Yosemite High Sierra Camps
Vogelsang High Sierra Camp
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Vogelsang

Closed

The highest of the High Sierra Camps at 10,300 feet, Vogelsang sits at the base of Fletcher Peak with sweeping views of the Cathedral Range — the most alpine and dramatic of the five.

Closed since 2018 — removed from the concession contract in 2025

Gallery

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Guest tent cabins on the alpine meadow bench, rocky ridgeline behind, under a gray Sierra sky. A still tarn on the meadow bench, the ridge mirrored in the water. The trail into camp through whitebark pines, Fletcher Peak ahead. Guest tent cabins along the stone-lined path at the heart of camp. A tent cabin doorstep and the granite boulders that furnish the front yard. Tent cabins scattered among whitebark pines on the golden autumn meadow.
The first Vogelsang camp on the shore of Boothe Lake: tents and a frame building below a granite wall, guests standing at the water's edge
The original camp on Boothe Lake, captioned “1924 to date” when this was published in 1931 — before the moves uphill and, in 1940, to Fletcher Creek. Photo: James V. Lloyd, from Carl P. Russell, One Hundred Years in Yosemite (1931); Restored and colorized from the original black-and-white plate.

Built in 1924, Vogelsang was originally located on the north shore of Booth Lake, some 300 feet lower than today’s camp, but failed due to poor drainage, water-supply issues, and mosquitoes. It was relocated uphill to the trail junction near Tuolumne Pass in the early 1930s, then moved and rebuilt at its current site on Fletcher Creek, at the base of Fletcher Peak, in 1940. The camp takes its name from Vogelsang Pass and Peak, named for Charles A. Vogelsang, a twelve-year president of California’s State Board of Fish and Game; Fletcher Creek, Lake, and Peak remember Arthur G. Fletcher, who helped direct the stocking of trout in Yosemite’s lakes.

Closed since 2018 due to water and infrastructure issues, Vogelsang remains off the 2026 guided loop — the second of the five camps to slip quietly out of service alongside Merced Lake.

In February 2025, that quiet slide became formal: Amendment No. 4 to the Yosemite concession contract — obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request — removed Vogelsang and Merced Lake from the concessioner’s required services and assigned facilities, ending all contract rights and obligations for the two camps. The amendment records the reason in the Park Service’s own words: it “can no longer provide potable water at two of the five High Sierra Camps.” The highest of the High Sierra Camps now sits empty and outside any operating contract, its government-owned buildings still in place at the base of Fletcher Peak.

Timeline

  1. 1924

    First Camp at Booth Lake

    Vogelsang opens on the north shore of Booth Lake, some 300 feet below the present camp, but the original site proves unworkable — poor drainage, the lake as the only water supply, and persistent mosquitoes plague the camp.

  2. Early 1930s

    Relocated to Tuolumne Pass

    The camp is moved uphill to the junction of the Vogelsang, Rafferty Creek, and Lyell trails near Tuolumne Pass, in an effort to solve the drainage and water problems of the original Booth Lake location.

  3. 1940

    Moved to Fletcher Peak

    Vogelsang relocates a final time to its current site at the base of Fletcher Peak — at 10,300 feet, the highest of the High Sierra Camps, with sweeping views of the Cathedral Range.

  4. 2018

    Camp Closes

    Vogelsang closes due to water and infrastructure issues — the second camp, alongside Merced Lake, to slip out of service.

  5. February 2025

    Removed from the Concession Contract

    Amendment No. 4 to the Yosemite concession contract removes Vogelsang and Merced Lake from the concessioner's required services and assigned facilities, ending all contract rights and obligations for the two camps. The amendment states the reason: the Park Service "can no longer provide potable water at two of the five High Sierra Camps."

  6. May 2025

    Full-System Closure

    All five High Sierra Camps are closed for the season, citing potable-water and restroom/utility failures across the system.

  7. Today

    Still Closed

    Closed roughly eight years, off the 2026 guided loop, and no longer part of any operating contract, Vogelsang sits empty at 10,300 feet — its government-owned buildings still in place, with no announced plan for its future.