Yosemite Staying Outside the Park
There are a couple of gateway communities close to Yosemite which make it possible to stay outside the Park and not spend all your time in the car. Where to stay outside the Park will depend on how much driving you are willing to do and which bits of the Park you want to access easily.
Our top hotel picks – We recommend…
1) Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal for great access to Yosemite Valley, spacious rooms, swimming pools and hot tubs, 2 restaurants and a bar.
2) The The Groveland Hotel in Groveland, for good access for Yosemite Valley, a complimentary cooked to order breakfast and complimentary Wi-Fi.
3) The Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite for great access to Wawona and Mariposa Grove. It has large rooms and plenty of amenity including a nice pool area, spa facilities, several restaurants and a bar.
4) Days Inn Oakhurst Yosemite for a great budget option and good access to Wawona and Mariposa Grove. There are decent sized rooms size with fridge and microwave, free Wi-Fi, complimentary breakfast and an outdoor pool.
If you want good access to Yosemite Valley the best place to stay is El Portal. This is a very small town located outside the Arch Rock entrance to the Park in the southwest. Options are limited here but there are three hotels and a couple of campgrounds.
View of Merced River, El Portal, California
In our view the best of the hotels is Yosemite View Lodge. It offers rooms with some self catering capability and has several eating options on site. In our experience the rooms are large and clean but quite tired. It is worth getting a river view as this gets you a balcony overlooking the Merced River. We were underwhelmed by the standard of the food on offer but it is similar to that which you will get in the Park. If you come here from San Francisco it is worth stopping off at a supermarket on the way and picking up some essentials. We buy picnic materials, snacks and beer and find this sets us up quite nicely.
If El Portal does not appeal (or is fully booked) your next best bet for access to the Valley is probably Groveland which is not far from the Big Oak Flat Entrance to the west of the Park. Groveland is a lot bigger than El Portal and has more options in terms of restaurants etc but it takes about an hour to drive into the Valley. There are several hotels and B&Bs in Goveland as well as a range of cabins and camping options but we haven’t stayed in any of them. We have friends who stayed inThe Groveland Hotel and enjoyed their stay. They said their room was clean, although a little on the small side. There is free Wi-Fi and they enjoyed the breakfast and dinner they ate in the restaurant.
Cheeky Racoon on hotel patio, El Portal, California
Some people stay in Mariopsa to access the Park. This is a small town with a good range of accommodation further out along Route 140 than El Portal. The drive time into the Valley from Mariposa is also around an hour but you will have to negotiate the traffic lights governing the single track section of road each time which can make the journey a little variable.
To the south of the Park, the settlement of Fish Camp has several options and is just outside the South Entrance to the Park. This is a good alternative if you are considering staying at Wawona. Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite is the most upmarket option but again, in our view it is somewhat overpriced against a similar standard of accommodation further away from the Park.
Further out along the same road is Oakhurst. This is a small town with the largest range of hotels, B&Bs and other accommodation in the Yosemite vicinity as well as a better selection of restaurants. We have never stayed here, but it would be a good option if you were approaching Yosemite from the south. It takes about 90 minutes to drive into the valley from Oakhurst so the greater choice of accommodation comes at quite a high price. If you are looking for somewhere inexpensive to stay
Days Inn Oakhurst Yosemite is a good bet. Rooms are a good size with fridge and microwave. There is free Wi-Fi, complimentary breakfast and an outdoor pool.