Every place to sleep in and around the park, sorted by what it is and who it fits. Inside the boundary there is one operator: every hotel, lodge, and tent cabin is run by a single park concessioner and books through travelyosemite.com, with reservations opening 366 days ahead and peak Valley dates gone in minutes. Outside the boundary there is a real market across five gateway towns whose drive times differ by more than an hour.
Inside the park: Yosemite Valley Lodge, the correct answer for most first-time visitors, across the road from Lower Yosemite Fall. The Ahwahnee, a 1927 National Historic Landmark, for the occasion that justifies it. Curry Village, canvas tent cabins at the base of Glacier Point since 1899 and the cheapest roofed beds in the Valley. Housekeeping Camp, three-walled river units where you can cook over a fire. White Wolf Lodge at 8,000 feet and Tuolumne Meadows Lodge at 8,700, both summer-only tent cabins for high-country trips. The historic Wawona Hotel has been closed for renovation since December 2024.
The gateway towns, by drive time to Yosemite Valley: El Portal (25 to 30 minutes, Highway 140), Mariposa (45 to 60 minutes, the most full-service and the safest first-timer's pick), Groveland (60 to 75 minutes on Highway 120, the character pick), Oakhurst (75 to 90 minutes on Highway 41, best for Wawona and the Mariposa Grove), and Lee Vining (90 minutes and only while Tioga Pass is open, the east-side base for the high country and Mono Lake).
The longer versions: the in-park lodging guide, the gateway towns compared, the complete camping guide, and what a Yosemite trip costs.