Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Portal Campground During Whitney Summit

Hello, first time Whitney hiker here.....

We're planning on spending (2) nights at Trail Camp, with a stay at the Portal on the nights prior to and after the hike.

In your opinion, should we book the portal campground for the entire stay and keep our tent and vehicle at the portal, or only book the (2) nights that we are actually staying at the portal? What is the parking situation at the trailhead if we decide to break down camp at the portal and move the truck to the trailhead for the hike?

Thanks in advance!

If you plan to stay two nights at Trail Camp and stay parked at Whitney Portal Campground the entire time, this would necessitate reserving a specific campsite for four nights at the Portal. This may not be so easy to do, as you most often can only find one or maybe two nights of availability when looking for available dates. Of course, if you COULD find a site that you can reserve for four nights, you might as well go for that if you don’t want to bother with breaking camp before climbing and setting it back up upon returning. You will, of course, have to pay for all four days.

On the other hand, reserving a site for two nonconsecutive sites is going to be easier. After all, it need not even be the same site each time. It will (of course) also be cheaper.

As for parking, I personally have never had a problem with parking at the Portal. Then again, I haven’t climbed Whitney in a couple of years. I’m not sure how things have changed since 2022. But I can’t imagine things being too different.