Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Camping Options June 26, 2009

We will have a group of four climbing Mt Whitney main trail on Saturday June 27th. I am looking for camping options for the night before. I am hoping that we can get a site at the Portal. Can anyone tell me if the backpacker sites ever fill up or what other camping options are available at the trailhead?
Thanks

you are gonna have a hard time with a site at the portal....they are probably already taken...

go over the the parking lot for the routes to Langley and the southern face....it never fills up and the site is a higher elevation than the portal...so you acclimate better

The walk-in sites are first come first serve. The earlier you can get to the Portal on Friday, the better chance you will have of getting a site. They are self-pay. (I think $8-$10 per night.) You grab a pay envelope, clip an envelope tab to a wood post at an available site, and deposit the envelope with the enclosed money into a steel pipe receptacle.

Good luck!

$8-$10/night???? maybe 15 years ago, try $19/night!

head over to horseshoe meadows, its always empty and at around 10,000 feet a good place to chill and get used to the altitude

There are about 16 first come first serve sites at the Portal Family Campground ($19 per night). Arrive early and talk to the campground host and find out if any will be available that day.

All the sites at the backpackers campground are first come first serve ($10 per night).

If those don't work out try Lone Pine Campground, Turtle Creek or Horseshoe Meadows.

Here is a list of nearby campgrounds and distances to the trailhead.

2dtrail, you're confusing the campground with the walk-in sites at the Trail Head. The walk-ins are $10 per night per site.

When you said walk-in sites, I thought you meant the first come, first serve, family camground, not the backpackers campground. My bad.