Campgrounds full, Valley hotels booked? No worries! Yosemite Mariposa County is always open for a spontaneous bout of road trip fever. Yosemite National Park is ringed by “gateway communities,” golden Sierra foothill towns where travelers will discover an abundance of economical lodging options a short drive from the soaring grandeur of Yosemite Valley.
Note: Guests of lodging properties located outside of Yosemite National Park may need to secure a vehicle reservation for Park entry during high-demand periods. Be sure to check the National Park website for current status.
Highway Hubs for Gateway Glee
The magic of Yosemite Mariposa County gateway towns is how they put you within short and scenic drives of the titanic granite majesty of Yosemite Valley as well as surrounding national park attractions like the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias and Glacier Point.
In addition to proximity, clean and comfortable motels in Mariposa, El Portal, Midpines, Fish Camp, and Buck Meadows are the answers for last-minute – even walk-in – guests to satisfy their wanderlust with Yosemite just up around the bend. Their availability, amenities, and affordability to make them perfect basecamps for your Yosemite getaway.
The county seat of Mariposa offers great motel options with the wonders of Yosemite just 32 miles up all-season Highway 140. Familiar flags are here – Quality Inn Yosemite Valley Gateway and Best Western Plus Yosemite Way Station – and locally-owned independents like the Yosemite Miners Inn, The Monarch Inn, Yosemite Inn, and River Rock Inn. Mariposa’s historic downtown district offers inviting restaurants, bars, and shops. Many properties even offer free breakfasts and kitchenettes for jump-starting your day.
Town Tips
• The town of Mariposa was a bustling Gold Rush hub, and today the county seat flexes that history across a number of historic points of interest including the Mariposa County Courthouse, the Mariposa Old Jail, and museums such as the Smithsonian-recognized Mariposa Museum & History Center and the Yosemite Climbing Museum.
• Mariposa culinary diversions include wine tasting at The Local Grape and Casto Oaks, orchard tours and hard cider tastings at Sierra Cider, and the county’s widest selection of restaurants and cafes.
Tucked eight miles up Highway 140 from Mariposa is the foothills hamlet of Midpines, offering a range of roadside lodging options including the Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort. The Bug, as it’s affectionately known, has a range of accommodations from hostel-like rooms to private vacation cabin rentals. The June Bug Cafe dishes a local, organic, and delicious array of value-priced vittles for guests and locals alike.
AutoCamp Yosemite is another popular Midpines property, featuring upcycled Airstream trailers for rooms, along with Adventure Tent glamping options. The communal clubhouse and fire pits are perfect for sharing stories of the Yosemite wonders witnessed earlier in the day.
Town Tips
• The Yosemite Health Spa at the Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort is a splendid Sierra wellness and healing retreat. Massage and treatment rooms, stainless steel hot tub, locally-sourced herbal steep baths, hot rocks sauna, and yoga studio, all overlooking a serene, forested valley.
• Spring visitors can take a walk on the wildflower side along the Hite Cove Trail, with a riot of kaleidoscoping petals lining the path. Look for the inconspicuous trailhead at Savages Trading Post, on Highway 140 just past the Ferguson Bridge.
Another 22 miles up Highway 140 and into the Wild & Scenic Merced River Canyon is El Portal, which offers the closest gateway lodging to Yosemite Valley via the Park’s Arch Rock Gate. Travelers can select from wonderful riverside properties such as the Yosemite View Lodge, Yosemite Cedar Lodge, and Indian Flat (tent cabins and glamping tents). These affordable resort havens are known for their riverfront views, walking paths, hot tubs, and onsite restaurants.
Town Tip
• El Portal was the end of the line for the historic Yosemite Valley Railroad, and today travelers can see authentic relics of the railroad just off Highway 140.
With a year-round population of around 200, Fish Camp is tiny but mighty in terms of Yosemite Mariposa County recreational appeal. The town is in the thick of the Sierra National Forest and a vast network of hiking and mountain biking trails as well as some of the best fishing streams in the region. And just two miles from Yosemite National Park’s South Gate, it’s the closest town to any Yosemite entrance.
Lodging in Fish Camp begins with the highly-regarded Tenaya at Yosemite, a full-fledged resort offering a wide range of room types, and continues with a nice selection of vacation rental properties.
Town Tip
• If you’re overnighting in Fish Camp, or just passing through on the way to Yosemite, the Fish Camp General Store is a well-provisioned outlet for food and snacks, beer and wine, souvenirs. For history buffs, the store offers a small display on the fascinating life and times of this humble hamlet.
On Highway 120 in Northern Mariposa County – a rugged runway for Northern California travelers – the roadside whistle-stop of Buck Meadows offers a pair of lodging options: the Buck Meadows Lodge and Yosemite Westgate Lodge. Yosemite regulars know The Lucky Buck is a satisfying food & drink outpost for pre- and post-Park meals. There’s local legacy here, as Buck Meadows was the ultimate stage stop for Yosemite’s first tourists, who enjoyed refreshing cold drinks from the local natural springs before continuing their journey onward to the wonders of Yosemite Valley.
Town Tip
• Buck Meadows’ historic arc included serving as base camp for the workers constructing the O’Shaughnessy Dam in the 1920-30s. Most of today’s Yosemite-bound travelers roll by the turnoff to Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, but it’s well-worth the detour off Highway 120 for splendid scenery and day hikes to beauty spots like Wapama Fall.
The advantages of basecamping in a gateway town for your spur-of-the-moment Yosemite road trip are manifold. Everything comes together with ease – from securing last minute, affordable lodging to lively dining options and things to do before and after your day in the Park. A good night’s sleep, and you’re out the door for another day of Yosemite outdoor adventures.