Yosemite Forum

As of tomorrow, 05/27/16, the only campground open for the season on Tioga Rd will be Tamarack Flat. However, it will be re-closing June 10th-20th.

This campground is entirely first-come, first-served, requires you to treat all water, and is 3 miles in on a rough dirt road (be sure you have a vehicle that can make it). But it does give backpackers with trailheads along Tioga Rd an alternative to the Valley. Get there early if you hope to find a site, especially over Memorial Day weekend.

White Wolf, Yosemite Creek, Porcupine Flat, and Tuolumne Meadows remain closed.

Crane Flat will open on a limited basis, with limited amenities, 05/27- 05/30 only. If you're looking for a walk-in, don't even bother. It's going to be the primary campground handling any and all overflow from the Valley, and sites will go insanely fast.

I plan to put in for a permit to park at and backpack south from Luken Lake or Yosemite Creek off Tioga Rd June 15-19. Right now there doesn't seem to be any competition to get those permit days on the Yosemite NPS website, which make me think they won't even give me a permit because the campsites aren't open yet and won't be open when I'm there.

The two systems, campgrounds and wilderness permits, aren't related. If Tioga Rd is open, you can always get a wilderness permit if space is available. Neither Yosemite Creek nor Lukens Lake trailhead entry require you to stay at the Yosemite Creek Campground, and if it's not open yet, you won't be allowed to anyhow. Apply for either permit, and if it's open, you'll get it.

The campground is too close to the trailhead to stop so soon, the Lukens Lake trail intersects down-trail from the campground anyhow, and the best sites on the trail are creekside a couple/few miles below that.

Anything else you need to know or questions you have, ask.