Is there one particular national park campground you like to return to again and again and again?
For example, the Jenny Lake Campground in Grand Teton National Park has some of the most spectacular views of the Tetons, while the Slough Creek Campground in Yellowstone National Park is in the middle of wolf pack home ranges.
Back east, head to Cataloochee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and you're in the middle of elk habitat and off the well-trod path. Pitch your tent at the Seawall Campground in Acadia National Park and you're a ten-minute walk from the Atlantic Ocean.
Some folks like location, some like scenery, some like wildlife nearby. With that understood, where are your favorite national park campgrounds?
Comments
I've been camping at Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park since the 1950's. It is away from the crowds of Yosemite Valley and has beautiful granite domes, lakes, rivers, and a big meadow where you can wander out on a moonless night to see the stars. And at nearly 9,000 feet elevation the night sky is spectacular. There are lots of wonderful naturalist walks to join, and we like to drive over Tioga Pass to visit Mono Lake. The best season is about mid-July to mid-September. We reserve a campsite 5 months in advance to assure a spot.
Willow Flat Campground on the Island in the Sky in Canyonlands National Park. It is a small, unassuming campground in the pinyon and juniper. A peaceful place. A good base camp for various hikes on the Island in the Sky mesa top and trails dropping off the rim. The Upheaval Dome Trail is a great all day hike down, around, and back up. The Green River Overlook, one of the best viewpoints in the national parks is a short walk from the campground. I spent four nights and five days camped at Willow Flat on my last trip to Canyonlands.
Of the front country campgrounds in Yellowstone, I like the one at Norris Jct. It is small--100 or so sites--it has a great little campfire circles where rangers give their evening programs (no electricitt there so they have to paint pictures with words, not powerpoints), and is away from the crowded conditions at many other campgrounds in the park. There's no cell phone service here, no stores, no trinket shops, no gas stations and little infrastructure. It also has the advantage of being near the most active geyser basin in the park--Norris--and is the home of the Museum of the National Park Ranger, staffed during the summer by former NPS rangers.
Rick Smith
Lodgepole Campground at Sequoia National Park is my favorite developed campground. Huge pines, well spaced sites, and not crowded. The river was just feet from our tent and it was just marvelous.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasondanielbrown/225833729/in/set-721576033...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasondanielbrown/225833727/in/set-721576033...
2nd place would probably go to Green Ridge Campground at Rocky Mountain NP.
Lodgepole is a huge campground. It's not crowded? I haven't stayed there in years, but I remember it being a mass of humanity. And then there are the bears doing nightly patrols for unsecured food sources.
I stayed at Watchman Campground at Zion on the same trip in June '06. Now THAT'S a crowded campground. The sites were right on top of eachother and it was filled with loud revelers popping fireworks and crushing beer cans.
Lodgepole is much, much more remote and there was only one family with kids in our vicinity.
Well - I haven't stayed at Lodgepole since the 1980s. Back then reservations were made via Ticketron with the ticket being a bearer instrument for the reservation. However - I did visit Sequoia NP a few years back during late June and camped at a Forest Service Campground. My search did include Lodgepole as well as Dorst Creek. Both were solidly booked for months. Lodgepole has over 200 sites and is the most popular campground in SEKI. For some reason "not crowded" just doesn't sound right.
I got a look at the edge of Lodgepole Campground from the parking lot. At least it seemed like a lot of people.
Upper Pines in Yosemite is what I'd consider a pretty packed campground. I speak from firsthand experience. I'd return in a heartbeat though if I could secure another reservation.
Perhaps I got lucky. I don't recall having any trouble getting a reservation for Lodgepole. And even if it was full or nearly full, it didn't FEEL crowded (unlike Watchman) because of the design of the campground and the spacing of the sites.