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Washoe Lake State Park September 19th – September 30th, 2026 (12 nights)

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Washoe Lake State Park
September 19th – September 30th, 2026 (12 nights)

Washoe Lake State Park lies just over the Carson mountain range east of Lake Tahoe in the scenic Washoe Valley (about 45 minutes drive from Nevada Beach Campground at Lake Tahoe).  Nestled between Carson City and Reno, Washoe Valley State Park offers spectactular expansive views of the Carson and Virgina Mountain ranges and features wild mustangs as well as lenticular cloud formations.  We were initially intrigued to visit primarily for the wild horses, but found so many other interesting and fun things to do that we can easily recommend this place as a top travel destination.  If possible, stop ovenright at one or two locations along the way if travelling form Southern California to break up the trip.

Lone Pine Campground (5,900’ elevation)
Lone Pine is about the halfway point between Carlsbad and Reno (located about 4.5 – 5 hours beween the two cities).  Because it was still warm in the area during our visit in late summer, we chose to stay at Lone Pine Campground, which is a couple thousand feet higher in elevation than Lone Pine and, in turn, cooler. Before heading to the campground (easy drive), we stopped in town and had lunch at the Alabama Hills Cafe.  Their crispy chicken wrap is delicious!

Lone Pine Campground is small with only 44 total campsites (odd number sites are first come, first served, thus not seen on the government reservations website).  It’s only about a 12 minute drive up Whitney Portal Road to the campground from the town of Lone Pine below.  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).  A phone signal can be had, though, by walking to the top of the campground and out toward the exit road.  We stayed in site #12 ($34/night), a comfortable campsite shaded by an old oak tree across from the host campsite at the upper part of the campground.  Lone Pine Creek runs through this campground, providing relaxing sounds and a cool place to sit or fish.  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.

Note — we swapped out our incandescent bulb tail lights on our Scamp 13′ with LEDs for this trip because they have a longer life and may be brighter.  However, our 2020 Volvo XC40 could not recognize that our our trailer was attached to the tow vehicle when we replaced the incandescent bulbs with LEDs due to the much lower electronic load with LEDs, so many Volvo safety features (such as automatic tail light checks and safety anti-sway functions) no longer worked!  We read that it’s possible to use the LED tail lights in this manner, but load circuits need to be added to make it work properly.  We decided to switch back to our old reliable incandescent bulbs!

Next stop — June Lake Campground — a two hour drive north on the US Route 395.

June Lake Campground (7,600’ elevation)
Located in the small town of June Lake, this campground is the closest public campground to town (an easy 5 minute walk).  There are 28 campsites here and each has a bear locker (there’s no RV dumpstation here, but there is good Verizon mobile phone coverage).  The campground lacks proper site location signs, so it may take a little while to find your campsite.  We had campsite #18 ($32/night) which sits close to a threaded water spigot and is a nice spacious campsite.  We walked into town and had great homemade, small batch ice cream at Local Scoop (which also has stores in Mammoth Lakes and Bishop).  Note — in retrospect, we preferred staying at nearby Gull Lake Campground right on Gull Lake as it has a nicer feel than this campground, in our opinion).

Our friend Rob told us about an interesting place to eat attached to a Mobile Gas Station, called the Whoa Nelly Deli in Lee Vining (on the way to our next campground, Washoe Lake State Park Campground).  It’s only about a 15 minute drive north from June Lake.  At first we thought he was joking as we typically don’t associate good food with gas stations.  However, it has become a famous restaurant (started in 1996 by the owners of the Tioga Gas Mart) offering a more elevated food experience to travellers.  It’s located at the bottom of the Tioga Pass (intersection of the 395 and Tioga Road).  Make a left on Tioga Road coming from June Lake on the 395 North (in the direction of Tuolumne Meadows) and it’s off to the left about a block up Tioga Road.  There’s plenty of parking, even for  RVs.  We ordered their signature dish “World Famous Fish Tacos” ($20), in addition to crispy fries and carrot cake:  we really enjoyed the meal!  One taco dish was plenty for two people.  They offer indoor and outdoor seating, but their outside park-like setting with picnic tables has a spectacular view of Mono Lake and is a great place to enjoy lunch.

Washoe Lake State Park Campground, Nevada (5,053′ elevation)
The drive from June Lake to Washoe Lake State Park takes about three hours. We used the free dump station at the entrance before setting up at our campsite #17 ($30/night for non Nevada residents) in the A loop.  The A loop has water and electricity hookups at each campsite.  The B loop is dry with water spigots distributed throughout the campground ($20/night for non Nevada residents).  All the campsites are very spacious and have picnic tables with private ramadas.  Site #17 has a direct lake view.  There is good 5G Verizon mobile phone coverage here.

