So we go camping once a year, and every year we try something new. This year we found Cherry Valley…read moreCampground. It's about 29 miles past Sonora, Ca, but forewarned the drive is very curvy. But...once you arrive...OMG...the campground is amazing. There's a manager on site for any help, they sell firewood and have Potable water if you need it. The bathrooms are super clean and smell good, which is not normal for a campground. Now one thing you must know is that the lake is accessible at multiple points, but it's all rocky. So no matter where you go there's no real beach. However if you drive to the boat launch area which is like 5 minutes away, there is some sand and rocks to enjoy the water. We took some kayaks and we're able to explore the water, even saw a Bald Eagle. The scenery was great. Camping here was awesome, we will def be back.

The camp host was great! Made sure we were okay when a snow storm hit. The location was beautiful.read more

My fiance and I were here for a few nights mid April. We LOVED it…read more Go to their website, and reserve a spot before someone else does! We arrived shortly after the check in time. We were approached by a very friendly and peaceful camp tender. He directed us to our camp site and answered the few questions we had. We made camp and headed back up to the camp tender, and paid for a few bundles of firewood. He loaded us up with two large bundles of firewood which was seasoned and ready to burn. The campsite was very clean. Not a bit of trash, scraps, or evidence from previous campers. The foliage in the area is heavy and vibrant green. The campsites were cleared out of extra foliage and ready for use. There is wifi close to the check in area, very clean running water bathrooms, and showers. We did not experience any pests or rodents out of your typical Sonora wildlife. Lots of birds, and tons of different types of trees. Beautiful place to camp and I will be returning here.

I absolutely love river ranch. My family has so many memories of being there as children and…read moreadults. 4 generations strong. Just spent the past weekend there and enjoyed every minute. We had no problems abiding by new managements rules, we never have disrespected that place. It would be nice if Tuolumne County residents would be given a discount.

So many thoughts... My relation to Yosemite Valley began…read moreabout 64 years ago. In the Cub Scouts, I think. Ralph John loaded a squad of loud, wiggling, excited boys into his blue Plymouth station wagon for the 250 mile drive from Sylmar to Yosemite. No Interstate 5. Valencia was a carrot field, Magic Mountain an oak studded pasture for the Newhall Family cattle operation. Thank you Ralph, thank you Lord Baden-Powell. My most memorable trip, my intro to modern tourism, was when Ted Germond and I took two days of November Coast Guard Liberty from the USCGC Blackhaw, drove from San Francisco one afternoon, arrived at night, pitched camp in the center of Yosemite Valley, covered our sleeping bags with a tarp, woke at dawn under that frost-crusted tarp. We threw that crunching canvas off, shook off the frost, and threw our gear into Ted's Land Cruiser. He took one photo of the valley. We drove back to San Francisco, a handful of photos proving the journey. Aside from my tourism, I have known members of the Southern Sierra Miwok Tribe, keepers of Yosemite Valley and the surrounding area for millennia until gold miners, livestock grazers and the U.S. Government arrived. Priscilla and her husband built a very successful real estate enterprise in Oakhurst, deciding their children needed a better education in a bigger city. I got to know Priscilla through her daughters, was accepted by the family, caring for the sons and meeting The Matriarch, another very sucessful real estate entrepreneur in Southern California. Never a word, never a peep, never a hint the female side of the family were Native American Indigenous people until I was much older. Too much shame. So much taken from the Guardians of Yosemite Valley. May 22, 2026. The Friday of Memorial Day weekend. A perfect set of days to stay away from 21st century Yosemite. We knew this. I chose to cross Yosemite returning home to Phoenix. As our trip home from Coastal Washington began jelling, I checked several times to see if California 120 over Tioga Pass was clear of snow. At first, Tioga was closed, then announced open for the start of The Season, 2026. We breakfasted light at the Angel's Camp Best Western, started early, entered the park with very short lines and rolled for Tioga Pass. We did not enter the valley. Tourist aspects are so slick, capitalized and bussed, we did not choose to deviate from Cal 120. There are many burned areas from recent fires. Fear not! Intrepid sightseer. With Miwok vegetation management ending in the 19th century, the Gifford Pinchot ethos of 1912; the Environmetal Movement, no fire, no tree cutting; plus drought, higher temps and lower humidity. Expect immense burned areas across the Sierra Nevada. Prescribed fire was brought back to The Valley by Harold Biswell in the 1960's, carried strongly in the 1990's and 2000's. Many notable and positive changes are visible in forest ecosystems where fire has been laid down in moderate temperatures and humidities. I note one thing as I close. The turnouts dor the first paved roads to this region were chosen for their breath taking vistas. The forests have grown as forests do. We the tourists in our climate-controlled, musically diverse, internet-connected pods see only tree trunks these days. Lots of tree trunks. Bring Back the ancient and 20th Century Vistas! Yes Park Service, a few trees must go. But, my wife and I stopped near a deck of Incense Cedar logs at one turnout and got a view worth more than Xanterra's cash flow. We need those vistas - to honor the Miwok and their cathedral; the vision of Frederick Law Olmstead and the National Park Service's first Landscape Architects. Most of all, we members of Our Family Human, traveling here from across our planet need those humbling, magnificent, Creator-realizing views to be properly set in our places. To understand our puny, self important sparks in time and space mean nothing at all to geology, nature, and the endless seasons. We can only take care of our beautiful world generation by heneration. Said the Southern Sierra Miwok.

