Which Eastern Sierra and Mammoth Lakes Campgrounds Have The Best Selection of Campsites with Privacy?

When we were writing our Eastern Sierra And Death Valley Camping With Privacy book, we looked at 3,416 campsites near Mammoth Lakes, Lone Pine, Tuolumne Meadows, Rock Creek Canyon, and beyond. We often get asked which campgrounds have the best selection of spaces with privacy.

There’s a lot of great campgrounds in the Eastern Sierra and Mammoth Lakes. We can’t cover every one of them in this article. But here’s our pick of some of the best campgrounds with privacy. These are the ones that have a lot of sites that are surrounded by vegetation. Or maybe they’re out in the sagebrush but are far away from the neighbors.

Just remember: all you need is one good spot. So even if an Eastern Sierra or Mammoth Lakes campground didn’t make this list, you can still find great camping spaces in many other established campgrounds in the area. We recommend you read our book to discover exactly which campsites in 91 established campgrounds are the most peaceful and private.

Green Creek Campground

Aspen trees surround most of the campsites in this small campground south of Bridgeport. Even most of the ones not in the aspens have lots of understory and spacing between them. Camp here and you’ll hear the serene sounds of Green Creek flowing past and the aspen leaves quaking in the breeze. Spend your days hiking up to Green Lake or West Lake, where you can cast a line for Rainbow Trout or simply admire the scenery.

Here’s One of Our Favorite Camping Spaces at Green Creek

#8 Privacy Rating: A+

Reservable? No. First-Come, First-Served.

Best For: Tents, Camper Vans, Truck Campers, motorhomes, travel trailers, RVs.

Nestled in the pine forest, #8 is a beauty of a campsite with no nearby neighbors. The nearest neighbor to the left is a long way away. There are no neighbors to the right, across the campground road, or behind. The rocky hill behind the campsite begs to be explored to see if it has a view from the top. The trees in that direction part to allow for a mountain vista in the distance. This site is close to the campground road, but it’s located on a peaceful loop in such a small campground that its nearness to the road won’t matter. A forest of pines, willows, and aspens grows across the street.

Not Every Space At Green Creek Has Privacy

There are a couple of sites at Green Creek that aren’t very private. To find out which two spaces, Read Our Book Eastern Sierra And Death Valley Camping With Privacy.

Words of Warning: When we were here in fall of 2014 there was a boil water order in effect, but we see no sign on the Forest Service website that this is still in effect. Call the Bridgeport Ranger District at 760-932-7070 to be certain. Or come prepared by bringing plenty of drinking water or a good filter to use water from the creek.

Campground Takes Reservations? No. First-Come, First-Served

Season: Usually Opens Late May and Closes Early October, Weather Depending.

Campground Best For: Tents, Camper Vans, Truck Campers, Motorhomes, Travel Trailers, RVs.

Campground Maximum Vehicle Length:  35 Feet

Directions: The drive up to this campground is a treat in itself offering sublimely beautiful vistas of Bridgeport Valley, Bridgeport Reservoir, and the jagged peaks of Green Creek Canyon. From Bridgeport, travel on Highway 395 south for 3.8 miles to the Green Creek Road sign. Turn right on Green Creek Road (Forest Service Road 142) and drive 3.5 miles to a “T” intersection. Turn right, continuing on Road 142, and drive 5.4 miles to the campground. The road is dirt all the way, but easily manageable by passenger cars.

Lundy Campground

Lundy Campground settles in among the aspens alongside Mill Creek. Aspens surround most of the campsites, although a few are in pines or sagebrush. This campground is in a beautiful setting, filled with the music of aspen leaves shivering in the afternoon Zephyr breezes.

Although it is a developed campground, it has the feel of dispersed camping.

The hike into nearby Lundy Canyon, where waterfalls plunge over cliffs and wildflowers add bright palettes of color, is one of the most beautiful in the Eastern Sierra. Cast a line in Lundy Lake or Mill Creek for rainbow and brown trout. This campground is one of the last to close in the fall, usually the first or second week in November, weather depending, making it a great choice for viewing fall foliage. Out of 37 campsites at Lundy Campground, 13 of them have wonderful privacy.

One of Our Favorite Camping Spaces at Lundy Campground

#25 Privacy Rating: A

Reservable? No. First-Come, First-Served.

