Where to stay near Yosemite National Park (Options for all budgets!)

Oakhurst + Fish Camp (South)

Located about 47 miles south of Yosemite Valley, Oakhurst is known as the southern gateway to Yosemite National Park. Along with Fish Camp, a small community just north of Oakhurst, these areas are close to the Mariposa Grove and a reasonable distance to Yosemite Valley and Glacier Point. 

Compared to many of the other towns close to the park, Oakhurst feels like the largest. In Oakhurst there are several larger stores to get groceries like Vons, Raley’s, and Grocery Outlet. For food and coffee, you can check out Smokehouse 41 BBQ, Clouds Rest Coffee, and Bee’s Bakery Cafe. There is also a laundromat in town for those traveling longer term! 

During our first visit to Yosemite, we stayed in Oakhurst. And on our most recent visit we spent a lot of time in both Fish Camp and Oakhurst. 

Free Camping

Goat Meadow Snow Play Area: We stayed here a handful of nights during part of our visit to the park. While you can camp in the woods, we mainly stayed in the more exposed parking lot for solar and Starlink purposes. Although, our Starlink did sometimes struggle with the trees. It’s great for all sized rigs and you could leave your trailer here during the day while exploring.

Curious how we find free campsites? Check out all of our tips, apps, and things to consider on our how to find FREE camping guide!

Mariposa (Southwest)

The town of Mariposa was one of the southernmost Gold Rush towns in California. It was founded in 1849 and many of the buildings in the historic downtown are original and built between 1850-1900. Since Mariposa is located close to Yosemite, it makes for a great base camp.

While in Mariposa, check out Sticks Coffee and The Lemon Drop for drinks, plus The Grove House and Happy Burger Diner for food. You’ll find the grocery essentials at Pioneer Market and High Country Health Foods. And if you need to do laundry, there is a laundromat.

El Portal (Southwest)

Just up Highway 140 from Mariposa is El Portal. While not nearly as developed as Mariposa, with fewer lodging options and amenities, it is one of the closest places to stay near Yosemite National Park. It is only about 36 minutes from Mariposa if you want to grab a bite to eat or provision at a store.

Hotels

Yosemite View Lodge
Yosemite Cedar Lodge

Campgrounds

Indian Flat RV Park
Dry Gulch Campground (Walk-in only)
Dirt Flat Campground (Walk-in only)

Vacation Rentals

WARNING: The vacation rentals out here are pricey! For slightly cheaper options, Foresta, which is about a 30 minute drive from El Portal (and located just as close to the park), has a few more reasonable options.

INSIDE YOSEMITE! Ten minutes from Yosemite Valley (1 bedroom, 1 bathroom)
Yosemite Hilltop Cabins (1 bedroom, 1 bathroom)  

Free Camping

This area doesn’t offer much when it comes to free, legal camping.

Groveland (Northwest)

Groveland is located along US 120, west of Yosemite National Park. It’s another historic California mining town that was once the headquarters for the construction of the Hetch Hetchy Water Project. Today it makes a great basecamp for exploring Yosemite and outdoor adventures like whitewater rafting, hiking, and biking.

While it is a small town, there are some amenities. For groceries, check out Mar-Val, which despite its size has a great selection and all the necessities. If you get hungry and don’t want to cook, check out Priest Station Cafe, Two Guys Pizza Pies, Around the Horn Brewing Company, and Mountain Sage Coffee.

For visiting the park, the Groveland area is close to the Yosemite Valley, Hetch Hetchy, and the beginning of Tioga Road. During our most recent visit, we both boondocked near Groveland and stayed at a paid campground with Kathryn’s parents who were visiting. 

Hotels

Hotel Charlotte
Yosemite Westgate Lodge
Firefall Ranch

Campgrounds

Yosemite Pines RV Resort: We stayed here a few nights when Kathryn’s parents visited us. They had a tent site and we had an RV site. Like most RV parks, privacy is very limited. We lucked out that the sites on either side of Kathryn’s parent’s site were never occupied, so we had a bit more space and privacy. The resort has showers (which was a nice luxury for us!), laundry, and a pool. 

Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes: We contemplated staying here with Kathryn’s parents, but chose Yosemite Pines instead. The advantage to this campground is that it’s a tiny bit higher in elevation, which can provide some relief in the heat. We did meet some campers while boondocking in the area who were staying here and decided to leave because they did not enjoy it. So keep your expectations medium!

There are also several National Forest Campgrounds, which look to be good spots if you don’t require running water, flushing toilets, or showers:

Pines Campground
Sweetwater Campground
Lost Claim Campground

Vacation Rentals

Cozy, Clean, Close to Yosemite (1 bedroom, 1 bathroom)
Enchanting Forester Cabin (2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom)
Pine Mountain Lake Condo (2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms)

Free Camping

Hardin Flat Road: We stayed in this area for a few nights. There is one larger area that can fit 4-5 rigs and a few other pull offs along the road. We really liked this spot, which had great exposure for solar and Starlink.
Open Field Boondocking is another area that offers a few different spots to camp.

Highway 395 (Northeast)

Located at the eastern end of Tioga Road, Highway 395 is the perfect area to stay for eastern Yosemite and Eastern Sierra adventures. While a bit far from Yosemite Valley and other popular areas of the park, it still has a lot to offer and is perfect if you’re combining Yosemite with a Highway 395 road trip!

