Best Campgrounds near Mather, CA

Beautiful scenery, clean, close to Yosemite, and easy to reach.

As others have said, follow Mount Raymond Rd up until you see the sign for the snow play area, and look to the right. There’s an open area with fire pits. There’s also a few more spots further down the road it seems.

Great views along the John Muir trail. 24 hour Public restroom .o2miles from camp site. Near the gas station/market in Greeley Hill,CA. 30 min from Yosemite West gate. 45min to cherry lake and many fresh water rivers and waterfalls. On a road with homes, but is at the end of the road. No water or toilet available yet.

We loved our stay here. The surroundings are beautiful and peaceful. The animals are a great bonus. Perfectly family friendly with plenty of room to hang out by the fire. Jason and his family were awesome making sure we had everything we needed. Highly recommend. The road in is bumpy, but we pulled a 40 foot 5th wheel up no problem.

My family of four enjoyed camping here. Site 116 is great. It is a little steep to get to the fire pit but the view were worth it.

It was very quite and isolated but the roads were very difficult for an rv to drive. There is also a sign “no overnight camping” but we had no problems to stay the night.

Only about a mile or so off the main road. Spots are a little confusing as there’s no direct road through the sites, but you’ll find a spot. Been here a few nights on a holiday weekend and wasn’t busy at all. Really close to the park entrance and to the less populated but still great areas of the park. Fire rings. No bathrooms over here and no dumpsters. Gets a little cold at night (April) but not unbearable by any means. Pretty quiet (with the right groups around you), easily accessible and comfortable. Can’t ask for much more.

This site had loads of space. When we camped 1 car 2 tents on 4/11/25 there were a number of other people and plenty of spots to check out. The area felt safe and easy to access. It’s about 1 hour from the valley visitor center. Had great cell service through Verizon.

Stayed here with wife, two friends, and dog. Great selection of sites, overlooking pond, lots of farm animals, and very friendly and courteous host. Not too long a drive to Yosemite Valley also!

Five couples took over the far end of Obsidian Campground to celebrate my wife's birthday for a couple nights.  The elevation in this part of the Sierra's is a great way to beat the August heat.  We were at sites 12, 13 and 14 with our custom van, a Sportsmobile, trailer, fifth wheel, and a tent.  Campground had one other campsite occupied, so basically just us.  Easy access two miles off US 395 by gravel road.   It is know as an infrequently utilized destination.

The trailhead for Molybdenite Creek is just past site 14.  One day we took this trail about 2-1/2 miles up a canyon that leads into the Hoover Wilderness on the North East boundary of Yosemite National Park.  The next day we did the 1 mile hike to Emma Lake, also in the Hoover Wilderness.  Take a vehicle from the campground up the road another 2 miles to the Emma Lake trailhead.  See photos.

Location is near to everything but also secluded from big crowds, we walked to Mirror Lake from our site. Free shuttles are easy to access. No shower so you would have to go to curry village for that.

Cabin had bunk beds. Small refrigerator

Plenty of space for all vehicle sizes. Roads are very accessible. Nice and wooded.

It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great. It’s a small place that’s probably not crowded often. It’s got bathrooms that are located kinda far if you aren’t in the two sites on either side. Mostly it’s just real ugly, imo. Trees around have burned down in the last 3-5 years it looks like, dry looking even in March. We didn’t stay and set up because it’s just not nice to look at and there’s many nice places nearby. Good place to go if you can’t find much else around. Also, it’s one of the few places I’ve found that have decent cell service, enough for my son to use YouTube and I can make phone calls, gps works. All on just my cellphone hotspot. I have Verizon, idk about other carriers. Decent cell service on site is a big thing for me so that’s why I wouldn’t not stay at this place but it’s bare bones w/toilets and certainly not first choice especially when you have other options nearby.

Wonderfully kind and informative park rangers and camp host. Sites are a bit cramped but almost everyone around me behaved. Only sites up to 97 of upper pines campground were open this time of year. The loop is closest to the entrance and you can walk to the park shuttles. Pay attention to the site map as most spots are for just 1 vehicle if you want to camp in a group, and short if you have an RV or trailer. I didn’t use the restrooms or showers. There is a spot to RV dump and fill water. This was free when I was there (FEB) but it was clearly being renovated so might be pay in future.

We have stayed at this campground many times and recently revisited in September’24. This COE is on a small lake that is used for irrigation during the summer resulting in a much lower water level than in the spring. Fishing is good. The Corps have added more electric sites over the years and there were 5-6 that fit our 43’ Blue Bird. We marked this as “big rig” friendly. Springtime has the grasses green with abundant wild flowers in late Feb through early March. Summer can be hot as the elevation is low in the California Central Valley and the grasses are brown. Sites are asphalt. Many sites may take some time to level. Back in and pull through are available. A nice dump stations is available within the COE park. Fall has a Tarantula migration and you will definitely see them. Coyote, Bobcat, and deer are frequently seen. Codorniz is 21 miles from Chowchilla. One way in and one way out cuts down on traffic.

It's been great. This time of year is a little less crowded. Except this Xmas holiday time. The winter weather enhances the experience of you are up for that.