Why not opt for a little luxury during your vacation? Yosemite National Park offers several deluxe camping options for those who’d rather not pitch their own tent or cook their meals on a camp stove. Farther south, Sequoia National Park and the Sequoia National Forest also have places for backcountry camping in style.
Note that most of the following places are only open during summer. For advance reservations at Yosemite National Park lodgings or call (801) 559-4884.
Curry Village & Housekeeping Camp
Opened just before the turn of the 20th century, Curry Village is a landmark in Yosemite Valley. Generations of families have stayed here in safari-style tents and simple wooden cabins. Although the canvas-tent village lacks much privacy, it has the fun, carefree atmosphere of a kids’ summer camp. Like the canvas tents, the simplest cabins also share bathrooms and showers, while more expensive en-suite cabins are comfortably equipped with electrical heaters.
During summer, the Housekeeping Camp opens next to the Merced River, where you can let yourself be lulled to sleep by the sounds of water from your semi-enclosed sleeping platform, each equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring.
White Wolf & Tuolumne Meadows Lodges
If you’re not going to pitch your own tent, these two wonderfully rustic lodges are your only other lodging option in the Sierra Nevada high country off Tioga Road.
At an elevation of almost 9,000 feet, Tuolumne Meadows Lodge is the most central option, offering canvas tents with shared showers and bathrooms, plus a dining room serving hearty breakfasts and dinners.
Farther west, White Wolf Lodge is set back farther from Tioga Road and feels more like a private hideaway, offering just two dozen canvas tents and also four en-suite cabins that have heating and electricity. Its dining room also serves family-style breakfasts and dinners, with box lunches packed to go. Both of these lodges are usually open from mid-June through mid-September, weather-permitting.
High Sierra Camps
Tucked into the backcountry of Yosemite National Park, the High Sierra Camps (HSC) are a circuit of hike-in tent camps beautifully positioned near scenic destinations in the Sierra Nevada high country. If you want to try backpacking, don’t want to have to carry any gear except for your own water, snacks, a sleeping sack, and a towel, this is your opportunity. Established in the early 20th century, the HSCs offer simple, dormitory-style tents, hot showers, cooked dinners and breakfasts, and sack lunches to go. In Yosemite, HSCs are usually open from late June until mid-September. Reservations are available by lottery in December, but you can call to check last-minute availability after April 1.
Sequoia National Park also opens a high-altitude tent camp during summer. Bearpaw High Sierra Camp has just six canvas-tent cabins in beautiful Bearpaw Meadow, located 11.5 miles along the High Sierra Trail east of the Giant Forest. Hearty dinners and breakfasts, desserts, and even wines by the glass are available in the camp’s rustic dining room. For more information and reservations, visit www.visitsequoia.com or call (866) 807-3598 after January 1.
In the nearby Sequoia National Forest, the privately run Sequoia High Sierra Camp is just a one-mile hike from the closest trailhead. Its canvas-tent cabins are outfitted more like hotel rooms, with artisan furniture, plush rugs, and down pillows. All guests share hot showers and common bathrooms. Meals are prepared by a chef, with imported wines and beers available at dinner. For information and reservations, visit www.sequoiahighsierracamp.com or call (866) 654-2877.
