Hodgdon Meadow
Categories: Active Life Parks Hotels & Travel Campgrounds Parks, Campgrounds [Edit]
Big Oak Flat Road, Highway 120Yosemite National Park, CA 95389
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
17 reviews for Hodgdon Meadow
17 reviews in English
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Review from Gatsby's G.
Lemoore, CA
11/1/2011
My husband and I spent a night in Hodgdon Meadow with our two dogs on Tuesday, October 25, 2011. We had no reservations, and truth be told, we really should have. Autumn is a very popular season for professional photographers, so you should never assume that you can cruise in to any campground and find a site to pitch a tent. (It is Yosemite, afterall!)
We stayed in site #60, which was absolutely adorable and cost only $14. There were so many beautiful trees around every camp site that I could hear the wind whistling through the tree branches. Each camp site has a bear box, a barbeque pit, and a picnic table. (ALWAYS USED YOUR BEAR BOX!!)
There are also flush toilets with plenty of toilet paper. The bathrooms were very clean and pleasant to use. There is running water available, but I would recommend that campers bring their own soap, as this is not provided in the bathroom. It is within driving distance of a small gas station/ snack shop/ camp store in case you have forgotten any essentials.
For those campers driving East on Tioga Pass, I definitely recommend this campgound. It's also a great place to introduce that special person, nature novice, in your life to camping.
xox -
Review from jazzy l.
San Francisco, CA
9/26/2011
I dont remember much about this camp site but it's near the West Entrance of Yosemite and close to the Tulomune Meadows/Tioga pass road. It's right at the entrance so it's just right outside.
No showers. I came here in 2006 and just reviewing now so I dont remember much of it. -
Review from Cyndi G.
9/26/2011
During both of my visits to Yosemite over the summer, I stayed at Hodgdon Meadow. It was the only campground available when I booked and I was rather fortunate to even get anything on such short notice (2 months in advance the first time and 1 month in advance for the 2nd trip.).
Truth be told, if you want to stay at Yosemite, you take what you can get and make the most of it. It's prime real estate here and if you can get reservations during the peak season, you're a winner.
Since this campground is 24 miles away from the valley (45-60 minute drive depending on traffic), it is cumbersome when you want to visit Yosemite Valley. Think of Yosemite Valley as the "downtown" area of a major city and Hodgon Meadow as a suburb.
Now, on to the topic at hand: the campground.
- bathrooms were fully stocked with toilet paper and relatively clean
- bathroom was lit at all times
- no showers (showers are in Yosemite Valley)
- camp sites close to one another (unless you can snag 83+84 then you'll get more privacy and space)
- make sure you put away all your food in the bear lockers and throw away all your trash. abide by all their rules. (We were pretty sure we cleaned up all our trash but apparently not because we arrived back at our camp site to find a warning for not picking up all our trash. It could have resulted in a $100 fine. Whew.)
Overall, I enjoyed my stay. On my most recent visit, there was a thunderstorm and much of the campgrounds in Yosemite Valley were flooded. We got back to Hodgdon Meadow to find our camp site bone-dry. Thank goodness!
Always great times to be had in Yosemite National Park. Call me a happy camper! -
Review from Basil S.
Palo Alto, CA
7/3/2011
Nice campground in Yosemite. It's right inside the Big Oak entrance. On the way in there is very little signage so you can easily pass it if you arrive at night. Just remember, it's just inside the entrance so don't miss it!
This campground is great if you are hiking Carlon Falls, but a bit of a pain if you are trying to hike or see the valley. It is a 40-50 minute drive to the valley and that's a pretty sizable part of your day driving back and forth. Another downside is that a lot of the sites are on a slope so obviously can be annoying when you're sleeping. Finally, no showers at this location. You'll need to go to the valley for that.
On the positive side, these sites don't have restrictions when it comes to the times of the day that you can set a fire (the valley only allows fires from 5-10pm), the sites are bigger the valley, and the quiet hours seem more relaxed than in the valley (which may be a negative for some). -
Review from Theresa O.
Hayward, CA
4/26/2011 8 photos
Our stay at Hodgdon Meadow Campground was ok.
Campsites too close, no privacy.
Bathrooms disgusting.
Trash bins far away.
No one patroling to enforce quite hours (10pm).
The site we stayed in (#97) was a campsite away from where we parked our car. We had to walk through the someone else's campsite to get to our car. Awkward. At the same time, people had to walk directly through our campsite to get to the bathroom.
