Sequoia and Kings Canyon in winter: two campgrounds stay open, and sleeping in your car anywhere else counts as camping

Two campgrounds in Sequoia and Kings Canyon stay open all winter: Potwisha in the Sequoia foothills and Azalea at Grant Grove. Lodgepole runs until early December. Outside a campsite, you can’t sleep in your vehicle anywhere in either park. We read the parks’ pages and campground data on November 10, 2026.

Why your car doesn’t get you around the rule

The parks’ camping page says dispersed camping “is not allowed except for those who are overnight backpacking in the backcountry with a valid wilderness permit.” That covers vehicles too. The federal definition in 36 CFR 1.4 counts as camping the “parking of a motor vehicle, motor home or trailer … for the apparent purpose of overnight occupancy.” A van at a trailhead at 2 a.m. is camping outside a campground.

What’s open, and how you get a site

Potwisha (Sequoia foothills). Open year-round, 40 sites, all reservation only, up to four months ahead on Recreation.gov. $32 a night, $16 with a Senior or Access Pass. Water and a dump station year-round. The park says vehicles over 24 feet are “not advised.”

Azalea (Grant Grove, Kings Canyon). Open year-round, but from November to May only the main loop runs, with 20 first-come, first-served sites. You pay through the Recreation.gov mobile app, and the park says to install it before you arrive because “Cellular service is very limited.” Water year-round, no dump station, no hookups. The fee is $32, $16 with a Senior or Access Pass.

Lodgepole (Sequoia). Reservation only. Its last loops close for the winter on December 2, “subject to change,” per the park’s campground data.

Everything else is closed. Cedar Grove’s campgrounds are shut for the season, and the conditions page says the road to Cedar Grove “will close for the winter season on November 13.” Mineral King’s road closed October 28. Buckeye Flat and Dorst Creek are closed for 2026, and South Fork is closed with no reopening date.

The catches

Two park pages disagree about fires at Potwisha. The conditions page says Stage 1 restrictions are in effect, with wood and charcoal fires prohibited there. The fire restrictions page says “NO CURRENT FIRE RESTRICTIONS.” Bring a gas stove and ask at the entrance before you light anything.

The pages also disagree about Azalea. The conditions page says “All camping is by reservation only” at Grant Grove, a few lines above its own note that part of Azalea goes first-come, first-served in winter. The campground data spells out the 20 winter sites. If a site is your only plan, call 559-565-3341 first.

Both open campgrounds are a winter drive, and the park says which vehicles need traction devices “can also change at any time.” Read our piece on the parks’ chain rule for RVs and trailers before you go.

If the campgrounds are full

The parks’ camping page points to Sequoia National Forest next door, where the Forest Service runs campgrounds in the Hume Lake District. Dispersed camping in the forest is “allowed only in specific areas,” and the page lists Hume Lake, Stony Creek and the Kings River Wild and Scenic Byway as closed to it. We haven’t verified which forest areas are open in winter, so call the forest at 559-784-1500. The posted sign and the ranger’s answer beat any website, including this one.

Our national park camping rules guide covers how other parks handle the same question.