Best Cabin Camping near Exeter, CA

If you’re looking to camp in California, Sequoia National Park should be one of your top destinations. They have cabin and tent camping. I have stayed in both. There are trails galore and GIGANTIC trees bigger than your car. This beautiful setting is worth visiting year round and I recommend camping during the less touristy times in early Spring and Fall. You are near lakes, waterfalls, and an array of bodies of water. I recommend coming up the back end up the park for an easier ascent rather than via the 198. The 198 takes you up a steep, but beautiful, hair pin turn ridden road. If you get car sick easily, take the route through Fresno.

We were able to stay in the cabins for a night and they were small but clean. Some cabins have electric and some do not, but honestly, electric is not necessary while camping here so if you can’t don’t have it don’t worry. The area is very close to some awesome sequoia groves and was very quiet which was great. There are showers for people who stay in certain areas, but you need tokens from the front desk at check in. Don’t forget to ask, we didn’t know until we were naked, ready to go :). Hosts were very nice. Overall, great experience here.

Somewhere up near the starry night a pinecone the size of a cat begins its descent to the soft, needle laden ground below. It softly thumps against a branch, and then another, and still another. What seems like minutes, indeed enough time to walk a ways down a path, or find the restroom, or toss a ball many times with kids, the soft thumping grows a little louder, and boldly becomes a clunk…clunk…thunk…until the pinecone emerges from the cover of limbs and lands…bouncing…on the ground at my feet. This is the mighty sugar pine; a tree whose girth is so large in its own right that our family of five cannot manage to stretch our arms, hand-in-hand, around the whole of the tree. And yet, like the small dog that mercilessly barks, the giant sugar pine displays its fantastically large pinecones as a means to say, "I am here", rather than get lost among the biggest trees in the world by volume---the giant sequoias.

This isn't just a land of giant trees. Sequoia and King's Canyon boast some of the most grandiose monuments in all of the continental United States: the deepest canyon, the tallest mountain, incredible caves, the view from Morro Rock, a collection of some of the highest mountain passes, and an expansive backcountry wilderness. Despite the many wonderful park visual aids to teach visitors about the size of these great sequoias, and even standing at the foot of these great trees, I found it impossible to comprehend their size. The extremes of this beautiful place bring with them a sense of humility, much like standing at the edge of the ocean, and all that remains is peace and serenity. While we found this park to be far more awe-inspiring than Yosemite, really than any of the any parks we've visited, it is far less touristed and crowded.

And then there is the wildlife. California Black Bears were resting in every meadow that we walked by, usually making a meal of grubs in the rotting logs. We stopped to let a mama Quail pass with all her babies in a row behind her. Marmots greeted us from the hidden nooks, running here and there to find something to nibble.

With a national park like this, I'd be willing to sleep in my car! But I didn't have to, fortunately. We stayed in a cabin in Grant Grove, centrally located in the park. The cabin was furnished perfectly, and included all that we needed for bedding. There was a lovely fire fueled stove outside on the covered patio. The showers were good enough and there was a place to wash dishes. Grant Village has a large market for groceries, a restaurant and a visitor center. There is a free shuttle that runs through the park to alleviate any concerns about parking. This review is for General Grant Cabins, which are reservable from a separate entity via the National Parks system. However, it is alongside a campground area where tents and RVs can be parked. This is marked cabins only due to the NPS divisions--search for the campground to learn how to set up a tent or park an RV at the very same location.

Absolutely the worst human beings on the planet. A man flashed my son in the bathroom and blamed my son for it.

We camped in a non-electric tent site for $30, I was charged $68 but she (the manager) used up all my points to pay for it, and pocketed the $30 I already dropped in the overnight box.

They only want you to come, sleep, and leave. Don't even think about enjoying the property or cabin.

They have cameras watching you and will nit pick you to death. They will tell you where to park, then get mad at you for parking there.

The employees drive around, obviously under the influence. I once witnessed the maintenance man running over the fire pit. Smh.

This KOA was horrible. It was unkempt, the grass was dead, no gravel, no shade and the camp was set up so your camper was in the sun all day. Also, had friends who stayed in a cabin which had roaches. The bathroom was CO-ED - but let me explain. When I say co-ed, I mean a single room with showers and toilets where everyone was in there together so you or your children could be in a shower next to an adult in a shower next to you. It was just awful. Disappointing since it was a great location for visiting Sequoia. Also, it was in an are next to stockyards so it smelled like a stockyard ALL THE TIME! I would expect more from KOA.

This campground is a hidden gem . Absolutely beautiful place to get away.

Great place to stay. With clean sites and plentiful amenities, you can camp comfortably while seeing the sites that California has to offer.

Amazing views all around the campgrounds. If you want to get of away from the city this is the place to be...Love it.

Lodgepole Campground itself is located in the beautiful Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in the central California region next to the amazing Sierra Nevada. Lodgepole is near the Kaweah River.

The Giant Sequoia Forest it's a thing of beauty and the famous General Sherman Tree - the world's largest tree is an incredible experience to see up close.

Of all the places we took our kids on their first camping road trip (Grand Canyon, Yellowstone etc)it was right here in California that they found their favorite here at Kings; big trees ( and fallen giants you could walk through) cave tours, hikes, rivers .. they loved it. So much to cover its best to go to Recreation.gov and choose your camp area. Highly recommended by this family !

