Yosemite High Sierra Camps
When I was a kid, I remember my parents taking trips into Yosemite and staying at the High Sierra Camps. These camps are located in the back country and you need to hike to get there. I think these can be good family options because they allow someone not familiar with backpacking to venture into the wilderness but still have a bed (cot) to sleep on and a hot meal. These camps are very popular and there is a lottery system to get reservations. Some people go to only one or two on their trip, others make the whole circuit of five. Below is information about the High Sierra camps from their reservations site.
Located high in the wilderness, obtainable only by foot or by saddle, are five unique hike-to camps spaced 5.7 to 10 miles apart along a loop trail in Yosemite’s beautiful High Country.
Overnight accommodations in Yosemite at the High Sierra Camps includes full dinner and breakfast, served in cozy dining tents. Box lunches for the next day on the trail are available at an additional cost and may be ordered the night before departure.
All lodging is in canvas tent cabins with dormitory-style steel frame beds with mattresses, pillows, woolen blankets or comforters. The staff makes every effort to keep members of a party in the same tent(s), but sometimes splitting a party is necessary.
Guests must provide their own sheets or sleep-sacks and towels.
Camp descriptions-
Merced Lake (1916)
Located along one of the largest lakes in Yosemite, this camp is encircled by granite ridges and domes. Because of its lower elevation, it is relatively warm and has slightly different vegetation, such as large white firs, aspen and lodgepole pines. With the largest occupancy it’s great for groups and often this camp has last-minute availability. Merced Lake High Sierra Camp is also the furthest camp from any trailhead. With roughly 14 miles of steep hiking to get to Merced Lake from either Yosemite Valley or Tuolumne Meadows, most visitors choose to stop at either Vogelsang or Sunrise first, and then continue on to Merced Lake the following day. Merced Lake has 19 cabins with accommodations for 60 guests. Elevation: 7,150 ft.
Vogelsang (1924)
Glen Aulin (1927)
May Lake (1938)
Sunrise Camp (1961)
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The camps fill up quickly and in order to maxmize your chances of getting the dates you are looking for, it’s best to enter the High Sierra Camp lottery. Here is some information from their website.
- The deadline to request an application is typically late November of the prior year
- Applications will only be accepted on the official Yosemite High Sierra Camp Lottery Application Form. They must be received by the Yosemite Reservations Office sometime in December. Check the website for exact dates.
- A maximum of eight spaces (six for meals-only) may be requested on one application form.
- Please do not send payment until requested.
- Applicants will be notified in late February as to their standing in the lottery.
- You will receive notification once we receive your lottery application. Please DO NOT CALL or email to check on the status after that. Due to the volume of applications received, we ask that applicants wait until the lottery is complete to make any inquiries.
- Any canceled space will be filled by a second round lottery using applications which were not awarded during the first round. Any available space not awarded during the first two rounds will be filled by phone inquiries on a first come first served basis beginning in early April.
- All reservations must be paid in full within 30 days of lottery award.
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