Wawona Campground
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 3 mi
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $36From, per site
- Sites
- 9996 on recreation.gov
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Wawona Campground is located in breathtaking Yosemite National Park in Central California's rugged Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. The site is situated at the southern end of the park, 27 miles and approximately 45 minutes from Yosemite Valley, at an elevation of 4000 feet. Wawona was home to the park's headquarters in 1904 and historic structures still stand today. The majestic Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias is just a short drive away. Within Yosemite, visitors gaze upon waterfalls, sheer granite cliffs, deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, a vast wilderness area and much more. Keep reading
When on reservation, Wawona 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. The recreation.gov call center does NOT have access to additional sites or additional information beyond what is published on recreation.gov. Yosemite National Park Campground Reservation Dates 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. The Pioneer Yosemite History Center is like stepping back in time. A visit to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, just four miles away, is a must-do. A network of hiking trails within the grove leads to stately trees with names like Grizzly Giant, Faithful Couple, and California Tunnel Tree. Wawona offers several additional hiking trails, including the Wawona Meadow Loop, Swinging Bridge Loop, Alder Creek and Chilnualna Falls.
Facilities
Wawona Campground offers family, group, and horse campsites; reservations required. Paved roads and parking spurs, flush toilets and drinking water are provided. Each campsite contains a picnic table, fire ring, and food storage locker. A general store and gas station are located about a mile south of the campground.
Natural Features
The area is forested with a diverse mix of ponderosa pine, incense-cedar, white fir, and whiteleaf manzanita, which offers a pleasant combination of sun and shade. The gentle South Fork of the Merced River flows alongside the campground.
Nearby Attractions
Just 45 minutes away is Yosemite Valley, an awe-inspiring landscape containing many of the famous features for which Yosemite National Park is known. Hiking trails and bike paths are abundant in the 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. A scenic 45-minute drive leads to Glacier Point, with its sweeping views of Yosemite Valley, Little Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, Vernal and Nevada Falls, and Clouds Rest, among other notable landmarks. The Tioga Road, in the central region of the park, 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. Beautiful Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is home to spectacular scenery and numerous wilderness trailheads.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancellation of individual or equestrian site reservations will be charged a $10 service fee. If the cancellation is within 48 hours of the arrival date, the first night's fee will also be charged. Cancellations for a single night’s use within 48 hours will not receive a refund, but will not be assessed an additional service fee. Cancellation of a group site reservation will incur a $10.00 service fee plus the first night’s use fee when the reservation is cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date. No-shows for any type of reservation will be charged a $20 service fee and the first night's fee.
What the agency tells you
You are responsible for reading the following information and booking a site that will accommodate your equipment.
If arriving one or more days late, call (209) 375-9535; your reservation will be cancelled if we do not hear from you within 24 hours of your arrival date.
Bear Habitat! Food and toiletries must be stored in provided food lockers (35"Dx43"Wx28"H) 24 hours a day. Absolutely NO food or scented items stored in vehicles. Dispose of garbage immediately in bear-proof dumpsters.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Potable water at the dump station (located one mile south of the campground) is only available during summer months.
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.
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. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Help Yosemite be a Zero Landfill park! Leave excess packaging at home. Use refillable water and propane 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
For additional park information, visit www.nps.gov/yose
Resale or auction of advance reservations is prohibited
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 99 · 21 tent-only, 10 walk-in, 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 35 ft
- Paved pads
- 2 of 99
- Accessible sites
- 4
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 64 of 75 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets - year round
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Dump station
- Yes
- Store
- Nearby
- Bear boxes
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 7 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Reservoir, Lake, River, Creek, Meadow
- Night sky · 544th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 3
1 of 192 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:01 UTC
recreation.gov lists 96 of the 99 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBookedClosed
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
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 · 15
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $36 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.