From here you can access Tioga Road easily (which is one of the best parts of the park!), hike to many alpine lakes, visit hot springs, and so much more!

You’ll find a few towns around here, with Mammoth Lakes being the largest and offering the most amenities, like a Grocery Outlet, Vons, and a super nice laundromat (that takes Apple Pay!). Plus a great free water fill up for RVs by the Welcome Center and a paid dump station.

If you’re looking for food check out the Whoa Nellie Deli in Lee Vining (just outside the park), which has probably the best gas station food you’ll ever find. Get the fish tacos! We also loved Black Velvet Coffee Roaster and Dos Alas CubaRican Café (make a reservation!) in Mammoth Lakes.

IMPORTANT note: This is ONLY a good option to stay near Yosemite National Park if Tioga Road is open. To be safe, we would only stay here in July or August.

Hotels

El Mono Motel (Lee Vining)
The Village Lodge (Mammoth Lakes)
The Westin Monache Resort (Mammoth Lakes)

Campgrounds

Tioga Lake Campground 
Ellery Lake Campground 
Lower Lee Vining Campground
Big Bend Campground
Aspen Campground 
Moraine Campground 
Mono Vista RV Park

Vacation Rentals

Cute and Comfy Studio + Loft (Mammoth Lakes) (1 bedroom, 1.5 bathrooms) 
Updated 1 bedroom condo (Mammoth Lakes) (1 bedroom, 2 bathrooms) 
Recently renovated condo (Mammoth Lakes) (1 bedroom, 1 bathroom)

Free Camping

This area is loaded with free camping options! During our time in this area some of our favorite camping spots were Mono Lake Vista, Brees Lookout, and off Mammoth Lakes Scenic Loop. There are countless other options, especially if you don’t need a clear sky for solar or Starlink.

Things to consider when choosing where to stay near Yosemite National Park

When deciding where to stay near Yosemite National Park, there are a few additional things to consider when making your choice.

Time of year

Some areas of the park are not open or easily accessible during certain times of the year. For example, Tioga Road is not open until typically June or July, so you would not want to stay off Highway 395 in the winter. You also may not want to tent camp in the winter, depending on your cold tolerance.

On the other end, it can get hot in Yosemite. During our visit in early June, Yosemite Valley (around 4,000 feet of elevation) was 90-100ºF. Both Oakhurst and Mariposa are both pretty low elevation (around 2,000-2,200 feet) and Groveland is around 3,136 feet. So they may feel even hotter, which can make camping or van life tough.

Cost

The closer you are to the park, the more expensive lodging will be. Even in Mariposa and Oakhurst we were seeing pretty basic Airbnbs for $300+ a night for a June trip. If you stay further out (or rough it and camp), you will be able to save money. Camping is by far the cheapest way to stay in Yosemite National Park. And you can even get it for free if you disperse camp!

Driving time

As you can probably see from the driving times we listed for the different areas to stay near Yosemite, you will be in the car a lot. But you can reduce your driving time a couple ways. First, if you plan to only visit one area, try to stay closest to that area. Even if it may cost a little bit more. After spending hours driving in the park (often before sunrise and after sunset), a 45 minute drive in the dark will feel much longer.

You also can switch lodging throughout your trip to save on driving time. If you plan to spend half of your time in Yosemite Valley, stay closer to there at first. And then if you want to spend time near Tioga Road, find a spot closer to there. This is especially easy to do with boondocking campgrounds, since you can find them in more remote areas, closer to the park, than you can find hotels and vacation rentals.

How often you’ll be at your lodging

If you’re like us, you’ll likely be in the park the majority of the day. We tried to always experience sunrise and sunset in the park (with some breaks in our van to rest mid-day), so we were hardly ever at our camping spot. If you plan to be gone all day, you may not need anything fancy when it comes to lodging or any fun amenities (like access to a pool, kitchen, etc).

Where is the best place to stay to visit Yosemite National Park?

Minus staying within the park itself, which is the most ideal, there truly is no best place to stay in Yosemite National Park. Your needs, preferred type of lodging, willingness to drive, and budget will play a factor into what is best for you.

However, based on our multiple experiences in the park, here would be our recommendations, if you cannot get lodging inside the park.

If you’re only visiting Yosemite Valley: For the ultimate convenience, El Portal will be your best bet! This will be the quickest drive daily into Yosemite Valley. 

If you want to visit all areas of the park: While El Portal is a good option for this, we also think Groveland also works well to visit all areas of the park. When Kathryn’s parents visited us, we took them to Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point, and Hetch Hetchy, all from the Groveland area. The earlier parts of Tioga Road are not too horrible of a drive from here as well.

If you want to avoid the crowds: To have some solitude, we suggest staying on Tioga Road (from July-August timeframe). There are tons of campgrounds right along the road, plus epic hiking both in and outside the park, with less crowds. You’d be far from Yosemite Valley, so we especially recommend this if it’s your second visit and you’ve been to the valley before.

If you want a hotel: If you want the most hotel options, especially if you’re loyal to major hotel chains (and can redeem points), Oakhurst is the best option.

If you’re traveling in a van or RV: We personally really liked staying near Fish Camp and Oakhurst (boondocking at the Goat Meadow Snow Play area) for the amenities. Our boondocking spot was just minutes from the park entrance and about a 1 hour drive to Yosemite Valley. There were larger grocery store options, plus a laundromat, which is very nice when living on the road.

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