North Pines Campground — Yosemite National Park

How do you snag a reservation in one of the most popular campgrounds in the entire NPS with just a few days notice?  Easy!  Set up a Dyrt Alert with your Dyrt PRO subscription. We did this and turned 1 night in the valley into 10.  Here's to shoulder season camping!  But come prepared as you might need your kayaking gear and your snowshoes on the same trip.

This is a great campground in valley, with many sites right by the Merced River, a view of Half Dome in the background, and a little forestry action means that you even get some sunshine down through those big pines and can recharge with solar in a few key sites. We were also able to run our Starlink to get some work done. You can walk to many trails, bike to others, and even stroll over to Curry Village for a meal, shower, or an ice cream. 

What you have in these campsites is very similar throughout this park, paved spot with not a lot of room for big rigs, small area for tents, a spot for your car, picnic table, fire ring, and a food/ cooler/ cooking equipment storage locker.  Seriously y’all, they will ticket your butt for not storing food properly– they do not mess around here in this park with feeding wildlife, either on accident or on purpose. And you will quickly learn why because the ground squirrels do not give a#$%^ about you except that you are a quick source of Cheetos-- and they’ll even climb up your leg to get some.  Don’t even get me started about the Ravens, they are smart and they have a taste for potato chips! Bears make regular visits to these campgrounds, too.  

The “Comfort Stations” as the NPS calls them means a couple of toilets that flush, a sink with cold running water, and a hand dryer. Bring your own soap.  They can stay on top of cleaning them, but do your part too.  Showers can be purchased at the Yosemite Curry Village area and they are just fine, but there is a high demand for them so plan ahead. 

Unlike most parks, Yosemite has its own grocery store, gas station, bike rentals, restaurants, visitor’s center, park film theater, gift shop– and if you come at the right time of year, you can see “Shakespeare in the Park’s” live theater. 

You can bike, hike, paddle, float, climb, sightsee, stargaze, climber stalk, waterfall gawk and walk. But parking is a bitch. So just leave everything at the campsite and hop on the bus to get around the park and the different hiking areas. The buses also have bike racks so you can bike as much as you want, then hop on the bus if you’re not feeling it anymore. 

There are so many beautiful hikes, but please don’t go to the popular ones in the middle of the day, or maybe do, that way I can enjoy the less popular ones on my own time at my leisure. Understand that the valley is one of the most “touristed” destinations outside of Disney World, and get your head around it, settle in and make nice-nice with all the other folks who have been dying to come. But please don’t feed those squirrels, ravens, or bears! 

Depending on which way you come into the park, the closest town with reasonable grocery store prices can be up to an hour away. So, it’s worth the price of admission to stock up on your way into the park.

We stayed at North Pines for 4 nights after winning the new lottery they did this year. It was so amazing! The site was actually really large. We didn't set up tents but it would've fit several. The site had its own small beach right on the river. Unfortunately the water was too swift to swim while we were there but I think most times it would probably be good. It says it fits a 24 ft trailer. We have about a 25 foot trailer, more like 28 with the hitch, and my husband's F250 hooked up still pretty much fit in the spot. That does include a few feet of overhang over the back curve. We also had my sons CRV and when we unhooked we were able to fit both cars on the pad no problem. We have verizon and cell service pretty much sucked but it's yosemite so you get over it. We could get some calls/texts, def no internet except at Yosemite Village. There are enough trees for a hammock and we had one up. Bathrooms were flushable but the nearest shower is in Curry Village. My parents stayed in site 303. It's small and right next to the bathroom. Their 29 ft RV fit perfectly though. Plus their site obviously floods in the winter/spring cause there was mud everywhere.

Beautiful campground with a view. The sites are big and although it is a big campground it never felt like it. No showers and drinking water only at some bathrooms. The river was very nice to cool down after a long hike.

We were lucky to get 5 days in a row during 4th of July weekend in 2021 at one of the best sites within North Pines campground. We set up camp at site #515, we had a fire pit, bear locker, picnic table and two tents! Within walking distance is the edge of the Merced river, from there you have views of Yosemite Falls. One of my favorite activities was take a short walk with a floating tube from the campsite to the entrance of the campground and hop into the river float back down and get off near our campsite! Our site also offered a good amount of shade and was a short walk from the restrooms. We were surround amongst the giant granite cliffs. One of the best camping trips with great company. 10/10 would recommend.

