Sentinel Campground

Fantastic camp site. Stayed 8÷5÷15 to 8÷8÷15. First come first serve. If you arrive before Friday there are lots of good sites available. Our site (#23) was a short walk to river. Visitor center on site; evening ranger programs; walking distance to cedar grove village (store with supplies, snack bar, showers, etc). Tons of great hiking spots. Bathrooms are about what you would expect… eh. About 45 minutes from grant grove.

I did a lot of research on this general area of Kings Canyon before choosing this campground. I was very pleased with how everything turned out! We were there August 3 – 6. My main goal was to be extremely close to a few particular scenic locations (even though ALL of Kings Canyon is beautiful). And by extremely close, I mean that the TRAILHEADS for these particular places are close, not the ACTUAL scenic sites. You pretty much have to hike to these places. ;)
Scenic locations that are a 5-​minute drive from Sentinel (that I visited):
— Roaring River Falls (HARDLY a 2-​minute, slightly uphill walk on a paved path)
— Zumwalt Meadow (4 miles round trip)
— Mist Falls (9 – 10 miles round trip)
Back to the campground! There are no reservations. It’s first come, first serve. You enter the campground, and drive around until you see one you really like, then back your car in and park to claim it. Then you head over to where the entrance is, grab a yellow envelope, fill out your personal and payment info (hopefully you have a pen in your car), slip your cash/​check (or just leave credit card details on the envelope) inside the envelope, and slip the envelope inside the little box back at the entrance. You also tear off the detachable portion that has your # of nights staying, payment amount, and license plate #, and clip that to the wooden post at your campsite. Then it’s yours! If you’re not sure how long you’re going to stay, I would suggest doing it night-​by-​night and just fill out a new slip every day. We knew we were staying three nights, so we just filled out that info and paid $ 54 in cash ($ 18/​night for 3 nights).
Our campsite was #7, along a small meadow. I definitely recommend this site as it is huge! The only thing is that a tree seemed to have fallen right in the middle of it, but you just walk around it. We only had one tent, and it easily could have fit two more. The bear box gets medium shade I’d say, and the overall campsite is probably 80−90% shade. It was cloudy/​overcast for 2 of the 3 days we were there, so maybe my shade factor is an overestimate. This campground is right along the South Fork of the Kings River. We went down there at 7 pm one night and I got some beautiful photos. You can step into the water if you want, just be advised that it’s at your own risk. Prepare to take a little stroll over to the bathrooms, which are relatively clean, flush toilets. Two stalls in the women’s restroom (I believe two stalls and one urinal in the men’s). There’s a wash sink on the outside of the restrooms for dishes. The overall campground seemed relatively quiet, no one was getting too loud or crazy where we were. Pretty much within the campground is a ranger station for info on the area. Also a 5 or 10 minute walk away is Cedar Grove (we just drove over, hehe) where there’s a store for all your camping needs and also showers (highly recommended if you take the Mist Falls hike ;D).
Definitely recommend this campground if you’re willing to take a decent drive to get there with lots of downhill driving that CAN be a little harsh on your brakes, and if you want to be super close to some amazing scenery and hikes.

This was a great campground.
It feels spacious, clean bathrooms, very close to the river.
The ranger station is right there too, so you can make frequent visits to get any information you need.
There are evening programs in the nearby amphitheater. great for kids; we had like 25 kids in our group, so!!!
The Don Cecil hiking trail is also nearby, walking distance. And there’s many more of course, within 5 minutes of driving.
At the end of the road there’s a nice pool area where you can jump off a rock to the river too. I don’t remember what it’s called.

I was a little concerned when I started looking into campsites in Kings Canyon. Reservations can’t be made so it’s first come, first served. Knowing that I wanted to explore, hike and initially stay in the Cedar Grove area, leaving Southern California early was the plan.
By the time I got to the HWY 180 entrance I was pleasantly surprised. Cedar Grove still had plenty of spots available. Apparently most campers don’t find the combination of a remote location and 6500 acre forest fire nearby attractive. We scouted the three available sites and chose Sentinel. Contrary to what some books and websites say, Canyon View only accommodates groups.
Sentinel was good in some important aspects. It’s near the visitor’s center, general store and amphitheater. It’s got almost a hundred sites with some on the river and many under shade. Being by the amphitheater was nice because there were campfire programs scheduled for each evening. The visitor center was good for checking on bear sightings and the fire. The general store has plenty of vital supplies like beer.
Within the camp there are plenty of restrooms, washing stations and water spigots available. The bear-​proof food locker was gigantic.