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Campground outside of Yosemite (near Half Dome)

PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:21 pm
by mienhthornh
Greetings avid hikers,

I am planning a trip to Yosemite and conquer the Half Dome. I have never been to Yosemite and I would like some feedbacks on where I should camp. All the campgrounds in Lower pine, Upper pine and North pine are unavailable at the time of my visit (August 27-29th, 2009).

Therefore, I will have to resort to campgrounds outside of Yosemite; which I do not mind if the drive is less than 30 min (max. 1 hour) from the start of the Half Dome hike.

Please help!

What campgrounds should I look into? First-come, first-serve basis? Fee? Permit?

Thanks!

PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:40 pm
by AlmostThere
I can't guarantee that any campground outside the park is 30-60 minutes from the Happy Isles trailhead, because at any given time, traffic at the gate can slow to a crawl, or anywhere inside the park (deer or bear jams, or just a really slow RV), plus the speed limit is about 35 mph. I usually figure an hour to just get through from the Hwy 41 gate to Crane Flat.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/nrcamping.htm has info on camping without reservations in the park. I have had good luck going to Bridalveil in the morning to grab a site.

There's http://www.yelp.com/biz/summerdale-campground-fish-camp just outside the south gate.

A longer list - http://jrabold.net/yosemite/campn.shtml