Re: Camping at Crane Flat on Memorial Day

Hi there.

I was unfortunate to end up without a campground permit this year for the Memorial season. I was thinking of just camping at Crane Flat Campground. I know they say it's closed but if there is no snow blocking the campground and it's still officially closed can one still camp there? Is there some road blockage they put up to prevent cars from going in?

If not then where is the closet campground next to the park? I was thinking of Sweetwater or The Pines as they are right next to Hwy 120. What does anyone think?

Aviprk,
Try the Diamond O campground (spelled Dimond O on the signs at the site). It is on Evergreen Road just off of Highway 120. Evergreen is the road that takes you to Hetchy Hetchy. The junction of Evergreen Road and hwy 120 is about 1 mile from the Big Oak Flat entrance to the park. This campground opens in April so Memorial Day is pretty much a sure thing. Not to much farther down Evergreen Road toward Hetch Hetchy is the Evergreen Lodge with food and drink. You can also visit Hetch Hetchy Reservoir pretty easily from Diamond O.

Diamond O:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/stanislaus/groveland/camping/dimond.shtml

Probably a better Diamond O web site:
http://www.reserveamerica.com/campgroundDetails.do?subTabIndex=0&&contractCode=nrso&parkCode=dimo

Lodge:
http://www.evergreenlodge.com/?gclid=CO_w0qDT0ZICFQdHagodTwjOGQ



Post Edited (04-11-08 21:20)

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Old Dude

aviprk wrote:

> Hi there.
>
> I was unfortunate to end up without a campground permit this
> year for the Memorial season. I was thinking of just camping at
> Crane Flat Campground. I know they say it's closed but if there
> is no snow blocking the campground and it's still officially
> closed can one still camp there? Is there some road blockage
> they put up to prevent cars from going in?

I haven't been to Crane Flat, but my experience with most campgrounds is that they typically have locked gates to prevent people from camping when closed for the season. Even if you managed to get in when it's otherwise closed, I'd imagine the LE rangers would see it no differently than sleeping in your car at night.

You could always try Camp 4.

y_p_w wrote:

> You could always try Camp 4.

It'll fill fast enough to annoy Einstein on Memorial Day weekend.