The Eastern Sierra entrance to Yosemite National Park is short and sweet. From Hwy 395 it is only 12 miles. The turn off to drive to the front gate begins at a little town called Lee Vining. About 4-5 miles in you come to a campground sign and a road called Poole Power Plant just past the Inyo National Forest sign. You can only turn left. In front of you sits the name of two campsites. Moraine to the left and Big Bend to the right. Take a right and the campground sits about two miles up on a partially paved/dirt road. The road takes you past a beautiful meadow where deer come out at early morning and evening. You will pass another campground called Aspen Campground. This is a wonderful place with over 40 sites. However, Big Bend offers the same amenities with only 17 FC/FS sites. As you reached the unpaved section of road, you drive along Lee Vining Creek. It’s wonderful and full of trout. You can fish along the road there any time. You’ll reach Big Bend when you come to a small waterfall. I say small because I visited Yosemite this time, but it is a pretty good size. As you turn left into the campground you will find that 16 of the 17 sites are next to it within 50 ft of the creek. Fishing is so easy from the campground itself. The campground host was one of the nicest people I have ever met. Try to get to know him and he will tell you if the many things located close to the campground, like Beaver Pond within 20 minutes from the CG and a mountain spring creek with some of the best tasting water you’ll ever find within a 1/4 mile from Big Bend. With only 17 sites, the host is able to keep the bathrooms very clean and constantly check for any problems. He resides across to street from BB and checks at least 4 times a day to make sure all is well. If you drive a mile farther up the dirt road, at the end you will find a working power plant owned by SCE. It’s an old building and is in wonderful condition. Along the way you will find more spots to cast your line in. The campground isn’t that big and if it’s full it can feel crowded. However, the sites are well marked out and most are big enough for a 30’ trailer. For tent camping, it’s perfect! With only a few sites that are all FC/FS, you might find it hard to get in. We got there on a Monday and had about half the sites to choose from. When we left 7 days later, we had a line of 3 campers ready for sites to open up. All in all, this is one of the best CG to stay if you’re planning on going to Yosemite, being only 9 miles from the entrance and 6 miles to a place to get coffee and gas. Lee Vining town is a half mile farther. Along the way, there are so many other places to visit.
