Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Whitney Portal Campground

Any chance of getting a campsite in the reservation campground at Whitney Portal by just driving up there without a reservation? Thanks.

What do you mean by reservation campground? Only 60% of the sites in the family campground are reservable, and yes, you can get one of the first-come-first-served sites if enough of them are vacated when you arrive. See Determine whether you need a reservation in WP Campground.

Just show up and wander around. Most reserved cgrs have dates of reservation on the 4X4 post, stay in one till before and maybe after those dates.

Or wander over to Tuttle Creek, not that far away, they could use more tenants who donate above the required fee so they can buy more fruitless mulberry trees. That's what I do (and will do July 16).

Thanks VersatileFred and Hike of your Life, I forgot about the 40% first-come-first-served sites (FCFS) at the Whitney Portal family campground. Are they located in the same area as the reservable sites and the only difference is that they are not reservable?

I just found the answer by looking at the reservation website. The FCFS sites are apparently in the same area and are the same kind of sites.

Has anyone here had any experience getting a FCFS site? Was it easy?

If you don't mind a drive to the trailhead on the morning of your hike, consider staying at Cottonwood Lakes or Cottonwood Pass campground. This is what I do. No reservations are needed, the fee is $10 less per night than Whitney Portal campground, and the elevation is 2,000 feet higher--good for acclimatizing.

Thanks kkeating for the suggestion. But I was thinking of staying at Whitney Portal for a few days and explore the area with dayhikes and just hang out but not summit.

We have a number of Campers/Hikers that stay a night or two with us each of the last 13 years I go up.
We see them driving around in circles. On the forth time around we ask them if they need a place for the night. FREE OF CHARGE.
Met some pretty nice people from around the world!

Bob,

Showed up at 4:30 on a Friday and got the last site available and was really shocked. Felt extremely lucky, but having said that, its the third time I've showed up at a Friday before 5 and I'm 3 for 3 in getting a site, although twice it was the last site in the campground.

Thanks Nextdrink and Bengator. I think I'm getting the idea of what it's like. From your comments I get the impression that in the summer there is a little better availability in the first-come-first-served Portal sites than popular car campsites in Sequoia and Yosemite. I wish both of you continued good luck in your experiences at the Portal campsites and elsewhere.