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There are three first-come, first-served campgrounds available in in late fall, winter, and early spring. These often fill, especially on weekends and holidays. First-come, first-served camping is not available from late May through October. However, some campgrounds listed below have reservations available two weeks in advance from around July to mid-October.
Campfires and Wood Smoke
Campfires are allowed (in a fire ring and when attended), except they are only allowed from 5 pm to 10 pm in Yosemite Valley campgrounds and Hodgdon Meadow Campground. However, consider minimizing fire usage or not having a fire! Emissions from campfires can degrade air quality in and near campgrounds. This is especially true at night and in early morning, when inversions trap and concentrate fine particles from those campfires near the ground, creating local conditions that are potentially unhealthy for sensitive individuals.
Yosemite has 10 campgrounds that can accommodate RVs and trailers (including fifth wheels) of varying lengths. If you plan to spend the night in your RV, you must be in a designated standard or RV campsite—you can't park in a parking lot, along the side of the road, or in a tent-only campsite.
Reservations: campgrounds requiring reservations are usually full from around April through September. You should make a reservation as early as possible. If you don't have reservations, find out more about camping without reservations.
Electrical, water, and sewer hookups are not available in Yosemite, although dump stations (with fresh water) are available at Upper Pines Campground (all year), near Wawona Campground (summer only), and near Tuolumne Meadows Campground (closed until 2024, then summer only). Generator use is allowed, but only between 7 am and 9 am, noon and 2 pm, and 5 pm to 7 pm. Generator use is not allowed at other times.
Maximum RV/trailer lengths: In Yosemite Valley, the maximum RV length is 40 feet and maximum trailer length is 35 feet, however, only a total of 8 sites of this size are available (six sites in Lower Pines and two in North Pines, which are open spring through fall). Many more sites exist in Yosemite Valley and elsewhere in Yosemite that can take RVs up to 35 feet or trailers up to 24 feet.
RV length and trailer length are not the same! Please note that many campsites have different maximum lengths for RVs and trailers. This is because many of the campsites are back-in sites with limited turning radius. We do not enforce the length limits as long as the RV or trailer can fit on the parking pad in the site. However, if you reserve a site for equipment other than what you bring, and the site can't accommodate your RV or trailer, we will not be able to find a different campsite for you.
Food storage: You may store food in hard-sided RVs and trailers, as long the food is out of sight, and windows, doors, and vents are closed when you're not in your campsite. Food may not be stored in pop-up or tent trailers, or other soft-sided campers.
Tap water and creek water: Campgrounds listed as having creek water have vault toilets (not regular restrooms). Campgrounds listed as having tap water have regular restrooms.
Showers are available at the Curry Village pool showerhouse for a fee. Showers are not available elsewhere in the park.
Dump stations are available at Upper Pines Campground (all year), near Wawona Campground (summer only), and near Tuolumne Meadows Campground (summer only). No campsites in Yosemite have hook-ups of any kind.
Once Tioga Road opens, crews begin working in campgrounds and other facilities to prepare them for opening. Before campgrounds can open, crews assess the condition of the campgrounds, remove trees that may fall or have fallen, make emergency road repairs, de-winterize restrooms, pump vault toilets, and turn on and test water systems. Additionally, sewer and utility systems often need repair each spring.
All this work also has to happen at visitor centers, offices, residences, and other facilities, as well. Opening offices and residences for staff are a high priority because campgrounds and other facilities need staff in order to operate.
As a result, campgrounds usually don't begin opening until at least four weeks after the Tioga Road opens. The table below reflects the best available estimate for when campgrounds will open and is revised as soon as we have updates.
White Wolf Campground is open with portable toilets. Drinking water is not available.
(Closing dates refer to the day the campground closes; the night before that is the last night to camp.)
Backcountry campgrounds at Little Yosemite Valley and near the High Sierra camps (Glen Aulin, May Lake, Sunrise, Merced Lake, and Vogelsang) are not part of the campground reservation system. A wilderness permit is required to stay at these campgrounds.
