I don't know how to even describe this park, maybe, magical... The sequoias are majestic with sugar…read morepines sprinkled all around. I was here with the Sisters Corp. to do some volunteer work. I did not want to miss the opportunity to give my time for this beautiful place. This is my first time to visit this National Park and I know now it will not be my last. My first day at the volunteer camp group site as we gathered at the table to meet each other and go over the agenda for the weekend we had the opportunity to see a black bear casually roam through our campground near the tents (one of them was mine). We were all informed prior to arriving not to leave any scented items in the tents. No one wonder the bear kept moving along, but with the help of our camp host shooing it away from the campground. This is something we learned from the rangers, is to shoo them away so they don't get in the habit of coming around. The park offers many hiking trails, I had the chance to do one of many, which was the Long Meadow Trail. Very beautiful, plenty of foliage and evidence of a bear in the area. Another part of the park I got to visit was General Sherman. There is a park ranger that will tell you the history of the General Sherman tree. You can wait in a long line to take a pic in front of the tree with a General Sherman sign. Or you can take a pic around the fenced majestic tree. I choose not to wait in line. I had the chance to shuttle to General Sherman tree from the Museum. The Shuttle is free and seems to come every 10-15 min. From General Sherman I also shuttled to the Lodgepole marketplace and visitor center. In this area are bathrooms with showers (coin operated, quarters). The Marketplace has an area to order some food and also a section where you can purchase some ice cream by the scoop. The store offers assorted ice cream bars. The visitor center offers gift items as well as the marketplace. At the front of the visitor center they had a ranger available at a booth if you had any questions. This place is quite busy! Parking lot is a madhouse. Nearby is a campground you may want to check out or ask the ranger for some info. If you can, arrive early, find parking at the Museum and shuttle to everything if you can. Warning, when I was doing volunteer work in the parking lot across from the museum we witnessed a black bear enjoying some berries in the bushes. I'm not sure if they will venture into the parking lot with a lot human activity going on but be careful what you leave in your car, anything and everything with a scent. The park has so much to see. I look forward to returning to volunteer and to take advantage of what the park has to offer.

Best national park I've ever been to and that's saying a lot…read more It's magical, and I highly recommend getting to the Sherman trailhead prior to 9:30am if you want a parking spot. Takes about an hour to get in there, up there and parked so plan accordingly. The congress trail was amazing and for a 3.5 mile hike it took about 2.5 hours with frequent stops for pictures. Highly recommend a stop at lodge pole for refreshments and merch. Incredible experience from start to finish.

The camp host Gavin is amazing! He did a great job - it was a busy holiday weekend and he worked…read moresuper hard - he was awesome!!! ****Please if you are going to be in the Kern River wear a life vest - water can be very dangerous****

Myself and five friends camped here for two nights during sweltering 103° weather. Even with the…read morefire ban, we still had an epic time! We brought a propane fire ring, and it was almost as good as having a real crackling campfire. If you're camping here this time of year, pop-up canopies are an absolute must. Our camp host, Gavin, went above and beyond. He was friendly, thorough, and incredibly helpful throughout our stay. We reserved Sites 19 and 21. We ended up using Site 21 for our three tents and camper van, while Site 19 worked perfectly for parking. The bathrooms were clean and well maintained, and the river was perfect for floating all day. Water levels felt safe, making it great for everyone in our group. My only minor complaint was the river access from our sites. It involved about a three-minute walk over rocky, prickly terrain, and the path wasn't clearly marked. At times, we ended up walking through the backs of neighboring campsites with our tubes and gear to reach the river. Overall, we had an amazing trip and will definitely be back. Happy camping!

Quiet and peaceful, close to everything. Staff was amazing and helpful, super friendly, clean all…read morearound

my stay was pretty rough , no phone service, no tv, and one of the 4 of us had the. next door…read morecampers sewer hook up under their picnic table talk about a health hazard. Not a nice stay!

sequioa national park in the spring time is so beautiful! lodgepole campsite was great w/ other…read morecampers at next door campsites and attentive rangers. the trailhead for tokopah falls is a 2 min walk away from the middle of the camp grounds. site 76: one "block" away from the river but close to the main road. only single parking spot right in front per campsite so the 2nd car parked a little farther away. bear box was right next to the picnic table w/ enough space for 6 ppl's worth of food, cooking gear and all toiletries. trash cans and bathrooms are within short reasonable walking distance. closest spicket was across the street but we washed out dishes at a sink in front of the bathroom. *research and prep well for bear safety including storing ALL proper items in the bear bins before booking a campsite! *bring a lantern into the bathroom b/c there's no lights in there! *end of may was 35 deg at night so super cold so definitely bring enough cloths and layers to sleep in!! day time in the sun is quite warm and nice

