Upper Pines Campground

Yosemite National Park


Busy, busy, busy – and big (238 sites, 4000ft); reservations required all year. Campsites are fairly small and close to one another. However, you can find relative privacy the further back you go; that is, toward the Happy Isles Art & Nature Center.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Yosemite National Park attractions

1. Happy Isles

0.51 MILES

Where the Merced River courses around two small islands lies Happy Isles, a popular area for picnics, swimming and strolls on marked paths and a small…

2. Glacier Point

0.62 MILES

If you drove, the views from 7214ft Glacier Point might make you feel like you cheated – superstar sights present themselves without your having made…

3. Stoneman Bridge

0.64 MILES

An iconic spot, both as a perfect foreground structure for photos of Half Dome in the distance and for its simple, elegant single-arch stone design over…

4. The Ahwahnee Hotel

0.91 MILES

About a quarter-mile east of Yosemite Village, The Ahwahnee is a picture of rustic elegance, dating back to 1927. You don’t need to be a…

5. Yosemite Conservation Heritage Center

0.92 MILES

Built by the Sierra Club in 1903, this small, rustic, granite-and-wood lodge offers a glimpse of a relatively unknown chapter of California architecture…

6. Washburn Point

1.22 MILES

On the way to Glacier Point, less than a mile away, this viewpoint faces east toward the Clark Range, so no sweeping view of Yosemite Valley. Still,…

7. Vernal Fall

1.22 MILES

At one of Yosemite's iconic falls, the thundering waters of the Merced River tumble 317ft down on the way to meet Yosemite Valley below. Mist Trail, the…

8. Sentinel Dome

1.4 MILES

The hike to Sentinel’s summit (8122ft) is the shortest and easiest trail up one of Yosemite’s granite domes. For those unable to visit Half Dome’s summit,…