Redwood Meadow Campground — Hotel in Porterville

We stayed for just one night at this campground last week. Overall, it is a great campground. We stayed in Campsite #7, which you won’t find on the NPS campground map, or anywhere on the wee web. I didn’t know if it actually existed but when we got there our neighbor at Campsite #8 told us to go down the path to the best campsite around, and he was right. Campsite #7 is very secluded from the others, since it’s downhill from the other sites and you have to walk down the path to get to it. The site has a wide area to spread out if you have the max 6 people. You can also access the meadow by crossing the little stream behind the site. It is incredible during sunsets, and sunrises, and night walks to star gaze (stared right at the Milky Way here). Lucky for us, we were up here during the Perseid meteor shower so it was such an unforgettable sight seeing those things dash through and light up the night sky for a split second. HOWEVER, if you don’t like primitive tent camping, this isn’t for you. The toilets are porta-potties so we had to resort to going in the bush for the sake of our noses. But if you’re okay with that, the bathrooms are right across from the parking spot for this campsite. The camp host was also off for the season so we had to bring our own firewood. The website also says no running water, and so we brought plenty and I never checked if they did or not -sorry! Activity-wise, The Trail of 100 Giants is just across the street and is family friendly (mostly flat) and wheelchair accessible. You can definitely spend a few hours here with kids! Since we were here only overnight, we made our way 30 minutes northeast to Camp Nelson. Google “Natural Water Slide” in that area (and No, not the Seven Teacups!). There is a 3/4 mile hike uphill on a dirt road from the trailhead, so bring plenty of water as there is no shade and the hot sun is inescapable. It does make for the cold water afterwards worth it! The water slide is awesome but the deep pool at the bottom is extremely cold!! It knocked the breath out of me so make sure someone can pull you up if you need it! Also very slippery so take your time waking in/around the wet areas. You can take your babies and puppies here too with lunch! Just down the ways from this slide is a “baby” slide that goes into a shallow pool, and a natural wading pool perfect for little kids! Get here early before the crowd and you will not regret the drive/hike! Preset the location on your GPS/Google Maps as there is no service up here! We will definitely stay here again, and next time we’ll...

Redwood meadow is located in the southern section of Sequoia national forest. The season is from the last week of may thru mid october (check website to confirm exact dates).||||We loved this place!! Stayed for a couple of nights and enjoyed the quiet. Campground is pretty small overall (only 12 sites) and sites are pretty well spread apart. There were about 4 sites occupied while we were there and everyone was super quiet. They have yurts as well (seasonal - were not there when we went 9/23). We booked our site online - costs were reasonable (even got a discount w/ our national park pass). Parked our car above the site and walked down to it.||||We had site #4 which we would recommend. Sites have picnic tables, grills, firepits and are pretty good sized. We had our little stove so didn't use grill nor firepit. It worked perfect to set up our little tent and go to sleep listening to the creek and watch the stars. ||||There is some walking around the campground and outside of it. Probably the biggest draw for people is you can walk across the street to the trail of giants - a paved path through the sequoias (if you were careful, you could help someone w/ wheelchair go thru). This is amazing and we found ourselves going back and forth quite a bit at different times of the day. People that go to trail of the giants for the day can also park here at a lot in the beginning of the campground. There are vault toilets (very clean) but no water, so as most reviews say bring your water. ||||Ranger was very nice and very patient w/ all our questions. He travels back and forth to a couple of other places as well as this one. Told us about Dome Rock (about 8 miles n), but we did not have a chance to make it there. Supposed to be good place to watch the sunrise - maybe next time.||||Like a lot of national parks/monuments etc., they do allow the land use for neighboring cows so you might see them in the meadow or traveling to the meadows - these do not go in the campground. We did not see any when we were there - not on the trail nor in the meadows down below (a bit away from the campground).||||Bring water, lots to eat, maybe a good read, rest your mind and enjoy the peacefulness of Redwood Meadow. We know that you...

Location: Ideally located across from Trail of 100 Giants, which gives you a good return of large sequoias, some you can even explore inside, on a short and paved hike. There's really not too much else to do within the immediate area. You can drive 25mins to Ponderosa or 1hr to Kern. There is a natural waterslide, which seemed great, but the road was closed off and per the camp hosts and another other guest, it's a 10mile hike to get there from where the road is closed off. Also, no fishing nearby that we could find other than in Kern, which was too far for us. Needless to say we only did the trail of 100 Giants on our stay. We like to venture outside of camp, so we were disappointed.||||Surroundings: There is a nearby creek, which was pretty small but nice and entertaining enough for children. Lots of tree coverage, it's safe to say most if not all sites work for a hammock.||||Camp Details: No water on site, so bring plenty. No cell service there or nearby. Bathrooms were fine, vault toilets but clean. Camp hosts were new but great. Campground itself was very small. I really missed strolling through the loops of a big campground, but appreciated the peace of a smaller place. ||||Site Details: The sites on the outer loops (other than #13, #11, #9 and #8) all are set back a ways and offer the most privacy. I wasn't fond of the sites in the inside loops. Site #1 was our group's favorite. It's set back far enough from the bathroom and entrance so those aren't a concern, and it's very large. We saw at least 4 tents set up there. It's also up against the meadow. Sites #8 and #9, where our group was, was perfect IF you know the group next to you. These two sites butt up to each other, way too close if you're strangers. The creek behind these sites is a little tough to get to since it's steep, but sure kept the kids entertained!||||Overall: I did love it, but have found other places that are a similar drive from home and offer a bit more. Likely won't be staying here again, a comment all of us made (and we had a big group). Although, we did have a great time while...