itOpened Blog · Cancellation Data
Sequoia's Campgrounds, Counted
Sequoia's two watched campgrounds sit 4,600 feet apart and run opposite clocks. Across 263 confirmed openings since Oct 29, 10:54 PM ET — Lodgepole 141, Potwisha 122 — Lodgepole's openings survive a median 3h 05m while Potwisha's survive 10h 50m, a fourfold spread inside one park. The footprints invert, too. Lodgepole's whole flow comes from just 17 distinct campsites — the concentrated late-season footprint of a campground the National Park Service describes as typically open May through November — while year-round Potwisha, down in the foothills, draws its openings from 33 of its 42 sites, nearly the whole campground. One park, two campgrounds, counted footprint by footprint and clock by clock.
Quick answers
- How many Sequoia campsite openings are there?
- 263 confirmed openings across the two watched Sequoia campgrounds: Lodgepole 141 and Potwisha 122 — for stays 2026-11-01 – 2026-12-29. The parks hold fourteen campgrounds in total per the National Park Service; these are the two our scanners watch.
- Which Sequoia campground recycles faster?
- Lodgepole, by about four times: a median survival of 3h 05m across 114 completed cycles, against Potwisha's 10h 50m across 71.
- Why do Lodgepole's openings come from so few sites?
- Footprint, per the log: all 141 Lodgepole openings surfaced from 17 distinct campsites. Lodgepole is the parks' high campground — 6,700 feet, per NPS, typically open May through November — and a November watch sees the last open corner of it, not the full 206-site directory inventory.
- Is Potwisha open year-round?
- Yes, per the National Park Service: Potwisha, at 2,100 feet in the foothills, is open year-round except when weather or safety requires a closure. All of its sites are reservation-only, bookable up to four months in advance — as are Lodgepole's.
Watch it with itOpened
Lodgepole's last sites clear in under three hours — Potwisha's wait eleven.
Lodgepole produced 141 confirmed openings in twelve days of watching — from just 17 sites, surviving a median 3h 05m — while Potwisha produced 122 at a 10h 50m median. Our scanners poll both around the clock and text you when the next opening confirms.
Proof, from our own scanners: 141 confirmed openings at Lodgepole since Oct 29, 2026 — each one re-verified before logging. See the live cancellation index.
Watch Lodgepole openingsFree to start. We never book, hold, or resell — you book it yourself, in your own account, at the normal price. Fees pay for monitoring; openings are first-come and cannot be guaranteed.
The measurement, in one block
Headline: 263 confirmed openings across Sequoia's two watched campgrounds; Lodgepole 141 openings from 17 distinct campsites, median survival 3h 05m (n=114 completed cycles), median lead 8 days; Potwisha 122 openings from 33 distinct campsites, median survival 10h 50m (n=71), median lead 3 days.
As of Nov 11, 05:38 AM ET — measurement window Oct 29, 10:54 PM ET – Nov 11, 05:38 AM ET (Eastern); stays 2026-11-01 – 2026-12-29.
Method: confirmed openings from the production alert log (each re-fetched and verified before logging), filtered to Lodgepole Campground and Potwisha Campground; survival from the closure log's completed, unambiguous life cycles for the same facilities; lead = stay start date minus detection date (Eastern). Sequoia & Kings Canyon hold fourteen campgrounds per NPS; this count covers the two our scanners watch.
The park table first:
| Campground | Confirmed openings | Distinct campsites | Median survival |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lodgepole Campground | 141 | 17 | 3h 05m (n=114) |
| Potwisha Campground | 122 | 33 | 10h 50m (n=71) |
The National Park Service counts fourteen campgrounds across Sequoia & Kings Canyon, and nearly all of them require advance reservations. Our scanners watch the two that anchor Sequoia itself. Lodgepole is the flagship: on the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River at 6,700 feet, beside the Giant Forest, with a directory inventory of 206 campsites, a season NPS describes as typically May through November, and reservations up to four months ahead, all sites reservation-only. Potwisha is its low counterpart: 42 sites at 2,100 feet in the oak foothills along the Middle Fork, open year-round, on the same four-month reservation window. Same park, same booking system, same twelve days — and the log gives them opposite shapes.
The concentrated footprint up high
Lodgepole's 141 openings come from just 17 distinct campsites. In a June watch that number would be a red flag; in November it is the season drawn to scale — a campground closing down loop by loop sheds its cancellations from the corner still open, and the deepest Lodgepole stay dates in the log (Nov 08 (18); Nov 13 (13)) sit in the campground's final weeks. Those few sites recycle hard: Lodgepole's median survival is 3h 05m across 114 completed cycles, a sprint clock in the same class as Watchman's, and its median lead of 8 days — the longest of this wave's three posts — says the late-season bookers plan ahead even for a closing campground. The labelled interpretation is scarcity: when only a handful of sites are in play and every hunter knows the season ends within the month, each opening is contested the moment it appears.