The late September weather during our stay was incredible — pleasant, mostly sunny, windy days and cool nights.  The park is framed by the Sierra Nevada, Carson, and Virginia mountain ranges.  These ranges provide a spectacular backdrop for the campground which sits in the Washoe Valley along the shores of the natural Washoe Lake.  The scenic beauty of the landscape is perhaps the most impactful part of the experience of staying in the campground.  Brilliant sunrises and sunsets burst with oranges and other warm hues as the sun rises and sets behind the mountain ranges on each side.  The Washoe Zephyr winds are powerful and predictable afternoon winds that sweep through the valley, sometimes lasting into the night and providing a soundtrack with which to fall asleep.  The Washoe Valley is also one of the best places in the world to view lenticular clouds, due to the Sierra Nevada mountains, which create the strong wave-like wind patterns necessary to make smooth saucer like disks that frequently mimic the appearance of flying saucers due to their round cylindrical edges.

One of the main reasons for our week long trip to Washoe Lake State Park Campground (maximum stay is 7 nights) was to see the wild mustangs.  The Virginia Range is famous for its population of free-roaming wild horses.  They often come down from the mountains into the state park to graze in the wetlands and meadows and to drink from the fresh lake.  On our first day here, we saw a heard of seven wild mustangs and one of them ran right up to us and stopped just short to say “hello” and “do you have any treats?”  People must be at times feeding the horses since they seem quite accustomed to people.  There are notices not to feed the mustangs as they can get sick if they eat anything other than their local diet of grass and sage brush.  Also, the windy air here at Washoe Lake State Park is filled with smell of sage, since it seems as if 99% of the vegetation is in the sage family.  We greatly enjoyed observing the mustangs and they didn’t mind our presence or having their photo taken or did they ever behave aggressively toward us.  We were lucky to have seen a heard almost everyday during our visit.

There are a lot of other fun activities at Washoe Lake State Park Campground.  There’s an 18 hold disc golf course along the lake, known as “The Maze” as well as a variety of scenic trails along the scrublands, lake, and hills surrounding the lake.  One popular climb is “Dead Mans Creek Trail” — providing a panoramic view over Washoe Lake.  There is kite surfing on the lake as well as kayaking and fishing.  The lake is stocked with a variety of fish.  And paragliders sometimes fly over Slide Mountain to land near the lake.

If spending a number of days at the campground like we did, it’s also fun to visit the nearby cities of Carson City and Reno.  Carson City is the state capitol of Nevada and it’s only a fifteen minute drive from the campground.  We had nice lunches at Eve’s Eatery (American) and The Basil (Thai) and enjoyed taking a walking city tour on our own.  We walked by the Governor’s Mansion and also enjoyed great ice cream at Scoups Ice Cream.  We were able to get inside the Nevada state capitol and viewed several rooms, including the Nevada Supreme Court, as well as the capitol government museum.  Reno is a much bigger city with lots of restaurants as well as casinos and airport and is about thirty minutes away from the campground.

We had to the opportunity to go to the well-run Carson City Farmers Market on its last Saturday of the season (September 26th).  The market runs seasonally from the end of May until the end of September (check their website for details).  The market is open on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Mills Park, with plenty of parking.  Vendors sell all sorts of fresh produce and farm products, such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, eggs, and honey as well as locally crafted items (e.g. wood cutting boards, owl/bee/bat boxes, etc.).  We purchased a dozen organic pasture-raised eggs ($10) and a pound of local raw honey ($13).  There are also food vendors at the market.  We shared a delicious chicken tikki masala pie ($14) and a slice of fresh apple caramel pie ($6) from Silver State Pie Company.  The longest lines were seen at the bakery/pastry booths, as people waited patiently sipping their hot drinks from the coffee/tea vendor. If you are in town during at the right season, we highly recommend visiting the Carson City Farmers Market: it won’t disappoint!

Lower Twin Lake Campground, Bridgeport (7,000′ elevation)
The drive from Washoe Lake State Park to Lower Twin Lake Campground (outside of Bridgeport, CA) takes about two hours down Highway 395. We used the free dump station at the entrance before departing Washoe Lake State Park Campground.  We made sure to fill up for gas at the last gas stop in Nevada (the Chevron station at Topaz Lake) to receive highly discounted gas prices compared to California.

The route to Lower Twin Lake Campground is a short drive through farm fields filled with cows and up a gentle mountain grade.  The campground is first come first served at this time of year and there are only 14 campsites (with choice sites along the creek, #1-5).  When we arrived early Monday afternoon there were only a couple of campsites available.  Fortunately, one of the choice creek campsites (#5) was open for us (our 2020 Scamp 13′ with Volvo XC 40 just fit into the campsite, as this campsite is a short one!).  Campsites here are currently $34/night or $17/night if you have an America the Beautiful senior pass, since we’re on National Forest land.  There is no mobile phone service or RV dump station, but there are scattered water spigots.  The creek runs directly behind the campsites.  The Lower Twin Lake is a short walk up the road and is a beautiful place to relax, fish, or have a picnic.  We spoke to the host and she said that this campground is extremely difficult to make reservations during the summer season as it is very popular and there are not many campsites.  Fortunately, there’s another campground directly across the street called Crags Campground (split into the Sawtooth Loop and the Matterhorn Loop).  This campground is larger and the sites are spread out over a big open area with dramatic scenic mountain views (sites are $30/night or $15/night with a pass).  There are also 2x (fits 2 trailers / $50/night) and 3x (fits 3 trailers / $65/night) sites for those who want to share a campsite with friends.

