Forks Campground

This is a cute little campground and we enjoyed staying. It is a little more intense than most campground with the host tracking you down for vehicle registrations and whatnot. Usually we set up camp and then go to the host to deal with the paperwork etc. This campground will not let you set up first, after a long drive you have to dive into whatever paperwork and registration right away.Great views, not much shade in our campsite and many others. Bring an easy up if you have one.

We camped in space 17 from 5/27-6/1 and loved the campground. It was clean and quiet. The camp host was very friendly and helpful. Showers are available a short drive away at Miller's Landing ($4 for 5 min). The lake is full and we even caught a trout. Campground is a short walk to the Forks Resort (burgers and onion rings are amazing). We hiked the Way of the Mono trail, visited Yosemite, enjoyed the waterfalls, fished, loved Casa Velasco, stocked up on honey at the Wednesday Farmer's Market, saw eagles, deer, duck, geese, frogs, squirrels, raccoons & 1 trout, and wished we could stay longer.

We stayed here last summer the weekend after the 4th of July for my birthday. We stayed at campsite 19, which we were unsure of, but upon our arrival, were quite pleased! It was situated almost all the way in the back, away from all of the other sites. LOVED. Some deer even came into our campsite the first morning. The campsite was nice and flat with a picnic table and campfiire pit (that we couldn't use since there was a fire restriction). The campground is very close to Forks Resort/Cafe and right across the street from the lake. We already booked a site for this summer as well!

Note: Fills up quickly, we made reservations at least 6 months in advance at 7am in the morning! At that time, more than half of the sites were already reserved. We camped here end of July 2014 at campsite #3. The campsite included a picnic table, a fire pit, and was large enough for 2 tents. The best part of this campsite is that, for the most part, you are in the shade (we still brought a canopy) and a short walk up to the bathroom. In addition, you are walking distance to the lake, store/restaurant, and showers ($3/5 mins). Per our cousins who camp here every year, the water levels were really low. Still, not a bad of a walk, plus the water was nice and warm! On our last night, we all took a walk to the store and bought ice cream shakes. Great way to end our camping trip. I can't wait to go back!

QUIET CAMPERS BEWARE! We came to visit Yosemite and were pleasantly surprised as to how beautiful Bass Lake was. The rangers at the check in station were reasonably friendly and made an effort to point out that from 10 pm to 6 am campers were expected to be quiet and respect the rights of others to sleep. They told us the camp host would be by to check in with us and sell us firewood if we needed. We never once saw the camp host though their camp was only two sites away. The campsites were pretty small and close together, but were adequate for our needs. Thursday night, things were just fine. Friday, a bunch of people filled all the campsites and when we got back to camp around 6pm there was loud music in the air and lots of noise from several directions. We hoped these people would be respectful of the 10 pm "quiet time," but 10 pm came and went and the multiple parties raged on. I managed to somehow fall asleep at some point, only to be awakened again around 1am to the same loud and raucous laughter, yelling, cheering and music as before. Saturday started the same as Friday. Instead of a peaceful campsite and a serene lake, loud partying sounds invaded our dinner from several sources. Despite the same motor home and Sea do parked at the Host site, it was dark and no host or anyone of authority in site. Once again, the campground was loud with music, shouting, laughter, hooting, cheering and car alarms, surprisingly, late into the night. I tried calling the phone number for the office, but they were closed and I just got a voicemail. Around 10:30 I walked past the campsite making the most noise. There were five cars parked in front of it. They had a bunch of tables set up and there were lots and lots of people all over the campsite. To be clear, I am NOT a grumpy, un-fun old man; I love a good party and enjoy staying up late doing so on occasion. The reason it was such an issue here is that I was here to see Yosemite, not to stay up until 2 am partying. I was looking forward to a nice relaxing vacation, going to bed early, sleeping in a bit and being rested for my day exploring the nearby national park. Instead, I was forced to lie awake late each night and listen to a bunch of inconsiderate people having fun. I ended up being tired during the day and my visit to Yosemite was considerably less enjoyable. I blame the management of bass lake for not enforcing their rules or even checking on the campers!

