Camping at Azalea Campground in Kings Canyon National Park

Looking for more fun things to do in and around Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park?
Take a hike to see the General Grant Tree, check out more massive trees on the Big Stump Loop, or head to Panoramic Point for incredible views.

AMENITIES

• Flush toilets
• Utility sinks outside the restrooms for obtaining and dumping water (all dirty water must be dumped in the sinks, not on the ground)
• Drinkable water, with spigots placed throughout the campground
• Picnic tables and fire rings at every campsite
• Bear lockers at every campsite – please store all food and scented items in the lockers
• Paved parking pads
• NO showers
• NO electrical or water hook-ups
• Dead wood can be gathered to use as firewood, or firewood can be purchased from the camp store in Grant Grove Village — please verify that fires are allowed first
• Grant Grove Village, with rangers on duty, park information, a gift shop, small general store, restaurant, and post office, is located just down the road from Azalea Campground

ABOUT THE SITES

• Azalea Campground offers 110 campsites.
• Campsites cost $28 per night. If you have an America the Beautiful Access or Senior Pass, campsites are half price.
• Azalea Campground is open year round, but only 19 sites are open through winter.
• Sites vary in size, so check the site description when you book. Many are quite spacious and spread out, so even though vegetation is somewhat sparse, they feel relatively private. If you’re bringing a trailer or RV, make sure you choose a site that will accommodate it. Some parking pads are quite small.
• Most campsites are fairly sunny and open, but with some shade. This was great for using our solar panels to charge our trailer battery. I recommend bringing a canopy to provide shade during the heat of the day.

• Expect high temperatures at Grant Grove and Azalea Campground in the summer. Fortunately, because of the high elevation, it usually cools down nicely in the evening.
• Our site was #65. It was spacious, mostly sunny, and open to the hillside and woods beyond, while still close to the bathroom. The location was beautiful, but it’s not the most level site.
• Please keep your campsite “crumb clean”! It’s exciting to spot a black bear from your car while driving the Generals Highway, but not in your campsite! Keep the bears away from Azalea Campground by storing all food and scented items in your bear locker (not out in the open, in tents, or even in your car) and making sure all garbage and recycling goes into the bear-proof bins placed around the campground. Keep a clean, crumb-free site to protect yourself, your fellow campers, and the bears.

FUN STUFF

• Take a hike! You can hike to the General Grant Tree directly from the campground. It’s a wonderful easy hike for all ages. Go early or late to avoid crowds. You can extend this hike for a longer outing, as there is an entire network of interconnected trails to explore in Grant Grove. The book Hike the Parks: Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks by Scott Turner is a great resource, as are the rangers at Grant Grove Village.
• Explore more! The topography surrounding Azalea Campground was made for exploring. Wander the open pine forests, climb granite boulders, and build a fort from foraged dead wood. Just be sure to set limits on where your kids can go; this area is vast. Adventure awaits!
• Catch a sunset. While you won’t have a great sunset view from most (if any) campsites, if you wander through the woods below the west side of the campground, the trees open up to some amazing views. Find a perch on the rocks to settle in and enjoy the golden hour.

NEARBY & NOTABLE

• Big Stump. Yep, it’s a big, big stump, and you can even climb on top of it for the full experience. Also known as the Mark Twain Tree, it was cut down in 1891 to be shown at exhibitions in New York and London. It’s also the centerpiece of a lovely short hike just a few miles down the road from Azalea Campground.
• Buena Vista is a gorgeous short hike that sees far fewer visitors than many of the better known Sequoia and Kings Canyon hikes. Take the trail to Bueana Vista Peak for views across the canyons and the chance to play among giant granite boulders.
• Panoramic Point awaits those who make the drive up the curving, narrow road to this spectacular overloook. Go just before sunrise or sunset and follow the short paved trail for an incredible view toward Kings Canyon.
• Kings Canyon National Park is within easy reach — technically, if you’re staying at Azalea Campground, you’re already there! From the Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park, it takes about an hour to drive the incredibly scenic Highway 180 through the canyon to its terminus at Roads End. Of course, you’ll spend much more time than that, stopping to marvel at waterfalls, mountain meadows, and more.
• Sequoia National Park lies to the south of Grant Grove. Great news — since Kings Canyon and Sequoia share the same entrance station, you don’t have to get in line at another park entrance! Although it takes about an hour to reach Lodgepole and a bit longer for destinations further south, such as Moro Rock, Azalea Campground is still a good base for visiting Sequoia.

THE VERDICT

Azalea Campground is a beautiful campground that makes an ideal home base for exploring both Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. If you prefer one campground from which to see it all, Azalea Campground is it. Two other campgrounds also located in Grant Grove, Sunset and Crystal Springs, are also good options. Originally, I intended to stay at Lodgepole Campground in Sequoia National Park, and only chose Azalea after I failed to obtain reservations at Lodgepole, but I was very happy with our stay here. In fact, it’s now one of my favorite campgrounds.