THE BATHROOMS WERE GROSS. It was one of the worst smelling ones I've smelled at any campground. . . and we are talking about the ladies restroom! No lighting at all, not even on the outside near the door. There was plenty of toilet paper. You have to hold the handle down for a while for it to flush properly.
We definately had level ground to pitch our tent. The fire ring and table were standard.
I'd say the one positive thing about this site is that it's NOT in the valley which was super busy Easter weekend. The 26mi. drive into the valley was absolutely breathtaking. And, it went by quickly. -
Review from julie B.
San Diego, CA
5/21/2011
I went here in May for my first tent camping trip ever. Overall the campsite was great. A important thing to note is Hodgdon Meadow is about 30 from the Valley and there are NO showers and NO cell service. The restrooms are cleaned daily and the sites are nice and clean. I thought the sites were at a good distance from each other. I would recommend this campsite to everyone. The 30 min drive to the Valley to hike or bike was really not bad at all. Great for couples, groups of friends, or families. The only thing I would change is I wish there were showers!!
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Review from jubi l.
San Francisco, CA
7/19/2007 6 photos
Open: All year
Reservations: Required and available online from approximately mid-April through mid-October. From mid-October through mid-April, campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Cost: $20/night for each campsite (maximum 6 people per site); $14/night mid-October through mid-April; $40/night for each group campsite (13-30 people per site)
Number of sites: 105 (plus 4 group sites, open only mid April through mid October)
RV length: up to 35 ft
Trailer length: up to 27 ft
This is the location of our 2 (95 & 96) campsites booked since January, better reseve early if you're planning camping.
Hodgdon Meadow is the first campsite to your left. Our camp host is very friendly. each camp site has a picnic table, bear food locker that U can put 3 big coolers in it) & fire pit. Just bring a big grill.
We like this camp site it's away from majority of people camping at Yosemite. Just remember it's about 45 mins. drive to Yosemite Valley Floor.
Oh and they have bathroom with flushable toilet. If you need to take a shower you need to drive all the way up to Curry Vilage.
Also from Hodgdon Meadow, 8 miles north, there's 1 gas station.
And you're allowed to have 2 vehicles per camp site. -
Review from Jeremy A.
Pflugerville, TX
6/11/2011
We just spent a week (7 nights) at Hodgon Meadows in Yosemite. I definitely do not recommend this campground to anyone in an RV (Drivable or Towable). This campgound is suitable for tent campers but is terrible for RVers. For one when I made my reservation I informed the agent that I had a 35 foot travel trailer. They had to break my stay into two sites because no single site was available for the full 7 nights. The first site was only supposed to be suitable for a 20 foot trailer and the second site was supposed to be for a 30 foot trailer. The agent asked me several times for the size of my trailer and yet I still ended up with two sites that were too small for my rig.
To get into the first site (#3), we had to build a bridge using logs and leveling bricks to get the trailer across the washed out entry to the site which went steeply uphill. We had to do this or the leveling jacks would have been torn off. Even with the bridge/ramps we built we were still within an inch of scraping the asphalt. It also meant we spent a good couple hours just *parking* my trailer.
There are also no hookups or dump stations in or near this campground whatsoever. If you want to dump you have to drive into Yosemite Valley (aprrox 1 hour from Hodgon Meadows) or drive 12 miles out of the park (Up and down mountain roads) to a private campground where you have to pay $10 to dump. There is a fresh water station in the campground but you can't fill your fresh water tank with it. I tried filling my large fresh water bladder using it, but I was scolded by the ranger for "connecting to a utility" even though it only took me 5 minutes to fill the bladder.
You have to dump your gray water into a large 'toilet' so you can't really dump your RVs gray tank into it. Again this campground is definitely geared towards tent campers.
Then when we moved to our second site (#33)... It was much easier to get into, but it was *impossible* to level. I carry an insane number of wood blocks for leveling purposes and this is th first time I've used *all* of them and was still unable to level the trailer. After backing into this site, the tongue of my trailer was flat on the ground and the rear leveling jacks (Which extend 24inches) could not even get within a foot of reaching the ground (So I had to use my remaining blocks, plus some logs I found in the campground to put my jacks on *something*).
Even after all of that, my front-to-back level was *all the way* to the end that shows the front end being too high. I can't even tell you how far off level I was because my level was maxed out.