There is plenty to do at the campground, including fishing, boating, swimming, and hiking.  And, if you want some variety, it’s a short 10 minute drive down into the cute old-fashioned town of Bridgeport where there’s unique shopping as well as eateries.  We enjoyed a great hamburger at the Burger Barn and had a delicious piece of cherry pie a la mode at the historic Bridgeport Inn dining  room.  The Brideport Inn, established in 1877, is reportedly haunted by the White Lady Ghost, in room 16.  We did not see her during our visit, nor had our restaurant server who has worked at the inn for the past ten years ever seen her.  We toured the town on foot and walked through the old 1800’s jail and viewed the court house.  Make sure to check out the High Sierra Bakery when in town, famous for their apple fritters (Note: their hours fluctuate and they close earlier on Mondays, when we had stopped by).

Tuttle Creek Campground, Lone Pine (5,000′ elevation)
The drive from Lower Twin Lake Campground to Tuttle Creek Campground takes about three hours down Highway 395.  The weather turned cooler toward the end of our trip in late September and as we drove toward Lone Pine we could see there were recent snow storms at higher elevations with mountain peaks now blanketed in snow.  We checked the report on our way down from Bridgeport and were happy to hear it was only around 80 degrees in Lone Pine.  This meant we could try out Tuttle Creek Campground which is lower in elevation than the campgrounds in which we usually stay around Lone Pine.

Tuttle Creek Campground is first come first served, and is a very large, sprawling area with 83 RV and tent sites.  So, we weren’t too concerned about being able to get a spot.  As it turned out, we were successfull at getting one of our top picks, campsite #8, which backs up against the creek.  There’s not much shade at Tuttle Creek and it can get very windy (as it was during our visit) — but, if the weather isn’t too hot, then it’s reallly nice to open up the front door and all the windows and allow the breezes to blow through the camper!  There’s a newly installed electronic payment machine at the entrance to the campground (which is only a short drive up Whitney Portal Road from town).  Select your campsite and park first, then come down to the kiosk and enter the campsite number and pay.  The machine prints out a parking pass to display in your car window.  Campsites here are $12/night or $6/night with an America the Beautiful Senior Pass, as this area in on BLM land.  There is an RV dumpstation (currently $12) as well as water spigots (both closed during the winter, but the campground stays open).

Some nice things about this campground are stunning panoramic views of Mt. Whitney and the surrounding Sierra Nevada mountains, close proximity to town for shopping and eating, and good Verizon mobile phone coverage.  Hiking and rock climbing are close by in the Alabama Hills.  Or, if you don’t want to leave your campsite, take in the dramatic mountain views and stargaze at night as the sky is very dark.

Final Thoughts
We generally spend only a few nights or less at each of our campsground stops.  We usually feel like we get a good impression of each area after a couple days and, since there’s so much to see, we like to keep moving.  However, on this trip, we made it a point to spend 7 nights (the maximum stay allowed) at Washoe Lake State Park Campground in northern Nevada to ensure we could fully appreciate the environment.  This strategy really paid off on this trip as each day brought new wonders and surprises that we wouldn’t have experienced in a two night stay.

We saw a stormy bright red cloudy sunset sky on our first night.  We encountered the famous wild Virginia range mustangs on multiple days at different times of day and in different locations.  And, on one early morning at sunrise, two exceptional lenticular cloud formations appeared above our Scamp 13′ — a meteor hurtling straight down on us and a UFO hovering above (see report images).  [We learned that the Washoe Valley is one of the best places on Earth to witness lenticular cloud formations!]  And, since we had a number of days to explore, we were able to visit both Reno (30 minutes drive from the campground) and Carson City (15 minutes drive).  Some highlights were attending the last Carson City farmer’s market of the season, touring old Carson City on foot (and even viewing inside the Nevada State Capitol building) and walking in front of the Governor’s Mansion.

On the last days of our trip, the feeling of summer was over.  Fall had settled in and the colors of changing leaves were on full display.  And driving through the freshly snow capped mountains felt like fall may be short lived making way for some early big winter storms in the Eastern Sierra.  It was time for us to go home.

We highly recommend a visit to Washoe Lake State Park campground and also taking time for interesting stops along the way.  And, as we learned, sometimes it’s ok to stay for a while and appreciate the beauty of the present moment.  As legendary golfer Walter Hagen once said, “You’re only here for a short visit.  Don’t hurry.  Don’t worry.  And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.”

 

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.

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.