This weekend was our second camping trip to Forks Campground. It's super cheap at $26(including taxes) per night. We prefer camping here rather than Yosemite because it's walking distance to Bass Lake, which is an amazing lake. This campground has alot of trees so there is alot of shade. Each camp site has a picnic table and a place for campfires. It's pretty darn cool. There are bathrooms but no shower. You have drive a few minutes outside the campground to find coin showers. This place is about 15 miles away from the main entrance of Yosemite. Camping is definitely underrated and it's quite an experience sleeping in nature, cooking in nature definitely tastes better. You lose sense of time and appreciate nature. This is my favorite place for camping. Highly recommended!

We spent Memorial Day at campsites #17 & #18. It's located slightly up a hill from the restrooms. The path to the campsite is steeply banked. Having to trek up and down could be tiresome, especially if you have little ones. The map of the campground showed the campsite to be a large area but it's actually quite small. Beyond the section where you would place your tent is undeveloped and potentially full of ticks. There was abundant of poison oak off trail and road.You may want to choose another site around this time of year. Upon exiting our vehicles we were immediately attacked by large numbers of mosquitoes. They tend to be more severe btwn 3p-7p. We've camped at many campgrounds throughout California over the years and have rarely experienced insect infestation as this. We used 4 bottles of repellents btwn 12 peeps during our stay and we each had a minimum of 15 bites when we left. All 4 of our citronella candles were lit all day but did little to keep the buggers away. There is no area to wash your dishes. I recommend you bring a collapsible wash bin and fill it up from the spigot (located by the bathrooms). The restrooms by our campsite had no hooks or mini ledge to place your belongings. Also, there were no showers. You would need to drive a short way around the lake to the lodge. The showers take tokens only. $3 for a token for 5 minutes. So if you don't think you could finish in 5 mins, better get 2 tokens. Tokens are purchased at the gift shop/restaurant.Aside from those issues the campground overall is nice.It's across the road from the lake. A nice walk takes you there in 5-10 mins. Bike riding around the campground could be a challenge for little ones due to elevation changes. But the children in our group had lots of fun. Noise at night didn't feel excessive either.One day a deer came walking by our campsite. It was an awesome to see. The camp host is a very sweet man. He came around regularly in his golf cart with his dog. Our kids got to know him and always greeted him when he passed by. Overall it it was a fun experience but hotter than what an east bayer is used too.

We were taking a family trip to Yosemite and decided to stay in this campground. It was a pretty good decision.Yes, you will have to drive 40 minutes or so in order to get to the southern entrance of the park (which is another hour or so from Yosemite Valley) but it was worth it. There were very few people at the campsite (at least in the upper loop) and the lake was beautiful.It was a little longer than we expected (like 3 miles) to get to the showers, but certainly not an inconvenience. Plus, the location of the showers is also where you can look at lake recreation opportunities like kayaking.Like other campsites in the area, the restrooms all have flush toilets, which is great with two young kids! And they are relatively clean.The only major complaint I have is the wasps...there were a bunch of them at the campsite. They tried to sit down and enjoy our meals with us. Be prepared to be swatting a lot if you don't have something to pull them away!

I only gave it 4 stars because of the lack of trees (shade) around all the camp sites. I was told they had to cut some trees down; therefore around 10 am to 4 pm the camp sites are all in direct sunlight. The only other knock on the campsite is there are no food lockers, so you have to keep everything in your vehicle. The bathrooms were very clean, at least twice a day. And there are showers within a mile away. And the camp host, Joe, is very friendly and informative.

Great location, clean, most sights have lake views. We had #21 which was away from other sights which was nice, if you go with a group and want privacy highly recommend #20/21