Re: North Pines Reservations Update?

Does anyone know if and when the reservations for North Pines will open?

We have camped extensively in Tuolumne and have never tried to get valley reservations...I left a HUGE window (the whole summer) open in terms of range and nothing comes up for Upper and Lower Pines at all...we are teachers...so we have some flexibility...but did not expect anything...

Also...in brief reading on this site it sounds like you have to click on a specific site??? instead of keeping open range of dates and open to any site in the particular grounds? Would it be worth it for me to go in one day at a time and click availability for every site? That could take hours...

Any suggestions would be great...we have super young kids and thought we would try the valley...any suggestions would be great...

Oh ya...we just need small tent space...

Matt

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napaman
Also...in brief reading on this site it sounds like you have to click on a specific site??? instead of keeping open range of dates and open to any site in the particular grounds? Would it be worth it for me to go in one day at a time and click availability for every site? That could take hours...

All the valley drive-in campgrounds have a site specific reservation system.

If you've booked at TM, you probably already know that standard reservations for the period of Aug 15 to Sept 14 are available at 7AM PDT on April 15. I've seen a few reserved dates into that period at North Pines, but those probably started from the previous reservation period.

I take it you're referring to when they might open for the period before May 15 - due to utility repairs? I don't think anyone knows. When they become available, I'm pretty sure someone will post it here. They're not likely to go as fast as the normal rush on the 15th of each month, but I would expect they would be gone within a day or two.

Unless I am mistaken north pines is open until may 15th? Its closed After that...without a date for opening...unless I am confused...all North pines sites say "X" on them from june 13th on...

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napaman
Unless I am mistaken north pines is open until may 15th? Its closed After that...without a date for opening...unless I am confused...all North pines sites say "X" on them from june 13th on...

It's closed until May 15 (at the latest) due to utility maintenance. I'm seeing many sites say "R" (reserved) from May 15 on to Aug 15. A few sites say "R" a few days past Aug 15, but that's because they were booked with reservations that started Aug 15 or earlier.

What I'm seeing is that there are quite a few sites that are marked "X" (200 to 213 as well as other higher number sites) up to June 23.

http://www.recreation.gov/campsiteCalendar.do?page=matrix&calarvdate=06/13/2011&contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70927

I think I know what this is. North Pines runs along the Merced River. Quite a few sites are flooded in the spring and may still be flooded into early summer. Those would be marked with an "X". 200 to 213 don't look like they're that close to the river, so they might be closed for other reasons. Or the lay of the land may mean they get flooded in some odd way.

In previous years I've heard of the flood-prone sites being opened up for reservations when they've determined that they should be OK. Someone is going to have to come in an clean it up before people can use them though. Check here. Often someone will report that "North Pines just opened up dozens of sites until June 23".

I've camped at North Pines a few days after it was flooded last summer in mid June. They don't usually release those sites until they figure wheather and when the Merced river will overflow. The ground was still a little wet, but we still had a blast. Most of the tree debre was washed away though, so it wasn't as "fluffy" in our tents.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2011 05:43PM by fluxfluxa.

"Once open, due to the possibilities of high water levels and river flooding that occur every May and June, many sites in North Pines will not be available for advanced reservation until we are sure the river will be at a safe level."

I remember during one of the normal 15th booking windows, some sites for early May in Lower Pines were opened too. I wonder if it will be the same for North Pines.

The reservation website now shows that on 4/13 they will post an opening date for April/May (for dates before 5/16) sites that have been blocked out (probably making them available on the 4/15 buy date). They will probably still keep some of the river sites off the sytem due to projected flooding

Thanks MJ. I didn't even notice those dates because I was frantically trying to get the normal booking windows dates.