Given Yosemite's popularity, the campground was expectedly crowded. The sites are close together. The park is strict about using the food lockers, but apparently not strict about the generator use hours considering I heard one running way past the allowed time. There was no soap in the bathroom and no showers. (I was jealous of the modern bathroom at Camp 4.) There was no potable water at the closest facility on our first day. I appreciate the campground's location, but given the lack of amenities, I would not stay here again.

Great drive in site as well as renting it and having an RV or trailer . The showers are across the way at upper pines as well as dump station and water station for RV . There bathrooms and area to wash dishes . Bear boxes are pretty big for each site .

Very nice and quiet campground. Near the river with a decent beach to hang out on.

First time staying at this campground and it was a great experience. North Pines is one of three campgrounds in the valley. I love how I can walk from here to several hikes, like Vernal and Nevada Falls. You can also walk to Curry Village for food, drink or some shopping. Yosemite village is also a bike ride away. It can get crowded in the summertime and some sites are closer to each other than I would like but, overall, I think it is great. If you can get one of the sites by the Merced river it is icing on the cake. Site 504 rocks! I had a great view of Half Dome and it felt amazing to be near all this majestic granite. Will be back for sure!!

Narrow drive and sharp turns in the campground so we didn't camp with our RV but we did tent camp. There were smaller RVs there and plenty of camper vans. The sites are spacious and in the pines. Great location in the valley. Can walk everywhere or bike everywhere in the valley. AT&T service occasionally let a text go through but completely unreliable. No wifi. We had to put on quite a bit of bug spray at night and early in the morning, but other than that the bugs weren't an issue.

North Pines is one of three campgrounds on the floor of Yosemite Valley. Across the Merced River from the other two campgrounds and adjacent to the horse stables, it is relatively isolated with no major roads running by it. Nevertheless, it is well connected to the rest of the valley amenities, with a quick walk to the bus station, a longer walk (1 mi) to the visitor center via the Valley Loop Trail, or a drive (if you don't mind braving traffic and searching for parking spaces). 

The sites are not well defined. You have a place to park and besides that, it is a little of a free-for-all with the adjacent sites as to where you set up your gear. Despite that, we had plenty of room to set up our large 10 person tent, without feeling crowded or that we were overspilling our space. We were there the last weekend it was open (Oct 26/27) and all sites were booked. There are no hook-ups, and the comfort stations only have toliets and sinks (no showers), a fresh water faucet, and a disposal "toliet" for dish water. All dishes must be washed at camp. The facilities were fairly clean, though the disposal toilet often backed up.  Being late October, I was expecting very cold conditions. But the weather was great! 70s during the day and 40s at night. Clear skies. Absolutely beautiful. 

Our site was located right next to the comfort station, and in hindsight I wish we had found a place a little farther away. But besides the proximity, our site was nice with a fire pit and picnic table. Quiet hours are from 1000-0600, and we had to remind our neighbor campers who came back drunk at midnight to shut it, but that seems to be more the normal than abnormal these days. There were mostly tents in the campground, with a few small RVs and trailers. Generators are allowed during limited hours, but the noise wasn't overwhelming, since they were few and far between.

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time. This weekend I got to test the Wenzel Great Basin 10 tent (https://wenzelco.com/great-basin-10/). Overall, my impression of this tent is that it is a solid and reliable tent. Yes, it has a few design items that could be improved for ease of use, but overall it served us well and I look forward to using it again. The tent is a domed center-opening design, with two side "rooms" that can be separated by zipped curtains, making three interior spaces total. My husband and I filled up on room with two large cots facing length wise (we had them oriented along center line and still had enough room to move along the sides). The other side has more than ample room for my daughter's small cot, which ran the width of the tent along the side window. Very comfortable for three people. 

Yes, this is a huge tent. Can it be set up by one person? Probably, if that person is patient and tenacious. Two people work much better. A few design items we found annoying were the pole connections, which would frequently catch on the tent pole sleeves and center strap. Also, the zipper flap on the tent's door would frequently get caught in the zipper, making it almost a necessity to use two hands to open and close the tent. Besides these two small inconveniences, the tent worked great. The rain fly fits snug against the tent roof. The construction felt sturdy and we liked the design of the three interior rooms. 

