We are considering going camping at Yosemite this summer. I checked out the website and there are nine different campgrounds available. We would like some suggestions on which campground to choose. My husband and I will be traveling with our girls 12 and 14. We enjoy hiking, swimming and anything to do with water. Your help and guidance would be appreciated.

Debbie

If you are planning to go in June, then the high country is likely to be chilly and perhaps with snow still on the ground. The road isn't even open until late May or early June, depending on the snowfall. Spring comes pretty late at those elevations. On the otherhand, by late June and July, you should have some nice wild flowers.

Yosemite Valley is the most central location and there are a lot of places you can walk to or take the shuttle bus. This would be a good area if you want to give the kids a little freedom to wander around on their own because there are a lot of things to do and see without the need for a car. There are also bike rentals and lots of paved bike paths. The river runs right through the valley - it is cold, but fine for wading and rafting. Also, Mirror Lake is not very far of a hike from the valley floor (1 mile, maybe?) and it has a nice sandy bottom and good for swimming. The drawback of the valley is that it is crowded.

Wawona is closer to the south entrance to the park - it is near the Mariposa grove of giant sequoias. There aren't as many services and things of that nature in that area of the park, so it will be less crowded.

Thanks for your suggestions. Have you ever stayed at any of the campgrounds? and could you give me a suggestion?

Thanks
Debbie

A tented cabin is much nicer than camping. Think heat, dust, noise, heat, dust, noise.

Hi Debbie, read through the reviews here (skip the listings for hotels/motels/etc):

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g6...ia-Hotels.html

We stay at the Housekeeping Camp when we go to Yosemite. These are the tent cabins near the river. There are pluses and minuses to this campground - hot showers, store in camp, right on the river, but also it is crowded if your cabin is closer to the road rather than the river. I don't care that much about the difference between sleeping in a tent and the beds in the tent cabins (take my air matress either way ), but it is nice to have a semi-private place to sit out, cook meals, and so forth. We also go in April or May to avoid the summer crowds, so having the tent cabin is nicer than a tent in inclement weather.

There are also tent cabins at Curry Village, but I don't care for them. They are very close together and they don't have any outside space for relaxing or cooking - no picnic table, fire pit or anything. Just a "room". A big part of camping for us is cooking out and having a campfire.

If you like to camp, avoid the tent cabins at Curry Village which resemble a refuge camp. Camping under the stars, especially in Yosemite's balmy weather, is much better. Totally different from Curry Village are the High Sierra camps which are a national treasure but usually booked far in advance and are not cheap. See:

http://www.yosemitepark.com/Accomoda...erraCamps.aspx

There are actually 13 campgrounds in the Park. There are three drive in campgrounds in the Valley. Usually, we camp in Upper Pines because this is the one that has the most availability but all three are pretty similar except that in the lower campgrounds some sites are closer to the river.

In Wawona, there is a nice campground on the Merced River. This is a good base for exploring the Wawona Grove of Redwoods.

In the high country most are on a no reservation basis except for Tuolumne Meadows. We like the White Wolf Campground. These high country campgrounds sometimes don't open until mid-July and then close sometime in September.

"Wawona Grove of Redwoods."

Sorry. Meant to say Mariposa Grove of Sequoias.