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Tuolumne Meadows

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Tuolumne Meadows
August 18th – August 24th, 2026 (6 nights)

Tuolumne Meadows Campground in Yosemite National Park has been one of our top places to visit for a while.  This high elevation campground sits far above Yosemite Valley (where most tourists go when visiting Yosemite) at about 8,600 feet.  Tuolumne Meadows Campground has been closed for years undergoing a $26 million dollar renovation and just reopened last summer (2025).  Because the season is so short (mid June to mid September) due to extreme weather, the opportunity to secure a reservation at this campground is very limited.  This year, the campground used a rolling reservation window split into two parts (every two months or every two weeks).  We logged onto www.recreation.gov two weeks before our trip date and pressed the reserve button at 6:59:58 (trying to be the first to get into the recreation.gov system at exactly 7 a.m. when reservations for Tuolumne Meadows Campground open).  There were only two sites available that would accomodate our trailer, and probably hundreds of thousands of campers clicking at the same time.  To our surprise, we were able to secure one of those two campsites!

Because it’s such a long drive directly to Tuolumne Meadows Campground from San Diego, we chose to break up the trip and stay a night at Four Jeffrey Campground high above Bishop.  We picked this campground because it’s only about a two hour drive to Tuolumne Meadows and it’s at high elevation, so much cooler than Bishop.  We’ve stayed here before and love it because of the spectacular Swiss Alps type views.

Traveler Note:  never use cruise control when towing your trailer down a steep grade as the engine downshifts to slow the car plus trailer down and this can cause the engine to overheat.  Instead, drive the car manually and use the brakes to slow.

Four Jeffrey Campground (8,100’ elevation)
Before heading up the mountain to Camp Four Jeffrey, we stopped for lunch at The Mana food truck (formerly called Lemon Food Truck before its recent sale a couple of months ago) in the neighboring town of Independence.  It was 100 degrees in town when we arrived!  After a great Mexican food meal, we continued on to Bishop (where the outside temperature was about the same).  Since Four Jeffrey Campground is high up the montain at over 8,000 feet, the temperatures are usually much cooler.   However, this time the temperature only dropped about 10 degrees to around 90 when we arrived in the late afternoon.  With no hookups, the only relief from the high temperatures were shade and the Scamp’s powerful MaxxFan.

Four Jeffrey Campground is a large campground (with only the first 30 campsites reservable during the time of our visit) and has potable water spigots and an RV dump station (with two dumps) — dumping is free if you are camping here.  There’s no reliable cell phone signal, but signals come and go throughout the day and night in various locations throughout the campground.  For a more reliable cell phone signal, there’s a utility access dirt road across the main road that climbs for about 1/2 mile and overlooks Forks Campground down below.  We now use Starlink for satellite internet, so we had no issuees getting extremely fast internet service (comparable to fiber optic service at home).  Note:  on our last visit there was also free Starlink service at the Cardinal Village Resort in nearby Aspendell, CA.

This is one of the most dramatically scenic campgrounds we’ve been to as it’s surrounded by high Sierra mountains (covered in snow most of the year, with no snow visible during our visit this time in mid August).  Also, aspen trees grow throughout the campground which present in full yellow popping color in the Fall.  There’s a creek that runs through the campground and many campers enjoy fishing here.  We chose campsite #45 (not sure why we were able to reserve it since it’s not in the first thirty campsites and no other campsites were able to be reserved in this loop when we made reservations) because it sits high above all the other campsites and has dramatic views.  It was the second time we stayed at this campsite.  Some of the water spigots at the entrance are threaded and we used one (near campsite #93) to fill up our Scamp 13’s fresh water tank on the way out of the campground.  There are also unthreaded water spigots through the campground.

We only spent one night here on this trip as a stopover to Tuolomne Meadows Campground.  It was a good stop because it allowed us to get somewhat acclimated to over 8,000 feet elevation before climbing up Tioga Road and reaching the high country in Yosemite.