Overall, we had a fun two nights in Yosemite. We might make a tradition out of going for the closing weekend each year.

Good campground. Very flat, perfect for tents. When it’s full it can be a bit crowded. The sites are kinda close to each other. Other than that beautiful place. Easy to walk between the sites.

We had a nice open camping spot. It was at the edge of Yosemite Valley. The only downside to the spot was everyone else had a RV and had there generators on at 6am. We are not RV people so we don’t know why they need to run them. Next time we will camp in a tent only area. This area had no showers.

Beautiful campground within walking distance to multiple waterfall hiking trails. Close to the village. Right in the middle of the valley. Be aware of the time of year if you stay here, traffic in the valley can be nasty. And it may not be fun after a day of hiking to have to drive back into the valley

Camped at North Pines in October of 2015. It is right between Merced River and Tenaya Creek and it is one of the popular valley campgrounds so it was full. It was nice and conveniently located right in the valley, but it comes with crowd issues such as generator noise. Close distance to walk to the store or to trails. Having flush toilets is nice. Usual amenities such as a picnic table, a fire ring and a bear box are available at each site. Since it is hard to reserve a site in Yosemite, I still like it even though I am not a fan of crowded campgrounds.

Great location right in the middle of Yosemite Valley. Great access to beautiful hikes and scenery. The camp sites are spacious. Because it's an equestrian campground, you will smell the horses and stables....be prepared. The river is close to the campgrounds and are refreshing on a hot day.

We stayed at two sites during our stay one of them was on the trail to catch the shuttle so we had a lot of foot traffic, especially when you go to bed early. But I was fortunate to get a site with 2 weeks notice. The second one was amazing it was like our own little woodlands. A little more private and plenty of trees to provide shade on a hot summer day.

Camped here with a few buddies. Park bench tables for setting up lunch, easy-to-you bear boxes. We were able to store our food and go hiking all day. Got back to camp, set up our propane stove on the table, and cooked a great dinner.

It was fun to watch various critters (birds, squirrels, deer, coyotes) waltz through camp.

Met a few neighboring campsites, and they were friendly. So we would definitely go back and explore more of Yosemite from this camping area. I would like to raft or swim the river sometime, or possibly fly fish.

This campground is in the heart of Yosemite Valley. It is great to camp on the valley floor, especially during peak season as traffic from all main gates to the valley floor is very congested. There is a shuttle stop right outside the campground. You are also in easy walking distance to the path to Mirror Lake and the ever popular Mist Trail. Shuttle stops at all valley attractions and you can easily get to the Pizza Deck in Half Dome Village, the deli in Yosemite Village, and many different hiking trails. Some spots are right along the Merced River. No showers here, but hot showers are close by at Half Dome Village. We will be back!

Very great campsite located right in the heart of Yosemite National Park. Hard to get reservations unless you plan way ahead which we do every year but we'll work it. Right on a creek you can swim in, trails galore, it's Yosemite!

This site was very popular and my site was smack right in the center. There were many families and rv's. People were burning wet wood at night and it was very smoky. The neighbors though were very friendly and offered us breakfast. If you come early you are going to get a spot and if your late your out of luck. Even though it is a busy spot it is very clean.

On the east side of Yosemite Valley, it offers a convenient spot to rest after exploring and enjoying all the activities the area has to offer. Is crowded, but each spot is equipped with fire ring, food storage, picnic table, parking spot and flat, shaded spots for your tent.

Advantages: car camping, good for families, pets are allowed, bathroom and potable water nearby. Shuttle bus is pretty close too.

Disadvantages: Crowded, have to book a lot of time in advanced, distance between campsites is short.

It is hard to get a Camping spot in Yosemite but well worth it if you do. I got up early many a morning to try and get a day here or there for our summer trips out west. You can always try the daily lottery in the village office which we did one day. So Any campground in the valley is good and in close proximity to everything going on. This campground is located on the Merced river and is primitive. The horse stables are in this loop as well.There is a water station by entrance to fill up. No electric, sewer or shower. There are bathrooms with an outlet (Yea- can charge your Phone but get in line) You can bathe in river like I do or go to curry village and pay for a shower at housekeeping. You get a fire ring and a bear box at each site. Generator hours are limited so plan accordingly.