Best For: Tents, Camper Vans, Truck Campers Only

Sprawled out in a meadow with aspens to the left and willows across the meadow to the right, this spot is more open than some of the campsites in this campground. But with no neighbors visible on any side, it’s a very private spot. The only reason we didn’t give it an A+ rating in our Eastern Sierra And Death Valley Camping With Privacy book is because it’s within clear view of the campground road. Some evergreens growing behind it mixed in with the aspens and willows offer some shade even though the spot is out in the open. A nice campsite for stargazing.

Words of Warning: No potable water is available.

Campground Takes Reservations? No. First-Come. First-Served.

Season: Late April to mid-November, weather depending.

Campground Best For: Tents, Camper Vans, Truck Campers, Motorhomes, Travel Trailers, RVs

Campground Maximum Vehicle Length: 35 Feet

Directions: From Lee Vining, travel north for about 7 miles on Highway 395 to Lundy Lake Road. Turn left and travel approximately 3 miles to the campground on the left.

Which Other Lundy Lake Campsites Have The Most Privacy?

To find out, Read Our Book Eastern Sierra And Death Valley Camping With Privacy.

Convict Lake Campground

Do you like camping in spaces that are hidden behind aspens or willows or simply are far away from their neighbors? Then this is one of the best campgrounds in the Mammoth Lakes area. Sunken down below Convict Lake Road, this campground has a large selection of private spaces. Convict Creek meanders past some of the campsites. Although other spaces sit out in the sagebrush, many of them have lots of elbowroom.

Although you can’t see Convict Lake from the campground, a lot of campsites have views of 11,812-foot Laurel Mountain, with its swirls of multicolored rock. In many spots, you’ll also see 12,268-foot Mount Morrison, with its ancient dolomite and marble slopes.

It’s a short walk to Convict Lake, where you can hike around the water or up the canyon. Anglers can fish for rainbow and brown trout.

Out of the 85 campsites here, we felt as if 20 of them were worthy of inclusion in the Eastern Sierra And Death Valley Camping With Privacy book.

One of Our Favorite Campsites at Convict Lake Campground

#16 Privacy Rating: A-

Reservable? No. First-Come, First-Served.

Best For: Tents, Camper Vans, Truck Campers, Smaller Motorhomes and Travel Trailers

Aspens gather around the picnic table, tent pad, and fire pit, shading the site and making it feel as if you’re sitting in an outdoor room. The space to the right is close to your driveway, but a thick forest of willows hides about 80 or 90 percent of the view. Plus, your parked vehicle will help obscure your neighbor from sight when you’re at the picnic table or campfire. You can also see space #14 to the left, but the aspen forest in between does a good job of cancelling out much of the view. Behind the campsite, aspens merge with the meadow. You can see the picnic table from the campground road here, but the table’s location in the aspens means you won’t feel overly exposed.

Campground Takes Reservations? Yes. Many sites are reservable at www.recreation.gov. There’s also a good selection of first-come, first-served spaces.

Season: Late April to October 31, weather permitting.

Campground Best For: Tents, Camper Vans, Truck Campers, Motorhomes, Travel Trailers, RVs.

Campground Maximum Vehicle Length: 40 Feet

Directions: From Highway 395, about 4.5 miles south of Mammoth Lakes, turn west on Convict Lake Road (near the Mammoth Yosemite Airport). Travel 2 miles to the campground on the left.

How To Know Exactly Which Campsites at Convict Lake Have The Most Privacy

To find the best spots, Read Our Book Eastern Sierra And Death Valley Camping With Privacy.

East Fork Campground

This large campground sits on the hillside along Rock Creek in spectacularly beautiful Rock Creek Canyon, between Mammoth Lakes and Bishop, California. Most of the campsites with the best privacy are nestled in the aspen groves. Many of the ones alongside the creek have really bad privacy. However, we did find a few streamside sites to our liking. Of the 133 spaces in East Fork Campground, we deemed 20 of them worthy of inclusion in our camping with privacy book.

Up the canyon is one of the most beautiful hikes in the Eastern Sierra: Little Lakes Valley. Except for a hill leading into the valley and one small uphill trek later in the hike, it’s a mostly flat walk past a handful of lakes until the trail begins climbing toward the pass. So you can reach some of the most amazing scenery in the Sierra with minimal effort. Snow-speckled, jagged mountain peaks serve as the backdrop.