Tuolomne Meadows Campground (8,600’ elevation)
The two hour drive on Highway 395 from Bishop to Tuolomne Meadows Campground past Mammoth Lakes and climbing Tioga Mountain Pass was fairly easy.  In order to stay at Tuolomne Meadows Campground one first must pay the entrance fee at the Yosemite Ranger Station since the campground is within the Yosemite National Park.  When we pulled up to the ranger station which had posted “credit cards only accepted”, we were greeted by a smiling ranger who told us it was our lucky day because the park’s computer system was down and she was waiving our $35 entrace fee!  Note — the annual America the Beautiful pass or Senior Golden Pass can be used to enter the park without having to pay additional fees.

We stayed at Tuolumne Meadows Campground in Site #H3 ($36/night) for four nights.  It’s a shady site within the pines.  Most of the sites here seem desireable.  One thing we noticed is that water spigots are only at the restroom areas (not near the campsites).  Fortunately, with a dolly and jug this wasn’t an issue.  There’s little to no cell phone service in the campground (occassional one to two bars on Verizon, but only barely useable, usually in the early morning hours).  We did find though that we could sometimes maintain voice calls with one bar and occassionally be able to send texts without attachments.  We ran Starlink, which worked really well.  There is a free dump near the Visitor’s Center.  Since there’s only one dump station, we went on a late Saturday afternoon the day before departing and no one was there.  Additionally, there’s a free fresh water fill station beyond the dump station.

Tuolomne Meadows is stunningly beautiful — sparkling alpine lakes and rivers, georgeous meadows, and huge granite rock formations.  There are seemingly endless numbers of hikes available as well as other activities such as fishing and kayaking.  There are also ranger programs throughout the day and night.  Part of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) runs through the park and PCT hikers can be seen making their way along the trail or grabbing a snack in town (most notably at The Grill which is a small grill offering inexpensive burgers, salads, and more.)  The Grill is just ouside the campground and serves breakfast, lunch, or dinner 8a.m. to 6 p.m.  We enjoyed their soft serve cones (“frosties”) on a warm summer day (and you can order any flavor — so long as it’s vanilla, chocolate, or swirl combination).

Most tourists stay in Yosemite Valley and there are a number of campgrounds and hotels (such as the luxurious Ahwahnee hotel) within the valley.  We stayed at Upper Pines Campground on a previous trip and found the area and trails to be beautiful but also crowded.  Yosemite Valley tends to be extraordinarily busy during the summer months when kids are out of school and families go on vacation.  It also can be very warm.  That’s why we loved our stay at Tuolomne Meadows Campground.  The weather was cool — in the mid 70’s during the day and in the 40’s at night.  And, the campground was quiet.  In addition, we only occassionally saw other people on our hikes!  It felt like a private Yosemite vacation.

Plan to take it easy on the first day or two as the campground is at high elevation (around 8,600 feet) and altitude sickness may be possible (this sickness has no correlation with fitness levels).  The campground is beautiful, nestled within the pines, with the Tuolumne River running beside it:  a great place to set up chairs and/or hammocks to laze away the afternoons.

There are lots of hiking opportunities right from within the campground.  There’s a short hike to the Visitor’s Center (very  small, not many souvenirs).  Once at the Visitor’s Center, there’s a fantastic, easy hike across the Tuolumne Meadows that crosses the Tuolumne River over a bridge and leads to Parsons Memorial Lodge and Soda Springs.  The meadow itself is beautiful and looks out onto forests, giant granite domes, and craggy peaks.  It’s common to see horse riders on this trail as well as mule pack teams crossing the meadows.  There are all sorts of animals on the trail including deer, squirrels, birds, and even marmots!  We saw a really friendly marmot at the bridge.  He seemed to enjoy our company and sat next to us when we took a break at the river.  After crossing the bridge, make sure to visit the Parsons Memorial Lodge (once a hiker refuge for those seeking shelter from lightning storms).  It’s now run by the park service.  And, next to the lodge/refuge, check out the Soda Springs — a rusty looking area of shallow water that bubbles up from springs down below.  Other highly recommended hikes are EASY:   Lyell Canyon via the John Muir Trail (stunning river and forest views), MODERATE:  2.8 miles / 3 hours, Dog Lake / Lembert Dome (dome and lake views), MODERATE: 4.8 miles / 4-5 hours Elizabeth Lake (glacier-carved lake at the base of Unicorn Peak)(note:  we saw no hikers on this trail on Saturday morning around 7 a.m. and we completed the hike in about two hours) and MODERATE: 7 miles / 4-6 hours Cathedral Lakes (beautiful lakes).

