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.