Best Dispersed Camping near Tollhouse, CA

Nice big camp spot in the Sequoia National Forest, the road was really calm mid-April, we had no car during the night. The spot has firepits, a camping table and loads of bushes. The view is nice on the forest or a mountain top. We were alone but the spot is big enough for 3 or 4 véhicules, the access is just before the U turn.

Nice open spaces with tree cover near Hume Lake off the 180. This is a dispersed camping and OHV staging area that is first come first served for camping. Great for those who are backpacking and need a free place to camp before heading off into the Sierras! Most Parks have “backpacker camps” which allow you to camp 1 night before or after a backpacking trip, but Sequoia does not. This dispersed camping area is perfect for staging your next big hike, or simply camping for free in one of the most popular National Parks.

First Dispersed camp site, arrived at 10pm and had no problem finding a camp site. It’s super dark so arriving early would hand been best. Great experience. Were several others camped out as well. Will stay again.

RANGER REVIEW: Mountain House Spaghetti with Meat Sauce at Gladys Lake Backcountry Campsites, Ansel Adams Wilderness, CA

CAMPGROUND REVIEW: Gladys Lake Backcountry Campsite, Ansel Adams Wilderness

Backcountry camping often offers great hiking, epic scenery, serene solitude and otherwise missed sights. Depending on location, backcountry campsite locations can offer their own challenges, whether through the permitting process, preparation of gear and meals, logistics, or difficult terrain…but the trade offs can pay out big dividends.

Leaving behind the din of packed campgrounds…getting unplugged from electronic encumbrances…relaxing beside an untouched alpine lake where the only sound you hear is the whir of dragonfly wings as they dart about.

Only a set number of backcountry permits are issued daily, so crowds and impact remain minimal to nonexistent.

Permits are necessary for all backcountry overnight stays in the Inyo National Forest. https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/inyo/passes-permits

Whenever backcountry hiking/camping in California, do yourself a service and go online https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/passes-permits/?cid=stelprdb5139009 and take the California Campfire Permit test to acquire your certificate and possess it when in the backcountry.

Several ways to get to Gladys Lake exist…

1. John Muir Trail (JMT) thru-hike permits NOBO or SOBO

2. John Muir Trail section hike permits

3. Wilderness Permits Day hike permits

You could enter from Reds Meadows and follow the JMT north to Gladys Lake…or better from Agnew Meadows and follow the Shadow Creek Trail (https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/recreation/hiking/recarea/?recid=21272&actid=51 ) up and around Shadow Lake and then south on the JMT past Rosalie Lake to Gladys Lake. Each access trail has a daily quota…such as Shadow Creek, which has a daily quota of 30…18 secured through reservation and 12 walk-ups. So if you are choosing to walk-up, have some flexibility of starting days.

We had a JMT SOBO permit acquired six months in advance through the NPS permit lottery. But next visit, I will likely enter through Agnew Meadows via day permit.

Most hikers will stop and camp at Rosalie Lake, which is a wonderful option and a much larger lake. Some would suggest a more picturesque lake than Gladys Lake…but that is all in the eye of the beholder.

August of 2018 saw little precipitation and the winter snowfall was below expectations, so lake water levels were lower and surrounding shoreline not marshy or soggy. Which made for dry and mosquito free conditions.

The effects of local forest fires did cover surrounding mountain views during certain times of the day, and brought with it a bit of lung burning and eye stinging. Early morning and late evening hours brought clearer skies.

Be forewarned that seemingly every backcountry campsite brings with it a steep uphill slog, but worth it. Gladys Lake is at 9600 ft elevation.

I believe there was one other camper at Gladys Lake the night we stayed…but we neither heard nor saw them. It was a perfectly peaceful evening!

Amenities? Well, no showers…no toilets…no water spigots…no electricity…no picnic tables…one lonely stone fire ring but open fires are not permitted. No cell service or WiFi…no general store or local grocery store. However, Gladys Lake water was refreshing both to wade and drink (filtered). You are surrounded by fragrant conifers that buffer sound. A perfectly peaceful location to relax and dream.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Mountain House Spaghetti With Meat Sauce

https://www.mountainhouse.com/

As a frequent user of Mountain House freezes dried dinners, and being a creature of habit, I often settle into a couple favorite meals and don’t deviate to new offerings. Mundane and boring?…perhaps.