“- Cancellation of individual or equestrian site reservations will be charged a $10 service fee. Cancellations for a single night’s use within 48 hours will not receive a refund, but will not be assessed an additional service fee. - Cancellation of a group site reservation will incur a $10.00 service fee plus the fir…” · 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
recreation.gov availability, read 16:01 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
99 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 95 mapped sitesAll 99 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 96 of the 99 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. 89 of the 99 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.
| A | 007 | type not stated | 27 ft | 241 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 104 ft | $28 | ||
| A | 008 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 85 ft | 249 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 79 ft | $36 | |
| A | 009 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 81 ft | 167 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 162 ft | $36 | |
| A | 010 | rv nonelectric | 35 ft | 81 ft | 178 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 183 ft | $36 | |
| A | 011 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 66 ft | 199 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 239 ft | $36 | |
| A | 012 | rv nonelectric | 24 ft | 72 ft | 255 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 172 ft | $36 | |
| A | 013 | type not stated | 15 ft | $28 | ||||
| A | 014 | tent only nonelectric | 76 ft | 306 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 104 ft | $36 | ||
| A | 015 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 60 ft | 242 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 176 ft | $36 | |
| A | 016 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 53 ft | 216 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 165 ft | $36 | |
| A | 017 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 60 ft | 158 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 224 ft | $36 | |
| A | 018 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 44 ft | 247 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 121 ft | $36 | |
| A | 019 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 44 ft | 234 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 131 ft | $36 | |
| A | 020 | tent only nonelectric | 60 ft | 300 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 64 ft | $36 | ||
| A | 021 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 83 ft | 268 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 112 ft | $36 | |
| A | 022 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 54 ft | 204 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 173 ft | $36 | |
| A | 023 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 54 ft | 169 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 187 ft | $36 | |
| A | 024 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | 59 ft | 197 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 132 ft | $36 | |
| A | 025 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 59 ft | 232 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 89 ft | $36 | |
| A | 026 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | $36 | ||||
| A | 027 | tent only nonelectric | 72 ft | 295 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 46 ft | $36 | ||
| A | 028 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 96 ft | 254 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 142 ft | $36 | |
| A | 029 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 113 ft | 225 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 253 ft | $36 | |
| A | 030 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 125 ft | 199 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 377 ft | $36 | |
| A | Group Camp | group tent only area nonelectric | 17 ft | 161 ft | 170 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 211 ft | $75 | |
| B | 031 | tent only nonelectric | 72 ft | 109 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 79 ft | $36 | ||
| B | 032 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 65 ft | 111 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 147 ft | $36 | |
| B | 033 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 58 ft | 123 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 213 ft | $36 | |
| B | 034 | tent only nonelectric | 65 ft | 48 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 158 ft | $36 | ||
| B | 035 | tent only nonelectric | 15 ft | 58 ft | 66 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 236 ft | $36 | |
| B | 036 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 75 ft | 134 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 348 ft | $36 | |
| B | 037 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 75 ft | 72 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 310 ft | $36 | |
| B | 038 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 67 ft | 139 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 471 ft | $36 | |
| B | 039 | walk to | 67 ft | 197 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 512 ft | |||
| B | 040 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 66 ft | 97 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 557 ft | $36 | |
| B | 041 | walk to | 66 ft | 153 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 604 ft | |||
| B | 042 | tent only nonelectric | 106 ft | 224 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 253 ft | $36 | ||
| B | 043 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 72 ft | 219 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 75 ft | $36 | |
| B | 044 | tent only nonelectric | 72 ft | 290 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 146 ft | $36 | ||
| C | 001 | walk to | 48 ft | 42 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 273 ft | |||
| C | 002 | walk to | 66 ft | 68 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 222 ft | |||
| C | 003 | walk to | 58 ft | 92 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 189 ft | |||
| C | 004 | walk to | 58 ft | 124 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 164 ft | |||
| C | 045 | walk to | 48 ft | 166 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 398 ft | |||
| C | 046 | walk to | 48 ft | 146 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 362 ft | |||
| C | 047 | walk to | 15 ft | 93 ft | 146 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 276 ft | ||
| C | 048 | tent only nonelectric | 15 ft | 63 ft | 230 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 202 ft | $36 | |
| C | 049 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 73 ft | 243 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 92 ft | $36 | |
| C | 050 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 52 ft | 171 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 147 ft | $36 | |
| C | 051 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 52 ft | 171 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 128 ft | $36 | |
| C | 052 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 50 ft | 175 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 124 ft | $36 | |
| C | 053 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 47 ft | 171 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 141 ft | $36 | |
