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Submission
From Jct of Hwys 147 & 89, NW 5 mi on Hwy 89 to Butt Lake Rd, SW 5 mi (R)
Love camping here. Very rustic. If you are looking for a place to play in the river or mountain bike, or party with friends, this is NOT the place for you. It is a quiet place, where hikers and backpackers come to stay and rest after a long day.
We visited in June 2021. Drove all day from San Diego through Three Rivers and up Mineral King. It was just as treacherous as we'd heard. The campground is lovely and I would definitely go back if it weren't for that road.
Sites were fairly distanced from each other, trees provided shade but it still got quite hot in the middle of the day. River was cool and safe to play in and provided a lovely white noise, but the mosquitos in the evening and the flies in the day were no joke.
Had to carry our gear into our walk in site (that was all that was available to us) which was a beautiful long walk (under 1/4 mile) and would have been totally tolerable if you think of it as backpacking instead of inconvenient car camping. We bear boxed diligently and marmot-proofed our car and had no problems, never saw either.
We walked 2.7 miles on the "road" back to the Silver City Resort for pie and cold drinks one afternoon. Walk was long and hot but snacks were on point.
Vault toilets were better than I expected and a longer walk from our site than expected.
Pack light. Prep for critters. Bring bug spray. Come when it is cooler than in July.
Amazing spot. Lots of tree cover, very cool even during the summer, amazing hikes around campgrounds, and nice creek located next to most camp spots. Drive is a bit of a trek if you're not experienced. Only negative is the daytime ranger. She is rude and is on a total power trip.
For the most part, it's a nice campground to setup your tents. However, follow the instructions of the park ranger to insure your safety and comfort during your stay. Read attentively the papers on the boards scattered around the camp site. Finally, the main reason why I only put four stars was the restrooms are horrible and I recommend to go two miles to use proper clean restrooms.
We were at this Campground in early August it is a beautiful campground with some basic amenities that are useful I will write about them in this review.
Before arriving:
About the route to the campground: The most important thing to know is its condition from the intersection of Sierra Drive and Mineral King Road. Indeed it is the start of Mineral King Road and is almost 23 miles away from Cold Spring Campground. It is a narrow mountainous road with plenty of bends, down and uphills. So be careful and don't speed up. I would say 10 miles per hour is a safe speed for this road. Help oncoming cars to pass you safely (at some point you need to stop to let other cars pass). It will take about 1.5 hours for 23miles then be patient. My recommendation is to avoid this road at night if you don't have enough time to drive in the sunlight you can wait until morning. There is a beautiful bridge on the way and you will see a few giant trees on this road.
After arriving:
There is a map of the campground on the board at the entrance take a picture of that or download the map from the website because it is a little tricky and you may lose time finding your spot. Cellphones have no reception then you need offline maps.
I would say avoid reserving a walk-in spot if you have a lot of stuff with you. It is very difficult to carry your stuff from walk-in parking to your spot and needs a lot of energy and time. You will be really tired if you do that. Backpacking is OK for these spots I think.
Generally, each spot has only one designated parking spot but there are plenty of overflow spaces where you can park your extra cars over there. Then do not worry about the extra parking.
There is plenty of wood in the area in that session. We used them to cook our meals. But I am not sure about other seasons, you should ask about that from the visitor assistant of the national park via email or call.
In general, it is a nice place the only reason that I gave four is the lack of giant trees you will see only 4-5 giant trees all the way. But you have a chance to see beautiful deers instead! We saw them.
