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

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.

Well, we found our new family get away! It was quiet and clean! The bathrooms even smelt clean! The…read moreriver is beautiful. The camp host is amazing! We stayed for our first time last night, and we will be returning hopefully next weekend for a longer stay!! Thanks for trusting us with your campground!

Mount Hoffmann, Yosemite: 2026 Aug 13…read more From Yosemite Valley, take highway 120 to the Crane Flat turnoff onto Tioga Road. Continue driving until you get to the May Lake trailhead. You can park and use the toilet before you start your hike. Heavy-duty, wildlife-resistant containers are available to store your food in. Elevation at the trailhead is 8,710 feet. Mt. Hoffmann elevation gain is 10,845 feet. It is a 10,850-foot peak near the geographic center of Yosemite National Park. Mount Hoffmann is named after Charles F. Hoffmann, cartographer. Charles F. Hoffmann named lake number 5 May Lake. May Lake nestles below Mt. Hoffmann. The hiking distance is only 5.6 to 6 miles round trip but this is a difficult and strenuous hike. The unmaintained boulders with loose rocks make this short hike challenging. The elevation and thin mountain air makes it hard to breathe and may cause your heart to beat faster. You may tire easily. This can also lead to altitude sickness if you do not rest and adjust. Make sure you hydrate constantly. Our pace was slow as we scramble up this 10,850-foot peak. Mt. Hoffmann's unmaintained steep and rocky granite boulders with loose rocks was extremely challenging for me. We didn't get to the very top. I heard thunder and felt droplets of rain, and decided to climb back down to avoid slipping on the rocks. The final push of about 200-feet involves climbing on loose gravel and granite rock that are covered with decomposed granite, one of the most insidiously slippery substances. These are some of the steepest and most treacherous climb, but if you make it to the top, you will be rewarded with a panoramic 360-degree views of Yosemite, including distant views of Half Dome and Tenaya Lake. The Mt. Hoffmann trail also includes some bonus views of May Lake. On the climb up, we saw a Marmot hanging out on a rock. He was a large, stout guy -- looking more like a house-cat than a squirrel. This guy probably weighs around 11 pounds. He was tame and quiet -- just holding on to the rock and allowed us to take pictures of him and even video-tape him. He must be used to humans scrambling up and down 'his' rock every day. On the way down, we moved to the side for horses to trot up the mountain. The poor horses were weighted down by heavy-looking camping gears. I hope they're well cared for and appreciated by humans who use their services. Along the way, stop and admire views of Clouds Rest and Half Dome. From afar, the distant mountains look majestic with a soft blue hue against the sky. We may attempt this hike again but I'll need to be better prepared for it. Source above: Wikipedia, Google

The things that went well: it is majestic! The views are incredible. I cannot recommend this park…read moreenough. I was happy to see additional parking being added. Arrive early!! A must. Have a plan. Ask questions at the visitor center and show up with patience, patience and understanding and more patience. Make a plan and make sure you know where you want to go. Last minute planning is dangerous. Don't do it. Now the miserable. Signs and directions are very few. It is so easy to get lost. Please be vigilant with directions. Even the staff and rangers are not familiar with this place. True story - Question - is this the way to staircase falls on the map? Answer, Vernal falls? Question: no Answer - sure. We ended up at the expensive hotel! Not one sign stated where things were. Some places have one or two markers. Make sure you don't walk past them or else. The roads could stand to be painted with information. The sidewalks as well. My favorite was the floor that was undergoing "restoration" with the small signs and rope all Lying in the dirt!! I was dying laughing as folks who had never seen the sign were trying to take photos. It was spectacular, as fails go. We must have made 3 loops in the village, no markings or directions. I would pay extra to have convicts or fire or someone volunteer to place signs, distance, directions through out. I know money is scarce, but let one of the administrators go and dedicate their salary to signs. This brought up My favorite part - Ansel Adams and the tunnel. Folks were parked where the tour vehicle needed to be. No one stopped or listened to the horn!! It was awesome. Several class b and one smallish class c were parked in the labeled parking that is not manned or patrolled. I know... send a ranger to show up 15 before the schedule and ensure folks know what is going on. They can answer questions. Get vehicles ticketed and then moved. What a concept!! Again, no signs. Folks just guessing. Oh, the other one, the guy that launched his drone... in spite of the sign he was standing in front of!! Maybe vendors selling items could help out. Not sure. Patrol supervisor could establish a point of contact for the public to ask questions and encourage people to move or obey signs. Options exist. Federal law enforcement... options. Okay, the last item is the outdated little info website. That thing is useless. I hope AI generates more information than the dated site. NSA or FBI could help out. As a courtesy!! The park itself is okay. The curry village has little to no breakfast options and the stores have nothing healthy. But they sell the best junk food money can buy. And with the minimum of alternatives, it sells. Pack food if you have dietary restrictions or needs. There is nothing selling. The fare is basic and do not expect unnecessary food. You can eat at the hotel or before you arrive. The small market is scarcely stocked. Bring water bottles. For some reason they want you to use metal or plastic containers. Be prepared for the wait at the one functioning fountain. 45 minutes is a record!! Soda abounds!! When the fast food joint is open. Also, plenty of ice cream options!!!!!!!! Again be patient with new or skittish drivers. If you can take a bus or tour group do that. Those guys seemed to know what to do and where things were located. Parking is at a premium. Final thought, be prepared to pay. Things are not cheap and the park is in CA. Third most expensive place in the world and country!!

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.

The wait to get in the grounds is unnecessary. If renters have paid their fees and gotten a pass,…read morethey should be given an electronic pass that expires , like a hotel. Waiting 30 minutes every time you want to reenter is hard on the nerves of adults and small children patience. It ruins an otherwise enjoyable vacation.

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!

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.

I cannot begin to tell you just how much great times i had at Don Pedro, i went here everyday for…read moreabout a week, i had not been here since i was a teenager . There was this guy Ray working at the marina. This guy helped me out on everything i needed and his demeanor couldn't be more welcoming. He made me feel like i was family, seriously very considerate, very personable. He helped me with even giving me a ride, cause it was a long way to my car. Thanks Ray Ray for making my visits the best i had a great time, and love that you made me feel great coming there. Your a great asset to the marina...... i hope to see you next time...... Thanks

This place and it's staff are rude. They jump to conclusions and issue trespasses on people for…read morefreedom of speech. We stayed there from Oct to January this year at moccasin point and the Rangers were rude insensitive and charged us for everything they could think of. Then they jumped to conclusions and trespassed my partner due to freedom of speech. Then they proceeded to throw me out when i was nice and wasn't causing any issues. Now they won't let us come back and they are very dismissive to me. I think they are doing the wrong things to innocent people and wanna get away with it. They are criminals and they should be shut down.

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!

Another great day at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. I was first into park besides those there for…read morecamping. Clean restrooms, clean trails, impeccable grounds and views, ample parking for me but when I was done hiking the spaces were full. Hiked to the viewpoint then walked the numbered trees loop. Saw bear, dear and likely raccoon tracks. Plus saw proof that "yes" a bear does poop in the woods. Lots of woodpeckers, chipmunks, ground squirrels, jays and junco birds, The trees are so large, incredible sequoias. Many of the huge downed trees have been preserved, propped up and or fenced. I hiked about 4 miles. It was a great day.

I went there with my daughter and grandkids and enjoyed Beaver Creek and the Sequoia grove at the…read morenorth end 1.5 hiking loop. Unfortunately my granddaughter's were too tired and it was pretty hot to hike the Bradley trail to the south grove sequoia's. We ended up at the north grove which landmarks were numbered to 25 then back to the visitor center and it was amazing