Sequoia National Park camping and RV campgrounds.

All 7 Sequoia campgrounds, compared.

The short version: pick Potwisha for a winter or shoulder-season trip, since it's the only Sequoia campground open all year, but vehicles over 24 feet aren't advised there. Pick Lodgepole to sleep near the big trees, with a market, showers, and laundry next door from May to October. It's also the only open campground here for a big RV, at about 40 feet, and only 5 sites fit one. Pick Cold Springs or Atwell Mill for car and tent camping in Mineral King, if you don't mind the long drive. Seasons come from the NPS campground records. NPS gives openings in words (Lodgepole on the Wednesday before Memorial Day, Mineral King in late May), so the chart's opening dates are our reading. Closing dates are the ones the NPS records list: October 15 at Mineral King and December 2 at Lodgepole, whose loops close in phases. South Fork has no site count because NPS lists none while it's closed. Fees are per site, per night.

How to book.

Every open campground is reservation only, and NPS says sites fill quickly. Book on Recreation.gov. Potwisha and Lodgepole take reservations up to four months ahead, and Lodgepole's reservations typically open in January. Cold Springs and Atwell Mill book up to one month ahead, with reservations typically opening in April. Sites can't be saved, you must pay within 30 minutes of arriving, and if you haven't checked in by noon on the second day of your reservation, your site may go to someone else.

The three closed campgrounds. Buckeye Flat, Dorst Creek and South Fork are all closed for storm-damage repairs. That takes Dorst Creek's 222 sites, the most of any Sequoia campground, out of the picture, and South Fork's access road was damaged along with the campground. Repairs here have run for several seasons, so don't plan around a reopening: check the NPS campgrounds page for reopening and for what's bookable.

Fees and passes. A standard site for up to six people is $32 a night, a stock site $40, a mid-sized group site $50, and a large group site $60, $70, or $80. Senior and Access Pass holders get 50% off, but not on group sites. The Wolverton Stock Campsites cost $40 a night, reservations are on Recreation.gov, and there are no first-come sites.

You don't need an entrance reservation for Sequoia. Our Sequoia fees page has the entrance fee and passes.

RVs, the road in, and dump stations.

Potwisha has sites for RVs and trailers, including pull-through sites, but vehicles over 24 feet aren't advised. Lodgepole can take RVs of about 40 feet at only 5 sites. Cold Springs and Atwell Mill allow no RVs or trailers, and NPS doesn't recommend them on Mineral King Road, which is narrow, winding, and largely unpaved. Buckeye Flat and South Fork don't allow them either. Length limits vary by area, so check the site listing on Recreation.gov, and park with all four wheels on pavement.

Which way in. Vehicles 22 feet or longer aren't advised on the Generals Highway between Potwisha and the Giant Forest Museum. If your rig is that long, enter on Highway 180 through the Big Stump entrance to reach Lodgepole. Mineral King isn't connected by road to the rest of the park; you turn off Highway 198 in Three Rivers, and Cold Springs is 26 miles, about an hour and a half, up that road. That road is generally open only from the Wednesday before Memorial Day to the last Wednesday in October, and it's often under construction with timed delays, so check the NPS road construction page first. Our Sequoia road closures page has the seasons.

Dump stations are at Potwisha, open all year, and at Lodgepole, seasonally; Dorst Creek's is closed with the campground. Showers and laundry are at Lodgepole Market, next to the campground, open May to October. Generators can run from 9 am to 9 pm, except at Lodgepole, where they're allowed only from 8 to 11 am and 5 to 8 pm. Quiet hours are 10 pm to 6 am.

Buckeye Flat and Dorst Creek and South Fork are closed and not listed.

Camp rules that change your trip.

A site holds up to six people and comes with a picnic table, a fire ring with grill, and a metal food-storage box. Bears are active day and night, so all food, trash, and anything with a scent goes in that box. Pets can stay in campgrounds on a leash no longer than 6 feet, but they aren't allowed on any trail in the parks, even in a backpack.

Gates open and close at noon on a campground's opening and closing dates. Check in at noon or later, and check out before noon. A site left unoccupied for 24 hours is considered abandoned, and property left there is impounded.

Campfire restrictions are common in the foothills in summer, and they matter most at Potwisha, at 2,100 feet. Under the first tier of restrictions the park bans wood and charcoal fires, including wood-burning stoves, in developed campgrounds at 3,000 feet and below, so a camp stove is the safe thing to pack. Fire managers can add or lift restrictions at any time, so read the NPS fire restrictions page just before you travel.

Accessible sites are 39 and 40 at Potwisha and 62 and 63 at Lodgepole. The Mineral King campgrounds don't have accessible sites yet.

Camping and the crowd calendar.

July is Sequoia's busiest month, and the camping season fits around it. May averages 62% of July's visits, and Lodgepole usually opens the Wednesday before Memorial Day, with Cold Springs and Atwell Mill opening in late May. June runs 69% and August 92%. September drops to 63%, and Lodgepole's Upper Loop closes late in the month. October runs 48%: the Mineral King campgrounds close October 15, and Lodgepole's log bridge sites in Loops A and C close in mid-October. November is 31%, and Lodgepole's Loops B and D close in early December, leaving Potwisha as Sequoia's only campground for winter. Our pick is late September to early October at Lodgepole: visits are well below July's, most of the campground is still open, and Mineral King is still an option. Nights at Lodgepole average 39°F in September and 31°F in October, so pack warm. At Potwisha, check the fire restrictions first.

Month-by-month tradeoffs are on the best time to visit Sequoia page.

Kings Canyon, the forest, and the backcountry.

Kings Canyon. Neighboring Kings Canyon National Park has the other seven campgrounds the two parks share, in Grant Grove and Cedar Grove, and Azalea there is open all year. That's why Recreation.gov lists 16 campgrounds to NPS's 14: it lists the Wolverton and Cedar Grove stock campsites and the Crystal Springs group sites on their own, and leaves out South Fork.

Dispersed camping. It isn't allowed inside Sequoia and Kings Canyon unless you're hiking into the backcountry with a permit, and camping in trailhead parking lots isn't allowed either. Sequoia National Forest allows dispersed camping only in specific areas, with restrictions. It's closed at the Hume Lake and Stony Creek recreation areas, along the Kings River Wild and Scenic Byway, and at historical and archaeological sites. Call the forest at 559-784-1500 for details. The Forest Service also runs campgrounds in the Hume Lake District next to the parks, which NPS doesn't manage.

Backcountry camping. Overnight wilderness trips need a wilderness permit. In the 2026 quota season, May 22 to September 26, it costs $15 per trip plus $5 per person. From September 27, 2026, to May 20, 2027, permits are free and self-issued. Bear canisters are required in most of the park.

Common questions.

Is there free camping in Sequoia National Park?

No campground is free. A standard site is $32 a night, and dispersed camping isn't allowed in the park unless you're backpacking with a permit. Wilderness permits are free outside the quota season, from September 27, 2026, to May 20, 2027. Sequoia National Forest, next door, allows dispersed camping in specific areas, with restrictions.

How much does it cost to camp in Sequoia?

$32 a night for a standard site for up to six people, $40 for a stock site, $50 for a mid-sized group site, and $60, $70, or $80 for a large group site. Senior and Access Pass holders get 50% off standard sites.

Is Dorst Creek Campground open?

Not for several seasons now. Winter storms damaged Dorst Creek, Buckeye Flat and South Fork, and all three have stayed closed while the repairs go on. Check the NPS campgrounds page for what you can actually book.

Which Sequoia campground is open in winter?

Potwisha, in the foothills, is open all year except when weather or safety conditions close it. Lodgepole's last loops close in early December. In Kings Canyon, Azalea stays open all winter, with one loop of 20 first-come sites from November through April.

Can you take an RV to Mineral King?

No. RVs and trailers aren't permitted in the Cold Springs or Atwell Mill campgrounds, and NPS doesn't recommend them on Mineral King Road, which is narrow, winding, and largely unpaved. For an RV, Lodgepole takes rigs of about 40 feet at 5 sites, and Potwisha doesn't advise vehicles over 24 feet.

Why does Recreation.gov list 16 campgrounds for Sequoia and Kings Canyon?

NPS counts 14 campgrounds across the two parks. Recreation.gov lists the Wolverton and Cedar Grove stock campsites and the Crystal Springs mid-sized group sites as separate campgrounds, and it doesn't list South Fork, which is closed for storm repairs.

Where these facts come from

The campground count, fees, site basics, food storage, fire notes, Mineral King and vehicle-length rules, the storm closures, Wolverton, the Forest Service campgrounds, and dispersed camping come from the NPS campgrounds page; check-in, payment, vehicle, generator, quiet hours, dump station, and pet rules from the NPS campground regulations; the fire-restriction tiers from the NPS fire restrictions page, which carries the stage in force. Each campground's booking window, season, closing date, RV limit, elevation, accessible sites, and coordinates, and the pass discount, come from the NPS API campground records; Lodgepole's services from the NPS Lodgepole page. Wilderness permits, the quota season, and bear canisters come from the NPS wilderness permits page; the Generals Highway advisory and Mineral King Road work from the NPS road information and road conditions pages; the 16-campground listing from Recreation.gov's park page. Visit shares are five-year monthly means (2021 to 2025) of recreation visits from NPS Visitor Use Statistics, as a percentage of July, the park's busiest month. Temperatures are NOAA 1991 to 2020 climate normals for the Lodgepole station. Crowd numbers are five-year monthly means (2021 to 2025) of recreation visits from the NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package on NPS IRMA Stats. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.