But…after winning $100 worth of Mountain House meals through an early season TheDyrt.com contest… and with my daughter as my hiking buddy, I selected several different meals to avoid mutiny.

One of these meal pouches was Mountain House’s Spaghetti with Meat Sauce.

I admit, I was a little suspect as to how freeze-dried spaghetti with meat sauce would taste, but we were both very pleased with the sauce flavors, seasoning and the amount of meat in the sauce. The only thing I would add is a couple slices of toasted garlic bread.

If the next rotation of Mountain House Spaghetti with Meat Sauce was easily located in our bear canisters, we would’ve likely had a second helping…but sadly, it was not.

In pairing down weight before our backcountry hike, I removed the contents from Mountain House’s original packaging and utilized a commercial vacuum sealer to make smaller, lighter meal packs as 11 days of food needed to fit in a bear canister. It worked, but the distinct drawback was not being able to prepare the meal in the resealable pouch. A pot was necessary to allow the freeze-dried contents to soak in the boiling water. So clean up was more extensive than it would’ve been by using the Mountain House resealable pouch. It was a trade off and we made it work.

If you are new to Mountain House freeze dried meals, directions are printed plain and simple on the pouch.

•Measure out the prescribed amount of water

•boil water

•open meal pouch and remove moisture packet

•pour boiling water in pouch and stir contents thoroughly

•seal pouch for prescribed time

•open pouch and stir contents

•serve and enjoy

It doesn’t get any easier.

Super convenient free camping between Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. A park ranger directed me here when all the campgrounds in the park were full. There are sites all along the road,  but the first at the junction is great and big enough for a small RV. Also a quick walk to the Chicago Stump which is a must see.

Road getting there is pretty scary at night, but it’s super close to the park. There’s a parking lot to the left for rvs/vans and a dirt path that opens into an area for tents or any dispersed camping. We stayed in tents, there’s plenty of room to find a tent spot

No cell service

Note: drove to “end of Mt Raymond Rd / Goat Meadow Ttailhead” following Hannah’s review as the directions. That is not the directions to this campground. It’s the directions to the Meadow campground across the 41. So, unfortunately never found this location. Leaving proper review of Meadow dispersed camping on that campground across the street so head over to that one, irs super easy to find, not busy, tons of great spots.

As previously mentioned, these coordinates are not correct, if you travel beyond the coordinates towards the South Park Entrance and pass the Springdale Campground on your left, you will see a sign shortly afterwards that says SnowPlay area 1/2 mile and that’s where you will turn onto Mount Raymond Road, which takes you to the dispersed camping about 5 minutes from the park entrance. Plenty of spots available.

Stayed Saturday and Sunday. This is the most perfect dispersed camping in the area. Just a few minutes from Yosemite NP entrance. Spots are pretty obvious which is great. Some have fire pits already established by previous campers. There’s a huge pile of wood that’s great for your fire. There’s a large paved area for RVs as well. Everyone was respectful. Some arrived closer to 10pm and still found a spot. No problem with noise after 10pm.

This is definitely a boondocker's paradise. Huge selection of spots and all sorts of roads to explore. Super close to the town of Mammoth too.

This was a second stop along a 50 mile backpacking trip with my son when he was 11.

This is a broad area along the Pacific Crest Trail at the Deer Creek crossing. Fresh water to filter (always filter stream water), so you can resupply.

Even in August there are occasional thunderstorms and sudden downpours in the Sierras, regardless of the weather forecast. Be prepared just in case.

Dispersed camping, spread out to minimize your impact on the area.

Beautiful and serene, this is the beginning of the deeper backcountry of the Sierras, so press on!

GREAT SPOT. so so close to the mountain. If you want to real dispersed camping you kind of just have to drive off the road there are some obvious adjacent roads to sites and also some not so obvious clearing that people just literally drive off the road into. If you are just looking to spend the night close the resort for parking you are not alone and will probably see everyone parked along the road on the side. Everyone gets up at 5:30 and drives to mountain and goes back to sleep. Great spot so beautiful. Drive the west half of the scenic loop road and keep an eye out. Day light helps for finding road turnoffs !