| C | 054 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 50 ft | 201 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 172 ft | $36 | |
| C | 055 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 47 ft | 153 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 170 ft | $36 | |
| C | 056 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 50 ft | 226 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 196 ft | $36 | |
| C | 057 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 59 ft | 206 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 197 ft | $36 | |
| C | 058 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 43 ft | 297 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 193 ft | $36 | |
| C | 059 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 52 ft | 264 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 149 ft | $36 | |
| C | 060 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 52 ft | 315 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 120 ft | $36 | |
| C | 061 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 55 ft | 137 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 210 ft | $36 | |
| C | 062 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 50 ft | 118 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 257 ft | $36 | |
| C | 063 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 50 ft | 108 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 272 ft | $36 | |
| C | 064 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 62 ft | 160 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 196 ft | $36 | |
| C | 065 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 55 ft | 100 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 257 ft | $36 | |
| C | 066 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 63 ft | 178 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 165 ft | $36 | |
| C | 067 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | yes | 53 ft | 237 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 110 ft | $36 |
| C | 068 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 73 ft | 267 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 131 ft | $36 | |
| C | 069 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 53 ft | 290 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 65 ft | $36 |
| C | 070 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | yes | 77 ft | 344 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 111 ft | $36 |
| C | 071 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 42 ft | 90 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 254 ft | $36 | |
| C | 072 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 42 ft | 85 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 257 ft | $36 | |
| C | 073 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 74 ft | 136 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 232 ft | $36 | |
| C | 074 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 47 ft | 77 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 271 ft | $36 | |
| C | 075 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 53 ft | 63 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 299 ft | $36 | |
| C | 076 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 79 ft | 132 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 209 ft | $36 | |
| C | 077 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 48 ft | 48 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 295 ft | $36 | |
| C | 078 | tent only nonelectric | 88 ft | 157 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 138 ft | $36 | ||
| C | 079 | tent only nonelectric | 82 ft | 200 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 82 ft | $36 | ||
| C | 080 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 63 ft | 161 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 157 ft | $36 | |
| C | 081 | tent only nonelectric | 63 ft | 207 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 138 ft | $36 | ||
| C | 082 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 52 ft | 271 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 121 ft | $36 | |
| C | 083 | tent only nonelectric | 52 ft | 322 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 122 ft | $36 | ||
| C | 084 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 69 ft | 307 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 47 ft | $36 | |
| C | 085 | tent only nonelectric | 53 ft | 372 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 118 ft | $36 | ||
| C | 086 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 69 ft | 330 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 55 ft | $36 | |
| C | 087 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 73 ft | 336 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 130 ft | $36 | |
| C | 088 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 73 ft | 408 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 176 ft | $36 | |
| C | 089 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 67 ft | 374 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 66 ft | $36 |
| C | 090 | walk to | 62 ft | 435 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 93 ft | |||
| C | 091 | tent only nonelectric | 62 ft | 442 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 118 ft | $36 | ||
| C | 092 | tent only nonelectric | 90 ft | 424 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 172 ft | $36 | ||
| C | 093 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 43 ft | 339 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 194 ft | $36 | |
| C | 094 | tent only nonelectric | 78 ft | 416 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 191 ft | $36 | ||
| C | 095 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 78 ft | 367 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 114 ft | $36 | |
| C | 096 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 85 ft | 361 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 106 ft | $36 | |
| C | 097 | tent only nonelectric | 85 ft | 436 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 143 ft | $36 | ||
| C | 098 | tent only nonelectric | 69 ft | 343 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 231 ft | $36 | ||
| C | 099 | tent only nonelectric | 63 ft | 293 ftSouth Fork Merced River | 181 ft | $36 | ||
| Scan & Pay Wawona | Scan & Pay Individual | type not stated | 27 ft | $28 |
25 of 99 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Wawona Horse CampsitesYosemite National Park · 2.4 mi
Summerdale CampgroundSierra National Forest · 6.0 mi
Bridalveil Creek CampgroundYosemite National Park · 6.6 miBig Sandy CampgroundSierra National Forest · 8.6 miJerseydale CampgroundSierra National Forest · 9.7 miFresno Dome CampgroundSierra National Forest · 10 miTake Highway 41 north from Fresno, Highway 140 east from Merced, or Highway 120 east from Manteca into Yosemite National Park. Follow signs to Wawona. The campground is located 8 miles north of the South Entrance station on Highway 41, and 27 miles south of Yosemite Valley.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Wawona, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 37°F, day 64°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 26°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Wawona 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 →