The lottery is about to open for one of Yosemite’s best experiences: staying at the High Sierra Camps next summer. Although we don’t know the exact date when the lottery opens, sources in the know tell us that it is imminent. So in the meantime, here’s all the info you need so that when it opens, you’re ahead of the game.
Here in this remote, rugged, pack-it-in, pack-it-out landscape, you’ll commune with nature in a far more significant way than people car camping in the valley below—although we also love car camping! We’re not knocking it. In this part of Yosemite, you’ll be able to sleep in established tents, be fed hearty meals and have access to potable drinking water (although some online commenters have said that you may have to filter your own water at Glen Aulin). If you reach the Sunrise High Sierra Camp, you’ll see beautiful alpine meadows, seasonally covered in wildflowers, and the dramatic peaks of the Sierra Nevada’s Cathedral Range that resembles a cathedral spire. Keep checking back to the High Sierra Camps website because the lottery will open soon.
What’s up there?
Five High Sierra Camps, accessible only by foot or on mule. Once here, you can put down your heavy pack and explore the back country with just a day pack each day if you choose to stay more than one night at the same camp. These camps are spaced 6 to 10 miles apart along a loop trail and include Glen Aulin, May Lake, Sunrise, Merced Lake and Vogelsang. The last two camps were closed in 2024; we’ll wait to see if they open up for 2025.
Is there a particular direction to walk the loop?
It’s suggested to start at the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge and travel by foot to Tuolumne Meadows, and in this order, Sunrise, May Lake, Glen Aulin and finish back at Tuolumne Meadows Lodge for the full five-night loop of the High Sierra Camps (this route doesn’t include Vogelsang and Merced Lake camps, which were suspended during the 2024 season).
How long does it take to walk the loop?
An estimated five days for the full loop, but you can do a half-loop or choose another configuration. Scroll down on this page to see distances between the camps. It takes 3.5 to 5 hours to walk between them, with the terrain varying from moderate to very strenuous.
When can I actually camp there?
Seasonally, June through September of 2025
And I’ll be alone?
Your choice. You can enter the lottery for guided or unguided trips. Guided trips start on specific days of the week while unguided trips start on a day you designate. Guided trips last either five or seven days.
What does a guided trip entail?
You’ll have a guide with you and all three daily meals are covered. Unguided trips includes two meals per day (breakfast and dinner) at each camp, and if you want a sack lunch, you can add that on for an additional cost.
What is the cost for a guided trip?
For a guided trip in 2024, the cost was $1,403 (including $100 per night for the guide) for adults and $970 for children aged 7 and older (younger children are not allowed). The pricing will likely be similar in 2025, which this upcoming lottery is for. The guides are from the Yosemite Mountaineering School.
What is the cost for an unguided trip?
In 2024, the rates were $175 to $182 per night for adults and $90 to $95 for children 7 and older. This included an overnight stay in a shared canvas tent, dinner, and breakfast. Since that’s just for a single night, if you intend to hit all five camps on the loop, you would spend $875 to $910 per adult (given that 2025 pricing may vary)—about $500 less than a guided trip.
Are there restrooms?
Perhaps out on the trek you will have to poop in the woods, but the camps all include solar-powered composting toilets. And at May Lake, Merced Lake and Sunrise camps, you can even—gasp—take a shower, subject to water availability. Those three camps also have basins for washing clothing.
What happens at night?
After the hearty meal, you’ll have a ranger-led conversation around the campfire about the wilderness that surrounds you.
How do I apply?
You have to fill out a form on the website here. The lottery always opens in fall for spots the following summer.
How do I know if I won the lottery?
You’ll be notified by email, so be sure to provide an email address that you check regularly.
Any last fun thing?
The Glen Aulin camp is next to a waterfall with amazing sunset views of Mt. Conness in the distance. And if you can’t wait until next summer, here's our look at great things to do in Yosemite in winter.