Best Equestrian Camping near Stanislaus National Forest

Clark's Fork is a large campground with 88 sites – all of which are situated with lots of space so that you aren’t too close to your neighbors. The availability of adjacent “double sites” makes this campground a great place for larger groups of families and friends. The 25 sites on Loop A offer vault toilets and cost $19 an night. Loop B sites offer flush toilets and cost $20 a night. There are also 14 nice family-sized equestrian sites and one group equestrian site. Sites are within easy walking distance of the water. No matter what kind of camping you want to plan, Clark's Fork offers options. A RV dump station is located near the entrance to the campgrounds. The Clark's Fork Campground is on a first-come, first-served basis. This beautiful wooded campground is on the Stanislaus River, recommended for your fishing and scenic pleasure.

Been here many times with my son and my horses over the years. Still quiet and not over ran. Close to fishing streams, high mountain lakes, hiking trails, off roading and don't forget that trip into Bridgeport and Bodie.

Obsidian took a beating two cleaned up and they are still fixing some things. I would vonsider Obsidian more of a primitive campground, not dispersed but minimal.

Outhouse is clean, bring your own water, can get 5G/LTE here.

Tables, campfire rings, park at your site, tent, small camp trailer. At the end of the campground there is a bigger spot for groups.

Horsetrailer parking/camping across from campground in a turn around spot.

$12/Night for single unit $6/Night for extra vehicle

This campground is in the heart of Yosemite Valley. It is great to camp on the valley floor, especially during peak season as traffic from all main gates to the valley floor is very congested. There is a shuttle stop right outside the campground. You are also in easy walking distance to the path to Mirror Lake and the ever popular Mist Trail. Shuttle stops at all valley attractions and you can easily get to the Pizza Deck in Half Dome Village, the deli in Yosemite Village, and many different hiking trails. Some spots are right along the Merced River. No showers here, but hot showers are close by at Half Dome Village. We will be back!

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.

We got a last minute cancelled site at the Fallen Leaf Campground, and thought we’d truly lucked out. We stayed at site 87 which is nestled among towering native pine trees on the South end of the campground and one of the few sites which doesn’t have neighbors on all sides. The sites have the standard standing BBQ's and fire rings at all sites (but we couldn’t utilize them because of the fire ban), old picnic tables and various amounts of space for RV’s/cars and the tried and true bear box. In this campground you NEED to utilize the bear boxes. They have signs everywhere about the mass amount of bear activity and how there is a mother and her 2 cubs which have been terrorizing the campground for some time this season (2018). Again, you need to keep everything (food, toiletries, etc.) in the bear box at all times. The sites are reservable, and on top of the $35 (nonelectric) per site there is a $7 fee for a second vehicle, Yurts go for $86 which do have power and a nonrefundable $10 service fee…. While the campground allows dogs, they aren’t allowed in the Yurts.

There’s lots of bear proof dumpsters around the campground, lots of potable water in strategic spots and a number of decent restrooms, and it was nice that at some of them they provided hot (pay) showers (at $1 per 3 minutes) and while the ADA has some control the standard one has no control over the heat or pressure its simply on or off. Also, the restrooms have no soap, paper towels, or hand dryers, etc. Which was a little disappointing for the cost.

My biggest disappointment in the setup of the campground has to do with the bears and cleaning your dishes. There is no dish-washing area in the entire ~200 site, ~14 bathroom campground. They specifically ask that you don’t wash your dishes in the sinks or at the water spigots as they don’t want any food particles going down the drains. So, when I asked about disposing of the dish water they said to just toss it at the base of a tree, as it’s dry and the trees would appreciate it. This doesn’t help keep the bears away… While we scrapped and collected every bit of food waste we could and tossed it into the dumpsters, ff you’re just tossing food scrap-soaked water at the base of the trees the bears are going to come for the smell… I’ve stayed at other sites in bear country which have setups for disposing of the waste water and food scraps to detract bears and Fallen Leaf definitely is lacking and this is possibly part of the reason they’re having such an issue with bears.

While, our site (87) would probably normally be a great location with the Fallen Leaf Lake being the only thing behind you and no neighbors on at least 2 of your sides, we happened to somehow book the same weekend that a corporate event was taking over the vast majority of the campground with almost 200 people….

While, not entirely the campgrounds fault it was a little disruptive to have this mass number of people come directly next to us in site 88 for their meals as they’d decided to make that site the meal prep site for breakfast (they started prep at 5:30 am) and dinner (we actually had to ask the drunk group to stop screaming at midnight) these were both well outside the “quiet hours” and definitely surpassed the “6 people per site” rule.

Otherwise this campground is in a great location to see the area as it’s only approximately one-quarter mile north of Fallen Leaf Lake. The trail from the campground was only 3 sites over from us. The Taylor Creek Visitor Center is directly across Highway 89 and is a great location to talk to the Rangers about other potential hikes in the area. They also have interpretive programs, guided walks on the Rainbow Trail and to the Stream Profile Chamber (which was closed because someone decided to break it. Although it should be repaired now… end of September 2018). Also, nearby Baldwin Beaches or Pope Beach, which cost $10, or you can go to the Tallac Historic Site with tours and events at its historic buildings and grounds and the free (dog friendly) Kiva beach which is exactly the same as the other pay access beaches….

There’s also a really nice paved bike trail that runs 3 miles along Highway 89 and can be used to access all of the above. You have access to excellent day hiking and backpacking in Desolation Wilderness via the Glen Alpine or Mt. Tallac trailheads which are also nearby.