## Overview

 The North Pines Early Access Lottery has ended and regular booking windows have resumed. Campsites at North Pines are available up to five months in advance on the 15th of each month at 7:00 a.m. (PT). For example, on February 15, arrival dates for the time period June 15 to July 14 become available to reserve, and therefore, the full arrival date window would be from season opening to July 14.\_\_ North Pines Campground is located in breathtaking Yosemite National Park in Central California\'s rugged Sierra Nevada Mountain Range at an elevation of 4000 feet. The site is situated in the heart of Yosemite Valley, an awe-inspiring landscape containing many of the famous features for which Yosemite National Park is known. Within Yosemite, visitors can gaze upon waterfalls, sheer granite cliffs, deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, vast wilderness areas and so much more. Reservation tips! Campsites in Yosemite are extremely popular and typically sell out in minutes on the regular on-sale dates. Login to your account or create a new account before the 7:00 a.m. (PST) release time. You may only add reservations to your cart and proceed with your reservation if you are logged into your account. The recreation.gov call center does NOT have access to additional sites or additional information beyond what is published on recreation.gov.[Yosemite National Park Campground Reservation Dates][1]\_\_ 
## Recreation

 Yosemite\'s trails, cliffs, roads and rivers provide endless recreational activities for any kind of visitor. Hiking, biking, rock climbing, fishing, horseback riding, rafting, auto touring, and photography are all very popular activities within the park. Hiking trails range from the easy paved, two-mile roundtrip walk to Mirror Lake/Meadow, to the grueling but rewarding 14- to 16-mile trek to Half Dome (permit required). Both of these trails begin near the Pines Campgrounds, and many additional trailheads are within Yosemite Valley. Rafting the Merced River is a fun way to cool down on a summer day when water levels are sufficient. Yosemite Valley also offers numerous guided bus tours, educational programs, museums, ranger-led activities,and an art center with workshops.
## Facilities

 North Pines Campground is one of the three reservation campgrounds in Yosemite Valley. It offers paved roads and parking spurs, flush toilets, and drinking water. Each campsite contains a picnic table, fire ring, and a food storage locker. Yosemite\'s free shuttle bus stops near the campground entrance. Nearby, historic Curry Village offers showers (for a fee), a general store, restaurants and bar, amphitheater, and a tours and activities desk. 
## Natural Features

 Yosemite Valley is forested with a diverse mix of California black oak, Ponderosa pine, Incense-cedar, White fir, and Whiteleaf Manzanita, which offers a pleasant combination of sun and shade. Through the trees, Yosemite\'s telltale granite cliff faces are visible, and the gentle, refreshing Merced River flows nearby. 
## Nearby Attractions

 Within one to two hours, visitors can drive or ride a shuttle bus to some of Yosemite\'s most grand viewpoints and historic sites. Glacier Point offers sweeping views of Yosemite Valley, Little Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, Vernal and Nevada Falls, and Clouds Rest, among other notable landmarks. A visit to Wawona and the Pioneer Yosemite History Center is like stepping back in time. The Tioga Road offers a 39-mile scenic drive past forests, meadows, lakes, and granite domes. Tuolumne Meadows embodies the high-country of the Sierra Nevada, with its broad sub-alpine meadows and granite domes and peaks. Beautiful Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is home to spectacular scenery and numerous wilderness trailheads.
## Charges &amp; Cancellations

 Cancellations more than 48 hours in advance of arrival date only incur a $10 transaction fee. Within 48 hours, $10 and the first night\'s fee are charged (Exception: 1 night reservations do not incur an additional $10 fee, but do not receive a refund). No-shows will be assessed a $20 service fee along with the loss of the first night\'s fee. 

[1]: https://recreationonestopprod.servicenowservices.com/external?id=kb_article&amp;sys_id=72fff607dbe8a30022f970c08c961990&amp;table

North Pines Campground — Yosemite National Park

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.

Ranger Review: Wenzel Grand Basin 10 tent at North Pines

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.


Worth the wait

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.

Convenient for exploring 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.

Relaxing views

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!

Perfect Campsite!

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.

pleasant setup, easy access, accessible facilities

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.

All about the site

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.

Nice and convenient, but usual Yosemite site

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 

Middle of Yosemite Valley

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. 

Great camping

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!!

In the heart of it all

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.