Saddlebag Lake (Tioga / Twenty Lakes)
Above Lee Vining (Tioga Pass) · near Lee Vining · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Camping
At a glance
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Elevation
- 10000
- Campsites
- ~20 sites
- Season
- Summer only (Tioga Pass open)
- Fee
- ~$24/night
Permits and booking
- Reservation required
- No
- How to reserve
- FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED. California's highest drive-to campground (~10,000 ft), on a stark alpine lake near Tioga Pass — gateway to the Twenty Lakes Basin. Vault toilets, water. A summer water-taxi shortcuts the basin hike. Only open when Tioga Pass is open.
What is here
- Setting
- mountain
- Amenities
- Highest drive-to camp in California · Twenty Lakes Basin trailhead · Water-taxi across the lake · Trophy alpine fishing
- Best for
- Highest-elevation alpine camping + lake basin
- Features
- ~10,000 ft — highest drive-to camp · Twenty Lakes Basin access · Stark, treeless alpine beauty · Near Tioga Pass & Yosemite
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Camping detail
- Camp type
- developed · backcountry
- Intl tip
- FIRST-COME. California's HIGHEST drive-to campground (~10,000 ft) — acclimatize to the altitude. Gateway to the Twenty Lakes Basin (fishing guide); a summer water-taxi shortcuts the hike. Only open when Tioga Pass is open (≈July–fall). Stark, treeless, spectacular. Cold nights. Combine with Yosemite's high country and Mono Lake. The highest alpine camp.
The guide
Saddlebag Lake, at nearly 10,000 feet just outside Yosemite's Tioga Pass entrance, is home to the highest drive-to campground i…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Saddlebag Lake (Tioga / Twenty Lakes) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.966, -119.272