Campground · Yosemite National Park
An 8,100-foot base for Tioga Road's high-country stops.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
“A patch of pink snow in the high country may be alive with tiny algae. It's often called watermelon snow, and you can sometimes find it on lingering snowfields during a summer hike.”
Yosemite Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yosemite National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Yosemite audio tourRecorded for this area
Why Snow Turns Pink“A patch of pink snow in the high country may be alive with tiny algae. It's often called watermelon snow, and you can sometimes find it on lingering snowfields during a summer hike.”
Plays on the road 0.1 mi from Porcupine Flat Campground in the Parkwolf Yosemite Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“We just drove through Yosemite and it made our trip listening to this app as we drove through. Like having a tour guide in the car with you.”
Guide
Porcupine Flat is a basic, seasonal campground just north of Tioga Road at about 8,100 feet in Yosemite’s high country. It works best as an overnight base for the Tioga Road sights and the nearby Porcupine Creek Trailhead; there are no visitor services close by. Tuolumne Meadows is about a half-hour drive east, while Yosemite Valley is a much longer trip, about 70 minutes by road.
The NPS lists 55 sites, each with a fire ring, picnic table, and food locker. Seasonal vault toilets serve the campground, and reservations are required. There are no showers or potable-water taps. Bring drinking water or the means to filter, treat, or boil water from Porcupine Creek; its water is the only source here. RVs and trailers are discouraged because the campground roads are narrow, and only four sites can take RVs up to 24 feet.
Wildlife
732 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,747 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
332 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
11 sightingsPeregrine FalconMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
276 sightingsPikaMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
677 sightingsYellow-bellied MarmotMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yosemite. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateIndian Rock Arch Trail7.8 mi · 5 hr · 1.2 mi awayA granite arch turns the North Dome approach into its own hike.
ChallengingNorth Dome Trail10.4 mi · 6 hr · 1.2 mi awayA long ridge walk ends with Half Dome in full view.
ChallengingYosemite Creek Trail12 mi · 6 hr · 2 mi awayA long creekside walk through pools and polished granite.
ChallengingTen Lakes Trail12.6 mi · 8 hr · 3 mi awayA long granite climb for basin lakes and broad Sierra views.
ChallengingTen Lakes to Tenaya Lake Traverse20.4 mi · 13 hr · 3 mi awayA high-country traverse from Ten Lakes Basin to Tenaya Lake.
ChallengingGrant Lakes via Ten Lakes Trail12 mi · 8 hr · 3 mi awayA 12-mile climb over Ten Lakes Pass to the first Grant Lake.
ModerateMount Watkins Trail4.7 mi · 3 hr · 3.2 mi awayA quiet summit hike with a direct view across to Half Dome.
EasyLukens Lake Trail from Tioga Road1.6 mi · 1.5 hr · 3.9 mi awayA short forest walk ends at a meadow-ringed alpine lake.
Campground · 2 mi awayYosemite Creek CampgroundRemote high-country camping comes after five rough miles off Tioga Road.
Picnic area · 2.9 mi awayYosemite Creek Picnic AreaA quiet, pine-shaded picnic beside Yosemite Creek.
Sight · 3.6 mi awayNorth DomeA long summit walk pays off with Half Dome face-on.
Picnic area · 4.3 mi awayChurch Bowl Picnic AreaPicnic tables with Half Dome and Glacier Point across the meadow.
4.3 mi awayYosemite Medical ClinicHelpful Valley care, with walk-in availability that can vary.
Sight · 4.3 mi awayYosemite Exploration CenterA focused indoor stop for the valley’s history, geology, and wildlife.
Sight · 4.3 mi awayYosemite CemeteryA small cemetery holds the people behind the valley’s early story.
Sight · 4.3 mi awayThe Ansel Adams GalleryOriginal Adams photographs and practical camera lessons.Parkwolf’s Yosemite ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
