parks.

Where to Camp in Sequoia and Kings Canyon: Giant Forest

Photo: MorroElsie/Creative Commons

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks have 14 campgrounds, most of which are first-come, first-served; no reservations. A few accept reservations through recreation.gov. Most of the campgrounds accommodate RVs, but none of them have RV hookups. Campgrounds provide storage lockers to protect your food from bears and other hungry park creatures. You’ll also find camping in Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument, both of which are adjacent to the parks.

Foothills Area, Sequoia National Park

South Fork
Tucked away in the far southwest corner of Sequoia National Park, this 10-site, tents-only campground is fairly isolated and has no potable water from October to May. It sits at 3,600 feet, meaning it’s more oak habitat than evergreen. But it’s open year-round and may have a site when others are full.

Potwisha
Potwisha lies in an oak-shaded setting in Sequoia National Park on the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River. As the lowest campground in the park (2,100 feet), it’s likely to be the warmest as well, at any time of year. It has 42 sites, some of which can be reserved year-round through recreation.gov.

Where Should I Camp in Yosemite?

August 31, 2019 Bob Howells

This post is part of Just Ahead’s Yosemite Trip Planner—our guide to what you need to know to plan your trip to Yosemite National Park. Click here to see the complete series. And be sure to download our Just Ahead smartphone audio tour of Yosemite before you head to the park.

Camping under the stars in Yosemite sounds like a dream, and it is. However, it’s a dream shared by many others. Although the park has 13 campgrounds, many of them are seasonal, and most are in great demand. When it comes to deciding where to camp in Yosemite, the key is to plan ahead for campgrounds that take reservations, and to arrive early for campgrounds that don’t. The park’s most popular campgrounds take reservations through recreation.gov, but to nab a site in one of them, you need to think in terms of getting tickets for a big rock concert. Get on the website ready to start clicking promptly at 7 a.m. Pacific time on the 15th of the month, five months in advance of your month of arrival.

Sights like this are not far from your tent flap when you camp in Yosemite.

So what should you do if you arrive during a busy season with no reservations? If you have cell-phone reception, you can call the park’s campsite availability hotline at 209-372-0266. Most likely it will steer you to one of the campgrounds outside Yosemite Valley that has sites on a first-come, first-served basis. Best advice for getting one of those sites is to first verify that the campground is open (call the hotline or check with a ranger), and then to arrive by 8:30 or so in the morning. Sites generally fill up by noon, earlier on weekends. The one Valley campground that is first-come, first served is Camp Four. The same advice applies: Get there early.

All campgrounds accept RVs unless noted in the write-ups that follow. As for amenities, as a general rule, expect tables, fire pits, running water, toilets, and bearproof food lockers. Exceptions are noted below.

Naturally, Just Ahead points out all of these campgrounds as you drive through Yosemite.

Yosemite Valley Campgrounds

The Pines
The Pines Campgrounds: Upper Pines, Lower Pines, and North Pines, are what most people think of when they think of Yosemite camping: big spaces under tall pines with views of Half Dome and Glacier Point. The three campgrounds are adjacent to one another near Curry Village at the east end of Yosemite Valley. They have 379 sites altogether, and many will accommodate large RVs. Upper is open year-round; the others are open roughly from early spring through mid-fall. These campgrounds are especially suitable for families and people who enjoy a very social camping atmosphere. All sites can be reserved through recreation.gov.

Camp Four
Camp Four is a walk-in campground for tents only, but the sites are quite close to the parking area. Think car camping without your car right next to your tent. The campground is open year-round, with 35 sites. As we describe in our Best of Yosemite post, Camp Four is the center of Yosemite’s rock-climbing culture, and primarily populated by climbers.

Where Should I Camp in Yellowstone?

August 7, 2019 Aaron Teasdale

This post is part of Just Ahead’s Yellowstone Trip Planner—our guide to what you need to know to plan your trip to Yellowstone National Park. Click here to see the complete series. And be sure to download our Just Ahead smartphone audio tour of Yellowstone before you head to the park.

