BRIDALVEIL CREEK GROUP AND HORSE CAMP (nps-rec-demo-data)

Contacts

Address:
PO BOX 577, National Pa,, Yosemite Valley, CA 95389
Get directions

Website:
recreation.gov

Phone number:
+1 209-375-9535

Categories:
Establishment   Lodging   Campground   Park  

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Reviews about BRIDALVEIL CREEK GROUP AND HORSE CAMP (nps-rec-demo-data)

• Tom Wagner

  Nov, 12 2018
  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
  This has always been my favorite place to camp in Yosemite, ever since I was 2 years old (that was 1963). My family always camps here; the only time we failed to was when the campground was still snowed in (which can happen as late as August--in which case the campground never opens: this is rare) and we grudgingly settled for Hodgeton Meadows or Crane Flat (or on one particularly horrid trip, a tent cabin in Camp Curry: a thing I would never recommend).
  
  No hot water, so no showers; clean, delicious tap water (and it's damn cold), flush toilets (a luxury in such a remote campground) and many of the spaces afford you very good privacy, especially in the C Loop. Some sites back up against the meadow, where you will frequently see deer and the occasional coyote at sunset or sunrise. The creek running through the meadow is filled with small but delicious brook trout that are nearly impossible to catch (live grasshoppers is the only bait that's worked for me--and you have to catch 4-5 of them, because few grow larger than the required 6 inches).
  
  Other than White Wolf and Tuolumne Meadows, this is the prettiest campground in the park, and one of the most remote. Tuolumne has a general store, gas station, gift shops, you name it; White Wolf is fairly remote, but if you want groceries, gas or anything else while camping in Bridalveil (this includes laundry facilities and showers) you must drive at least 45 minutes to the valley, or 55 minutes to Wowona. This is as middle-of-nowhere as you can get in Yosemite without backpacking.
  
  Speaking of backpacking, the trail head for the Ostrander Lake Trail is in the campground. It's about 7 miles, a moderately hard hike and a tough day-trip destination but a beautiful place to camp... and the fish in the lake are as hard to catch as the ones in that creek.
  
  No reservations: first come, first served. Your best bet on landing a campsite is to show up on Sunday morning, when a lot of people are checking out; find someone packing up, ask if it's okay and post your claim on the pole before someone else does. I recommend Loop C, unless you have a dog, in which case you must stay in A Loop and you should stay in a perimeter campsite near the meadow. You will likely have deer walk through your site, and maybe a bear, too, so use that bear box! (You will be fined if you don't.)

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