Visited Yosemite Falls on May 1st, and it felt just right…read more No crowds, perfect weather -- not too hot, not too cold. The waterfall was powerful, full of life, rushing down like it had something to say. Yosemite National Park felt wild and peaceful at the same time -- clean, untouched, and deeply beautiful. Grateful for everyone who takes care of this place

We reserved site 25 here for a few days Thursday-Saturday. It was full sun which was a bummer cos…read morewe didn't bring a pop up tent. The road down is paved so fine for most vehicles though it is windy and probably difficult for some camper vehicles. Our park ranger on site was a volunteer named Jim who was the absolute BEST. Personable, knowledgeable, interactive, and kept things in order in the friendliest way. No showers, well maintained bathrooms. No water sources (sinks or spigot) so you need to bring all your own water. Trails from the site including an 8 mile one to El Capitain. About a 40 min drive to the valley or 1 hour to Hetch Hetchy. You still need to pay the park entrance fee ($35 or use your parks pass) You're fairly close to noghbors so be prepared for some noise.

Tamarack Flat Campground was the location for our Cousin Bonding Trip. With my last visit to…read moreYosemite back in '91 with my family, I had pretty high expectations on what this trip was going to consist of. The distance from this campsite is pretty far from the main entrance to Yosemite. The drive itself from the gate is about 10-15 minutes, and if you get stuck behind a slow car, you can pretty much double that driving time. The actual camping site sizes are large with a ton of parking spaces and enough space to really spread out. There is also enough space between the campsites so that you don't have to worry about loud neighbors. While everything sounds all good - this campsite lacks alot of trees for shade in the camp sites. In the morning when you have the sun blazing down on your face, it's worse after a night drinking by the fire. You just wake up hot and sweaty - it's not the bizz; it's quite miserable...waking up hot and sweaty. Let's talk bathrooms, because that's really what is important when it comes to being away from home and being clean. So this campsite has OUTHOUSES, yes you read that right! Basically a small outhouse with a huge hole in the ground for number 1 and number 2. These outhouses smell, they are infested with flies ... did I say them smell? They are no running showers, so be sure to pack a lot of baby wipes and anti-bacterial cleaning supplies. We saw a couple baby bears during our stay here so be sure to use the bear cabins for your foods. Everything needs to be locked in so it doesn't attract the bears.

I feel like this community wants to be owner only so has made life unnecessarily difficult for…read morerenters. We had a fine stay at our Airbnb, our issues are more with the community. 1. On top of our pricey stay, we paid a $50 fee to stay in the community. This is fine, but everytime we came back, we still needed to wait in the long visitor line only to be waved in once they see our pass. There's got to be a better way. 2. Visitors also don't have electronic passes, so there's a strict path that you can drive or else you'll hit a gate that you can't go through and is owner only. This means often a 10m drive to your house. It also meant driving around the entire lake to get to Fisherman's Cove because the closer paths are owners only. (Fisherman's Cove and Marina Beach are very pretty though!) 3. To play pickleball, you'd think it'd be covered under the $50 fee? But no, it's another $8pp/day. So for a 4 person game, it'll cost $32. This is more expensive than renting a court in Santa Monica!