Generator hours end at 7pm but no-one seemed to be enforcing it. I got chewed out for getting fresh water from the fresh/potable water fill station but people were running their generators well past the 7pm cutoff time.
In general I would not camp here again. The campsites are all *very* close to one another. There is absolutely no cell phone service whatsoever. If I go went back to Yosemite I would either try for upper or lower pines in the valley or camp someplace just outside the park that has FULL HOOKUP, WiFi, etc, for just a few dollars more. -
Review from john k.
Alameda, CA
7/6/2009
for Group Camping, this is a winner. Just went this past 4th of July in 2009.
Layout: 4 group sites (A,B,C,D). I was at site B, with 4 firepits (w. grills), 4 bear storage lockers that can hold at least 2 coolers each, another large pit for campfires (w. large logs making a square for people to sit around) and 3 direct parking spaces with addl parking close by. There were 4 large picnic tables as well for us to use for food prep and meals.
Addl Things to Bring: We brought our own charcoal grill, which we didn't need. But we did bring a turkey fryer for soup and 2 (2-burner stoves from coleman) for cooking. you probably could cook everything over the firepits but you need a lot of wood.
Bathrooms/Showers: there are 2 common bathrooms for the group sites to share. Then there's another, "nicer" one up the hill. It's a men/women's bathroom with running water and flushing toilets. the water is potable although i didn't try drinking it, just used it for cooking/cleaning.
No Showers. Ok for me but not so great for the girls on our trip. But we did make a trip to the valley for $5 hot showers in Curry Village.
Tents: Each site has a generous amount of space for our tents. We had 29 ppl in our group and were able to have tents all over the area and in the shade so we didn't wake up with the sun scorching down on us. It's shady most of the morning so you can eat bfast and then head out.
We had 2 8-man tents and 3 5-man tents.
Location in Yosemite: it's right after the park entrance so it's ideal in terms of not having to wait in line to get in/out of the park. It's not curry village, which is a good thing in my opinion b/c you're not relegated to just the valley. Tuolumne Meadows is one of the prettiest and most amazing places in the world and many ppl just don't go there b/c it's farther than the valley and not as "famous". I think Hogdon is great b/c you can go to Tuolumne or the Valley. i timed my trips and Tuolumne was 1 hour away and the Valley 30-40min....of course, this is all based on traffic, which varies.
Of course, we brought lots of other things and such- chairs, lanterns, etc...
kid friendly - yeah, except for the lack of showers. we took our 7 mo. old and 3 year old. Not the easiest with kids but certainly not impossible. -
Review from Andrew R.
Pacific Grove, CA
9/5/2011
My wife and I camped here for three nights during Labor Day Weekend. We stayed in site #32. It is close to the group sites, which can be a little noisy, but it wasn't obnoxious. The site was pretty private and we didn't feel like people were right on top of us. The location of the campground relative to the typical sights is not ideal, but we headed out each day prepared to spend the whole day out rather than coming back and forth to the campground. The Merced and Toulomne Groves are pretty close, however, which was nice. The drive to the valley wasn't too bad (~40 minutes) and is picturesque anyways. There are no showers, which kind of sucked, but hey, you're camping! Our solution was to spend the day at Tenaya Lake and go for a cold dip to wash off (obviously a seasonal solution!). Overall it was a decent campsite in an amazing park.
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Review from Katrina L.
Cambridge, MA
8/25/2009
We had a fantastic experience camping at Hodgdon last weekend-- Very convenient access to Yosemite and especially to Hetch Hetchy and its gorgeous hikes, and working with reservations, staff at the park, was super easy and seamless.
Part of our great experience was definitely luck-- our particular slot was very private because the two groups on either side did not arrive until late at night, so we felt very isolated and private for the bulk of our stay. We were also close, but not right next to the bathrooms, which was very convenient.
Each site is well equipped with a bear bin and with a fire pit (with a flip over grill), and is a good size, not too close to other sites. It rained, but we had no problem with run off or rogue rivers near our tent or anything.
There are no showers, but we were only there one night so it wasn't a big problem. Noise does travel across the campsite, but thats certainly not unique to Hodgdon. Reasonably priced, very convenient, it was awesome! -
Review from Jen S.
