Sweetwater (Stanislaus National Forest)

A lot of highway noise, no water (at least at my part of the campground), no Verizon coverage. Could have done dispersed camping!

Clean bathrooms, nice campsites, and overall good vibes

We spent 2.5 weeks camping in bear country campsites down the west coast and this campsite was the only one we encountered issues at. Please consider literally anywhere else, especially tent campers. The smaller stuff: Highway 120 wraps around the campsite. In a tent, you will hear it at all hours of the night unless you sleep like you’re dead or wear earplugs. In a camper/RV, you’ll probably be fine. Secondly, the host was running a generator all night. It frequently disturbed what little sleep I actually managed to get. Please heed this warning: Sweetwater is unsafe for wildlife and for campers. It should be closed down until the issues are rectified. There is at least one bear that clearly frequents the area and the inexcusable negligence and/or cluelessness of the hosts and American Land & Leisure, plus the inappropriate trash receptacles, could easily get that bear killed. This campsite DID NOT have bear-proof dumpsters for reasons that are beyond us. They had signs claiming that, due to bear activity, they would be locked at 8pm. They were not locked when we arrived at around 11pm. At about 4:30am, I heard the dumpster slamming shut which woke my husband. I had to use the bathroom which was next to the dumpsters, so we waited until 5am and then left the tent. I shone my torch at the dumpsters and, sure enough, there was a hulking bear feeding from it roughly 20ft away (!) from us. We made noise and it ran into the shrubs at the edge of the campsite and waited there, so we made more noise, got into our car, and waited until daylight to make sure it had left. Leaving a dumpster which is not bear-proof in the first place unlocked overnight is beyond the pale. The people “maintaining” this campsite need serious reprimanding and it needs to be closed until this is addressed. Someone may get seriously injured or, more likely, an innocent bear may end up being senselessly killed for something completely preventable.

Cleanest bathrooms I've ever encountered camping! Self service campground - no wood for sale. Nice sized sites, close to the road so you can hear the cars. Great location otherwise and I'd stay there again. Beautiful skies.

Sites are spacious but very little to no shade. Bathrooms were fairly clean. We did have a skunk in our campsite! Overall a good spot to camp outside Yosemite if it’s not too hot.

Nice small campground just outside of Yosemite. Great stop on our way from Redwoods.