For many Yellowstone enthusiasts, nights spent camping are the only way to visit America’s first national park. After a day exploring the park’s many wonders, it just feels right to drift to sleep to the sound of a nearby creek or the breeze through the treetops. Yellowstone has 12 campgrounds ranging from 430-site tent cities to small, out-of-the-way wilderness enclaves. All have drinking water and most sell firewood.

Park concessionaire Xanterra manages five large campgrounds in the heart of the park, which feature hundreds of sites, flush toilets, and sometimes showers. They are reservable in advance through www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com, or by calling 307-344-7311 (future reservations) and 307-344-7901 (same-day reservations).

The seven campgrounds managed by the National Park Service (NPS) are smaller, less developed (most have only vault toilets), and often more remote. They are first-come, first-served, and often fill completely by early morning. To check which campgrounds are full, you can click here for a handy Park Service campground information web page. Some campgrounds have flush toilets and showers, others are simpler with vault toilets and creeks. Here’s our guide to Yellowstone camping.

Madison Campground (Xanterra)
Popular with fisherman and families, this large, popular campground offers the easiest access to Old Faithful, 17 miles, and the West Entrance, 13 miles. Walking trails lead to the Madison River, and bison and elk are abundant in nearby meadows. Nightly ranger talks are held at the amphitheater, and kids can sign up for the Junior Ranger program at the adjacent Madison Information Station. There are vending machines, but the nearest real services are in West Yellowstone or Old Faithful. Flush toilets, no showers.

Where to Camp in Yellowstone: Madison Campground

Bison roam the meadows near Madison Campground—and sometimes the campground itself.

Norris Hot Springs Campground (NPS)
One of the park’s nicest campgrounds, this has sites on the Gibbon River and others near a large meadow where bison can be seen. Guided ranger walks lead through the nearby Norris Geyser Basin, which is reachable via a one-mile walking trail. The charming Museum of the National Park Ranger is also a short walk away. Flush toilets, no showers.

Mammoth Hot Springs Campground (NPS)
Situated on the edge of Mammoth village, this is a great spot for visiting its namesake hot springs, which are reachable by an easy walk. This is the only Yellowstone campground open all winter and its relatively low elevation (for Yellowstone) often makes it the warmest campground in summer months. It has flush toilets but no showers, and the road is close by, so there is some traffic noise. Rangers talks are held nightly in summer.

Where Should I Camp in Death Valley?

June 22, 2019 Bob Howells

This post is part of Just Ahead’s Death Valley Trip Planner—our guide to everything you need to know to plan your trip to Death Valley National Park. Click here to see the complete series, and be sure to download our Just Ahead smartphone audio tour of Death Valley before you head to the park.

Death Valley has 12 campgrounds—nine operated by the park service as well as three private campgrounds. With the exception of Furnace Creek Campground in the heart of Death Valley, all park service campgrounds are first-come, first-served. Furnace Creek accepts reservations through recreation.gov. For holiday periods in winter and spring, be sure to make reservations or arrive early to get a site.

Don’t expect shady campsites strewn with pine needles. You might get a scrap of shade from a mesquite tree, but for the most part, Death Valley campsites are open and exposed. The exceptions are the two high-country campgrounds in the Panamint Mountains—Thorndike and Mahogany Flat. But those campground require high clearance and sometime four-wheel drive to reach.

When to camp is also an important consideration. Click here for our advice about when to visit Death Valley. And if you’d like to spend some nights in the comfort of a lodge room, click here for our advice about where to stay in Death Valley.

Here’s our rundown of campgrounds in Death Valley National Park. All are open year-round unless otherwise noted. For more details, see the camping page on the park’s website.

Where to Camp in Death Valley: Texas Spring

A secluded site in Texas Spring Campground, Death Valley National Park.

