Hello
This is my first time going to Yosemite without a campsite reservation. All the campsites are first-come first served. Does anyone know if I drive to Upper Pines or Camp 4 very late on Friday night (around midnight or later) whether I would have any chance of finding an open campsite there? I plan to stay there Friday night through Monday.

Would it be better just to drive to Wawona or Hodgon Meadow directly and skip looking at Upper Pines?

Thanks so much for everyone's help!
Joe

Camp 4...middle of Feb...snow still all over the place...
what does the ahwahnee meadow web cam look like?



My guess is you won't have any trouble.

Also, remember that Camp 4 is $5/person/night vs. $20/night at Upper Pines.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2010 06:47AM by szalkowski.

i was there last saturday and checked out Upper Pines while i was there to see if it was crowded or not... it was surprisingly pretty empty. i doubt you'll have any trouble.

I'd recommend Upper Pines. While it's packed during spring to early fall, it's not going to be crowded at all during winter. You can drive to your campsite unlike Camp 4, which would be walk-in from the parking lot to the campsites. There should be so little demand that you won't have an immediate neighbor.

I've seen Camp 4 in the winter. I can't say that I've ever seen more than a smattering of tents - maybe 3 tops. Winter simply isn't the peak season for camping in Yosemite for obvious reasons.

Thanks for the help everyone. I'll check out camp 4 first since there are only 2 of us bringing the cost down to only $10/night. I'll post back here as to how it goes.

Self registration during winter at Camp 4,
sign in on the clip board at the kiosk,
grab one of the envelops out of the box and fill out,
money goes into the envelope and into the drop post box,
top of the envelope gets ripped off and tied to the tent,
the bathrooms on the east end of the building are closed for the winter,
the 2 heated bathrooms on the west end are open all winter,
watch out for the pot-holes in the parking lot, they're covered with water/ice and you don't realize how deep they are until . . .
(although they may have filled them in last summer)