Lone Pine Campground (5,900’ elevation)
In order to break up the drive down Highway 395 coming home, we stayed at Lone Pine Campground (about a three hour drive from Tuolomne Meadows).  We stopped for lunch on the way down to Lone Pine at Crearee, a top rated Mexican restaurant in Bishop (highly recommended for tacos, burritos, and quesadillas).  Their jackfruit taco was excellent.

Our car thermometer read that it was 104 degrees when we cruised through the town of Lone Pine (elevaton 3,272 feet).  We decided not to drive up to Whitney Portal Campground this trip since we had just stayed their in June and only needed a place to stay overnight and that drive is extreme (steep cliffs up mountainous turns), so we chose Lone Pine Campground which is not nearly as far or steep a drive as to the Whitney Portal.  The rule of thumb is that for every 1,000 feet of elevation gain, the temperature drops 3 to 5 degrees.  This rule held pretty well in our case — it was about 12 degrees lower (or around 92 degrees) when we arrived at the campground.  The heat wasn’t too bad because it was very windy.  We sat out back behind the Scamp 13′ in the shade and enjoyed the breezes.

Lone Pine Campground is small with only 44 total campsites.  There are bathrooms and water spigots (some with threads).  There is no mobile phone service or RV dump station in the campground (the closest dump station is at the Tuttle Creek Campground closer to town).  It’s only about a 12 minute drive up Whitney Portal Road to the campground from the town of Lone Pine below.  We stayed in site #24 ($34/night), a very nice campsite at the lower part of the campground.  Lone Pine Creek can be heard at site #24 all year long as it’s a perennial mountain stream fed by Sierra snowmelt and springs.  The water is very cold and crystal clear.  There’s a short path from Site #24 to the creek and we sat down on the rocks to cool off.  Looking out at the panoramic views of the Eastern Sierra and jagged peaks, it may feel like you are in Switzerland.  The sights are so amazing here that they are worth the trip even if you do nothing else but sit back in a relaxing chair and take in the scenery.

If you have time to explore and are not visiting in the heat of the summer, make sure to have breakfast (cinnamon rolls, breakfast burritos, and pancakes) and lunch (burgers, tuna melts) at the Alabama Hills Café, a local favorite diner in downtown Lone Pine.  Also, be sure to visit the Museum of Western Film History ($5 per person).  The museum has galleries full of pictures and memorabilia from movies filmed in the area.  In the museum’s screening room, watch their educational film for a great background on the movie industry in Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills.  To see an old Western film made in the Alabama Hills, click here.  An extensive list of films made in the Alabama Hills can be found here.  And, hike a bit in the famous Alabama Hills.  For our complete report on the Alabama Hills, click here.  To see us driving through Alabama Hills click here.

Final Thoughts
Tuolumne Meadows is a very special place filled with natural wonders.  Yosemite is about the size of Rhode Island and 95% of the public only sees about 5% of the park.  And of this 5%, most of the visits are within Yosemite Valley.  This leaves Tolumne Meadows largely untouched and a place of wonderful exploration for those who are able to make the trip and get reservations.  We found Tolumne Meadows much more enjoyable due to the lack of crowds common in Yosemite Valley.  Of the many hikes we took on this trip, we were either the only ones on the trail or among the few people exploring the trails.

