Lower Pines Campground
1Heads up1 fire 12 mi away
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $36–$60Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 7574 on recreation.gov
- Season
- April 21 – October 19Open April 21 through October 19
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Lower Pines campsites are available to reserve up to five months in advance on the 15th of each month at 7:00 a.m. PST. For example, on January 15, arrival dates for the period May 15 to June 14 become available to reserve, and therefore, the full arrival date window would be from the campground open date to June 14. Reservation tips! Campsites in Yosemite are extremely popular and typically sell out in minutes. Login to your account or create a new account before the 7:00 a.m. PST release time. You may only add reservations to your cart and proceed with your reservation if you are logged into your account. Keep reading
The recreation.gov call center does NOT have access to additional sites or additional information beyond what is published on recreation.gov. Lower Pines Campground is located in breathtaking Yosemite National Park in Central California's rugged Sierra Nevada Mountain Range at an elevation of 4,000 feet. The site is situated in the heart of Yosemite Valley, an awe-inspiring landscape containing many of the famous features for which Yosemite National Park is known. Within Yosemite, visitors gaze upon waterfalls, sheer granite cliffs, deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, vast wilderness areas and much more. Yosemite National Park Campground Reservation Dates For additional park information, call (209) 372-0200 or visit www.nps.gov/yose Recreation Yosemite's trails, cliffs, roads and rivers provide endless recreational activities for any kind of visitor. Hiking, biking, rock climbing, fishing, horseback riding, rafting, auto touring and photography are all very popular activities within the park. Hiking trails range from the easy, paved, two-mile round-trip walk to Mirror Lake/Meadow, to the grueling but rewarding 14- to 16-mile trek to Half Dome (advanced permit required). Both of these trails begin near the Pines Campgrounds, and there are many additional trailheads within Yosemite Valley. Rafting the Merced River is a fun way to cool down on a summer day when water levels are sufficient. Yosemite Valley also offers numerous guided bus tours, educational programs, museums, ranger-led activities,and an art center with workshops.
Facilities
Lower Pines Campground is one of the three reservation campgrounds in Yosemite Valley. It offers paved roads and parking spurs, flush toilets, drinking water, and an amphitheater. Each campsite contains a picnic table, fire ring, and a food storage locker. Yosemite's free shuttle bus stops at the campground entrance. Within walking distance, historic Curry Village offers showers (for a fee), a general store, restaurants and a bar, amphitheater, and tours and activities desk.
Natural Features
Yosemite Valley is forested with a diverse mix of California black oak, ponderosa pine, incense-cedar, white fir and whiteleaf manzanita, which offers a pleasant combination of sun and shade. Through the trees, Yosemite's telltale granite cliffs peek through, and the gentle, refreshing Merced River flows nearby.
Nearby Attractions
Glacier Point offers sweeping views of Yosemite Valley, Little Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, Vernal and Nevada Falls, and Clouds Rest, among other notable landmarks and a visit to Wawona and the Pioneer Yosemite History Center is like stepping back in time. The Tioga Road offers a 39-mile scenic drive past forests, meadows, lakes, and granite domes. Tuolumne Meadows embodies the high-country of the Sierra Nevada, with its broad sub-alpine meadows and granite domes and peaks and the beautiful Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is home to spectacular scenery and numerous wilderness trailheads.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancellations more than 48 hours in advance of arrival date only incur a $10 transaction fee. Within 48 hours, $10 and the first night's fee are charged (Exception: 1 night reservations do not incur an additional $10 fee, but do not receive a refund). No-shows will be assessed a $20 service fee along with the loss of the first night's fee.
What the agency tells you
You are responsible for reading the site alerts and booking a site that will accommodate your equipment.
If arriving one or more days late, call (209) 372-8502; your reservation will be cancelled if we do not hear from you within 24 hours of your arrival date.
You must check-in at the campground kiosk upon arrival. After-hours arrivals must sign-in and return to the kiosk to complete check-in the following morning or your reservation may be cancelled.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Bears and other wildlife live here! Food and toiletries must be stored 24 hours/day. Dispose of garbage immediately in bear-proof dumpsters.
Food storage lockers are provided in all campsites and measure 35 inches deep x 43 inches wide x 28 inches high). Absolutely no food stored in vehicles.
Your camping reservation does NOT get you into Yosemite for free. You must pay an additional fee per vehicle at the park entrance or buy a pass ahead of time on recreation.gov.
