Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Onion Valley campground

Anyone ever stayed at the Onion Valley campground? I'm thinking of staying there for several days and do some day hikes for acclimating. Thanks.

Onion valley (outside Independence)has 3 campgrounds and they are far less crowded then Whitney Portal. A nice place to stay if you are headed south down the 395. Onion Valley Campground is the highest at 9200 feet. You can also hike nearby on nice less crowded trails. From there to Whitney portal, it is 30-40 minutes, depending on which campground you are in.

The hikes to Robinson Lake and Kearsarge Pass will get you heart beating a bit. Bring the DEET because the mosquitos are in full bite.

Point of interest, even the hiker-in campsites are reservable at Onion Valley, according to the campground manager.

Bill

Goingbacksoon... What is the area like - Pinyon pines, aspens? We may stay there sat. night after 2 nights at Lone Pine campground. I assume there are plenty of good day hikes there? We plan on camping at Onion Valley campground if we do go. They still have sites available. Thanks. JP

Onion Valley CG is a great place to stay before Whitney. I stayed there Tuesday night 7/5 before we summited Whitney yesterday the 7th. I was heading from the south and the extra drive of 40 minutes from Lone Pine to Onion Valley CG was well worth it.
Aspens, various pines, waterfalls, quiet, very clean campground and a host, Bill, who can tell you details about any of the surrounding trails. I hiked for about 4 hours out of Onion Valley the day before doing Whitney in an effort to aclimatize better. Switchbacks out of the CG up to lakes. Lots of good day hikes.