Bridalveil Creek Campground — Hotel in Oakhurst

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...

I've camped in many of Yosemite's campgrounds. I think this one is the nicest plus it's first come - first serve so you don't need a reservation. The NPS tends to crowd sites way to close together but in this campground there is more space between sites than all the others I've stayed at in the park. It is set in an open lodgepole pine forest near Bridalveil Creek so some sites have less shade than others. Despite being next to a marshy area there were no mosquitoes; maybe we just got lucky. ||||The campground is in a fairly central location within the park, close to Glacier Point with Yosemite Valley or Wawona about a 45 minute drive away. The campground was not noisy at all during our stay. Once 10 PM came it was very quiet except for the coyotes howling in the distance. The bathrooms have flush toilets and were cleaned daily and the park service patrolled the campground nightly. The campground host was not there during our stay but we were there right after it opened for the season (about a month early due to the drought) and we had no issues at all with security or bears. Each site does have a bear box (which you must use) but they are not very tall. If your ice chest is taller than about 20" it won't fit. ||||Be warned: People start trolling for campsites around 9AM so if you want to camp there get there early, especially if you want the best sites. We got there at 1PM on a Monday and got a good site but the campground...

First, I'm a big fan of our National Parks, Second I love camping, but Third, this is the nosiest campground I have ever been to in a National Park after quiet hours!||||The quiet hours were not enforced what so ever- at least when we were there for 5 days in July, 2014, and we did not see any form of patrol that is common after quiet hours to keep loud noise in check.||||We did go in peak season for tourists, and did feel extremely lucky to get a spot at all as we were there on a Thursday morning at 7:00am looking to grab a site- which are first come first serve in this campground.||||On the positive side this is a great location to camp in Yosemite National Park, and does have running water. ||||Views at Glacier Point near this campground are incredible!||||I would suggest allowing plenty of travel time to and from this campground as it is about 25 minutes drive to the Yosemite Valley attractions below, and for those not used to higher elevation take notice as well.||||Tips: Get there early as spots fill up fast!|| Bring a roll of toilet paper|| Bear lockers are provided on sites||||NPS Website:...