I stayed in the Azalea campground in October of 2008. I arrived late at night on a weekday and was surprised to see that hardly anyone else was in the whole campground! On one loop, there was only one RV, so I pitched my tent one of the other spots on that loop.

Since there was no one else within 150 feet of me, I had plenty of privacy and didn't worry that my snoring was too loud. Campground is close to Grant Village, so you have access to groceries and showers. Some of the places in the park that offer showers close around 6 pm, so you may have to adjust your schedule.

Did not see any bears in the campground, but saw several on the park trails. They ignored the people around them.

This park is a great, uncrowded alternative to Yosemite. So is Lassen.

My wife and I camped, and I know this may sound both difficult or extraordinary, and surely it was both, for over 110 days in the Summer of 2005. I can verify it. We became locals of Grant Grove area, and it all began, on June 2nd, 2005, at Azalea. The campground is a nice campground, and has a little of something for everyone. If someone likes to have a remote space, on unlevel ground, it's available here. If one prefers a space that is level, right by the bathroom and the parking lot, that too is available here. It was here that we had frequent visitors, in the form of the White headed Woodpecker (Picoides albolarvatus), both a male and a female, and, ostensibly, a mating pair. Similarly, at this same campground, we were regularly frequented by the Tanagers, both a male and a female, and again, they visited together. When we arrived, that Summer, there was still some small segments of snow remaining. The nights were cold and so were the mornings. As we eased into our epic Summer in the forest, Azalea was the place to begin. It is directly next to the majestic Grant Grove, just down the road and below. It is just above Sequoia Lake. Technically, the USFS has a 14-Day rule/ 30-Day Max rule, but we were allowed to stay. We obeyed the rules re bears and our bear vault without failure. Our camp was spotless and clean. We paid our rent space on time and in large blocks of 1-2 weeks at a time, usually the latter. There is a pizza parlor at Grant Grove that serves a delicious pizza and has ice-cold beer and other menu and drink items. It is (or was) on the other side of the actual eatery there, which is both expensive and touchy. We went to shower and do laundry at Lodgepole, down the road, and Sunday morning early is the best time to go in for that. You'll likely face no other person the entire trip to Lodgepole, except, perhaps, a lonely Coyote, as we did, bounding down the road, walking right by our stopped car as if WE were the miscreants. Azalea is a lovely campground. We preferred Sunset, which is next door, and it is where we finished our Summer. We did all of June at Azalea, and we did the rest of it at Sunset. We would absolutely recommend Azalea Campground to anyone.

It was so nice at this campground. We had no problems with bears. The anit-bear storage boxes are very large and we were able to fit everything in fairly easily. The sites are shaded and comfortable. My one complaint is that there was no soap and only cold water in the bathrooms, therefore no good place to wash dishes. Nice location, though.