Roads Less Traveled

On the summer rush to the alpine splendors of the Eastern Sierra, many campers stomp on the accelerator and don’t look up until they have sunk their teeth into the chili-cheese bread at Schats Bakery in Bishop.

They’re making a mistake.

One of the prettiest and least visited parts of the range is the southern Sierra. Encompassing the mountains to the east and west of Kernville, this part of the Sierra lacks the 12,000-foot-plus peaks found farther north, but includes thick forests, gorgeous meadows, small trout streams and substantial but relatively unknown groves of giant sequoias. More often than not, visitation is usually light--on a long hike last July into a popular part of the area’s Golden Trout Wilderness, I encountered only 13 people in eight hours.

The first part of the following list of campgrounds concentrates on the southern Sierra. The rest is a grab bag of campgrounds in the western U.S.--yes, there is life outside California. Except where noted, all sites listed have piped water, picnic tables, fire grills and outhouses.

Southern Sierra

* Troy Meadows--This large campground in the Eastern Sierra is popular with the dirt-bike crowd because of its proximity to a network of off-highway vehicle trails in the Sequoia National Forest. Although one might expect the place to resemble Gasoline Alley, on weekdays it remains fairly quiet, helped in part by the fact that some of the campground’s sites are the size of a small parking lot.

The area offers an abundance of things to do. Fish Creek, which lives up to its name, runs through the back of the campground, along with a trail that follows it downstream. Farther west on Forest Service Road 22S05 is Bald Mountain; you can drive almost to the top of the mountain, where a fire lookout tower offers great views of the Dome Land Wilderness. Also nearby is the Blackrock trailhead, a major jumping off point for hikes into the Golden Trout Wilderness--it’s a short 30-minute hike to beautiful Casa Vieja Meadows.

Troy Meadows has 73 sites available on a first-come, first-served basis. Cost: $5 per night. Information: Sequoia National Forest Cannell Meadow Ranger District, (760) 376-3781. Note: No trash collection.

* Belknap--Located just outside the western Sierra village of Camp Nelson, this pleasant forest service campground sits in a heavily shaded area along Belknap Creek. A short walk down the road leads to a trail that follows--here’s a mouthful--the South Fork of the Middle Fork of the Tule River through the impressive MacIntyre Grove of sequoias. This is a very good campground for families with children, since civilization is just around the corner.

Belknap has 15 sites; reservations can be made through the National Recreation Reservation System at (800) 280-CAMP. Cost: $12 per night. Information: Sequoia National Forest Tule River Ranger District, (209) 539-2607. Note: Trailers are not permitted.

* Quaking Aspen--Located along the Western Divide Highway at an elevation of 7,000 feet, this campground is especially colorful in the autumn, when the aspens turn gold after the first hard frost. Of course, there’s plenty to do in the summer. It’s a short drive to the trailhead for the Needles, an 8,245-foot granite spire with a fire lookout tower perched on top. The tower is reached via 137 lung-busting stairs, but it’s worth the effort--views of the Lloyd Meadow basin and Golden Trout Wilderness can’t be beat. Bring the camera and prepare a place on the wall for an 8 x 10.

Quaking Aspen has 32 sites; reservations can be made through the National Recreation Reservation System at (800) 280-CAMP. Cost: $12 per night. Information: Sequoia National Forest Tule River Ranger District, (209) 539-2607.

* Lower Peppermint--Located on Lloyd Meadows Road, about 37 miles north of Kernville, the campground sits above the mighty Kern River in a remote corner of the Sequoia National Forest. The attraction here is Peppermint Creek, which has numerous fine swimming holes later in the summer. For some nice hiking, drive to the end of the road and hop on the Jordan Trail, an old cattleman route.

Lower Peppermint has 17 sites available on a first-come, first-served basis. Cost: $10 per night. Information: Sequoia National Forest Hot Springs Ranger District, (805) 548-6503. Note: Don’t count on piped water being available--bring your own or boil/filter water from the creek.

* Dispersed camping--Here’s how it works: You go to the ranger station and get a campfire permit and then pick a campsite virtually anywhere on the Sequoia National Forest’s network of old logging roads. There are, of course, a few rules. You can’t block the road and campsites must be 100 feet from streams. Also, garbage must be packed out and dispersed camping means you must be comfortable with a lack of outhouses. Good campsites can be found in the area surrounding Quaking Aspen campground.

