Crane Flat is a nice campground and a great option for visiting multiple areas of Yosemite National Park. It’s relatively quiet (as compared to the Valley) and in a good location to make Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows pretty accessible, half and hour and an hour each way respectively.

There are a couple of small trails around the campground, the one we walked on for just a bit left from the west edge of the 500 loop near sites 514 and 516. There is also a trail to Clark Range View (1.5 miles each way) which leaves from the entrance to the 400 loop.

We did see two different bears in our two days at this campground. One walked straight through the camp despite some very excitable people blowing off air horns. Keep your food packed up and kids within eye sight!

I have a love hate relationship with Yosemite because of the unbelievable beauty, but the throngs of people that clog the roads and act like the area is an amusement park and not a natural treasure to be protected. That being said, Crane Flat is a pretty good place from which to enjoy Yosemite as you are relatively close to everything without being in the chaos of the Valley.