Best RV Parks & Resorts near Yosemite National Park, CA

Yosemite Lakes RV Resort was a gem of a campground. It was like we were nestled in the heart of Yosemite Valley but we were actually over an hour away from it. A taste of what Yosemite National Park has to offer, if you will. They offer the best riverfront camping spots. The tranquil waters were a pleasant surprise to our trip. We have been to Yosemite many times but have never experienced it quite like this before. I recommend Yosemite Lakes RV Resort to anyone looking to take a relaxing break from lifes hustle and bustle.

General: 27-site RV park plus eight-room motel. Restrooms and laundry facility. Pets are allowed and the WiFi signal was decent. 

Site Quality: All sites are gravel, back-in, and appeared level. A few in the rear of the park looked like they might be slightly skewed sideways. All are full hook-up, although we did not use the hookups. Our site (and several others) had nice birdhouses in the trees.

Bathhouse: Small but clean. Two stalls, one sink, and one shower. There is no additional cost to use the shower, but you are asked to keep it short to conserve water. 

Activities: Close to the turn-off to Bodie State Park and also the town of Bridgeport. There is a horseshoe pit and large campfire area which I imagine would be in use during the summers when the park is full. 

Be aware that you will hear road noise as this RV park is located on Highway 395, but it did quiet down later in the night. We normally do not stay in RV parks, but this was just an overnight for us and because there were only a few people there when we were there, our site felt more private. Becky, the owner, was very accommodating for our last-minute stay request.

These sites are first come, first serve which is good and bad. Doesn't fill up like some of the year round sites right by half dome and it's really not that far if you want to get some awesome views.

Good space for tents and you're semi secluded from other campers and not as many RVs/Trailers as some of the other campgrounds.

Decent access to drinking water and each site has tables and fire rings, no RV hookups (another reason you have more "campers" and it's less noisy at night).

This has been the best Thousand Trails campground that we have been to. Plenty of outdoor activities at the campgrounds. Hiking trails, fishing, bike rides, spots next to the river. There is no cell phone reception and the paid wifi is terrible so it is best not to purchase it.

I really enjoyed tent camping here. I’m not a fan of the trailer camping because it’s all cement and everyone is close together, but it’s doable if need be. When tent camping, you’re under beautiful trees which I love!

We are members of Thousand Trails so our review may be a little different than someone who is a non-member. Here's why. The majority of the campground (the nicer parts next to the river) is for members only. The smaller, tighter section is for non-members.

WiFi: Yes they have it. It is only available in the 'lounge area'. It's VERY slow. Instead I went east by 4 miles to a hotel to have a beer and connect for work.

Sites: Those by the river are packed close together and more shaded. We didn't care to be packed like sardines, so we opted for one of the middle sites. Hardly anyone was in these sites so it was quiet and spacious. No problem with full-hookups.

Events:It's a resort so they have something going on every weekend. While we were there it was a family movie and Octoberfest (beer and bratwurst for $5). Then smores by the fire with music. It was nice.

Proximity: Although it is very close to the park boundary, it is still an hour to the valley. We couldn't get a spot in the valley so we accepted this as the way it was. No biggie. There was also a bus that took you into the valley in the morning and back in the afternoon for a reasonable price.

Service: The staff was friendly and patient with all the folks that came in at 7pm begging/demanding for a site.

Overall, I would go back.

So if you didn't know, to camp inside Yosemite National Park, you must book your reservation a year in advance or take a chance on trying to get one of the first come first serve sites. The problem is your only a few hours from Sacramento and 4 or 5 hours from LA, so the locals have an advantage on getting the first come first serve sites. I live in Iowa, and if you are like me, planning a trip a year in advance, with kids school schedules and activities, and to travel 1,700 miles to Yosemite National Park is impossible. So a good alternative is booking the Mariposa KOA about thirty miles from the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite National Park. If you don't want to drive into the park there is even a bus that passes the entrance to the campground. It costs about the same as a Motel 6, but it is clean and has a lot of amenities including a pool, fudge shop, and an ice cream shop. It has tent sites and RV sites, and they are separated so if you are tenting you don't have to stare at camper trailers and RVs. I give it a four out of five because you still have to drive thirty miles to get to the park and the shower house isn't very large so you generally have to wait in a twenty minute line to take a shower. Bottomline, if you are traveling from a long distance I highly recommend Mariposa KOA to visit Yosemite National Park.

Great option if your looking for full rv hookups. If you’re tent camping, this might not be the best place. Bathrooms were very unclean but the park gets the job done as a place to sleep while visiting Yosemite. No Verizon or T-Mobile coverage. Wifi available for purchase.

This is the only high Sierra Campground that is accessible by car. Camping is half reservations, half first come first serve, but can be hard to get into. There is potable water and flushing toilets, but no showers or RV hookups. There is a small store with the basics close by, and a little grill restaurant. Due to high elevation, it gets cold at night, but its worth it. Lots of great hiking and climbing close by. An awesome place to camp!

You may as well stay close, right? Well... Whip out your wallet and empty on it on the check-in desk of this thousand trails (or whatever) park. For the price of the presidential penthouse suite at the top of the Reno Nugget, I was granted access to a dusty, undefined pad of petrified dirt on the outskirts of this RV and yurt focused campground on which to erect my elaborate two-pole tent. It was a little noisy and occupied by an effervescent mixture of post-millenial biker kids and scowling unibrow backpack bros in Arctic-ready shelters.

Here's the thing: the staff was super friendly, the store was well stocked, and where the holy everloving fuckelse was I gonna go? From tent teardown to nat'l park access was probably all of 15 minutes. Equally 100% bilked and satisfied - aka "thank you sir, may I have another!?"

We stayed here in early summer on a trailer camping trip through the Sierrra's, this was our 4th night on our trip and this campground was a surprise and honestly, I wish we would have booked more nights. We had a site up towards the back of the campground, but that gave us territorial views and allowed for some privacy. The campground is surrounded by wonderful mountains and there is a lake down below that was nice and refreshing. We tried our hand at fishing and also rented kayaks and paddled around for a bit.

This campground was spacious and a single campsite easily fit 3 tents for 6 people. We could have put more if we needed to, I was impressed. It was set back away from the lake and so it was quite a walk to the beach, but that didn’t bother us.

We saw lots of wildlife and even had several deer come hang out in our campsite. They are clearly comfortable with humans.

Campground has:

-flushable toilets

-running water for washing dishes

-drinking water

-RV hookups

-large bear lockers

Beautiful area to camp, still far from the actual Valley but quiet enough to make day trips. Very dry dirt, like when you step there is a puff, so 1yr old was plenty dirty right away! Facilities are just bathrooms and water station. RV hookups and tent sites. Sites are close together and all around you. There is not enough coverage for true privacy. There were hammocks all over and I wished we had one. Bear boxes are large enough to cover all your food needs. Kids enjoyed it for their first trip and we even had a dear visit our campsite!

Our first time here, reservation required before showing up. This was the off season so everything was open and quiet. Nice bathrooms no charge. Playground for kids. They have full hook ups or you could do dry camping. Every camp has it own water so that was nice. Good price for $20

Large enough sites. I have tried a year in advance for full hook ups. Only Water and Electrical again this year. As you can see, the sites are parking lot like. All asphalt. 

Some area are sparse with trees, so you will get lots of direct light in these sections. Staff was pretty accommodating. Will be returning this August.