Fish and boat on the largest lake on the Forest. Open all year, road access subject to winter closure. Cherry Lake visitors enjoy camping, boating, swimming, fishing and hiking. Recreation facilities include a boat launch and vault restrooms.

CAUTION – BURNED AREA Please use caution while in the Rim Fire Burned Area. Potential hazards include loose and falling rocks, flash floods, and debris flows. Trees may have been weakened from fire damage and ongoing drought and may fall at any time. Stay on designated roads and trails and within opened areas. Be alert for falling objects and do not linger around large trees. Avoid the area during high winds or heavy rain.

Directions

Travel from Groveland: The Cherry Valley Campground can be reached from Hwy 120 using Cherry Lake Road (Forest Road 1N07). Travel east from Groveland, California about 13.8 miles. Turn left on Cherry Lake Road. Continue on Cherry Lake Road for approximately 23.5 miles to Cottonwood Road (Forest Road 1N04). Turn left and travel approximately a half mile north.  You will see the Cherry Valley Campground sign, then turn right towards the campground.

Travel from Tuolumne, California:  Take Buchanan Road, which turns into Cottonwood Road (Forest Road 1N04). Travel approximately 30 miles to the Cherry Valley Campground sign, then turn left into the campground.

NOTE: The Tuolumne route is advisable for visitors in RVs and or towing equipment. Cherry Lake Road is narrow and steep and not advised for RVs or trailers.

GPS Coordinates

Latitude 37° 58′ 33.9600″ N

Longitude 119° 55′ 1.2000″ W

Lakes and Rivers along the Highway 120 Corridor

Directions

GPS Coordinates

Latitude 0° 0′ 0.0000″ S

Longitude 0° 0′ 0.0000″ W

Along Highway 120 at the South Fork Tuolumne River bridge. Originally a toll stop in the stagecoach days, later a popular resort until 1958 when fire burned the resort. Now, a popular picnic area. Vault toilets, limited parking.

CAUTION – BURNED AREA Please use caution while in the Rim Fire Burned Area. Potential hazards include loose and falling rocks, flash floods, and debris flows. Trees may have been weakened from fire damage and ongoing drought and may fall at any time. Stay on designated roads and trails and within opened areas. Be alert for falling objects and do not linger around large trees. Avoid the area during high winds or heavy rain.

Directions

GPS Coordinates

Latitude 37° 49′ 21.4680″ N

Longitude 120° 0′ 51.3720″ W

Off Highway 120 on Evergreen Road. Fishing, vault toilet.

CAUTION – BURNED AREA Please use caution while in the Rim Fire Burned Area. Potential hazards include loose and falling rocks, flash floods, and debris flows. Trees may have been weakened from fire damage and ongoing drought and may fall at any time. Stay on designated roads and trails and within opened areas. Be alert for falling objects and do not linger around large trees. Avoid the area during high winds or heavy rain.

Directions

GPS Coordinates

Latitude 37° 51′ 26.7300″ N

Longitude 119° 51′ 58.9140″ W

Along Evergreen Road near State Highway 120. Picnic tables, vault toilets, grills.

CAUTION – BURNED AREA Please use caution while in the Rim Fire Burned Area. Potential hazards include loose and falling rocks, flash floods, and debris flows. Trees may have been weakened from fire damage and ongoing drought and may fall at any time. Stay on designated roads and trails and within opened areas. Be alert for falling objects and do not linger around large trees. Avoid the area during high winds or heavy rain.

Directions

GPS Coordinates

Latitude 37° 48′ 50.1120″ N

Longitude 119° 51′ 42.5520″ W

Bower Cave, perhaps most accurately described as a grotto, has been well-known to Indians for hundreds of years. People of the Me-Wuk culture called it “Oo-tin” or Home of the Evening Star. Just who among the early miners and settlers saw it first is a matter of dispute. One of the first known to have written about it was Belgian miner Jean-Nicolas Perlot, who lived in the vicinity in 1852-1857.

Miners Nicholas Arni and Frederick Schoebel were the first to lay claim to the land around the grotto and the first to promote it as a tourist attraction. Visitation to the cave grew steadily with the area’s growth due initially to mining. In 1874, a tollroad from Coulterville to Yosemite was completed. Bower Cave was directly along this route, providing cool respite for stageline travelers on hot summer days and becoming a favorite spot for picnics and Saturday night dances.

Originally, people were lowered into the grotto in a bathtub-size bucket and windlass. A long, steep wooden staircase was later constructed to the grotto bottom where a dance floor was also built. The attraction led to construction of an eight-room hotel in 1874. Guests and locals continued to use the grotto as a dance and party place into the 20th century. After changing owners several times, Bower Cave was closed in the mid-fifties when an individual was killed in a fall after part of the rotting staircase gave way.