My friend and I decided to go on a camping/road trip with no plans or reservations. Little did we know that due to COVID, Yosemite was only allowing people in the park with a printed reservation. There was no getting passed these ladies. We asked if there was dispersed camping nearby and they directed us to a street less than a mile south of the southern entrance to Yosemite. The street was Mount Raymond. There were plenty of spots to pull off and camp out and lots of space between other campers. It was quiet and a sweet deer came by as we were setting up. She wasn’t afraid of us at all, just minding her business eating away.

***Only downfall: We were in an area near trees that produced a lot of sap. It was all over our car the next morning and it stuck to the bottom of our shoes pretty bad. We took sticks and really had to dig out all the gunk. Be aware of the trees you park your car under or set your tent up near.

Stopped at Bass Lake on the way up - Great spot for day picnics (pics)

Went to the snow play area but it was full with cars so i went about a half a mile more Down the road and got to a bridge parked there then i went of trail a bit and found a nice camping spot

After accidentally driving to this location following the directions of another reviewer for the “Yosemite Boondocks” campground across 41 (which we never found) we were very happy with this location.

First, to tell you how to properly get here and find all the spots, drive to the end of the road (don’t pay attention to the gate and “off road” dirt road you see to the left before the parking lot. Don’t go there. Go to just before the big Snow Play parking lot and head right through the dirt. There is no paved road but the area is flat and any car, truck or rv/trailer can make it back here easily. I got nervous at first about ability to turnaround so I parked prematurely near the entrance. Keep going and you’ll find at least 4 or 5 big private areas separated by huge cut logs all with plenty of room to turnaround and not have to back up.

If you’re nervous, we watched several cars, vans, and trailers camp overnight in the big paved parking lot right past this, and that’s fine, but you’re in a parking lot. Come out to the right and you’re in heaven.

We were the only RV here and had it to ourselves an entire week (granted it’s early November). Can’t beat the proximity to Yosemite south entrance.

I was expecting bad conditions because of the previous comments but it was actually a good surprise. It's very close to the entrance of Yosemite, in our case it was very quiet and well isolated. There is no view or wow effect but it's great location and isolated.

There are several ways to enter onto the John Muir Trail and one of the most scenic ways is via Duck Pass Trail our of Mammoth Lakes. It's about 6 miles up and over the pass to the JMT and a great way to work on acclimation. Since we were doing just that we did the short mileage and though we were travelling SOBO the closest camp spots were about 100 yards northbound. The signage when we entered onto the JMT was almost non existent. We actually started heading SOBO until we realized were had entered onto the trail and turned around for a quick switchback decent to the camp spots. They were not easily found as well so when you're heading down you'll see a meadow coming up on your right and Duck Creek in front of you and then heading to your left. The camp spots with fire ring are on the left up a small incline. Your view is of the meadow and though you can't really see the creek it's about 25 yards in front of you. The site is lacking in flat surface so it fits one person perfectly and then after that you start to spread out. We ended up with two by the fire ring and then three others went up a short trail to another semi sloped but clear surface (as seen in the pics). The site overall wasn't ideal but it had water and a bit of a view so it worked. If you didn't care to go quite as far I'd suggest stopping about a mile prior on the Duck Pass Trail and staying at the end of Duck Lake where there were abundant views and crystal clear lake to enjoy.

One of the great rewards of backpacking longer distances is the fact that the further you get away from the trailhead, the less people you encounter, and the more unspoied your surroundings.

Such it is when you reach Lake Virginia. A fairly flat area, the lake sprawls out in an uneven pattern amidst rocks that protrude from the ground in clumps. The trail itself jumps across these if the water is high, it is a picturesque lake, very lush in it's surroundings.

This was stop three on a 50 mile backpacking trip, where we were able to refuel our water and renew our spirits in one of the greatest lakes in the area. We also renewed our energy for the rest of the hike.

V-mart location is an area for a dispersed campsite, but the whole idea of dispersed campsites is to let areas that are overused regrow. So if it looks overused spread out into other areas and allow re-growth. Keeping in mind to try to camp on durable surfaces, rather than on top of growing plants.

Had a lovely evening here. Camp sites are clean and free of garbage. Spread out nicely to avoid any noisy neighbors. Beautiful way to start a cross country road trip.

Secluded with very little traffic. Especially good if you're traveling with dogs to let them roam around. There's a stream and waterfall downhill that makes for great hikes.