I'd give this place a 4.5 stars if I could. They lost half a star because the bathrooms were…read moredisgusting. It appeared they cleaned it maybe once a day. But it was stocked with toilet paper. Other than that the campgrounds was great. I love the fact the market is reasonably priced. They have a Cafe, showers, cleaner restrooms, and a laundry facility. The campsite was beautiful. Not too many bugs. Everywhere you looked it was beautiful. There's lots of campsites nearby but not too close. Our campsite was 202, right behind the large rock and pretty close to the river. It was nice hearing the rush of water throughout the day. The bathroom was close enough except for during the the night. Knowing that bears are in the area made it really scary going in the middle of the night. Wear a headlamp, it's much better than a flashlight. The shuttle will come inside the campgrounds and pick you up near the restrooms in the main parking lot. There are a few trails for hiking (which we didn't have time to do). I do recommend if traveling with another family to work out the food situation because there's only one bear box per site. One large cooler can fir or two smaller ones. One large and one small cooler will not fit in the box. ALL food, snack, even perfume, & body spry should be put into the bear box.

We always have a great time the caffeine area is clean bathrooms are clean stuff is very helpful…read morerespectful and nice

Loved the community everyone was so nice and friendly the entire stay. Easy access to the…read morebathrooms/showers including the river. The water was amazing this year and the campsites were clean. Loved the Karaoke night idea they even offered prizes to win. Perfect spot to go stargazing, you're able to see many stars out at night. I would choose this campsite again over anywhere else. 10/10.

this is a pretty nice campground. spacious sites and easy to book online. little dried up success…read morelake.

Went here on a hot summer day to escape the 100+ degree heat. It was cool that you could park right…read moreon the beach of the lake and have all your junk for hanging out right there. We set up some chairs and canopy. Had some beers and lunch. It was fairly pleasant except for the GAS smell. The whole time, it just smelled like gas. Someone had a jet ski parked inside the roped-off swimming area. The water in the swimming area was stale and tepid and smelled like gas. I went in despite that, and it was gross. The muddy lake bottom and uncomfortably warm water added to the disgust. Once you get far enough into the lake it was cool and comfortable, but geez - right by the shore was awful. I'll just rent a boat next time, haha.

I've been "glamping" before when I was younger - my family used to rent a cabin and we would then…read moreexplore the mountains. However, I had never camped in a tent prior to this. However, Horse Creek was a good introduction to the camping world. At $20 a night, you get your own campsite that can fit up to 8-10 people. We were able to fit about 4 tents. The ground was flat enough to set up camp, and the grounds to eat and chill were spacious enough. As for the bathrooms, the showers are fairly clean and the toilets aren't too shabby either. It seemed like they were cleaned on a daily basis. As for entertainment, the campsite is right near the lake so every morning I woke up to the beautiful sight of nature - the sunset was pretty as well. The lake wasn't too dirty, although I would recommend water shoes. Also, the main office has friendly staff to answer any questions. Ultimately, if you want a campground that's at the bottom of the mountain (it's only 10-12 miles away from the entrance of the Sequoia National Park) that's clean and family-friendly, this place is extremely solid. I highly recommend it.

I enjoy car camping. Not quite the serious "hike into your spot" kind of camping. But drive up,…read moreunload, pitch a tent and relax. This campground was perfectly just that. The sites are RIGHT on the shore of the lake. In fact, the site we reserved was UNDER WATER when we arrived in early May. They're not joking when they say the whole campground is closed in the summer months due to flooding. Thankfully they only allow half the sites to be reserved and they moved us to an open spot, right at the front. It also gave us an easy spot to fish from the shore in the mornings and evenings. I'm glad we chose this campground when finding a weekend getaway. I heard it gets crowded inside the main campgrounds in Sequoia Park. Sites are well spaced out. Each spot had either a canopy or a tree for shade. Of course theres a fire pit too. The bathrooms were sufficient. 1 shower inside, with hot water. The local general store is within a 5 minute drive to get firewood and supplies and Kaweah Marina is close by too to rent a patio boat to enjoy the day on the lake. They will close the gate entrance at 9pm sharp. But you can park in the dirt lot or next to the gate over night. The exit is open all night, but its got those 1 way spike strips... exit only.

Rio Sierra River Resort is my favorite place to stay, period. Everything about it is amazing, from…read morethe river to the rooms, perfect. It has become a destination to me, not just an overnight pass-through. The staff are so attentive, just let them know if you need anything. I just recently stayed and can't wait to return. If you do have concerns, such as the cancelation policy, you should contact them in advance to clarify that.

Buyer beware. This business does not post their cancellation policy anywhere on their website or in…read moretheir terms and conditions. However, upon booking you will get an email that your deposit in nonrefundable. I attempted to cancel 3 weeks later, I am a first responder and was supporting a fire emergency, and was told no. Note, this was still 2 full months ahead of the trip, not a last minute cancellation. I'm disappointed at their dishonest business practices. This all could have been avoided if they were up front about their cancellation policy instead of just dropping it on you after you've already made a deposit.