RE: CA - Any suggestion for Popup camping in Sequoia?

[jstubbert]

 
I am looking to take my family up to the Sequoia area in mid-May. I have a 2 year old and a 5 year old.
 
 I would like to find something near a lake or river with fishing and wading if possible. Hookups would be nice but not required. Any suggestions are gladly accepted...
 
 Thanks,
 
 Jeff
 
 

[Camping Coxes]

 gstubbert
Jeff --
 
 We stayed at Lodgepole in Sequoia last June.  I think it s the best park there.  You have small kids, so I d assume showers and laundry and groceries are important to have access to.  This park has that, as well as a visitors center, but the camping part of the park is still " real"  camping.  There are no hookups (it s a national park, so there won t be any at any of the NP campgrounds), but water access is located close to all the campsites.  You cannot store food in your PU, but they were replacing the bear boxes with much bigger, much better bear boxes when we were there.  It was no problem fitting all our food, toiletries and anything else with " smells"  in there for the four of us for the whole week.  My kids loved it and want to go back this year.  Oh, there s also a river running through the middle of the CG and my kids swam in it everyday.  When you go, make sure you get a site on the opposite side of the river from the check-in station.  It s the better area than the one right by the check-in station.
 
 If you go, be sure to see Crystal Cave (tickets on sale at the Lodgepole visitors center), go on the trails at the Giant Forest museum, and be sure to check the bulletin board in the store at Lodgepole for a BBQ that a local place holds on the weekend.  It s reeeeaaaalllly good.  
 
 I d think twice about going in May.  It can still be very cold there in May.  We went in late September one time and almost froze.  It got down to 23 degrees at night.[]
 
 If you look on the www.nps.gov website, look for Sequoia and/or Lodgepole, you can check rates and campgrounds.  We drove around this last time checking out other places, and I think we ll stick with Lodgepole.

[Steve-o-bud]

 jstubbert
Hi. Hopefully this catches you in time before your Trip.
 
 Two years ago, we took our PU and campted at DORST as no trailer size sites were available. Dorst is a couple of miles north of Lodgepole.
 
 Lodgepole is where the store, visitor center, showers, etc. are at. The river runs right through the campground and is very pretty. However, the whole area seemed rather crowded.
 
 Dorst was much quieter, and far more spread out. The restooms are in pretty good shape, this seems like a fairly recently developed camground.
 
 The bears were very, very active. There were bears in the campground every night, and we had one pay a visit durring our campfire. I ve never seen a 7 year old eat a smore so quickly in my life. The rangers strictly enforce all bear related regulations.
 
 One word of caution: There is no gasoline for sale in the area. If you really get in a pinch, they will sell you a five gallon container of unleaded fuel. Not sure of the price, but I know that five gallons wouldn t do me much good. So, plan to fuel prior to entering the park.
 
 Good luck on your trip.