Yosemite Forum

Author: pam
Date: 06-15-03 10:45

We will be camping at Crane Flat campground in 2 weeks. Is there any hiking within walking distance of the campground for a 6 year old? Any streams within walking distance? Does anyone have any favorite camp sites? Any info on this area would be wonderfull, it's been hard to find any info at all. Thanks again!!


Re: Crane Flat Campground
Author: Dan Anderson
Date: 06-15-03 20:19

There's a dirt road that goes out to a viewpoint of the Clark Range near the campground. It's about a mile, but doesn't start exactly at the campground.

There's a meadow area near the Tioga Road Junction, north of the gas station--it's flat and easy to walk around. Too many mosquitos in early summer though.

There's a closed road that head's down to the Tuolumne Grove of Sequoia Trees. Some kids get bored of walking a mile or so to the first Sequoia trees and you have to walk up when returning.


Re: Crane Flat Campground
Author: pam
Date: 06-16-03 15:37

Thanks for the info. Do you know of any books or maps that would detail this area of the park anymore? Any good campsites here?


Re: Crane Flat Campground
Author: Dan Anderson
Date: 06-17-03 22:30

The campsites are in the trees, which I like. I don't remember which ones are good, but I like to stay away from the bathrooms and near the camp boundary, as it's more quiet.

Jeffrey Schaffer's book "Yosemite National Park: A Natural-History Guide to Yosemite and It's Trails" (Wilderness Press) mentions a few trails in the area. It's the most detailed trailguide for the Park. No book goes into detail about just this one campground or area (that I know of).


Re: Crane Flat Campground
Author: Robert
Date: 07-28-03 10:42

How was your trip? I will be camping at Crane Flat campground the end of August with three small children. Any suggestions?


Re: Crane Flat Campground
Author: pam
Date: 07-28-03 12:39

The trip went well. My suggestion: Bring a car. We camp in a motorhome and it would have been horrible if we hadn't towed our car, which sometimes we don't. We did a whole lot of driving that week which was the only bad part. The campground was real nice, no where near as bad as the valley campgrounds. I just wish you could pick your own site, because there is some real nice ones I would have loved to camp at.
Must sees: TIOGA PASS, WOW!!!!!, Glacer Point, Mariposa Grove. The valley reminded me of being at Disneyland, too many people! Do the Junior Ranger program with your kids, that was the highlight of my 6 year olds trip, he's still talking about it and showing off his patch!

Author: Pamela
Date: 02-15-03 11:09

If you had the choice which camp ground would you pick Crane Flat or Hodgdon Meadow. Is there water (stream) near any of these? Pros or Cons? Thanks


Author: Dan Anderson
Date: 02-17-03 22:24

Both campgrounds are similar and in the same area of the park (Highway 120 north of the Valley).

I prefer Crane Flat because it's slightly closer to Yosemite Valley and the Tioga Road. Neither have a stream near them.

I've been camping in the Valley campgrounds for many years.
I'm thinking about spending a few days at Crane Flat campground on a weekend, between the end
of September to mid-October (before it closes for the year).

-Are all of the camp sites at Crane Flat on the reservation system, or are a portion of them
reserved for first-come-first-serve?

-Can I expect the campground to be 100% full on weekends at this time of year, or perhaps 1/2 to 3/4 full??

-If there are a number of empty sites in Crane Flat when I arrive, will the hosts at the check-in kiosk allow me
to drive around, and pick out the empty spot I like the best, and then return to them to request that spot, or
will I have to take whatever spot they insist on assigning me when I first drive in?
(In Sequoia and Kings Canyon campgrounds, I've been able to pick out the spot I like the best).
Thanks.

All campgrounds in Hodgdon, Crane Flat, and Wawona are reservable. Only Tuolumne Meadows saves half the campgrounds for first-come, first-serve.

A great place to find out how many sites are left for a Yosemite Campground for any particular day or month is
http://www.yosemitesites.com/
This has neat bar charts that are automatically updated showing how many sites are available for any day of any month (currently open for reservations)

Reservations shouldn't be a problem after mid-September or so. You probably don't even need them except for weekends, maybe.

You can pick your campground, if empty sites are available.

Thank you for the reply, Dan, much appreciated!
I thought the campground might not be full at that time of year.
I was particularly interested in hearing if they let you pick whichever
empty site you like best.
I'm glad to hear that, and may give the place a try. Thanks again.