National Forests around Yosemite...suggestions? (w/dog)

I'm curios if anyone has spent much time in the National Forest lands surrounding Yosemite and if so do you have any suggestions on your favorite campgrounds and trails...I will have my dog with me. We will be heading out on Labor Day and looking to spend 3 nights in a National Forest where we can get some good hikes in with the dog then do a couple relaxing nights in Yosemite. Any suggestions are appreciated but we are mainly looking into Stanislaus, Sierra, and Inyo National Forests.
Thanks!

Along 395 there is a place called Rock Creek. There are lots of trails up in the area and people take the pups all the time. It is a little rocky so most people put little boots on the dog's feet. Rock Creek is about an hour south of Tioga Pass, near Crowley Lake. On a map you will see Tom's Place which is on the 395, take the road up the canyon just past the lake and there are lots smaller lake in the higher elevation.

Dinkey and Kaiser Wilderness are beautiful dog friendly areas to hike. My hiking group will be backpacking into Dinkey over labor day.

It's a bit out of your stated current interest area, but I thought that I would mention it for future reference.

Nestled between Kings Canyon and Sequoia NPs is the Jennie Lakes Wilderness:
http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&WID=276
http://www.summitpost.org/area/range/441944/jennie-lakes-wilderness.html

I'm not sure from your post if you just wanted to do dayhikes, but if you want to take Fido backpacking this is a great place to do it. You can do a nice ~20 mi. loop if you start out at either Big Meadows or Fox Meadow. A nice, easy 4-day itinerary would be to stay at Weaver Lake the first night, Gannon Creek the second, and Jennie Lake the third. If you want to do it in 3 days, start out at Fox and head directly for Gannon Creek the first day. (Note: Gannon is between the trail intersection that heads S to JO Pass and Rowell Meadow. Its about a mile RT out of the loop, but there is a real nice camping spot off the E side of the trail about 200-300 ft. before you encounter the first of the two creek beds that cross the trail.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2009 04:55PM by szalkowski.

East of Yosemite:

There is Saddlebag Lake and the nearby lakes region. It's a must-see. Dogs are allowed (for a fee) on the water taxi.

On the way to Saddlebag is Gardisky Lake. It's a steep climb, but at the top there is a large alpine area around the lake.

West of Yosemite:

Preston Flat Trail is along the Tuolumne River. It gets hot in the canyon in summer, but the dog can cool off in the river. (This can be very important!)

Thanks everybody, I've checked out all the mentioned trails and areas and they all look great, too bad there's not more hours in the day and days in the week! I've def. got some good ideas now but if you wish to follow up let me be a bit more specific. We are wanting to stay within an hour of Yosemite, pref to the north or west as to keep driving and gas costs minimal from the SF Bay. My girlfriend def wants a campground with a toilet and a bear box and I def want a campground with no RV's and as picturesque and quiet as possible with good day hiking trails (w/dog) close by. We are looking to be close to a quiet lake where we can lay out, take a dip, read a book, and not be annoyed by a bunch of screaming kids or revved up power boats. After 3 or 4 days we will probably head into Yosemite for another 2 days and stay at Yosemite Creek. So....I don't know if such a place exists but again recomendations on any campgrounds of the sort are appreciated.

There are campgrounds just outside the park in all directions but you are out of luck for RV-less camping. And the wilderness areas I suggested are at least a four hour drive - there is no easy route from other areas to Yosemite, you are going to be on narrow two lane roads winding in and out of the mountains to town, and then back into the mountains in another direction. Jennie Lakes is in Sequoia which is a good two hours drive from Fresno, and Yosemite's another two hours from there.

Bass Lake (south of the park) may offer you a good compromise - it's an hour from the park and very busy but I believe some of the campgrounds at least have loops for tent camping. There are two or three trails, dog friendly, Goat Mountain (4 mile one way to a fire lookout) and Willow Creek (2 - 3 miles, waterfall and swimming holes) near the lake and Lewis Creek (trailhead along 41 north of the turnoff to Bass Lake) which is an easier hike between two waterfalls. You will not find a campground in this area near a lake without noise, boats, kids, other campers, but it's the best there is within an hour of Yosemite. Seriously, Yosemite draws people from all over the world, and there really is NO quiet camping nearby in summer/early fall. You're not going to be able to disperse-camp in National Forest land in anything resembling what you describe. You will need to drive a significant distance to get privacy too.

For the highway 120 corridor, west of the park, with car camping:

Cherry Lake. Has mixed campsites, fairly crowded. Large beautiful lake, but with power boats. You could probably find a remote spot along the lake for relaxing. Dogs allowed.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/stanislaus/visitor/cherry.shtml

Pine Mountain Lake. Private lake. Has public campsites. Dogs not allowed at the lake. Has a quiet spot for relaxing and sailing along the lake. PM for more info.

http://www.pinemountainlake.com/?pg=campgrounds

Cherry is great - camped there a lot as a kid. But it's not going to be a short drive to the park, and no flush toilets may be an issue. There is a trail from the other side of the dam (Okay, it's a road, but then there's a trail) to Lake Eleanor and if you go past Eleanor to Kibbie Ridge you are actually hiking into Yosemite.


Pine Mountain Lake... never been there, as camping in the middle of a subdivision never seemed that much fun.... but it looks nice, though they don't apparently know the difference between a hawk and an osprey.

Quote
AlmostThere
Pine Mountain Lake... never been there, as camping in the middle of a subdivision never seemed that much fun.... but it looks nice, though they don't apparently know the difference between a hawk and an osprey.

Naw! It's on the edge of the development, not in the middle at all. I hear they have hot showers. It's a little more civilized than most campsites, which is both good and bad.

The webmaster is not known for her birding skills evidently.

No can take doggy to Eleanor. You can walk on the East side of Cherry Lake though... there's a trail over der.
Some nice areas on that side you could disperse camp at. If the lake is down alot you can hippidy hop onto on of the Islands.
If you go to Shingle Springs you can hike up Kibbie Ridge to Lookout Pt. with poochy but cannot enter the park.
(please abide by these rules... there are people out there that would rather not see fido)