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Whitney Portal Campground

4.6 (19 reviews)
Closed 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

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1 pancake will feed at least 4 people!

Absolutely beautiful, stunning campground! Clean everything! The store is fantastic, but beware, the pancake will feed at least 4 people! The size is real! Awesome staff! A creek, "river," runs through the middle of the camp ground next to the trail that goes to the store. Will definitely be back!

Amy A.

Stumbled upon this campsite on a spontaneous trip with my fiancé in early October. We are passionate about camping/backpacking and have seen MANY campgrounds. This is definitely toward the top of the list. The campsite was incredibly clean and bear friendly. Careful for the nighttime temps during the fall, but the amount of sun- protection from the redwood trees must come in awfully handy in the hot summer! It's a DREAM to find a campground like this one with a running stream cutting through the middle of the site! What a beautiful sound to wake up to, and a magical place to explore-- without even leaving the campsite! Trailheads are located right at the campground, and the bathrooms aren't too bad! Highly highly recommend this location if you can get a reservation. The Ranger told us it is very easy to get walk-up sites (like we did) after Labor Day

Sarah L.

This may be my favorite campground ever. It's only about 20 minutes from Lone Pine, but feels like a different world. The drive up from the valley is beautiful. After spending the day in Death Valley we were relieved to spend the evening in a cool forest at over 8,000 ft. Each campsite has huge boulders, and multiple spots from which to choose to set up your tent. A beautiful creek runs through the center of the campground, and a trail follows it up to the Mt. Whitney trailhead. Compared to sites in Yosemite and Sequoia, this campground is very quiet and peaceful. A ranger told us that there is a lot of bear activity (she said 7 active bears), but we packed up all the food and everything with a scent into the bear locker. I did smell a heavy wet dog scent outside our tent in the middle of the night, which I assume was a bear. Wish we had more time in this beautiful campground.

Whitney Portal campground stream

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5 months ago

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1 year ago

So fun! Took boys up with a few other dads. Fun fishing, beautiful scenery to explore and of course some bears running around at night.

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Ask the Community - Whitney Portal Campground

Are there flushing toilets? Or are they just the fancy portapotty kind?

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Review Highlights - Whitney Portal Campground

The camp host are very accommodating gracious understanding most of all helpful.

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Cottonwood Lakes

Cottonwood Lakes

5.0(5 reviews)
6.3 mi

Not going to lie, this hike unexpectedly really beat me up. I intended to do the entire loop but…read morewas just so exhausted/overwhelmed when I woke up that I ended up turning back, although I took a different way back. I only made it to Lake 3 but to be fair, it started heavily pouring with intermittent thunder and lightning. The elevation gain destroyed me with my 20+ pound backpack, but I eventually made it to Lake 3 where I joined 2 other girls who basically adopted my clueless self. It is beautiful but perhaps would have been better without the cloudy skies. Overall, I would do this trip again but with more training!!

The Cottonwood Lakes are a series of 5 lakes in the high Eastern Sierra Nevada at about 11,000'…read moreelevation where you can catch California golden trout. This is a great place to camp out if you are looking for a place to acclimate before doing a high altitude hike such as Whitney. For convenience, you can just camp out at the trailhead which is at 10,000'. It takes about an hour to get from the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead to the Whitney Portal. I arrived here on July 3rd in the afternoon and spent one night and the following day fishing and hiking the area as a warmup to Whitney, which I was hiking on July 5th. Ultimately, I did not have any altitude sickness issues beyond a very mild headache which I could treat with ibuprofen. From the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead, the Cottonwood Lakes are about 5.5 miles away, so 11 miles roundtrip. Cottonwood Lake #3 is the largest of the five, and I ended up catching all my trout here. However, I didn't spend much time, if any, at the other lakes due to time constraints. I caught 4 trout in about an hour and a half. It's a very beautiful area, with large open meadows and lots of wildlife. I saw a deer and a pair of coyote while hiking to the lakes. There are also hordes of mosquitos so be sure to bring powerful mosquito repellant. Cottonwood Lakes can also be the midpoint in a hike to Mt. Langley, but that's another review.

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Cottonwood Lakes
Cottonwood Lakes
Cottonwood Lakes

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Mount Langley

Mount Langley

4.8(9 reviews)
10.0 mi

Completed on 8.20.22 We stayed the night at Cottonwood Lakes trailhead campgrounds which sits at…read more10034 elevation, to acclimate ourselves to the altitude. Damn! This trail is GORGEOUS and offers amazing views of lakes, medows, and of course Mount Langley! Started at 5am and was back at the trail head by 6pm, spent 45 mins at the summit and 30 mins swimming at CW lake #4. Yes, it's a long, strenuous hike. 22 miles out and back, with an elevation gain of 4000ft+...If the altitude doesn't get you exhausted, the ascent will. I started to feel symptoms of AMS around 9000ft and then again at 13000ft, take your time, hydrate, and eat. Took the new army pass up, pretty and well maintained trail, as you pass "High Lake" you'll see what's to come... New army pass is almost vertical climb up to a flase summit. You have about another 1500ft of climbing to do, to reach the summit. Desecended down the "Army Pass", this trail is a bit sketchy and nerve-wracking, if you're afraid of heights. It's totally manageable and doable, just try to focus on the trail... I carried 5l of water and lots of healthy and not so healthy snacks. Also GU gels and Tylenol will help you on this hike. There's plenty of water source in the area, so you don't necessarily have to hike with a full pack, just bring water filtering system...you'll be alright. Weather was perfect for this hike...bugs were present, but wasn't too bad. I would definitely hike this trail again! Good luck, do research, and believe what you read. It's really important to listen to your body! Happy Trails!!

This is an often overlooked mountain that is overshadowed by its sister, Mount Whitney. However,…read morethis 14er is nothing to sneeze at. The beauty of this hike is that it is good training for Whitney and it does not require a permit for day hiking, which is what we did. Depending on the trail that you choose, the total mileage can range from 20-24 miles. New Army Pass is better maintained but will add 2 miles each way. We chose to go up New Army and down Old Army for 22 miles. The first 6-7 miles are pretty easy overall, with about 1,000 feet elevation gain. However, keep in mind that the trail starts at 10,000 feet, so acclimation is always recommended. Once you start the switchbacks on New Army Pass, the ascent becomes more difficult. I personally feel that the views on this hike are more picturesque than most along the Whitney trail. What makes this hike really difficult is the last 1-1.5 miles, in which you will gain just short of 2,000 feet elevation. The climb is very steep in loose sand/scree combined with boulder climbing. It reminded me a lot of Iron Mountain in SoCal but with boulders. Follow the rock cairns closely to lead you to the summit of 14,042 feet.

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Mount Langley
Mount Langley
Mount Langley - My 2nd 14,042 foot Mt Langley summit

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My 2nd 14,042 foot Mt Langley summit

Whitney Portal Campground - hiking - Updated May 2026

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