We loved our cabin and the Owners were wonderful but we would never stay at Zou e Lake community…read moreagain. This is in no way the owners fault but we had to wait in line every single time to enter the cmty. There are over 3k units in the community, many of them rentals -but only 1 guest line for registered and unregistered guests--on busy weekends, multiple cars in front of you are registering so you have to wait even when you are already registered. On our arrival day we waited over 30 mins. The next day tired from a full day in Yosemite-over 20 mins. The third day we almost didn't leave bc of the hassle, but I ran out for groceries and it was still over 20 mins. It was honestly infuriating after paying the $50 parking fee for the stay. The Homeowners Association is making a killing off the fee -so they should at least create a 3rd line for already registered guests. I loved the unit but bc of this we unfortunately would never stay at any property at Pine Lake again.

I stayed at the backpacker's campground the night before hiking from Porcupine Creek Trailhead back…read moredown into the Valley. It's only $5 per person, has a lot of room, and doesn't require (nor take) reservations. We stayed on a Thursday night in the summer and had to share our site which ended up being fine as there is plenty of room. The guys that shared our site were cool and we stayed up and drank a few beers and chatted until about 10 pm. There definitely aren't enough sites for everyone to have their own, but considering how difficult it is to make reservations, the backpacker's site was great. There are porta-potty style bathrooms in there, and potable water is located in the upper pines campground which is only a five minute walk away. One great feature about the backpacker's campground is that the parking lot for backpacker's is about a 10 to 15 minute walk away, so if you want to bring some stuff to use and leave in your car before heading out on the trail you can. Curry village is about a 10 to 15 minute walk away which provides many dining and shopping opportunities. We filled up at the buffet and grabbed a six pack to enjoy the night before heading out to the high country. 4 stars for no water in the campground and primitive bathrooms. However, I will definitely stay here next time I go backpacking in Yosemite and I recommend it to any other backpackers.

Todo en mi experiencia es excelente,,lo recomiendo, al 100% muy buena área para disfrutar en familiaread more

Currently the only lake in the area not having a quarantine restrictions with the muscles. There…read morewas quite a few people there as the parking lot near the boat launch was near full. The water was great and there was a great breeze. We stopped at the marina store to get ice and then took a ride over to the other side of the lake to the Cafe. The food was great and decent priced. The staff was a bit over whelmed. The cashier at the back register seemed irritated with the kids looking at stuff near the counter and shut her register down. The crowd waiting for their food before us didnt get the right order, they had to remake their food and they told the girls prepping the food that the girl that took their order wasnt paying attention and wrote the order down wrong. Overall the food was good, the deck hands were friendly and we enjoyed the time on the lake.

You've probably passed this campground many times on your way to Yosemite. Only recently signs have…read morebeen installed on 120 for many of these hidden campgrounds. There are eleven sites here to choose from that are on a first come basis with none reservable. Number six, seven, and eight are far enough away from the others that you might have a sense of privacy. While seven and eight are 'walk-in' and you'll have to carry your stuff. There are only a couple of pit toilets and water spigots available. This place seems pretty dry but if you simply need a place to pitch your tent because YNP is full then give this place a try. Be forewarned that the camp host is not on site. If things do get a little rowdy you are on your own. Self registration is required so bring exact change of $16.00 or check to pay. Based on a recent experience I would give The Pines two stars but you can't blame a campground for the people who stay there. Can you?

Friends and I stayed here the night before a 2 day rafting trip. The sites were very clean and all…read moreother campers here were respectful. I'd come back!

Beautiful park! We hiked around the North Grove and it was wonderful. The park is one of the most…read morewell maintained parks I have experienced. There is also a cute food truck near the visitor center that had the best garlic fries I have ever had. North Grove was really great for families with smaller kids. The hike wasn't too strenuous. We did the Overlook trail and it was around 2 miles. The kids had a few stops for snacks along the way but overall it was great for them.

Giant trees, wild mushroom, snow cover paths, and wild stuff animals - it was an adventure…read more -been wanted to check out the "GIANTS" and they didn't disappoint. I guess January is the most awesome time to visit. Whether was nice and warm, with snow play still available in the parking lot and on the trails. Perfect day to be outdoor. -Park is very well kept and accessible for all. The North Cove Trail was a walk in the pak with stunning display of different trees. Look carefully, wild mushroom has been inoculated and is ready for their debuted. -Visitor center and ranger were very informative. -Pro tip: if your family is the outdoorsy type, buy a California State Park Pass - include entrance to this place and you can skip the line when visiting on a busy weekend....