Note to Starlink users — Starlink worked well within the Tuolumne Meadows Campground despite the trees.  We had cancelled our subscription earlier in the year, but it only took a few minutes to reactivate it online before leaving.  Starlink kept our billing period the same.  Since we restarted the subscription ten days after the start of our billing period, we received a prorated discount ($44 for 100GB instead of $55).  And, because we cancelled before the next billing period started, it means that the only charge for the trip for Stalink was the prorated amount ($44).  Despite intermittently using the internet daily, we didn’t get anywhere close to the 100GB data limit.

Planning for this trip was relatively last minute because one of the reservation windows at Tuolumne Meadows Campground is available only 14 days in advance.  We had no plans for August because we generally don’t travel during this month due to hot weather and crowds.  However, we found travelling to Tuolumne Meadows in August definitely worth it as the weather was ideal (70’s to low 80’s during the day and 40’s at night) and the crowds were all down in Yosemite Valley.  A ranger working at the Parsons Lodge during our visit told us that it’s even easier to get a reservation if you are willing to reserve just six days in advance during the “cancellation window” when people change their plans and spots suddenly open up.  This reminds us of a saying, “In order to have a change of fortune at the last minute, you have to take your fortune to the last minute” — Terry Pratchett.  So, we highly recommend waiting until the last minute and booking a trip to Tuolumne Meadows Campground in Yosemite!

 

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything right.

Four Jeffery Campground, Eastern Sierra

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Four Jeffery Campground, Eastern Sierra
September 18th – 22nd, 2023 (4 nights)

While looking for somewhere cool to go (as California was experiencing very warm weather), I did a Google search for towns in California with the highest elevations (figuring higher altitudes would mean lower summer temperatures).  Jumping out at number 3 on the list (8,500 ft. elevation), the small town of Aspendell (pop. 100) stood out as a great place to go.  It’s easy to get to (only a 25 minute drive up into the mountains from Bishop) and has stunning scenery, excellent campgrounds, magnificent hikes with beautiful lakes, trout fishing, boating, horseback riding, and some great places to eat.  We had never heard of this location before, but it turned out to be one of our all-time favorite places we have ever visited!  We chose to stay at Four Jeffrey Campground.

The drive from our home in Carlsbad, California to Four Jeffrey Campground is about six hours straight.  However, we chose to break it up by spending the weekend in Los Angeles with family.  It took us about four and a half hours to drive to the campground from Los Angeles.  The drive goes up Highway 14 through Mojave and surrounding desert communities and then up Highway 395 past Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine, and finally to Bishop.  We stopped in Lone Pine on the way up to eat lunch at the Alabama Hills Café (the burgers are great as are their homemade pies).  https://www.alabamahillscafe.com/  Note:  we spent a week camping up in the Alabama Hills on a previous trip which we really enjoyed.  We stopped in Bishop for gas and an RV dump (free if you fill up there, otherwise a monetary donation is requested) at Speedway Bishop. From Bishop, it’s about a twenty five minute drive up into the mountains on Highway 168.  There are many campgrounds in the area, but the biggest is Four Jeffrey Campground which has water spigots, an RV dump (free if staying at the campground, otherwise $10) as well as flush toilets.

Four Jeffrey Campground is spectacular, featuring stunning views across the Eastern Sierra.  There was snow in the mountains even in late September due to the high elevation (Four Jeffrey Campground is at 8,300 feet elevation).  We stayed in two campsites alongside Bishop Creek ($30/night, note:  America the Beautiful Senior Passes (age 62 or older) are accepted for half priced camping @$15/night)  – we were at campsite #10 the first night and then moved over to campsite #8 the next couple of nights.  When talking to regulars, we learned campsite #8 is a favorite.  There are a couple of campsites right across from campsite #8 which can accommodate large trailers.  There’s almost no internet service here (we encountered 1 bar on Verizon in certain areas when walking around the campground).  However, there is a short 10 minute hike up a utility service access road across the street from the campground which leads to a spectacular view over the valley and has about 4 bars on Verizon.

