Yosemite Creek Campground
★3.9(29 reviews)
Yosemite National Park · Yosemite National Park, California🏞️Lake Access🌊River AccessForest Setting
Best For
Adventure-minded tent campers who want the most remote drive-in campground experience in the park. The 5-mile single-lane dirt road approach is a meaningful commitment — motorhomes and trailers are prohibited outright.
74
Sites
No
Hookups
Yosemite Creek is the park's hidden-gem designation earned by access difficulty: a 5-mile single-lane dirt road that filters out anyone unprepared for the commitment. Motorhomes and trailers are not allowed, and the 20-foot vehicle maximum further limits the field. The 3.9 rating (joint-lowest with Hodgdon Meadow) likely reflects the primitive conditions and access challenge rather than any scenic shortfall — the campground sits along Yosemite Creek with swimming and bouldering nearby. No booking window data is available in our current dataset, but the reservation-only format (introduced in recent seasons) means you must plan ahead rather than counting on a walk-up spot. This campground rewards campers who want Yosemite without its crowds.
Content from Yosemite National Park park guide
May and June offer the best balance of good weather and last-minute booking opportunity — May park-wide runs 44.5% last-minute across 17,031 reservations, and Valley campgrounds like Lower Pines hit 36.4% last-minute that month. July through September is peak season with 38–41% last-minute rates park-wide, but Valley sites fill hardest, with North Pines showing 40.4% of August reservations made 6+ months in advance. October is counterintuitively the hardest month park-wide at 34.8% last-minute despite being post-summer, driven by fall visitors; November and December drop sharply to 43–44% last-minute for those willing to camp in cooler conditions.
The free Yosemite Valley Shuttle operates year-round and is the primary way to move between campgrounds, trailheads, and facilities without driving — essential during summer when parking lots fill by mid-morning. Tioga Road (Highway 120) is typically open late May or June through November, unlocking Crane Flat, White Wolf, Porcupine Flat, Tamarack Flat, and Tuolumne Meadows campgrounds; check NPS road conditions before any Tioga Road trip since opening dates vary by year. Glacier Point Road, which accesses Bridalveil Creek Campground, has its own seasonal opening tied to snowpack.
Address
Yosemite National Park, California
Coordinates
37.8263, -119.5983
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
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The park entrance fee is $35 per vehicle for a 7-day pass. Nightly camping rates vary by campground but generally run $26–$36 per night for standard sites. The America the Beautiful Annual Pass ($80) covers the entrance fee for the pass holder's vehicle and is worth it if you're visiting two or more federal fee sites in a year — it does not reduce the nightly camping fee. Horse campsites at Wawona and Tuolumne require separate reservations from the standard campground bookings.
The 7-day stay limit applies at Valley campgrounds (Upper Pines, Lower Pines, North Pines, Camp 4, Wawona, Wawona Horse Campsites); most other campgrounds allow 14 days. Cell service is unreliable throughout much of the park, particularly at high-elevation Tioga Road campgrounds — download offline maps before arrival. The nearest full-service towns for supplies are El Portal (just outside the Arch Rock entrance) and Mariposa to the south; Yosemite Village has a grocery store but expect premium prices and crowds.