The whole campground, at a walk, down low
Potwisha inverts every term. Its 122 openings come from 33 of its 42 sites — nearly the entire campground has surfaced in twelve days — at a median lead of 3 days and a median survival of 10h 50m across 71 completed cycles, four times Lodgepole's clock. Its deepest stay dates (Nov 13 (15); Nov 02 (12)) are ordinary November days, and its flow does not end with November: Potwisha is open year-round, so its December stays in this log are a season continuing, not a season closing. The stay-length mix for the pair together — 156 single nights (59.3%), close to the system-wide 55.3% — is the standard fragment pattern; what differs between the two campgrounds is not what opens, but how long it waits.
What this means for a hunter
Hunt the two campgrounds differently. Lodgepole, for the rest of its season, is a speed game played for a tiny pool of sites: the watch matters more than the choice, because there is effectively no choice — 17 sites are the market, and they clear in under three hours. Potwisha is the patient hunter's Sequoia: a 10h 50m median means a daily check competes honestly, openings arrive from most of the campground, and a December or January foothills stay — snow-free at 2,100 feet while Lodgepole sleeps — is a realistic plan rather than a lottery ticket. One watch can hold both: the same alert stream serves the sprint up high and the walk down low.
The limits, plainly
This is a two-campground count in a fourteen-campground park system; the Kings Canyon side and the parks' other Sequoia campgrounds are not watched and not counted here, and nothing in this post describes them. Lodgepole's footprint figure is a November fact, not a Lodgepole fact: the 17-site concentration is what a closing season looks like in a log, and a peak-season recount would read differently. Survival medians rest on completed cycles only — 114 at Lodgepole, 71 at Potwisha. What survives the caveats is the spread itself: 263 verified openings, two campgrounds in one park, and a fourfold difference in how long an opening waits.
Watch it with itOpened
Lodgepole's last sites clear in under three hours — Potwisha's wait eleven.
Lodgepole produced 141 confirmed openings in twelve days of watching — from just 17 sites, surviving a median 3h 05m — while Potwisha produced 122 at a 10h 50m median. Our scanners poll both around the clock and text you when the next opening confirms.
Proof, from our own scanners: 141 confirmed openings at Lodgepole since Oct 29, 2026 — each one re-verified before logging. See the live cancellation index.
Watch Lodgepole openingsFree to start. We never book, hold, or resell — you book it yourself, in your own account, at the normal price. Fees pay for monitoring; openings are first-come and cannot be guaranteed.
Frequently asked questions
How many campgrounds are in Sequoia & Kings Canyon?
Fourteen, per the National Park Service, and nearly all require advance reservations. Our scanners watch two of them — Lodgepole and Potwisha — and this post counts only those two.
When is Lodgepole Campground open?
Typically May through November, per the National Park Service. Lodgepole sits at 6,700 feet; all of its sites are reservation-only and can be booked up to four months in advance.
How many sites do Lodgepole and Potwisha have?
Our directory, built from the Recreation.gov RIDB export, lists 206 campsites at Lodgepole; Potwisha has 42 sites. In twelve days our log recorded openings from 17 distinct Lodgepole campsites and 33 of Potwisha's 42.
Which Sequoia campground is easier to book from a cancellation?
By the clock, Potwisha: its openings survive a median 10h 50m, against Lodgepole's 3h 05m. By coverage, also Potwisha — 33 of its 42 sites surfaced in twelve days, against a 17-site late-season footprint at Lodgepole.
Sources
- itOpened production scanner alert log (engine/alerts.jsonl), Oct 29, 10:54 PM ET – Nov 11, 05:38 AM ET: 17,389 confirmed openings in total, 14,987 excluding Cape Point Campground's 2,402 rolling-release alerts. Sequoia facilities: Lodgepole Campground 141; Potwisha Campground 122 — watched total 263 (1.8% of the non-Cape total). Lodgepole: 17 distinct campsites, median lead 8 days, deepest stay dates Nov 08 (18); Nov 13 (13). Potwisha: 33 distinct campsites, median lead 3 days, deepest stay dates Nov 13 (15); Nov 02 (12). Pair single nights 156 (59.3%); system-wide single-night share 8290 of 14,987 (55.3%). All figures computed from the log at build time.
- itOpened scanner closure log (engine/closures.jsonl), sample closing Nov 11, 05:38 AM ET: completed unambiguous cycles — Lodgepole n=114, median survival 3h 05m; Potwisha n=71, median survival 10h 50m. Ambiguous records excluded; Cape Point excluded. Censoring note: completed cycles only — openings still live at build time are not in any median.
- National Park Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, 'Campgrounds' (nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm; accessed 2026-11-10): the parks hold fourteen campgrounds and nearly all require advance reservations; Potwisha Campground (2,100 ft, Middle Fork of the Kaweah River) is open year-round except when weather or safety requires a closure, with reservations up to four months in advance and all sites reservation-only; Lodgepole Campground (6,700 ft, Marble Fork of the Kaweah River) is typically open May through November, with reservations up to four months in advance and all sites reservation-only.
- itOpened campground directory (data/directory.db, built from the Recreation.gov RIDB export): Lodgepole directory campsite count 206, parented to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.
- itOpened methodology (/methodology/): watch registry, two-poll confirmation standard, and watch window (stays from November 1, 2026 onward).
Every figure in this article traces to one of the sources above. If a number isn't sourced, we don't print it.
Last updated 2026-11-10.