Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Eastern Sierra Campsites

Hi All,

I'm planning on a trip to the Eastern Sierra the first weekend of August. I've done both Whitney Portal, and Horseshoe Meadows/Cottonwood Lakes TH CG and like them both fine. But I'm wondering about anything between Lone Pine and Onion Valley that gets you above 8K and will have a less zoo-ish feeling.

Have you tried the Onion Valley CG? I have only been there in Sept, but definitely much quieter than the Portal.

I don't think there is anything in between WP and OV. All the trail heads are dirt roads leading to low-elevation (hot) treeless parking lots.

Aacckk!!

That's what I feared...

I enjoy Whitney Portal and some of the people you meet (and the food at WPS but sometimes the lot of humanity is more than I am prone to enjoy.

Is Onion Valley treeless?

The Onion Valley CG has trees, bear boxes, pit toilets, and portable water. Overall a nice campground.

I am looking at campsites at Onion Valley. Some are listed as "WALK TO" and "Max Vehicle Length:0"

Does that mean there's no spot to park a car, or that you park in a parking lot somewhere and carry your stuff to the campsite?

The sites are also listed as "Capacity/Size Rating:Single." Does that mean only 1 tent per site?

At Onion Valley, the "walk to" campsites are a short walk from the road that circles through the campground. You can drive your car close to unload, and then park your car at the central lot near the campground entrance (it is the dedicated campground lot, which is different from the much larger hiker/trailhead lot). While there are some drive-in lots that are nice for tents, the walk-tos are the nicer campsites in my opinion -- more in the trees.

We managed to jam two tents (one Fly Creek, one Hubba Hubba) into our site, but they are smaller sites.

thanks Akichow, we'll get 2 sites then.