Yosemite Pines RV Resort

One of the best options in the area
Date of Stay: July, 2017 - $50.00

We stayed at Yosemite Pines after leaving S Lake Tahoe on our way to Yosemite National Park. The area was in a drought for 5 years until this April, so most everything around there is pretty parched...so I'm guessing the condition of this RV Park (and others) has suffered. Certainly not lush like the photos on their brochure and website.

We felt lucky to get a spot on short notice for our 25' motorhome with toad and were grateful we did not have to unhook. Best I could tell, for proximity to Yosemite and offerings, this is one of the best options in the area. We scoured all the review sites and none of them gets consistently great reviews (4 or 5 avg) and this one seems to be the highest rated. Perhaps the most attractive thing about this park is its proximity to Yosemite N.P. - about 30 min away. Just be aware the drive up coming from the north was pretty steep and twisty. No problem for our 42' total length Sprinter chassis RV with toad, but we got behind a 5th wheel that was really struggling and was averaging about 5 - 10 mph.

After checking in, were escorted to our spot. Our site (#65) was mostly red dirt, with dried up grass around the edges. Very un-level...like 7". The difficult thing to deal with was all the stickers (not the sharp kind) that attached themselves to our dogs feet and legs...tons of them. It was super dusty, which I imagine is better than the opposite...mud, which I can see being a big issue when it rains. Really, unless they spend thousands of dollars to add gravel to the entire park...or turn pads into concrete, there really isn't a way around that. Our spot had a little shade depending on the time of day, but there is ample shade in other spaces. There were plenty of RV's of all types and sizes. Lots of families. There is a petting zoo with a couple of donkeys, a llama, rabbit and goats. Fun for the kids. Speaking of kids...we don't have them, but this seems to be a great campground for kids...nice pool, petting zoo, playground area, with bocce ball, Horseshoes, tetherball, etc. We didn't use the showers, but the restrooms were clean.

The camp store is well appointed with a few items for camping and snacks. There is a small Deli, which makes sandwiches, etc to take with or eat in. We had breakfast burritos, toast,
bacon, etc...all made to order. All the staff we encountered was friendly and helpful despite being such a busy week (July 4th). There is a great, large, raised dog wash if your pooch needs a bath. If you tent camp, prefer Yurts, want a cabin, have a group, this spot is worth considering. The brochure said there is propane and a dump station. We didn't use the Tengo WiFi and we didn't have cable at our spot...actually, don't think it was working since they scratched it out on our paperwork. It wasn't one of our favorite places we stayed on this trip, but we felt safe and the staff plenty friendly...it is just dusty and dry (drought) and older. I could see, if this area were to recover from the drought, this being quite an oasis.

It was crowded when we were there, so it might be good idea to reserve during peak season.

So, positive: location is great. It's about 1 hour to Yosemite Valley and a few minutes from downtown Groveland -with a nice grocery store and several good restaurants. The staff were excellent. I really feel they are doing the best with what they have. They were all very friendly and helpful. The shower house was clean with hot water and good water pressure. However, it's very expensive for what you get. I booked a "premium" pull-through - which was on a hill and would have been impossible to level no matter how many leveling blocks you had. All the B pull-throughs on that side were on an hill, so it's not like we just got bad luck with the site. The septic hookups are on the uphill side, it also backed up into our hose. Staff came out and unblocked it immediately, so it was fine. The sites are super tight. For example, our fire ring was directly under the neighboring fifth wheel's slide and the neighbor to the back of us was dangerously close to our truck and camper- within a couple of feet. The water spigots froze one night but after a few minutes we got it unblocked and luckily had an extra (unfrozen) hose.. which brings me to internet/cell. The system was down for 2 days and came back up on the last morning - with no cell service that made it impossible to check weather or park conditions when one might need to check the most. We had no idea that the weather was changing so drastically and so much from the last forecast we had checked. If you need to be close to services and the park and price is of no concern, this is a good option.