Where Should I Camp in Grand Canyon?

June 16, 2019 Alan Rider

This post is part of Just Ahead’s Grand Canyon Trip Planner—our guide to what you need to know to plan your trip to Grand Canyon National Park. Click here to see the complete series, and be sure to download our Just Ahead smartphone audio tour of Grand Canyon before you head to the park.

It’s hard to top the thrill of camping out in Grand Canyon National Park, one of the world’s most magnificent settings. When the breeze comes up, carrying the aromatic scent of piñon and cedar, and you gaze up at a stunning canopy of stars, you’ll be glad you opted for one of the park’s campgrounds, or one of the nearby camping options. Bear in mind that Grand Canyon National Park has two rims: the more developed South Rim, open year-round, and the more remote, less developed North Rim, open May 15 to October 15. Here’s where to find the best Grand Canyon camping at and near both rims.

Grand Canyon South Rim Campgrounds

If you covet being in the thick of things in Grand Canyon Village near the visitor center, lodges, and general store, opt for one of these two:

Mather Campground: Located just inside the park’s South Entrance, this 300-plus-site campground has its own stop on the park’s free shuttle bus route. Mather Campground can accommodate RVs up to 30 feet in length, but doesn’t offer hookups. Open year-round, accepts reservations up to six months in advance.

Mather Campground - No hook-ups - 30-foot trailer or RV maximum Open year-round. Operated by the National Park Service and located in Grand Canyon Village, this campground offers tent and RV camping. Accessible campsites and restrooms are available. Pets are allowed, but must be leashed at all times, and may not be left unattended. Wood and charcoal fires permitted in provided campsite grills only. No gathering of down wood, wood may be purchased at the general store. Laundry and showers located near the campground for a fee. Reservations may be made through the National Recreation Reservation Service by calling 1-877-444-6777 or online at the http://www.recreation.gov/ Reservations are strongly recommended from March 1 through mid-November. Golden Age or Access passport holders pay only Ω price year round (passport number is needed when making reservation and passport holder must be camping at the site). Fees are $18 per site per night. A maximum of two vehicles, six people, three tents are allowed per site. (A vehicle that is towing a trailer, pop-up, tent trailer, fifth wheel, or a motor home pulling a vehicle is considered two vehicles.) Group sites are also available, $50/night, maximum of 50 people and 3 vehicles per group site. Pets are NOT allowed below the canyon rim at any time. Pets are NOT permitted on the shuttle buses. Kennels are available in the South Rim Village. During the winter, from mid-November through February 28 reservations are not available at Mather Campground and family campsites are $15 per site per night, and group campsites are $30. This is on a first-come first-served basis. There is a self-pay machine at the campground office.

Mather Campground, South Rim. NPS photo.

Where Should I Camp in Joshua Tree?

May 27, 2019 Bob Howells

This post is part of Just Ahead’s Joshua Tree Trip Planner—our guide to everything you need to know to plan your trip to Joshua Tree National Park. Click here to see the complete series, and be sure to download our Just Ahead smartphone audio tour of Joshua Tree before you head to the park.

There’s nothing like spending a night or two in Joshua Tree National Park.

The nearby motels and inns are fine (click here for advice about where to stay), but they’re not in the park. And nighttime in Joshua Tree is special. The sky is almost always clear, so the star show is dazzling, particularly in the campgrounds farthest away from the glow of city lights: Belle, White Tank, and Cottonwood Spring. No matter where you camp, sunset and sunrise are almost always dramatic. You’re likely to hear coyotes yipping and howling at night, and you’ll wake up to the dawn chorus of singing birds.

Jumbo Rocks Campground, Joshua Tree National Park

Massive boulders frame campsites in Jumbo Rocks Campground. NPS photo

What's Ahead? The Just Ahead Blog

Foothills Area, Sequoia National Park

Yosemite Valley Campgrounds

Grand Canyon South Rim Campgrounds