Nelder Grove Campground

This campsite was absolutely beautiful, but the road getting there was rough! We were in a SUV but I also saw a minivan and a small car make it up to the site. We lost service pretty early into the national Forrest and never got service back while we were there. There were 4 drive in sites and maybe 3 walk in sites as well. The roads coming in weren’t well marked but once you reach the Nelder grove area you will see more signs. There is a camp host in case you have any questions or need any help. There are some really great trails in the area and a beautiful creek. There was a vault toilet, which was clean. Each site also had a fire ring. It’s a bit away from Yosemite but if you don’t mind a longer drive it’s perfect. If you do plan to visit Yosemite give yourself an hour to get down the mountain and to the park entrance.

We arrived at this campground after dark and it was a bit disorienting. We found the campground sign but gave up before finding the actual campground spots. We pulled off in a small area to the side of the road just big enough for our SUV. Not being familiar with the area and with no one else around we didn’t set up our tent that attaches to the vehicle. Instead we just locked ourselves inside and hoped all would be fine. Two other cars entered the area after us but both turned around and left. I assume that like us they found the area intimidating and confusing after dark. In the morning however our impression of the area improved and we could get a better lay of the land. If you get there before dark to look around this should be a peaceful off the grid camping spot. There was a porta-potty. We had no service with AT&T. It’s about a 20 minute drive off the main road but overall this is a good launching point for Yosemite. There’s a lot of road construction right now (mid Sept ‘18) so expect delays if traveling to Yosemite. We camped here on a Monday night.

It’s a long drive up here and gets quite steep at the end. I showed up late at night, and there were plenty of warning signs about fallen/falling trees due to fires and bugs. It was like a graveyard for Sequoias. I was alone in a van and just didn’t feel comfortable staying here, so left. Others might have a better experience but I just couldn’t risk a tree falling on me!

This was an awesome campsite in the Sierra national forest. Originally drove all the way up the dirt road but the hills got a little too steep for the car. The campsite was not too far on to the dirt road on the left in a small grass lot with a fire ring next to a stream. There are about three separate campsites two across the stream and one next to drive way. It’s very pretty and serene. We were alone when we camped on a Thursday mid May.