We noticed that you're using an unsupported browser. The TripAdvisor website may not display properly.
We support the following browsers:
Windows: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox. Mac: Safari.

Dorst Campground: Traveller Reviews

Seven-and-a-half miles northwest of Lodgepole Visitor Center, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, CA
Hotel amenities
Dorst Campground
3.5 of 5 stars 19 Reviews
Which Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park hotels are on sale?
See hotels
Write a Review

19 reviews from our community

    Trip type
Traveller rating
    8
    2
    4
    4
    1
Date Rating
Long Beach, California
Contributor
15 reviews 15 reviews
Reviews in 8 cities Reviews in 8 cities
6 helpful votes 6 helpful votes
“Amazing Campground~Great for Everyone!”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 19 August 2011
3
people found this review helpful

Dorst Campground is really in the middle of the forest. My family and I stayed 4 nites, drove in from the coast on Sunday nite and left early Thurs. morning. We were in a 26 ft. R.V. and stayed in campsite 15. Since this campsite is on the outskirts of the campground we had no problems with noise from other campers. This site involved backing in to the site with our RV, but definitely big and long enough for a bigger RV if needed. Dorst Creek was right in the back of our campsite, so it was really relaxing hearing the water. Plenty of room on the western side of the campsite to play frisbee or even set up a badminton net if you are into that. Would also be great for horseshoe's too! The downside of this campsite is that it has a direct western sun evening exposure, so if you don't have an awning or canopy it can make your RV or trailer a little hot.
All in all this is a beautiful campground. We did see a bear down by the stream right behind our campsite. We found out later that the bear's name is Sandy. So if you see a blondish brown bear with a very large ear tag, thats Sandy. We were told that Sandy really likes to raid your campground when you are not around, So please use the bear boxes if you are tenting, or in a tent trailer. Otherwise, if you are in an RV like we were, just make sure when you leave your RV at your site, you close all windows, and vents, put up the front privacy curtains and close all shades. What a bear can't see, they won't go after, but if they can see anything up in the drivers area that looks like food (leftover trash from McD's for instance) they will break your windows and then you will have a bear in your trailer~Not fun at all~
One last thing, if you are up to a beautiful hike, at the backside of this campground is the Muir Trail that goes to a lovely grouping of Giant Sequoia's. It's 2 miles in and 2 miles back over the same trail, thats 4 miles in total. About 1/2 way is a great rock overlook, that really gives you an ontop view. Quite a nice place to eat your lunch. This trail is marked Moderate in all the review books, but because of the high altitude and if you are not in good shape, I would take it slow. Make sure that you look for bear and deer while you are walking. We saw two male mule deer with full antler! Have a good time! Look for my review here in TripAdvisor under Sequoia National Park~I give a complete description on the Shuttle System that I think would be quite helpful to everyone!

Stayed August 2011, travelled with family
Was this review helpful? Yes
Ask nativecalifornian about Dorst Campground
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
1 review
7 helpful votes 7 helpful votes
“Amazing campground-no bears this year.”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 24 July 2011
7
people found this review helpful

Dorst creek campground might be the best campground in the giant forest. We were there for 5 days and only saw one bear the entire week. We were worried because of prior reviews, but the rangers told us they had problems with bears last year. Nothing this year.

  • Stayed July 2011
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
Was this review helpful? Yes
Ask Onehappycamperpo about Dorst Campground
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Los Angeles, California
Senior Contributor
36 reviews 36 reviews
Reviews in 21 cities Reviews in 21 cities
20 helpful votes 20 helpful votes
“Decent campsite fortunately in an amazing park”
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 19 July 2011
2
people found this review helpful

Reserved for a quick one nighter over July 4 weekend .Snagged the last night using reserve.america online reservatoin system about two weeks beforehand.

The campground is very open and spread and large. Noise travels and sadly, so too do people's TVs, radios, and the like making my camping less than peaceful at times. Our campsite was literally on top of the one beside us. Plus we had little to no shade at all. Not a huge deal cause we were mostly out of the site playing, but I noticed this was true for many of the sites in the area.

Expect a decent campsite - very family friendly and oriented so noise is a problem as is poor bear safety practices with food, etc. The rangers themselves were MIA outside of check-in. Bears came in and caused a ruckus. Did not effect me too much, but was never comfy knowing I slept across from the dumpster and with poor bear safety by many in the campsite this will never die down...

All in all the best part of staying here reinforced to my wife why backpacking is always better than car camping! So Dorst had that win!

  • Stayed July 2011, travelled as a couple
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 2 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
Was this review helpful? Yes
Ask sambieni about Dorst Campground
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Montreal, Canada
Contributor
17 reviews 17 reviews
Reviews in 13 cities Reviews in 13 cities
9 helpful votes 9 helpful votes
“Nice campground”
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 16 October 2010
4
people found this review helpful

We stayed there only one night because there was no more place at the Lodgepole campground. We didn't have any bear that night, but when we registered, the girl told us there were lots of bears at this campground (and I didn't see anyone else working there...). We've liked to have a large tent site so that our tent was not near the bear locker. This campground is a bit far from the main attractions and there is no shower... so we had to go to the Lodgepole to have a shower. It's good for people without car because a bus goes from the Lodgepole to Dorst campground every 30 minutes.

  • Stayed August 2010, travelled as a couple
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 2 of 5 stars Service
Was this review helpful? Yes
Ask JMichel_07 about Dorst Campground
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Edmonton, Canada
Senior Reviewer
10 reviews 10 reviews
Reviews in 6 cities Reviews in 6 cities
10 helpful votes 10 helpful votes
“Bear raids”
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 10 August 2010
7
people found this review helpful

Great location for the campground - not too far from the free Sequoia parks shuttle service and Kings Canyon. Cooler temperatures at Dorst campground than some of the other campgrounds (i.e. Potwisha campground) where it can get up to 100F.
Despite lectures from rangers, novice campers leave food out in the open – and hence bear raids happen every night. Campers band together to scare the bears away – each time this occurred (every night for our 4 night stay there) there were no rangers in sight. The bears are after the food not the humans, as long as you keep your campsite clean you should not have a problem. But still quite scary, especially our last night when there was a bear raid every hour on the hour from midnight till 4am.

Stayed August 2010, travelled as a couple
Was this review helpful? Yes
Ask thallo1 about Dorst Campground
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC

Travellers who viewed Dorst Campground also viewed

Wuksachi Lodge & Village
4 of 5 stars 510 Reviews
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, CA
CHECK RATES! ABS:HotelCheckRates-d145719?&src=ShowUserReviewsHotels&fromServlet=ShowUserReviews&Action=QC_AlsoViewed
Lodgepole Campground
4.5 of 5 stars 38 Reviews
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, CA
John Muir Lodge
3.5 of 5 stars 130 Reviews
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, CA
CHECK RATES! ABS:HotelCheckRates-d249011?&src=ShowUserReviewsHotels&fromServlet=ShowUserReviews&Action=QC_AlsoViewed
View all 5 hotels in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, ranked by popularity »

Been to Dorst Campground? Share your experiences!

Write a Review Add Photos Add Videos

Owners: What's your side of the story?

If you own or manage Dorst Campground, register now for free tools to enhance your listing, attract new reviews, and respond to reviewers.

  • Manage your listing