Best Campgrounds near Sonora, CA

Not too far from Ripon, which has some good restaurants and cool bars. But bring your quarters if you want to take a shower.

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

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.

I love this park and specially love the off season. I usually haul in just day hours and stay worry and bother free!

Im not sure wether or not they had upgrades done recently, but the bathrooms were astounding. Very modern and especially clean. Very beautiful and quiet park with the calmest river and soothing sounds of the birds around you. Great escape from reality!

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.

Spent (2) nights here and loved it. Enough T-Mobile service for messaging and lite web browsing. Spacious pull-out with a small rock fire pit. I believe fires are allowed as long as you have a permit.

~8min drive to Big Oak Entrance and ~40min drive to Yosemite Valley Welcome Center. Why stay at Hodgdon when you can stay here!

After numerous previous backpacking trips throughout Yosemite's high country, this was my first stay in the valley itself. The site was clean, spacious enough, flat enough, and very convenient to access to everywhere in the valley. We ended up driving up to Tuolumne Meadows in the high country so being able to leave the trailer and all our camping stuff in a safe, relatively crowded and lively campground was was really nice. The site easily accommodated my trailer and Jeep. There were plenty of clean bathrooms, fresh water, fire pits, and spacious site located bear boxes throughout. One thing to note, although it is in one of, if not the most beautiful national parks, I wouldn't call it rugged or even having the illusion of privacy.

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 ended up at this small campground because our potential boondocking spots were completely snowed in up top.  So glad we did as it is tucked away on the grounds of an amazing state park!

Most of the sites are small with a lot of tree coverage. It was quiet, quaint, and clean. We found a good site that provided just enough sky for both our 400W portable solar panel and Starlink to work pretty well. The bathroom building has flush toilets, was kept clean, and warm showers. 

But the campground isn’t the reason to come here...it’s the history! This little park tucked into the Western Sierras will blow your mind. It is a significant Miwok Native American historical site, with home sites, ancient Oak trees, and literally thousands of grain, and acorn grinding stones located in the central part of the park. 

The visitor’s center is a must-see and brings the location to life. In cooperation with the local tribes, the state manages the site and visitor’s center for the public. Take a walk on the interpretive trail, hike the adventure trails, fish in the creek, or attend a special program. It is a beautiful place to spend a few days. 

The nearby town of Pine Grove has a few restaurants and grocery stores to get what you might need.

Very nice park, great walking trails, beautiful trees. Many of the buildings are older, but well kept. Showers are coin operated and nice. No trailer hookups, but very site has a water but can’t connect it with the trailer. Park does have a dump station and is included in the space rent. Only issue is being by the road and having road noise. Plenty of restrooms and showers (coin operated). The only Wi-Fi is at the visitor center and VERY limited cell service, no great loss.