No real privacy, but very well organized and laid out.

There is no cell coverage, and you had to pay for wifi which didn’t work 2 nights in a row, despite me telling them and then resetting the router twice. They did not offer a refund either.

In high summer it looks like there is lots to do, and it it pretty hand for Yosemite.

Not bad, not great. They seem to be letting the place go a little. The grass needs mowing and sites need rock as the mud on some side is pretty bad. For the price you pay you expect more.

The national park was, how do you say, all booked up for big ol' 31 foot Airstreams like we roll in.

It was disappointing to not be able to bathe directly under the heavenly glow of the valley which apparently fills up 36% of my Instagram feed daily, regardless of how many years ago it was that any given person actually visited the park. So I was already a little frustrated when we arrived here at Yosemite Pines.

However, a fortunate set of circumstances lead to this being one of the more enjoyable private parks we've ever stayed in.

The staff, a young family with young kids, took a shine to us and their kids and ours became fast friends. A nice playground, short trails full of the natural world of trees and animals what inhabit this portion of the sierras, and the proximity to the wonderfully small town of Groveland all came together like a rubix cube accidentally assembled by a two year old. It's hard to be sure if it was pure genius or dumb luck that spawned it all, but ride that wave either way.

The park was also nearly completely empty during our stay, so the close campsites mattered not. We kicked around massive pine cones and started fires from the plethora of dead needles. We shot our bow and arrow in the forest behind and had fun examining the old John Deer tractor and watching the stinky animals that were meant for petting.

Cell service was spotty, barely existing at all, but it afforded us a chance to escape the world outside and every now and then a few days worth of messages would slip in if we didn't manage to leave the campground.

Groveland has a public library and coffee shop, both with free wifi, should you need to work. Or you can drive into Yosemite Village where 4G was strong. Not a bad commute if you ask me.

Still, having done it, I wouldn't return but instead just plan things out a bit more carefully to be in the park next time.

Easy access off Hwy 120. Groveland nearby with restaurants, grocery store, gas and more. Cell reception mostly zero in the park. The advertised WiFi was not working our first two days, then extremely slow once we were able to log on. Cell phone signal for my Verizon phone was extremely weak, not able to make calls. Laid back atmosphere with many things to do in campground. Farm animals including two llamas, gold panning trough, and a wonderful swimming pool. Bathrooms and showers were clean. Pay laundering facilities on site also. There is a camp store and even a deli that offers box lunches for your day at Yosemite. Yosemite Valley is at least a one hour drive from campground, but a shuttle stops at campground, cost $15 per adult. Well worth the money because traffic and parking is a nightmare at Yosemite during the summer. All in all we had a wonderful time and met fellow campers from around the world.

We tacked on two nights here after our Sequoia/Kings Canyon trip because Living Social emailed me an offer I couldn't refuse. Two nights with full hook-ups for $49 at a place about an hour outside Yosemite? We would be a mere 3.5 hours away, so I took a chance and jumped on it. The ride up New Priest Grade to get to Groveland was a lot to take, even as a passenger, and I worried for two days about having to drive back down it. We managed it safely, but I'm not sure I'd do it again.

Though we enjoyed our time in Yosemite Valley, note that it's about 18 miles to the park entrance from the resort and another 24 miles to the valley once you're in the park. It's a winding road and pitch black at night, but the drive really isn't too bad to get to a place that's so beautiful. Plan on at least an hour drive to get to the heart of the park.

Yosemite Pines served as a decent base camp, especially for the price, but the place is not new. The roads are all gravel, the property is hilly, and the sites aren't too level and are very close to each other. We had a back-in spot, but there are some pull-through sites. The restroom/shower building was fine, if a little buggy. Flush toilets and soap and paper towels are provided. There are three showers in the building. If you wear flip flops to the shower, walk back to your site carefully or you'll toss gravel up onto your clean feet. :)

The resort has a nice looking pool, bocce balls you can borrow to use on their bocce courts, a laundromat, small market for essentials, deli, and petting zoo to entertain the kids for five minutes. The folks running the place are older and not too good with computers it seems, so the check-in took longer than usual. They were nice but could have been a little friendlier.