In 1991, the US Forest Service acquired Bower Cave and the nearby Linkletter Ranch, as a part of a land exchange. 

Directions

GPS Coordinates

Latitude 0° 0′ 0.0000″ S

Longitude 0° 0′ 0.0000″ W

The Pines Campground is on a mixed conifer forested site adjacent to the Little Golden Forest Trail and near the Groveland Ranger District Office. The campground includes a large group site.

Each site has a picnic table and a campfire pit with a grill. Vault toilets and potable water is available in the campground during summer.

Nearby Activities

• Camping
• Hiking
• Recreational vehicles

Directions

9 miles east of Groveland on Old Highway 120, just east of the Groveland District office.

GPS Coordinates

Latitude 37° 49′ 8.2236″ N

Longitude 120° 5′ 38.1444″ W

Sweetwater Campground is located on a mixed conifer forested site adjacent to Highway 120, in close proximity to Yosemite National Park. Sites offer camping furniture (picnic tables, campfire pit with grill). Accessible vault toilets are available and potable water is available over the summer season (May – Sep).

Nearby Activities

• Camping
• Recreational vehicles

Directions

15 miles east of Groveland on Highway 120.

GPS Coordinates

Latitude 37° 49′ 26.2920″ N

Longitude 120° 0′ 17.8200″ W

South Fork Campground is on a low elevation site near the confluence of the South Fork Tuolumne River and the Tuolumne Wild & Scenic River approximately one mile from Lumsden Campground and Lumsden Bridge Campground, within the Tuolumne-Lumsden Recreation Area.

Each site has a picnic table and a campfire pit with a grill. A vault toilet is available in the campground. Untreated water available from river, if running. Treating water before drinking is recommended.

CAUTION – BURNED AREA Please use caution while in the Rim Fire Burned Area. Potential hazards include loose and falling rocks, flash floods, and debris flows. Trees may have been weakened from fire damage and ongoing drought and may fall at any time. Stay on designated roads and trails and within opened areas. Be alert for falling objects and do not linger around large trees. Avoid the area during high winds or heavy rain.

Nearby Activities

• Camping
• Hiking

Directions

From Groveland travel approximately 7.5 miles east to Ferretti Road. Turn left (north) onto Ferretti Road. Travel 1 mile and turn right (east) onto Lumsden Road/Forest Route 1N10 off of Ferretti Road. Travel approximately 5.5 miles to the campground which is located on the right (south) side of the road.

RVs and trailers are not recommended on Lumsden Road/Forest Route 1N10.

Lumsden Road from Lumsden Bridge to Forest Route 1N10 is closed December 15 to April 15 according to the Motorized Travel Management Plan.

Lumsden Road is subject to closure during inclement weather.

GPS Coordinates

Latitude 37° 50′ 22.9416″ N

Longitude 120° 2′ 44.7540″ W

Lumsden Bridge Campground is on a low elevation pine and oak forested site on the Tuolumne Wild & Scenic River, approximately one mile from South Fork Campground and two miles from Lumsden Campground, within the Tuolumne-Lumsden Recreation Area.

Each site has a picnic table and a campfire pit with a grill. A vault toilet is available in the campground. Untreated water is available from river, if running. Treating water before drinking is recommended.

CAUTION – BURNED AREA Please use caution while in the Rim Fire Burned Area. Potential hazards include loose and falling rocks, flash floods, and debris flows. Trees may have been weakened from fire damage and ongoing drought and may fall at any time. Stay on designated roads and trails and within opened areas. Be alert for falling objects and do not linger around large trees. Avoid the area during high winds or heavy rain.

Nearby Activities

• Camping
• Hiking

Directions

From Groveland travel approximately 7.5 miles east to Ferretti Road. Turn left (north) onto Ferretti Road. Travel 1 mile and turn right (east) onto Lumsden Road/Forest Route 1N01 off of Ferretti Road. Travel approximately 6.5 miles to Lumsden Bridge. The campground entrance is located on the north side of the bridge. Turn left (west) after crossing the bridge to enter the campground.

RVs and trailers are not recommended on Lumsden Road/Forest Route 1N10.

Lumsden Road from Lumsden Bridge to Forest Route 1N01 is closed December 15 to April 15 according to the Motorized Travel Management Plan.

Lumsden Road is subject to closure during inclement weather.

GPS Coordinates

Latitude 37° 50′ 54.5856″ N

Longitude 120° 1′ 49.0008″ W