Tuolomne in August

Hey All-

Trying to plan for Tuolomne late August....any suggestions on places to stay? We're thinking a cheap motel ( if such a thing exists ) in Lee Vining. Having trouble with reservations in the park itself. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Peace,
Dana

If you're really set on a hotel, there are probably cheaper options in Mammoth since it's a little bigger and off-season for the ski town. The best option, however, would be to camp at the Mobil on 120 in between Lee Vining and Tioga Pass. Free and closer than most other options, plus you can always go down the hill for great food.

Its a big pain to stay out of the park and drive in every day. The line getting in is really long that time of year. Don't worry about a camping reservation, its fairly easy to get a camp spot if you line up in the morning. Half the sites are non-reservation and usually there are plenty available each morning.

The trick is to get into line at the ranger station outside of the Tuolumne Meadows campground no later than 5 AM on any day but Friday, Saturday or Sunday. There have always been spots open for us at those times.

Lee Vining is conveniently located - only about a half hour drive to the Tuolumne Meadows. Not much in Lee Vining, but if you want your creature comforts a motel offers, it'll be fine. Mammoth is another half hour farther, has good restaurants, a climbing store and going to Tuloumne from there is doable, if you're willing to drive an hour each way to the motel and back.

+1 for Adam Brink's comment. If the campground is full, you can also spend a night or two at the backpacker's campground. To do this you are supposed to have a back country permit, which is free. You can then spend a night before your backpacking trip and a night after at this campground. My bud spend over a week there without any problems. The rangers call this area "no man's land".

I remember at least one USFS campground just east of the park entrance, around Saddlebag Lake. Closer than the Mobil station, but it won't be free. There are also cabins at Tioga Pass Resort, but they're not cheap. There is some good climbing just east of the park and on the eastern boundary, like Dana Plateau and Mt. Conness.

It's too early to make a reservation for August. Check this out:

nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/…

Reservations for July 15th-Aug 14th can be made starting 7 am pacific time on March 15.

Reservations for Aug 15-Sept 14 can be made starting the same time on April 15.

If you're dead set on having a roof over your head, you can check this place out but it's expensive:
tiogapassresort.com/

There are hotels in Lee Vining but it's a pretty far drive to make every day. Mammoth is even further. It's about 90 minutes from Mammoth to the climbing. Unless you plan to do stuff in Mammoth or climb there, it's too far IMO.

Like others said, getting a campsite usually isn't too bad especially if you don't arrive on the weekend. Just get in line early. There are other options as well (bivying outside the park, campgrounds on USFS land on the drive in, backpackers campground).

Camp - its freakin' beautiful up there and would be a shame to not get to sleep close to the climbing. Can walk right over to climbs on Lembert even. Heck, the toilets even flush (sometimes constantly) and they pipe in fresh mountain water thats drinkable!

Light haze from the evening's campfires.

Thanks Everyone for the great responses and help! Appreciated!

Good advice so far. I was going to mention the Tioga Pass resort. The only caveat there is that it's close to 10K' in elevation, so if you're sensitive to altitude, you may get gnarly headache the first day or so. The Tuolumne Lodge is great but hard to score a reservation before Labor Day. You could try White Wolf as well, but that's a ways away. Also, like everyone's said, there are almost always some last minute cancellations that you could snag at the Tuolumne campground. Tuolumne is beautiful that time of year. Just go and sort something out if need be.

First of all, camping outside the Park isn't a pain, and you're way less inhibited by "the man".
Adam said that the entrance line gets long this time of summer... maybe you should get up earlier! It's summertime, Tuolumne is an alpine environment! It's in your best interest to start early and avoid afternoon t-storms. Years of doing it and I've never had to wait in line in the morning.
There's plenty of cheap lodging in Lee Vining if you want to go that route. Also good free camping.

Mark mentioned camping near Saddlebag Lake. The area is called Sawmill. The campsites are about an acre in size, all have bear boxes. There are only 13 of 'em. The outhouse is generally immaculate. You do have to haul in water from campsites on the "highway". Doesn't tend to get crowded, and yeah it's a schlep to Tuolomne, but you never have to leave the mountains and their attendant, wonderful headspace. We loved it.

Nick Stayner wrote:First of all, camping outside the Park isn't a pain, and you're way less inhibited by "the man". Adam said that the entrance line gets long this time of summer... maybe you should get up earlier! It's summertime, Tuolumne is an alpine environment! It's in your best interest to start early and avoid afternoon t-storms. Years of doing it and I've never had to wait in line in the morning. There's plenty of cheap lodging in Lee Vining if you want to go that route. Also good free camping.

Ding ding ding!!!!! We have a winner.

Nick's advice is spot on. Because I live in northern CA, I spend a fair amount of time in the Meadows and Nick's statements essentially echo exactly what my advice would be. If you are waiting in a line of cars at the entrance station, you are getting up too late!!!

Dana Marie wrote:Hey All- Trying to plan for Tuolomne late August....any suggestions on places to stay? We're thinking a cheap motel ( if such a thing exists ) in Lee Vining. Having trouble with reservations in the park itself. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Peace, Dana

Folks are right that for the full Meadows experience, camping is the way to go (G loop is good, nice and quiet). But not everyone like that, including one of my partners.

We had good luck with the El Mono (attached to the cafe Latte Da)...a little bit minimalist (some shared bathrooms) but was $70/night for a double which is pretty hard to beat.

Someone else mentioned the TPR, I stayed there once and was none too thrilled, but that was like 10 years ago. On the other hand, I would EAT at the TPR Cafe every day if I could! Awesome everything but especially baked stuff.

And I'd try to go in September if you can (less crowed, I think, and cooler...sweating on slabs not always so good!), but that's just me.

Ciao,
David

Agree with the September advice. Potential for the best climbing conditions of the season, and Plan Bs (namely Valley and Eastside cragging) abound.

J. Albers wrote: Ding ding ding!!!!! We have a winner. Nick's advice is spot on. Because I live in northern CA, I spend a fair amount of time in the Meadows and Nick's statements essentially echo exactly what my advice would be. If you are waiting in a line of cars at the entrance station, you are getting up too late!!!

You can get an even earlier start if you don't have to drive into the park each morning...

The T.M campground is great, and it would be a shame to miss it. Driving each morning gets tiresome. It really isn't bad getting a site there; you just have to do one early wakeup to get in line to get a site (5 am ish if you want to be guaranteed a site). That one morning really sucks, but if you are in the park for a week then it is well worth it.

If you are only there for 2-3 days, then it is probably easier to camp outside the park and drive in. The longer you are there, the more worth it it is to get a site in the park.

Like others said, September is a great time to be up there, and it is way easier to find a site then. Nevertheless, even in peak season the Meadows is way mellower and less crowded than the Valley.

Jon Moen wrote: You can get an even earlier start if you don't have to drive into the park each morning... The T.M campground is great, and it would be a shame to miss it. Driving each morning gets tiresome.

First off, I don't think anyone who appreciates natural beauty would find driving up Tioga Pass in glorious early morning light to be "tiresome". For a while I lived in Lee Vining and worked in the Meadows. I know from experience.

Jon wrote:If you are only there for 2-3 days, then it is probably easier to camp outside the park and drive in. The longer you are there, the more worth it it is to get a site in the park.

I don't really see the logic in this. Camping outside the park is free- wouldn't you be more inclined to save the $$$ on a longer trip?

But I'm done plugging the free camping. It's becoming more and more crowded each year.

We definitely will be getting up early for the planned routes we want to do....so I am not worried about the lines into the park either....
Lee Vining seems like our spot. Thanks everyone...for all the input and help. It's why mountain project is the BEST!

db