Overseas visitors: California campground availability in May

Also...if you haven't been watching the news, California is in a severe draught. Many are only saying a years worth of water left unless changes are made. The Governor has put a lot of restrictions in place. So depending on where your trip is and what it includes, you may see some drastic changes.

Thanks for all your fantastic suggestions. I'm really glad to know that the trip is a possibility, and I'm going to start planning now!

Thanks again :)

I would also look at traveling up hwy 395 which you could access Yosemite from and there are plenty of places to stay on the eastern sierra side and plenty to see.

Another thought considering places to see in California that perhaps are less known: Joshua Tree National Monument (or is it a national park by now?) It's in the desert east of Los Angeles and probably offers some hikes you might enjoy - and definitely in terrain very different from what you'd find in Europe! The park has a couple camping areas, no hookups but find for a night or two, I would think. A helpful website for checking into any of the national parks/national monuments, etc. is www.nps.gov. You can search for different parks on there, and the site has information about what to do, where to stay, etc.

Are you renting a small motor home like Cruise America? The Pacific Coast Highway is breathtaking and I would normally recommend driving from Malibu to Monterey but it is winding and cliffside for parts of it so I wouldn't do it with a trailer in tow. If you are in a Cruise America style motorhome it might be possible but borderline.

Really nice aquarium in Monterey that the kids would love. You could keep soing to SF and catch the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's wharf for a quick half day and then head towards Yosemite. For Yosemite, I would look at private campgrounds on Hwy 120 or 140 and stay the day before you visit. You could go in and out each day - I've done it - but it's an hour drive. The other option is break camp and do Yosemite for a day and then stay south of the park on Hwy 41 on your way back down to LA. The hike to Yosemite Falls is maybe a mile from the road to the lower falls viewpoint? Bridal Veil is less than that. The Meadow has a boardwalk right next to the parking lot.

You can view Sequoia's in Mariposa Grove on the southern part of Yosemite or if you have time you could go to Grant's Grove in Kings Canyon or Sequoia. Kings Canyon is a much easier drive in my opinion. The catch is I can't think of campgrounds on 41 south of Yosmite other than the one I mentioned by Wawona. There is a town called Coarsegold. I would google that and see if there are campgrounds there.

Look at California State Parks, yes, a lot of them are reserved months in advance. We volunteered at Emma Wood State Park in Ventura, CA for several winter seasons. The reservations don't start there until May 15. Until then it is first come first serve. There are no hookups but beautiful right on the ocean sites. During the week there are always open rv sites.

just be aware, that campgrounds in popular ares, in California, will have already been booked, even for May. mainly coastal campgrounds.

we did some SoCal coastal camping in March and had trouble finding 3-4 weeknites to reserve. and this was in December!

you should have better luck with campgrounds more inland and those that are privately owned.

Thanks for the input so far, everyone. It's good to hear that it could be a possibility.

For further info on our trip plans, we're going to start from LA, and we're interested in doing short hikes (we have a 2 year-old with us in a carry-pack) and seeing lots of nature. As we have never been to the US before, we only know of the big name places (like Yosemite), but are also interested to discover out-of-the-way beauty spots. We're planning to drive only a few hours a day if we can, while our toddler is napping.

rctour wrote:
For the last two years, 2013 & 2014, we traveled all the western states and had no problem with finding RV sites during late April through early June, and never set up a reservation we just showed up. I'm sure someone on this forum will say it can't be done, but we never had a single problem.

My only exception to your question is we never tried Yosemite, slightly over rated. You are better off at Disneyland, maybe less people?

DIsneyland over Yosemite? Heresy I say! :)

Yosemite has some first come/first served spots but it would be careful timing and still luck. I bet you could find a spot outside Yosemite but it's a 45 minute plus drive in to the valley if you are staying outside the park. There is a campground in the park near Wawona that is dry camping only. Probably a 30 minute drive to the valley but closer to Glacier Point road. You might have luck with it.

The good part about Yosemite Valley is although it's best to camp there and take your time, you can drive the loop and take a few short hikes in one day. You would still need somewhere to leave the RV though to be able to park as you drove around the valley.

California is a big place; about 800 miles long, 250 miles wide, and close to 170,000 square miles, so it would help with suggestions if you mentioned *where* you want to go! ;)