We felt like we were in the mountains of Switzerland while camping at Four Jeffrey Campground.  The air was crisp and cool (60’s during the day and 30’s/40’s at night).  The campground is in a valley surround by high mountains.  The evenings were filled with dark skies and brilliant stars (although we were also gifted a dramatic thunder and lightning show one night!).  We had fun spending one night outdoors photographing the stars and Milky Way (best seen in dark sky locations during the summer).  The South Fork of Bishop Creek runs through the campground and many of the campers brought their fishing rods and reeled in a lot of trout.  Everyone seemed very happy here.  The campground was not crowded during our stay, but perhaps that was because it was mid-week and the end of the tourist season in the Sierra.  It was cold at night and we ran our propane furnace to keep the Scamp warm inside.  We had a great hike from the Bishop Pass Trailhead past South Lake up to Long Lake.  The trail is clearly marked but somewhat difficult due to rocky and steep terrain.  There are many connected lakes and some people tent camp outdoors overnight when hiking to farther areas.  It took us a few hours round trip from South Lake to Long Lake and the hike was one of the most scenic hikes we have ever done.  The scenery of the lakes and mountains is stunning – seemingly untouched and unknown.  After our hike, we went to the Cardinal Café, in the small town of Aspendell, and had a tasty meal.    We also had a chance to take a horse / mule ride up to South Lake using the services of Rainbow Pack Outfitters ($100 per person for 2 hour ride at the time of this article).  The horses / mules are friendly and the guide was very good at getting us up on the animals and leading us along the trail (even beginners are welcome).  Rainbow offers longer trips as well as overnight trips into the backcountry.  We had such a great time up in this area of the Sierra, we didn’t want to leave.  There are enough activities that one could easily stay a week or longer.  And, for those without a travel trailer, Parcher Resort (adjacent to Rainbow Pack Outfitters) has cabins which can be rented.

Instead of driving straight back to San Diego, we stayed overnight at Red Rock Canyon State Park (about halfway to home).  We had camped here before and really enjoyed the area.  This campground is first come, first serve, but was easy for us to get a choice spot during the week when arriving around noon.  We chose site #29 ($25/night), which is one of the best campsites at the base of the bluffs.  There is plenty of room between campsites too.  There is a water spigot across from site #29.  The only cellphone service we found was at the visitor’s center, along with free WiFi, which is about a ¾ mile walk from site #29.  There is also a private RV dump across from the visitor’s center ($20).  The visitor’s center is stocked with some great souvenir values (we purchased a Red Rocks t-shirt and sweatshirt).

Red Rock Canyon State Park is true to its name, featuring brilliant red bluffs which are especially vibrant at sunrise.  There are trails that go up the bluffs, offering spectacular views of the surrounding desert.  It was around 85 degrees when we arrived, so we waited until sundown to hike.  The wind kicked up in the early evening, but didn’t exceed 30 mph and the gusts were minimal.  As we were getting ready to leave the next morning, we were treated to a beautiful sunrise (and the sounds and sights of two large owls perched on the bluffs directly above our Scamp 13’ hooting a friendly hello to start the day)!

We enjoyed this trip so much; we definitely plan to go back.  There is an area of free dispersed camping on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, called the Buttermilks (between Bishop and Aspendell), which we were told are similar in their unusual rock formations to the Alabama Hills.  The Buttermilks access road was closed during our visit so we couldn’t check them out, but we plan to on a future trip!  The area acquired its “Buttermilks” name in the 1970’s when a dairy operated here, but the rock formations also look like piles of curdled buttermilk so the name stuck.

In a crown of jewels (camping areas of special parks offered in California), Four Jeffrey Campground and surrounding areas in the Eastern Sierra are hidden gems — few talk about and even fewer experience the magic of this place.  Highly recommended for the trip of a lifetime!

 

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly.