Crystal Springs Campground (Ca)

Let me begin this review by stating that I would and will definitely be staying at this campsite every summer from this point on. It’s a charming site with a lot more pros than cons. As a disclaimer, there are two sections of this campsite, my group and I stayed at the lower mid-sized groupsite as opposed to the upper smaller individual campsite.

PROS: The mid-sized groupsites accomodate 15 guests and 3-4 cars. There’s a discrepancy there, because I’ve read on two separate websites (both official camp pages) that the vehicle limit is either 3 or 4. That being said, we comfortably kept 5 cars parked without any ranger advising us otherwise. Multiple groups did the same without being reprimanded. Like I said, plenty of room to accommodate cars and tents alike. There are also 2 large bear boxes that fit all of our food and equipment without incident and potable water, including flush toilets. Plenty of shade due to the giant sequoias. 3 picnic tables and an average size fire pit that included the standard grill grate. The campsite is adjacent to Grant Grove Village and the King’s Canyon Visitor Center but not too close where you suffer from noisy traffic. A short drive away are Grant Grove and Panoramic Point (in opposite directions). Lastly, cell reception was terrific (Verizon, to be specific)!

CONS: This may be a dealbreaker to some, but while there are flush toilets and potable water available, there are a total of TWO toilets for the ENTIRE campsite! While there never was much of a line build up with a packed campground, I did have to wait for at least one person every time I visited the restroom (waiting times varied from less than 1 minute to 20 minutes). Additionally, there are no showers on site (although that wasn’t a dealbreaker for our cohort, but it might be for yours) but there are some in the nearby lodge.

Other than the extremely limited toilet situation, this campsite was more than sufficient and I look forward to camping here every Summer!