One Great Feature: East Fork has flush toilets.

One of Our Favorite East Fork Campsites With Privacy

#1 Privacy Rating: A+

Reservable? Yes. Visit recreation.gov for reservations.

Best For: Tents, Truck Campers, Camper Vans, Motorhomes, Travel Trailers up to 30 feet.

This site comes with its own private miniature stream gurgling along on the left side of the space, wildflowers lining its banks. Surprisingly, the stream was still flowing when we were there in late August of a drought year so it’s probably spring fed. Aspens and pines are your only neighbor to the right. Evergreens and aspens hide most of the view of the space to the left, about 20 feet away. The only reason you can see that site at all is because up by the tent pad of #1 a path leads between the two sites, where the trees part to open up a view.

Woods grow behind #1 and beyond that is Rock Creek Road. There are no other campsites immediately across the campground road. Through the trees, you can see cars driving past on Rock Creek Road, and there’s a little bit of road noise. However, late at night, there aren’t many cars driving past.

Aspens and evergreens line the driveway on three sides, making it a peaceful place to park a camper. This is a beautiful spot, one that stayed in my mind long after we left the campground. Some people would rather camp closer to Rock Creek, but since the campground is large with one-way loops we enjoyed the easy in-out of this space’s location.

Words of Warning: This campground is at 9,000 feet. If you’re sensitive to high elevations, you may need to acclimate for a night before camping here.

Campground Takes Reservations? Yes. Many sites are reservable at recreation.gov. There’s also a good selection of first-come, first-served spaces.

Season: Mid-May to Early October, weather permitting.

Campground Best For: Tents, Camper Vans, Truck Campers, Motorhomes, Travel Trailers, RVs.

Campground Maximum Vehicle Length: 55 Feet

Directions: From Mammoth Lakes, travel approximately 14 miles south. Turn right (west) at Tom’s Place on Rock Creek Road and follow the road about 6 miles to the campground on the left. Or from Bishop, travel north on Highway 395 for 24 miles. Turn left (west) at Tom’s Place on Rock Creek Road and follow the road about 6 miles to the campground on the left.

How to Avoid The Worst Spaces at East Fork

There are some great spots at East Fork. But there are also really bad camp spaces. These are squished close together to the adjoining spots with no vegetation in between. If you like privacy when camping, make sure you don’t reserve one of these spots. Read Our Book Eastern Sierra And Death Valley Camping With Privacy.

Grays Meadows 

This campground gets overshadowed by its dramatic, high-altitude sibling up the road (Onion Valley Campground), but Grays Meadows possesses a subtler beauty. A canopy of black oaks shade many of the camping spaces, while willows embrace other campsites. Some of the spots are out in the sagebrush, but even a few of these more open sites are large and have excellent privacy.

Independence Creek flows through the campground, so some sites are located streamside. Because of its lower elevation (6,000 feet), on the hottest days of summer Grays Meadows can roast but many of the campsites have shade to cool you off. This is another campground with flush toilets.

One of Our Favorite Campsites at Grays Meadows

#37 Privacy Rating: A+

Reservable? Yes. Visit recreation.gov for reservations.

Best For: Tents, Truck Campers, Camper Vans, Motorhomes, Travel Trailers up to 30 feet.

A shady spot sheltered from view of the campground road, #37 delivers a lot of privacy in a peaceful setting with no neighbors in sight to the left or right and no other spots across the campground road. Tall willows drape over the picnic table and tent area. Black oaks and willows on the right and willows on the left shade the campsite. The road to Onion Valley swerves by to the right of the driveway, but vegetation screens out most of the view of the road. The tent area and picnic table are so far away from the road that passing vehicles won’t pose an issue.

Campground Takes Reservations? Yes. Many sites are reservable at recreation.gov. There’s also a good selection of first-come, first-served spaces.

Season: Mid-April to Early October, weather permitting, for summer operations. Lower Grays Meadows is open all year with winter operations (no water, no trash service).

Campground Best For: Tents, Camper Vans, Truck Campers, Motorhomes, Travel Trailers, RVs.

Campground Maximum Vehicle Length: 40 Feet

Directions: From Independence, California, travel 6 miles west on Market Street to the campground on the right.

Which Other Grays Meadows Campsites Have The Most Privacy?

To find out, Read Our Book Eastern Sierra And Death Valley Camping With Privacy.

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