Road conditions can change at any time; before arrival, please call (209) 372-0200 for road and weather conditions inside Yosemite, and 1-800-427-7623 for conditions outside the park. For additional park information, call (209) 372-0200 or visit www.nps.gov/yose
Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Help Yosemite be a Zero Landfill park! Leave excess packaging at home. Use refillable water bottles, food containers and travel mugs. Place all of your recyclable waste in designated recycling containers. For more information go to: https://www.nps.gov/yose/getinvolved/zlf.htm
Resale or auction of advance reservations is prohibited.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 75
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Paved pads
- 56 of 75
- Accessible sites
- 5
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets - seasonal
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Store
- Nearby
- Bear boxes
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 7 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Reservoir, Lake, River, Meadow
- Night sky · 360th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 2
- Fall color · reported 11 days ago, 39 km away
- Peak color
Full this Saturdayread 16:09 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
5 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 17:04 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $36–$60 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“Cancellations more than 48 hours in advance of arrival date only incur a $10 transaction fee. Within 48 hours, $10 and the first night's fee are charged (Exception: 1 night reservations do not incur an additional $10 fee, but do not receive a refund).” · this campground’s own no-show terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 5
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 17:04 UTC
- Wawona CampgroundYosemite National Park · 13 mi · 1 of 192 site-nights open
- Hodgdon Meadow CampgroundYosemite National Park · 17 mi · 1 of 206 site-nights open
- Railroad Flat CampgroundMother Lode Field Office · 26 mi · 3 of 18 site-nights open
- Recreation PointSierra National Forest · 28 mi · 13 of 14 site-nights open
- Forks Campground (Sierra)Sierra National Forest · 30 mi · 4 of 48 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:09 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
75 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 74 mapped sitesAll 75 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 74 of the 75 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 74 of the 75 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| Lower Pines | 001 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 66 ft | 195 ft | 172 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 002 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 104 ft | 276 ft | 178 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 003 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 66 ft | 256 ft | 106 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 004 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 98 ft | 413 ft | 157 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 005 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 62 ft | 374 ft | 59 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 007 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | yes | 62 ft | 429 ft | 90 ft | $36 |
| Lower Pines | 012 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 42 ft | 450 ft | 117 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 013 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | yes | 26 ft | 441 ft | 176 ft | $36 |
| Lower Pines | 014 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 42 ft | 408 ft | 84 ft | $36 |
| Lower Pines | 015 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 48 ft | 393 ft | 144 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 016 | type not stated | 35 ft | |||||
| Lower Pines | 017 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 42 ft | 140 ft | 204 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 018 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 83 ft | 59 ft | 283 ft | $36 |
| Lower Pines | 019 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 42 ft | 101 ft | 245 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 020 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | yes | 60 ft | 99 ft | 265 ft | $36 |
| Lower Pines | 021 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 103 ft | 121 ft | 303 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 022 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 26 ft | 458 ft | 201 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 023 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 32 ft | 372 ft | 124 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 024 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 88 ft | 453 ft | 160 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 025 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 32 ft | 349 ft | 93 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 026 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 80 ft | 367 ft | 58 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 027 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 66 ft | 546 ft | 238 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 028 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 66 ft | 548 ft | 245 ft | $36–$60 | |
| Lower Pines | 029 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 67 ft | 532 ft | 256 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 030 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 86 ft | 416 ft | 126 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 031 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 51 ft | 360 ft | 147 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 032 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 47 ft | 321 ft | 102 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 033 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 47 ft | 282 ft | 79 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 034 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 51 ft | 242 ft | 79 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 035 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 58 ft | 275 ft | 66 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 036 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 58 ft | 220 ft | 116 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 037 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 61 ft | 136 ft | 183 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 038 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 61 ft | 95 ft | 215 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 039 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 70 ft | 58 ft | 255 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 040 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 47 ft | 145 ft | 170 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 041 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 71 ft | 63 ft | 237 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 042 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 47 ft | 145 ft | 188 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 043 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 63 ft | 122 ft | 182 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 044 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 50 ft | 192 ft | 159 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 045 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 63 ft | 178 ft | 153 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 046 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 52 ft | 241 ft | 142 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 047 | rv nonelectric | 27 ft | 61 ft | 240 ft | 151 ft | $36–$60 | |