I’ll start with the negatives: you can hear traffic all night because it is located in an industrial area and the showers are not hot. It is close to the Sequoia NP which is warm in the summer so the pool at this campground was refreshing.

Not close enough to nature. Sketchy characters hang around. Facilities are not cared for.

I’ll start with the positive. The staff was incredibly nice and the sites were level left to right. The park is a couple swings in a sand pit, there seems to be a lot of permanent residents, the water supply in each site is topped with a sprinkler to water the grass in the sites. We stayed 2 nights, and by the looks of everyone around us, we stayed a night longer than they did. If you need a place to sleep overnight this is fine, but that’s about max I would suggest.

A bit older but quiet. Good for night stay. Not near Sequoia but very convenient to freeway. Not much food stores nearby.

This KOA is great! Very clean, has a K9 area, barbecue grills, hot showers, laundromat, etc. and right in town!

Your typical KOA, with less fan fare than most. Super tight packed slots, barely a tree between every few. No real landscaping or frills.

Very nice staff.

If you need a basic place to hook up and spend a night this will do the trick.

This KOA is a good stopover for people on there way to Yosemite or Sequoia National Park. There's not much around the campsite except for homes but the place has all you need. There's a pool but it's closed from Oct to May.

Cell Service: Great

This by far is my favorite one! Plenty of options and good with kids too. They all have the events close to the park entrance. Three Rivers is about 5 miles away, i was blown away with this lake by the foothills but it really feels like a lake on a mountaintop! Its not as clear as Lake Tahoe but theres camp grounds along the bay, for military personnel, we have learned that theres an army campground here. You can reserve your spot and camp and this closes by night time, check your mwr or militarycampgounds.com for more info. I believe this is exclusive for active, reserve and retired. Be ready for an identification for the park rangers will check randomly. Also along the bay, watch for the tide. Some paved roads can be under water. That weekend there were trees under water and huts only roof left thats visible so be aware of you leave your belongings try to keep it on the higher ground or in the vehicles. We dont want to ruin this area because this is actually a dam. Anything debris could potentially be a hazard. Plus for the creatures thats living in the water. There were people that brought their boats and some were fishing. Plenty of hotels in the area but if dont come unplanned like what we did. We did not reserve a camp site since its first come first serve basis and it was a memorial day weekend.. holidays- plan ahead! 😂 but we still found a place to stay and the next day we explore the park and its was magical! 

Importantly due to the elevation, always bring chains with yall, there are some places there that rents or buy the chain but it could be really pricey.

We stayed here for a week over the 4th of July. We planned on spending most of that week in the Sequoias and King’s Canyon, a little disappointing to find that it is quite a drive to get to the parks. The name is deceiving but our bad for not researching more before booking. The pool was nice and we had no issues with the camp site or the hookups. Probably wouldn’t come back to this KOA unless we were just passing through and needed a place to stay.

1. Campsites are very small

2. Water available at all tent campsites

3. Showers and bathrooms were clean

4.  Near highway in residential area

5. Almost no shade

6. Nice pool area

Passing through this was a fine place to sleep for the night, but for the price of $70 for just water and electric (when we typically stay at very nice holiday KOAs for the same rate) - we felt disappointed with our stay. The bathrooms were clean-ish, but there were still cobwebs and very DIY. In the men’s room, you would step on loose tile that would squish water up through it. For the price point, we expected professionally renovated bathrooms. Sites are on gravel and pretty close together with no privacy. Within the park there was noise late into the night that sounded like an ice cream truck and we could hear the nearby train throughout the night. In summary, for the experience we should’ve stayed at the Love’s down the road rather than spend the money here.

This spot is a good stopover point to get near the mountains leading to Sequoia. Not a bad resting spot after a long drive. Hot, noisy, street lights, little privacy between neighboring spots makes it hard to enjoy. Good pool, fun game room, nice store and staff.

Just small little grass plots or pull in rvs

They had some cute stray cats

Friendly staff, well kept grounds, solid amenities. Many long term guests, a few of which were a bit noisy. I stayed here in a pinch in one of the tent sites. It's a grass patch in the middle of an RV park. I didn't expect more. I might stay again in a pinch, but I'd probably just get a cheap motel room.

Lake Kaweah is a great spot to stop and camp or explore before you head up the hill to the Sequoias! There are great hiking spots, camping spots, and you can fish or cool off in the lake. Nearby is Three Rivers for some beautiful views and places to relax for the day and cool down from the valley heat. A major factor to know before deciding to stay here are the water levels. Sometimes they are very low depending on the drought status and other times they are so high they cover up the campground. The ideal times to come here are Spring through May and Fall before the temperatures drop!

Good place to crash if the sequoia campgrounds are full. Good amenities, and friendly staff, but you sacrifice privacy and immediate access to the park’s trails. About 1.5 hours from Giant Forest and Wolverton, but it’s a gorgeous 1.5 hours.

There’s a river all the kids love to play in. Water moves slowly but it’s not necessarily ‘clean’ although none of the kids mind. Pool is a little murky but full of people. There’s a resident teenage bear named Horse that comes around and they also warn you about snakes. We had a few issues with locals trying to cause problems by coming in and creating dust clouds but the camp seemed to take care of them pretty quickly. Full hookup sites are fine. Somewhat shady with all the trees. People seem friendly.