Campground Review: Marie Lake, John Muir Trail

Marie Lake is nestled 99 miles into the 220 mile John Muir Trail, JMT, if you're heading Southbound. It sits at a thin 10,600 feet and what it lacks in Oxygen it makes up for in pure beauty. A unique setting surrounded by mountains it has plenty of little islands and peninsulas to spend a few days exploring. What makes it even more ideal is it's just a couple hundred feet below Selden Pass so you start your day with a quick climb and then a steady descent for 8 miles to below 8000 feet. The lake is littered with possible campsites. There are plenty of flat gravely areas to pitch a tent or tarp. No trees at this elevation so no hammock camping. Also no fires above 10,000 feet so be prepared with your backpacking stoves if you need to boil fire. We stayed at Marie Lake in early August and experienced clear skies and temp from the 70's to the low 40's. A cool morning instantly warmed when the sun peaked over the mountains. The trail passes directly beside Marie Lake so if you desire privacy you'll need to explore around the lake on the north side. The water temperatures were quite tolerable once you took the plunge and a quick float on your inflatable sleeping mat brought you to one of many islands for a siesta. The are is fairly open so privacy for the "loo" was found up the hillside behind large boulders. Not for they shy. I would not be out of line to say Marie Lake is one of, if not the, most beautiful camp spot on the John Muir Trail. I'd even recommend planning your entire trip around staying at this spot during your hike. Titanium by AfterShokz

Product Review: TREKZ Titanium by AfterShokz

The TREKZ Titanium wireless Bluetooth headphones are the future of headphones. Using some crazy thing called Bone Conduction the headphones sit outside your ears so you are able to hear your music (but others don't) and hear your surroundings. Great when you're backpacking in the backcountry and don't want any surprises from the "locals" aka black bears, cougars, even those tenacious Marmots. I enjoyed the quiet of nature most of the time but some of the passes we climbed on the John Muir Trail lasted hours. Hours of climbing without relief and I needed a major distraction. Having my super lightweight wireless TREKZ made it easy for me to bring along and throw on whenever my brain was going into "what the fork are you doing???" mode. They easily connected to my Bluetooth in my phone and lasted for about 6 hours before needing a recharge. I enjoyed not having anything in my ears i.e. nothing falling out of my sweaty ears, and being able to hear my fellow hikers when they spoke to me. I also used my TREKZ on the airplane and shuttle bus and used the provided ear plugs to zone out all other sound. They felt effortless to wear but were very secure and didn't fall off or bounce around. I do wish they would have had a bit of adjustment available as they stuck out a little in back but really not to a disadvantage just slightly noticeable in some motions, like looking at 200 foot tall trees. Overall I highly recommend! https://aftershokz.com/products/trekz-titanium

Got here on Sunday - plenty of spots to park the camper van both Sunday and Monday. Multiple turn offs on the Scenic Loop road to camp at. No bathrooms, water, electricity, or fire rings. Pretty dispersed but close enough to downtown. Would go back!

Silver Pass Lake, on mile 80.5 of the southbound trek of the John Muir Trail, sits at 10,350 feet. It is located about 1/2 a mile below Silver Pass which is at 10,900 feet. As you descend the pass you see two lakes, one on each side of the trail. The one to the left is closer but much smaller and not the one you want. Continue on down and to the right Silver Pass Lake will open up to you. The trail takes you closer to the first lake and honestly there's not a great way to just walk over to Silver Pass, you have to go off trail but it's over grassy, rocky meadow so it's not difficult and with no trees there's nothing blocking your view of were you need to go. You will find that once you're by the lake there are flat areas of gravely rock with which to pitch your tent, tarp, pad, etc. Most spots have several medium sized rocks lying around which make for great tent holders if you go ultralight with no stakes. These gravely sites are located all along the trail side of the lake and if you prefer privacy and there are others present just keep walking down the lake. The area is surrounded by mountains so the sun sets early and it is cooler at the higher elevation but if you're like us and hiking from Duck Pass that day you don't care. It's an exhausting trip up and over the pass. The lake is crystal clear, cold and filled with beautiful lake trout. There are no fires at this elevation so prepare to boil water, cook, etc with your backpacking stove. The water is drinkable with a filter. The area is open so you have to walk a bit to find privacy for digging your bathroom hole. We enjoyed this camp spot under clear skies and were rewarded with stunning starry skies and a bit of aurora.