| Lower Pines | 048 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 56 ft | 284 ft | 161 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 049 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 51 ft | 334 ft | 185 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 050 | rv nonelectric | 40 ft | 39 ft | 305 ft | 174 ft | $36–$60 | |
| Lower Pines | 051 | rv nonelectric | 27 ft | 57 ft | 417 ft | 276 ft | $36–$60 | |
| Lower Pines | 052 | rv nonelectric | 27 ft | 57 ft | 440 ft | 265 ft | $36–$60 | |
| Lower Pines | 053 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 64 ft | 479 ft | 245 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 054 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 59 ft | 290 ft | 137 ft | $36–$60 | |
| Lower Pines | 055 | rv nonelectric | 40 ft | 39 ft | 300 ft | 154 ft | $36–$60 | |
| Lower Pines | 056 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 49 ft | 231 ft | 81 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 057 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 42 ft | 258 ft | 122 ft | $36–$60 | |
| Lower Pines | 058 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 42 ft | 216 ft | 92 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 059 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 49 ft | 169 ft | 81 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 060 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 55 ft | 116 ft | 102 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 062 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 54 ft | 59 ft | 97 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 063 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 59 ft | 76 ft | 129 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 064 | rv nonelectric | 27 ft | 53 ft | 109 ft | 55 ft | $36–$60 | |
| Lower Pines | 065 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 38 ft | 134 ft | 115 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 066 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 53 ft | 161 ft | 37 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 067 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 49 ft | 240 ft | 115 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 068 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 48 ft | 312 ft | 206 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 069 | rv nonelectric | 27 ft | 48 ft | 338 ft | 207 ft | $36–$60 | |
| Lower Pines | 070 | rv nonelectric | 27 ft | 58 ft | 361 ft | 208 ft | $36–$60 | |
| Lower Pines | 071 | rv nonelectric | 27 ft | 58 ft | 379 ft | 224 ft | $36–$60 | |
| Lower Pines | 072 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 48 ft | 235 ft | 282 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 073 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 73 ft | 219 ft | 175 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 074 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 44 ft | 189 ft | 259 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 075 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 38 ft | 146 ft | 151 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 076 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 44 ft | 147 ft | 268 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 088 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 44 ft | 297 ft | 269 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | 089 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 44 ft | 314 ft | 249 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | DBL1 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 105 ft | 517 ft | 192 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | DBL2 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 113 ft | 566 ft | 225 ft | $36 | |
| Lower Pines | DBL3 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 67 ft | 544 ft | 244 ft | $36 |
25 of 75 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
North Pines CampgroundYosemite National Park · 0.1 mi
Upper Pines CampgroundYosemite National Park · 0.4 mi
Camp 4Yosemite National Park · 2.0 mi
Porcupine Flat CampgroundYosemite National Park · 4.6 mi
Yosemite Creek CampgroundYosemite National Park · 6.1 mi
Bridalveil Creek CampgroundYosemite National Park · 6.2 miTake Highway 41 north from Fresno, Highway 140 east from Merced, or Highway 120 east from Manteca into Yosemite National Park. Follow signs to Yosemite Valley and the campgrounds.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Yosemite Valley, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 41°F, day 71°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical April night 38°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Lower Pines Campground is in California’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, Tom McClintock (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 4
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The office that runs itYosemite National ParkNational Park Service unit
- The member who votes the moneyTom McClintockU.S. Representative · California’s 5th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationAdam B. SchiffU.S. Senator · California
- Your senator, on the same appropriationAlex PadillaU.S. Senator · California
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks the National Park Service to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up, and to post what that share is.
Subject Hold back a share of sites at Lower Pines Campground for campers who drive up
To the National Park Service, Yosemite National Park: I tried to camp at Lower Pines Campground in California and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 74 of the 75 campsites the agency files at Lower Pines Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 74 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lower Pines Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m asking for one specific thing: set aside a published share of the sites at Lower Pines Campground as first-come, first-served, and post what that share is so it can be checked. Somebody who drives up has no way in, and no way to find out whether they might have had one. Sent about Lower Pines Campground (Yosemite National Park, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Lower Pines Campground, Yosemite National Park, California
Dear Tom McClintock, I’m a constituent in California’s 5th district. I tried to camp at Lower Pines Campground, Yosemite National Park, California, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 74 of the 75 campsites the agency files at Lower Pines Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 74 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lower Pines Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lower Pines Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Lower Pines Campground (Yosemite National Park, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Lower Pines Campground, Yosemite National Park, California
Dear Adam B. Schiff, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Lower Pines Campground, Yosemite National Park, California, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 74 of the 75 campsites the agency files at Lower Pines Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 74 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lower Pines Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lower Pines Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Lower Pines Campground (Yosemite National Park, California) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Lower Pines Campground, Yosemite National Park, California
Dear Alex Padilla, I’m a constituent in California. I tried to camp at Lower Pines Campground, Yosemite National Park, California, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 74 of the 75 campsites the agency files at Lower Pines Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 74 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lower Pines Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lower Pines Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Lower Pines Campground (Yosemite National Park, California) via campanac.com