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Camp 4 Yosemite features 36 shared walk-in sites for tents only (sleeping in vehicles is not allowed) Parking is available adjacent to the campground (it's a very short walk to the campsites). A parking permit is required from spring through fall. You will receive a free parking permit upon registering. Each campsite contains a fire pit (no grill), picnic table, and four shared food lockers [35"(D)x43"(W)x28"(H)], and is near a bathroom with drinking water and flushing toilets., and is near a bathroom with drinking water and flushing toilets.
There is a 30-night camping limit within Yosemite National Park in a calendar year; however, May 1 - September 15, the camping limit in Yosemite is 14 nights, and only seven of those nights can be in Yosemite Valley or Wawona.
Great location and low price. We used the first-come-first-served camping option in May. There were still a couple open spots available during the week, but many of them were more a wetland than a camping spot. The information how to claim and how to pay a camping spot is very confusing at the kiosk, especially because there were several contradicting posters hanging around. You need a phone and data to pay for the site and you need to use the national parks app.
Camp 4 is a great option if you can't get a reservation 5 months ahead. We showed up around 8am and had no problem getting a spot (we couldn't showed up at 8pm, there were plenty of spots in late May). The registration process was a bit confusing and unintuitive - don't forget to grab a slip out of the box after you pay with the QR code. Other than that, location is perfect, right next to Upper Falls trailhead and others too. All our neighbors were cool, almost felt like a mini Woodstock/Coachella. Definitely coming back here again!
The location of this place gets 4/5. The high number of stars is mainly because because of beutiful surroundings and fact that its in Yosemite. I took a rating off because this campground is located next to a very busy road and it takes away from the expereince. Site quality gets 3/5 mainly because the place lacks grass and is very dusty with ditry tables and dirty bear lockers. The bear lockers are made of metal that literally boils your food inside. I woudl imagine that over the years NPS would come up with ideas on how to solve this problem. The facilities are 1/5. The bathrooms are dirty and unacceptable with only one facility per the campground on east end. The sink was not washed for at least a month with blood on it and soot. The showers had malfunctioning shower heads and dirty floors with barely hanging curtains. Don't even look for soap. No water available anywhere near the campgrounds. Customer service 4/5. It was an easy check in with flexible staff and very nice. The rangers at the site were helpfull and guiding but they are undersupported and underpaid. I will highlight that reservartion process is one of the most ridiculous I have ever seen. Don't count on making your plans unttil a week before as you won't be able to reserve a spot.
At the end I don't want this to sound negative but more stimulating for our Deprtment of Parks and National Forest Service to do a better job. Yosemite is a beutiful place to come and stay in and enjoy but we shoudl be ashamed as a country to offer such suboptimal renaissance age conditions for its guests to stay in. I wish someone from these departments would go and visit international national parks and learn how to provide superb expereince. That said Yosemite remains one of the most beutiful places in the world and I encourage everyone to visit and stay there but I hope the service and facilities will at some point complement its beauty.
October 8th- 3:30pm.
Even though the sign said it was full, there was some vacancy left. It is hard to look for, but basically the rule is one camping party per bear box. Parking is sometimes a nightmare.
- There’s no privacy from others, it’s all pretty much just one big site.
- it feels like you’re backcountry camping because there are no electrical outlets on sites (bring a portable charger) AND the bathrooms only had cold water.
- there is a place to wash dishes and shower, but they are the most unkept facilities I’ve ever seen. In the shower stall I used, the shower head was on the ground only replaced by a tied on ziploc bag. The air vent was caked in mold.
Sorry Yosemite Valley, this campground ain’t it. The only upsides are the views and location.
