Dirt Flat
October 2026
About
Overview
Dirt Flat campground is situated on the north side of the Merced River. This small camp features walk-in tent sites on the river. The remote locates of the site makes for a quiet and peaceful camping experience.
Recreation
During the spring and early summer, the Merced River is a popular location for white water rafting and kayaking. Several private companies offer guided rafting trips.
Facilities
The campsites at Dirt Flat meet accessibility standards and offer picnic tables, grills and fire rings. Vault toilets are available.
Natural Features
The Sierra National Forest, located on the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada, is known for its spectacular mountain scenery and abundant natural resources.
The terrain includes rolling, oak-covered foothills, heavily forested middle elevation slopes and the starkly beautiful alpine landscape of the High Sierra.
Nearby Attractions
This campground is close to the west entrance to Yosemite National Park. Yosemite offers a variety of activities that include scenic driving, picnicking, hiking and fishing.
Charges & Cancellations
Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
Phone: 559-642-3212
Is DIRT FLAT fully booked?
A campground showing no availability is almost never full for good. People cancel — plans change, weather turns, someone books three weekends and keeps one — and the site goes straight back into the booking system, usually without warning and often at odd hours. The reason sold-out campgrounds feel impossible is not that sites never free up; it is that nobody is watching at the moment they do.
CampHawk watches DIRT FLAT in El Portal, CA for you. We recheck it every 15 seconds, around the clock, and the moment a site opens we send a text, an email and a push notification — and on Recreation.gov we can put the site straight into your cart, so it is held while you get to your phone.
Searching is free and needs no account — the calendar above is live right now. Watching DIRT FLAT for cancellations is the paid part.