Guess I should have clarified. We have no plans to hike it with the kids. I saw on the YARTS/Yosemite shuttle bus map, as well as some pics, that appear to be a scenic lookout spot to view Half Dome. As for driving times, just to the village. Thanks for the info.

You can just drive up to Glacier Point and check out Half Dome from there. It's arguably the most scenic spot in the whole park.

Cory,
We have stayed at Camp Richardson many times with our daughters. It has a fun beach for kids with many amenities. Early reservations needed, a few tents mostly rv's, not walking distance from South Lake Tahoe airport but I am sure rental cars are available . Tent camping on the beach is pretty controlled. If we were going again I like the North Shore/Truckee/AKT combo.

yeah, glacier point is a fantastic overlook for all of the valley really - but half dome in particular

if you have the guts - walk out onto the diving board

There's no camping on the Truckee airport unless you fly a glider and join the club. To get to the campground at Martis Creek Lake just past the glider port and outside the airport fence, you need to tie down in regular transient parking on the north west side of the airport and either call a cab or rent a car to get to the campground. Ironically, you can walk to the Hamster Inn from transient parking. If you're going to rent a car, I'd go to South Lake Tahoe and try to get a reservation at Bliss State Park, which is truly spectacular. If you want to camp with your airplane, Sierraville is 5 minutes north of Truckee. It's a nice spot, low key and sometimes attended by friendlies.

Alpine is another airport you can camp at in the Sierras. You can hike to the Carson river where I hear there is good fishing. Fly in to Bridgeport to the south for a nice breakfast, it's about a 5 minute walk from the airport.

CAVU wrote:There's no camping on the Truckee airport

That's a shame, they used to let you camp at the far northeast end.



Sierraville is a nice spot to camp, and it's a ten minute walk to town for breakfast/lunch at Sierraville Kitchen.

Gump

If you end up on the West side of the Sierras, there's really only two good places to cross going back, either up to Tahoe or the Victor 230 out of Friant to Mammoth. Just South of the V230 is Woodlake which used to have a courtesy car you could drive up to the Giant Sequoias, which in my opinion are more impressive. General Grant, Sherman, and others I can't remember, anyway, easy to do with kids. The V230 is a morning or evening thing, so plan acccordingly.

As far as Tahoe goes , the north side of the Lake is much different than south shore.Much more mellow in my thoughts .Come to TRK .Show up ,Tie down,AKT has you set with a car sounds like .If his breaks down I've got one for you and your crew....Got a few sea kayaks if you want as well as multiple other floating devices for kids ect .The reservoirs just north of TRK (10 min in the car) all have nice campgrounds to post up at.Also you can go for a quick rip on the North Circuit early one day while everyone is snoozing in the tent >

GumpAir wrote:

CAVU wrote:There's no camping on the Truckee airport

That's a shame, they used to let you camp at the far northeast end.

Gump

It is a shame. Both the glider guys and airport management gave me lots of reasons why they can't share with powered pilots. Regardless of the sense of that, it would not be that hard to make a camping area on the opposite side of the runway from the glider port, or to put in transient parking down and away from the glider ramp with access to the Martis Creek Lake campground. I don't think this is on anyone's wish list other than mine, though. It's too bad it has to be so formal and territorial there.

CAVU

Great info guys! Thank you!

low rider wrote:As far as Tahoe goes , the north side of the Lake is much different than south shore.Much more mellow in my thoughts .Come to TRK .Show up ,Tie down,AKT has you set with a car sounds like .If his breaks down I've got one for you and your crew....Got a few sea kayaks if you want as well as multiple other floating devices for kids ect .The reservoirs just north of TRK (10 min in the car) all have nice campgrounds to post up at.Also you can go for a quick rip on the North Circuit early one day while everyone is snoozing in the tent >

Thank you for the offer low rider. I'll PM if needed. I'm liking the TRK/Martis Creek Lake combo idea.

Thanks for the info on Woodlake, Alpine, and Sierraville. I'll check them out.

I really appreciate all the info! Thank you!

there is also camping at the Sierravile Hot Springs which are about a half mile from the sierraville airport. sierrahotsprings.org

c170pete wrote:there is also camping at the Sierravile Hot Springs which are about a half mile from the sierraville airport. sierrahotsprings.org

Cool. Thanks for the info!

I'm suprised nobody has mentioned Columbia (o22) as a camp place for the Yosemite run. Its just 35 miles by air to Mariposa and 25 over to Oakdale where Scotts van will be waiting. It has one of the best on-airport campsites in central CA and a short walk to food and a little mining town ( now for tourists ) . Not sure if they can get a rental car there but its a great place to camp.

m7flyer wrote:I'm suprised nobody has mentioned Columbia (o22) as a camp place for the Yosemite run. Its just 35 miles by air to Mariposa and 25 over to Oakdale where Scotts van will be waiting. It has one of the best on-airport campsites in central CA and a short walk to food and a little mining town ( now for tourists ) . Not sure if they can get a rental car there but its a great place to camp.

Good intel! Thanks David! I'll look into it!.....

It looks great! I believe we will camp there. Thanks for the recommendation!

m7flyer wrote:I'm suprised nobody has mentioned Columbia (o22) as a camp place for the Yosemite run. Its just 35 miles by air to Mariposa and 25 over to Oakdale where Scotts van will be waiting. It has one of the best on-airport campsites in central CA and a short walk to food and a little mining town ( now for tourists ) . Not sure if they can get a rental car there but its a great place to camp.

Columbia is a great stop all on it's own. I didn't mention it because I didn't know how he'd get to Yosemite from there. But yeah, it's a great place especially for kids. Stagecoach rides, gold panning, rocks to climb. Fun stuff.

Columbia is alright but it isn't my favorite camping spot. They don't allow fires, and fires are mandatory for camping IMO. I have had one but was asked to put it out. I also like to camp places a little more scenic/remote. On the plus side it has bathrooms in the camping area if that's important and is a close walk to food and the old mining town as others have said.

Well, for this stop, being able to be in a tent and not pay for the hotel is the goal. So this looks pretty good depending on how it meshes with other logistics.

Hey Scott, out of curiousity, how many does your van seat?

Grassstrippilot wrote:Well, for this stop, being able to be in a tent and not pay for the hotel is the goal. So this looks pretty good depending on how it meshes with other logistics.

Hey Scott, out of curiousity, how many does your van seat?

7 It's a minivan.

Cool! Thanks!