We haven't stayed in many RV parks or resorts, but a major disadvantage to this one was the sewer smell. We were in a full hook-up section of the park, and it smelled just like a dump station. It was so bad in the evenings that I didn't even want to open the windows at night. Additionally, the neighbor's dump is right next to your picnic table. I mean, it's so close it nearly touches it so we moved our table. See the photo as an example. If not for all that, it's a decent, if kinda far, base when visiting Yosemite.

The quaint town of Groveland is cute and kitchsy, but we didn't have time to spend in it other than passing through. When we go to the park again, we'll look for something either in the park or come in from the south and stay in Wawona.

We booked a week here near the end of March 2017.
We travel to places like this off season and get the benefits of uncrowded conditions. There is no rig within 100 feet of us.
It is quiet and a great location for us to enjoy exploring the area.
We don't mind parking on gravel and there is actual grass at this time of year.
There is some road noise that tapers off in the evening

Check-in was a very slow process even though we came in with a pre-paid reservation.

We stayed in an RV lot and upon arrival someone was in our site with tents and the they could not move us to another spot so we had to wait until the person round up the people to move. Originally the employee was going to leave us alone there and we requested they stay as the the tent person was very angry.

The bathrooms were small and well used. While there were 3 shower stalls one of them had been screwed shut and only left 2 available which were full of dirt. They really need to add some showers and service the restrooms through out the day.

If you need wifi ---do not stay here. We travel and work remote and the park has not purchased enough bandwidth to supply the 200 campsites they offer. I wish parks would remove this as an amenity if they can't provide enough bandwidth to download a google search page. They claim it is just during peak time but I was up at 2am and was just as slow as 6pm. Also, we have TMobile so our only coverage was in the Yosemite Valley (not the parks problem but we could not use our mobile and were relying on the advertise wifi).

We had added an extra day to our stay which would have required us to move to another site. Which is not a problem as we are not people who hang out too much in an RV Park and were spending the full days in Yosemite hiking. We asked were we could park our RV in the morning so we could be out of our spot and then we'd move into our new spot in the afternoon when we got back. This was something I had asked on the phone when booking, asked again at the office when I checked in and each day after---to which I was told not a problem. 2 days before the move I asked for a specific location and had blank looks from the employee who said she would leave a note for the manager and the next day no one had any information. Since I needed to move the next day the office employee called the owner who said that I'd have to leave and come back. This clearly is not an option as we had a car and did not need nor want to drive our RV up and down all the mountains into Yosemite. We requested a full refund and found another campground that allowed us to park for the day until our site was open.

While the employees were not rude, we found that they were not helpful at all and the owner was downright hostile at my request to park some where until I could move to a new site.

Overall for the value of $47 a night with my Good Sam's discount--it was not worth the cost. There was an additional $5 dump fee and the station was locked and only open during store time. It seem at that cost they would allow one free dump per stay.

They did advertise a petting zoo, panning for gold, pool, walking trail and stables. My kids did enjoy panning for gold. But said the pool was very dirty, the petting zoo was just some animals behind a fence they could reach into, the trail/corral they said was full of trash and smelled bad.

Spots were very close and tight but a mix of shade/not shade. No issues with noise.

Plan early and stay at other parks (which all were sold out when we planned our trip) closer in or near a different Yosemite entrance. The park was a little over 30 minutes to the entrance and another hour into Yosemite Valley so an hour 1/2 each way which means were were leaving at 6am to beat the park rush.

Campground was very nice, felt like we were really out in nature. It's about 2-1/2 hrs to Yosemite Village. No hot water in showers. We were there in Nov.