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Thousand Trails - Yosemite Lakes

Tosha Tingey • July 4, 2019

We thought we loved all our campgrounds until we came here. We loved it so much that we extended our stay!

The Yosemite Lakes campground was actually the one that got us interested in a Thousand Trails to begin with. This campground is chuck full of amenities in the campground itself, and it’s 10 min away from the Yosemite National Park entrance. And I’m apologizing in advance, we were enjoying it so much that we forgot to take pictures until we left! So I only have a few but hopefully it’s better than nothing.

Things We Did Not Love

1. Close together

Now, I think every campground has their spots really close to together. My ideal campground would be where you can’t even see your neighbors, but obviously that’s not practical. But these spots were great length-wise but just felt tight. It feels like you’re sharing every meal and conversation with your neighbors. But thankfully for us we made some great friends with our neighbors! And by neighbors I mean, but parked next to us and a few down! Haha So we ended up sharing meals together and having great conversations! So maybe being close together isn’t a bad thing if you like the people you’re next to.

2. Poor Wi-Fi

I don’t have much that I didn’t love about this place so that’s the only reason this is making the list. They offer complimentary Wi-Fi at the lodge but you can pay for Wi-Fi to have at your own spot. It was $5.49 for a day and $10.95 for the week. Given this Wi-Fi is not great, not good enough to stream anything really. It works better at the lodge because that’s where the booster is, and there I was able to take a proctored test using the paid Wi-Fi.

Things We Loved

1. The river

If you’re lucky enough to get a spot by the river, do it! We were super fortunate and even had someone come to us the morning we left and asked if they could move to our spot once we left. They are back in spots but you have a lot of space behind you with the river as your backyard! The water is the same water that comes from Yosemite which is coming from a Glacier so it’s really cold! But totally worth it. We played in the water, tubed down the river, and canoed down the river (thank you to our neighbors for letting us borrow their canoe!).

2. Customer Service

The staff here was amazing! The best way I can explain it is by sharing an experience. Every morning and evening I would go to the lodge to work on school. I was particularly stressed one morning because it was a big week with lots of assignments and a big exam due. I had brought my own yogurt to eat while studying. Donna came up and asked if I was finished with my yogurt cup. I kept my dirty spoon and handed her the empty cup with a thank you. She then offers to take my dirty spoon and wash it for me!!! I said that’s okay but she insisted and so she WASHED MY SPOON! If that isn’t a reflection of customer service, I don’t know what it is. They were super helpful in getting us an extension to stay for 3 more days too.

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3. Activities, amenities, and location

They had lots of activities going on throughout the week. They sold cupcakes, had a Sunday breakfast, and BBQ nights. There are big areas with horseshoes and tether-ball, and mini golf! The lodge is big with a big TV and puzzles and a kid area. The park itself offers a little county store that actually had quite a lot of food options and supplies. They also have a gas station. The closest town was Groveland, which is 20 min away and is a pretty small town. The biggest town that had a Walmart and lower gas prices was Sonora and that was an hour away. It’s 10 min away from the Yosemite National Park Entrance but keep in mind that it’s about an hour away to Yosemite Valley. But the drive is BEAUTIFUL!

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