Camping At Yosemite National Park

Camping at Yosemite National Park should be one of those things in life that you should not pass on. The smell of a roaring campfire, the cool night breeze, the sound of the Merced River flowing into the distance.

In Yosemite Valley, awe inspiring megoliths of granite and never ending waterfalls tower over everything. Viewing the stunning landscape will keep you occupied for most of your time during a week long Yosemite camping trip.

There is no better way to enjoy all that Yosemite has to offer than camping at one of Yosemite's 13 campgrounds strategically located to maximize your camping adventure to Yosemite.

Seven of the campgrounds in Yosemite are available by reservation, and the rest of the campgrounds are first come first served. It is rare to find an opening at any of the campgrounds the day after they are available on the reservation system. Campsites are usually gone within within a few minutes or even seconds when they become available on the reservation system. Reservations are accepted in one month blocks up to five months ahead of time on the 15th of the month promptly at 7 am Pacific time. See the chart below for reservation dates. The following campgrounds are available for reservations: Upper Pines, Lower Pines, North Pines, Crane Flat, Wawona, Hodgden Meadows andTuolumne Meadows. Camping seasons vary at each campground and that information can be found on the individual campground pages. The following chart lists the reservation dates for the specific times you might be travelling to Yosemite.

Camping Arrival Date First day to make Reservations 7am PT Mar. 15th - Apr. 14th November 15th Apr. 15th - May 14th December 15th May 15th - June 14th January 15th June 15th - July 14th February 15th July 15th - Aug. 14th March 15th Aug. 15th - Sept. 14th April 15th Sept. 15th - Oct. 14th May 15th Oct. 15th - Nov. 14th April 15th Nov. 15th - Dec. 14th May 15th Wawona Group site only: Dec. 15th - Jan. 14th Jan. 15th - Feb.14th Feb. 15th - Mar. 14th August 15 September 15 October 15

First come first served campgrounds are a great choice for those entering the park without reservations. Most if not all of the campsites will be full by noon each day, Camp 4 can fill by 9 am and Tuolumne Meadows by 8:30 on the weekends. So, get there early and grab a spot when you see that someone has vacated their campsite. Once you have a site, head back to the campground check in kiosk and register within an hour. At that point, you can register for more than one night.

The following campgrounds are first come first served; Camp 4, Bridalveil Creek, Tamarack Flat, Yosemite Creek, White Wolf, Porcupine Flat and half of Tuolumne Meadows (the other half is by reservation)

Daily campground availability information is available by calling 209/372-0266 (this is a recording).

If you are having trouble finding a campsite in Yosemite park there are many campgrounds just outside the park boundaries within a few miles. CampingAtYosemite.com will add more information on campgrounds outside of Yosemite National Park in the near future.

Check out our One Day Itinerary or Two Day Itinerary if you only have a limited time to visit the park.