Permits for dispersed camping in Sequoia National Forest can be picked up at any ranger station; the most convenient station for the area near Quaking Aspen is located at 32588 Highway 190, which is just outside Springville. Cost: Free. Information: Sequoia National Forest Tule River Ranger District, (209) 539-2607.

Western U.S. Grab Bag

* Aspenglen, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado--Like Yellowstone, Yosemite and Grand Canyon national parks, large herds of tourists descend on Rocky Mountain in the summer. My advice: go after Labor Day, when the crowds are down, the aspens are turning and the fall rut has the elk bugling. The advantage of Aspenglen campground is that it doesn’t accept reservations--this means that if you get there on a weekday morning, you’ve got a prayer. The campground is in a very pretty meadow next to the Fall River.

Aspenglen has 54 sites available on a first-come, first-served basis. Cost: $12 per night. Information: Rocky Mountain National Park, (970) 586-1206.

* North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona--Forget the south rim, which is a three-ring circus of dropped ice cream cones, screaming families and crowded parking lots in the summer. The remote north rim--more than 200 miles from either Las Vegas or Flagstaff--gets a fraction of the crowds and offers the same grand vistas of the grandest canyon of the them all. The North Rim campground sits near the rim; the strenuous North Kaibab Trail into the canyon is nearby. Remember that what goes down, must come up.

North Rim has 83 sites available; reservations are available by phoning Biospherics at (800) 365-2267. Cost: $15 per night. Information: Grand Canyon National Park, (520) 638-7888.

* Point Reyes National Seashore, California--Looking for a first backpacking trip? Point Reyes resembles a slightly miniaturized version of Big Sur, with a mostly rugged coastline and a forested interior--and it’s just an hour’s drive from San Francisco. The park doesn’t have any car campgrounds, but there are four hike-in back country campgrounds, all of which accept reservations. The easiest to reach is Coast Camp, which requires a 2.8-mile hike from the Point Reyes Youth Hostel to the campground. It might get foggy and it might be chilly, but the wonderful thing about hiking at sea level (as compared to the Sierra) is there’s lots and lots of oxygen.

Reservations for all four campgrounds can be made up to two months in advance by calling the park at (415) 663-1092 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on weekdays. Cost: $10 per night. Notes: The fog tends to lift later in the summer.

* White River, Mt. Ranier National Park, Washington--The most remote car campground in the park sits in a beautiful valley at an elevation of 4,400 feet, about 10,000 feet below the summit of Ranier. Just up the road is the Sunrise section of the park, where numerous trailheads can be found--for a good photo op of the mountain, take the hike to the Fremont Lookout Tower in the morning when you, the sun and Ranier are at 90 degree angles to one another. From the campground, you can hike up a trail following the White River upstream that eventually leads to one of the mountain’s glaciers. There is also a trail that follows the White River upstream from the campground.

White River has 112 sites available on a first-come, first-served basis. Fees are $10 per night. Information: Mt. Ranier National Park, (360) 569-2211. Note: The campground usually doesn’t open until mid-June and the campground gets shady early in the day since it sits on the eastern side of the mountain.

* Falls, Brooks Lake and Pinnacles, Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming--Now here are three campgrounds you don’t just stumble upon by accident. This trio of campgrounds is on the northern tip of Wyoming’s stunning Wind River Range, between the towns of Jackson and Dubois. All three campgrounds present good alternatives to nearby Grand Teton and Yellowstone parks, which get pounded with tourists in the summer. The scenery here is every bit as good. The nearby Washakie Wilderness is a volcanic range dissected by lush valleys--but the real attraction in Wyoming is the wildlife. Moose, elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep and both black and grizzly bears are found in various parts of the forest.

All three campgrounds are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Cost: $9 per night. Information: Shoshone National Forest Wind River Ranger District, (307) 455-2466.

* Onion Valley, California--Driving to Onion Valley is more like following an approach pattern rather than a road. From the town of Independence in the Owens Valley, the road follows a dizzying array of switchbacks before finally depositing campers in a giant hanging valley at an elevation of 9,200 feet. The campground is a bit on the scruffy side, but the scenery is top-shelf. Just a few yards from the campground is the popular trail that goes up and over the Kearsage Pass and into Sequoia National Park. For an easy hike with the kids, follow the trail for about two miles to Little Pothole Lake, where there are plenty of small trout and superb views of 13,632-foot University Peak.

Onion Valley has 29 sites; reservations can be made by calling the National Reservation Service at (877) 444-6777. Cost: $11 per night. Information: Inyo National Forest Mt. Whitney Ranger District, (760) 876-6200.