At Azalea Campground, you’re surrounded by pines and granite boulders. Most sites are spacious and light-filled, but still offer some shade. There aren’t a lot of amenities, but the restrooms and sinks were in good working order and clean. Don’t forget to bring your own hand soap; as with many campgrounds, soap is often in short supply in the restrooms. The real draw is the great outdoors, and there is so much to explore around the campground. Plus, it’s a fun, easy hike from the campground to Grant Grove, home of the General Grant Tree. If you haven’t been, it’s definitely a must-see.

We found the campground to be quiet and peaceful (except for the shrieks of our kids playing nearby during the day, that is). Despite the fact that Azalea is a large campground, we really felt immersed in nature. Being on the edge of the campground loop doubtlessly helped. Also, we heard very few generators during our stay. The fact that most parking pads at Azalea are too small for large RVs probably helps.

Ultimately, we had a wonderful stay at Azalea Campground and highly recommend it for those exploring this beautiful region. Don’t cut your trip short, either — Azalea is the kind of place where you’ll want to set up camp and stay for several days or more. Slow down, breathe in the pine-scented mountain air, and enjoy.

I didn’t originally plan to stay at Azalea Campground. For our big trip to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, I picked Lodgepole as our campground of choice. Sure, it was the most popular campground in the parks, but we were arriving on a Monday, which I was sure would increase our chances of getting a site. I knew the drill, and before 7am Pacific Time, exactly 30 days prior to our arrival (yes, you read right — reservations could only be made 30 days in advance in 2021), I was on the recreation.gov website, ready to book our site.

Well… you know what they say about “best laid plans”. Without going into too much detail, I’ll say that as soon as 7am hit, all Lodgepole campsites were booked in less than one minute. This is not an exaggeration. I checked Dorst Creek Campground, my second choice. Nope! Also completely booked. After referring to my guidebooks and doing a few online searches, I discovered Azalea Campground. Previously, Azalea had been first-come, first-served only. Now, to my great joy, they were accepting reservations. And they had campsites still available.

Now, Azalea is located about an hour north of Lodgepole, so that meant changing some of our plans. Any good travel planner knows how to pivot! But honestly, that wasn’t a big deal, and I found myself quickly growing excited about our stay at Azalea. Finally, the day of our arrival came.

Or should I say night of our arrival? As is so often the case, we arrived at Azalea Campground after dark. After struggling to back our trailer onto what turned out to be a very slanted parking pad, we settled into campsite #65 for the night, eager to see what morning would bring.

We awoke to sunny California skies, and sure enough, our site was absolutely gorgeous. On one side, the ground sloped gently toward another far-off site. On the other, boulders and greenery provided a beautiful and generous border with the site next door. In fact, we couldn’t even see this site from our own. Below us stretched a hillside dotted with granite boulders and pine trees. This was our home for four more nights, and I was already in love.

Now, the site wasn’t perfect. Remember that slope I mentioned earlier? We don’t have a lot of flexibility when it comes to leveling our trailer, and there was no way to straighten it completely. Fortunately, our heads were at the higher end. The kitchen was still usable, but the slightest touch would send cups toppling. We had a few spills, to be sure. But the slant was definitely the most noticeable below the trailer, where we pitched our canopy over the picnic table:

We spent our first full day settling into our campsite, visiting Grant Grove Village, and hiking the Big Stump trail. In the afternoon, we walked through Azalea Campground to nearby Grant Grove, another fun trail for adults and kids alike.

Speaking of kids, they, too, were loving our stay at Azalea. The place was a wonderland to explore, and our biggest challenge as parents was keeping track of them when they disappeared down the hillside into a magical land of giant boulders, fallen logs, and secret hideouts. I was happy they were able to keep themselves so well entertained, but had to talk with five-year-old T several times about always asking first before leaving the campsite and staying within the designated boundaries.

T made fast friends with a couple of children staying at the site across from us, and the kids could frequently be heard giggling and shrieking as their fantasy games played out below our campsite. This was also a great place to gather dead wood. During our stay in June, the burn ban wasn’t yet in effect, so we enjoyed nightly campfires. The kids hauled wood up to the site, where J enthusiastically chopped it down to size. He was so enthusiastic that we actually ended up with far more firewood than we needed. I hope the next campers were able to make use of it!

It was also J who suggested we might find a good spot to view the sunset near the campground. Together, we explored in the woods below our site, and sure enough, an outcropping of granite boulders provided a beautiful vantage point. We returned with Michael and T during the golden hour, an especially magical time in the Sierras. The fading sunlight bathed the rocks in a rosy glow that turned to gold as evening turned to dusk.

You may imagine that we were in no hurry to leave Azalea Campground. Indeed, we were not. But with a four-night stay at Hume Lake ahead of us, eventually it was time to depart. We said a fond farewell as we drove through the campground one last time, towing the trailer behind us. Far from home though it may be, Azalea Campground will always be close in my heart.