9/15/2010
stayed here from saturday-monday of a labor day weekend and the campsite was fully booked. luckily we got there early, as well as booked early, so that our two camp sites were right next to each other. the camp sites are spacious and a picnic table, firepit, and food storage bin is provided for each site.
the only thing i didn't like about this place was that they had NO SHOWERS! can you imagine coming back from a day of hiking and not being able to shower? eww gross. but i do believe that they have some on the yosemite campgrounds so if you bring your toiletries with you, you can shower there.
we decided on this campsite b/c we were climbing half dome and the campgrounds closest to the base were fully booked and more expensive. this site is about 30-40minutes away from the base, which is fine. but considering that, we woke up at about 430am and got back at like 10-11pm. thus, we got noise complaints. we had 12 people getting ready, cooking, talking... yeh, so i guess be aware of the quite times? -
Review from Steven L.
Eagle Rock, CA
4/26/2010
We were here back in 2009 and we had a blast. Stayed for a week and everyone here was very friendly. Has flushing toilets which is a plus and running water for cleaning your dishes and stuff. The campsite is 45 minutes north of the valley but is totally worth the drive. We make the 45 mins drive to the valley every day and that 45 mins drive was filled with majestic views that are simply breathtaking. We also ended each day at Curry Village for shower $5 per person which has individual shower stalls with shampoos, conditioners and bath towels which is a fantastic deal considering you're in the middle of nowhere. Food not much to write home about here, mostly cafeteria food and not too many vegetarian offerings beside the veggie burger. Gas station is located 15 mins south of the campsite and also carries some essential last minute camping gears like plates, propanes, etc in case you left yours at home. I saw alot of Coleman and even GSR stuff that was hard to find like the GSR camping wok. More importantly, the gas station also has a ton of ice so you can purchase them fresh when you arrive to the campground. If you're from Los Angeles and have time on the way home, make sure to take the scenic route exit at Tioga Road (located at the gas station as well) and just cut across northern part of Yosemite and exit through the Tioga Pass Entrance. Then you can just head back south passing through Mammoth Lake and head back to LA. There are alot of amazing stops along the way on Tioga Road and the Meadows are amazing. Best part of this route to Los Angeles is going the back way and you avoid most of the Yosemite freeway traffic.
Happy Trails! -
Review from Elena N.
San Francisco, CA
9/23/2008
We actually wanted to stay closer to Yosemite Valley, but Curry Village was all booked up, so we ended up staying here. Each spot was $20 a night and had a picnic table and fire pit. I kinda liked staying away from all the crowds since it felt a little more intimate... like we had our own space. The only downside was this campground is about 45 mins away from the valley and it has no showers. When we went hiking, we ended up paying $5 to shower in Curry Village. This isn't a bad place to stay if you can't find any other campground, but I think we're gonna try to book way in advance and stay at Curry Village next time.
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Review from Nick S.
Los Angeles, CA
6/1/2011
Terrific campsite. We arrived after dark but the host made it obvious where we were to go. The pine scent is fantastic here! Bathrooms are clean and the flush toilets and washing sinks are a great bonus not found in many campsites (for those that complain of the lack of showers - come on people, you are camping!!). Campground was very quiet and I hope it stays that way (voices are fine, but a campground is not the place for music or hearing your T.V.'s in your RV's). Great experience, going back in a couple of weeks!
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Review from Nancy M.
San Jose, CA
6/10/2008
I like Hodgdon a lot! Though its a small (30 mins or so) drive to the valley it is a great place to stay. Very shady, nice rangers, and relatively large campsites. We have stayed there 2 times now and are looking forward to our 3rd.
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Review from Daisy A.
Sunnyvale, CA
7/21/2010
We stayed in this camp site in the first two nights of our camping trip on 7/9. It was pretty nice with a lot of pine trees and shady location where is near to the restroom.
It was our first camping experience, we were adjusting to the new surrounding at the first night. The temperature is very different from day to night. It was hot in the day time, but freezing cold at night. I was awaken by the coldness at the first night and couldn't fall back to sleep after I tugged back to my sleeping bag. I felt awful about the fact that i was lack of sleep. My hubby did not sleep well either, he was awaken by someone's loud snore nearby. That is one of the drawbacks in camping.
Hitting those scenaries is remarkable. e.g. Glacier Points, Yosemite falls, Bridalveil fall, mirror lake. But camping is tough, dirty and tiring, not to mention the lousy quality of sleep.
We will never go camping again! It is a LOT of work!
I rather stay in a cabin, or RV or a hotel. Camping is not for me!
