High in the Yosemite backcountry (John Muir country!) are the
Yosemite High Sierra Camps

This is a map of the region of the High Sierra Camps, in the heart of the Yosemite back country. Click on the map near a camp name to view a page about that camp, or click on the links at the left for other pages.

Map of the camps

There are six High Sierra camps (HSC); nominally a day's hike from one to another. The elevation ranges from 7100' (Merced Lake) to 10,300' (Vogelsang), making for breathtaking hiking. The camps provide lodging and meals for those fortunate to get reservations. Generally they are open from mid July to a week after Labor Day. There is a backpacking camp adjacent to each HSC. A popular trip is to make a loop of all the camps: see the brief description on the Tuolumne page.
 
  Although Tuolumne Meadows Lodge is on the Tioga Pass Road, about an hour's drive from Yosemite Valley, it is considered a High Sierra Camp, as is the smaller White Wolf Lodge, about 15 miles to the west. It thus serves as a good roadhead for hikes to the other camps. You can also start at Tenaya Lake or the Budd Creek trailheads. Trails to the north go into the Tuolumne River canyon. Those to the south into the Merced River watershed.
 
  Summer weather is generally pleasantly warm during the day (70's). Nighttime temps can get down to freezing. Brief afternoon showers, sometimes with lightning and thunder, are common but do not last. Mosquitos cam be a problem in June but usually have diminished considerably by mid-July.

Accomodations and meals

Guests are put up in tent cabins. At most camps you will share a tent with other folks. At the higher elevations each tent has a small stove with a limited ration of wood (it all has to be brought in by mule.) Restrooms with showers are in the camp, although all too frequent sewer or water problems may limit their use.
Dinner and breakfast is included in the costs and are bountiful and well prepared. A sack lunch can be ordered the night before, it will cost a little extra.
The official party line about the camps can be found at the Yosemite Concessions web page.

Meals only plan

Each lodge has a few spaces available at meals for those who wish not to stay in their tent cabins. Those folks must carry their own tent and sleeping gear and stay in the nearby backpackers' camping area. They do have the privilage of leaving bear-attractants in the Lodge overnight. Bears frequent all the camps! The price for meals only is about half that for the full deal. Meals-only guests can purchase showers at the camp and also are entitled to purchase the sack lunch.

question: How can they have permanent structures, with all the amenities, located in an officially designated wilderness? - Each of the HSC areas has been designated an "enclave" in the wilderness. This enabled the Park Service to legally accomodate facilities that were constructed long before the wilderness designation was legislated.