Yosemite Pines RV Resort & Family Camping was very easy to find right off Hwy 120 just outside of the charming little town of Groveland en route to Yosemite Nat’l Park. Reservations were easily made online only about a month in advance and were reasonably priced. Check-in was quick and easy inside a convenience store with hours until 8pm. I was given a high-quality map of the resort with rules and some fun facts about the surrounding area. The resort sits on a gently sloped hillside with plenty of pine trees all around. The roads are paved and in terrific condition with speed bumps every 50 feet or so. Our site was on the end of a row of mostly level, dirt, back-in RV sites with full connections. There were two more rows of these sites in our loop. These sites are pretty close together, but with sufficient room for our setup as well as for parking a second vehicle. There was a picnic table and fire pit provided, although no fires were permitted at the time we were there (August in California). In addition to the full-hookup sites, there were cabins, yurts, stationary trailers, and even covered wagons available for rental. The entire facility was clean and well maintained. In fact, about 30 minutes after our neighbors checked out, a woman came in a golf cart and picked up every tiny piece of trash. We were directly across the street from the bathrooms and showers, which were also very clean and well stocked. There were three large dumpsters in our loop for disposing of trash. The trash truck came very early on Tuesday morning and was about the noisiest thing we heard during our entire stay. The rest of the facility was very quiet. The highway is not far away, but road noise was very sparse. There was minimal cell coverage with Verizon, enough to make a call and receive a few text messages. WiFi could be purchased through a third party vendor for a very reasonable rate. Our kids really enjoyed the pool. The water was cool (not heated) but felt good in the 90-degree weather. The water was pretty murky - even with swim goggles I couldn’t see more than 5 feet in front of my face. There was also a playground, a tetherball court, a bocce ball court, and a volleyball court. The bocce balls can be checked out at the office for free. The deli is adjacent to the pool area and had ice cream and other treats available for purchase through a window. We did not try the gold panning due to hornets swarming the water but did see others trying it. The petting zoo was another big hit with our family. They have two donkeys, two large alpacas, rabbits, and chickens. Supervised feeding times are at 9:00am and 4:00pm. The Yosemite Nat’l Park entrance gate is about 30 minutes away, and then it’s another 45 minutes before you reach the valley. There was a lovely swimming hole with some rock jumping called “Rainbow Pool” about a 15-minute drive to the east. It’s definitely worth checking out. We didn’t go into Groveland, although it seemed very charming with some restaurants, a museum, and a park that was advertising an outdoor movie on Saturday night. All-in-all, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay here and were sad to leave. Our 9-year-old cried a little when checking out, and our 3-year-old kept shouting, “Go back to the river!” during the drive home. We will definitely be back.
3 ans depuis