Where to Stay in Yosemite

The Four Valley Options

The Ahwahnee is the park's grand hotel, open all year, and it sits on the valley floor under the granite walls. Yosemite Valley Lodge stands near the base of Yosemite Falls, which totals 2,425 ft, and it is open all year too. Note that the falls flow roughly November to July and are often a trickle or dry by August, so the view from the lodge changes with the season.

Curry Village offers cabins and canvas tent cabins and is seasonal. It has returned to its old name after years as Half Dome Village. Housekeeping Camp has canvas-and-concrete units right on the Merced River, also seasonal.

Curry Village sits 3,214 ft below Glacier Point, which is a useful way to picture the scale of the walls around you.

• The Ahwahnee: the grand hotel, open all year.
• Yosemite Valley Lodge: near Yosemite Falls, open all year, with the Base Camp Eatery food court.
• Curry Village: cabins and canvas tent cabins, seasonal.
• Housekeeping Camp: canvas-and-concrete units on the Merced River, seasonal.

El Portal on Highway 140

Just outside the western boundary on Highway 140 in El Portal are two separate properties, Cedar Lodge and Yosemite View Lodge. Cedar Lodge sits about 8 miles out. Yosemite View Lodge sits in the Merced River canyon, and it is the third room choice on the 2-day tour with lodging.

Staying here means a shorter drive through the park gate each morning than a night in Oakdale or Merced would give you. Highway 140 also needs chains less often in snow than Highway 120 or 41, which matters between roughly November and March when chain controls are likely on the approach roads.

Why Inside Wins on a Short Trip

A day trip from San Francisco runs 14-15 hours and spends 8-10 of them on the road, with only about 4.5-5 hours actually in the park. Staying over removes one of the two 4-5 hour drives and gives you the early and late light on El Capitan, which rises over 3,000 ft above the valley floor, and Half Dome, which rises nearly 5,000 ft. Cell coverage is mostly in the eastern valley, so a valley room keeps you near the one patch of signal, the free valley shuttle, which runs about 7 AM to 10 PM, and the food outlets at Yosemite Village and the lodge.

When Outside Makes Sense

If every park room is gone, El Portal on Highway 140 is the natural fallback. Cedar Lodge is about 8 miles out and Yosemite View Lodge sits further along the Merced River canyon, and both put you at the Arch Rock entrance instead of a 2-hour drive away. For a DIY trip, the YARTS Highway 140 bus from Merced stops at Yosemite Valley Lodge and Curry Village among others, so an El Portal base can even work without a car.

Driving yourself is covered in full on the San Francisco to Yosemite page, along with the warning that GPS units do not always give accurate directions into the park.

How Many Nights You Need

Two nights is the sweet spot for most visitors. One overnight gives you two partial days, still far better than the roughly 4.5-5 hours a day trip allows. Two nights give you a full middle day, which is exactly how the 3-day tour without accommodation structures things: valley highlights on day 1, a fully unguided day 2 to explore on your own, and the 2.5-mile Tuolumne Grove sequoia hike on day 3 before the ride back.

Three nights or more suit hikers, but book the same way, 366 days out.

The 2-Day Tour With Lodging Includes the Room

The 2-day tour from Incredible Adventures, from $629, includes an overnight stay built into the price, capped at 13 guests in a biofuel mini-coach. You choose between three rooms: Yosemite Valley Lodge, a tent cabin at Curry Village, or Yosemite View Lodge in the Merced River canyon. Day 1 covers Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, Half Dome, Bridalveil Fall and Inspiration Point plus a Giant Sequoia hike on the way in, and day 2 goes to Glacier Point, weather permitting.

The Glacier Point road normally opens late May to October or November and can close at short notice for snow or fire, so never build the whole trip around it. Details are on the Yosemite 2-day tour with lodging page.

The 2-Day and 3-Day Tours Where You Book Your Own Room

The Extranomical 2-day guided trip, from $251, is transport and guiding only. Day 1 covers Tunnel View, Half Dome and Bridalveil Fall with free time at Lower Yosemite Falls, and day 2 adds El Capitan Meadow, Valley View and a 75-minute hike at Tuolumne Grove. The overnight is booked separately.

The same applies to the 3-day tour from $251: every night is yours to reserve. That matters for day 3, because the vehicle meets the group at Yosemite Valley Lodge, stop #7, in the afternoon before the drive home. If you book a room in El Portal instead of the valley, you must get yourself to that stop on time.

The full schedules sit on the 2-day tour from San Francisco and 3-day tour without accommodation pages.

The Nonresident Fee, Whatever You Book

Lodging and entry are separate costs. Since 1 January 2026 every non-U.S. resident aged 16 and over pays an extra $100 per person to enter Yosemite, and on the 2-day tour with lodging it is collected at the destination, about $100 per person, not included in the $629. On the 3-day tour the $100 is collected through a payment link or on the bus.

The $250 America the Beautiful non-resident annual pass waives it and covers up to 4 people traveling together. The full tour-by-tour breakdown is on the Yosemite nonresident fee page. Only the private tour, at $1,200 for up to 5 people, covers the fee itself, and it is a day trip with no lodging.

How Early to Book

The park service states plainly that rooms in the park book up to 366 days ahead. In practice that means the moment your dates are fixed, check availability at The Ahwahnee, Yosemite Valley Lodge, Curry Village and Housekeeping Camp. If you are traveling on an overnight tour where you book your own room, such as the 2-day guided trip from $251 or the 3-day tour from $251, reserve the room before or at the same time as the tour.

On the 3-day tour, place it within reach of Yosemite Valley Lodge, stop #7, for the day 3 pickup.

Seasonal Closures That Affect Your Base

Curry Village and Housekeeping Camp are both seasonal, so tent cabins and riverside units disappear in the cold months. The two year-round valley options are The Ahwahnee and Yosemite Valley Lodge. Weather shapes the trip too: the valley sits at about 4,000 ft, average highs run 9 C (48 F) in January and 32 C (89 F) in July and August, and chain controls are likely on the approach roads roughly November to March.

Glacier Point road closes in snow and did shut late in the 2026 season for wildfire smoke and firefighting. If waterfalls are your reason for going, remember Yosemite Falls is often a trickle or dry by August, while falls peak in May and June.

Eating at Your Base

In the valley you have the Base Camp Eatery at Yosemite Valley Lodge, a food court with a Starbucks counter, Degnan's in Yosemite Village, and the Village Store for groceries. Opening hours change by season. Lunch is not included on any tour from San Francisco, so guests staying at the lodge can simply walk to the Base Camp Eatery, while Curry Village and Housekeeping Camp guests often buy groceries at the Village Store.

On day tours, operators either stop for food purchases or suggest bringing cash, and the same logic applies to your overnight evenings. More on what a single day allows is on the is a Yosemite day trip worth it page.

Bears and Food Lockers

This applies at every property, including the lodges. Food, drinks and anything scented must be stored away from bears: out of sight in a closed car by day, never left outside, and in food lockers after dark. Fines run up to $5,000.

A candy bar left in a tent cabin at Curry Village is exactly the mistake the rules exist to prevent. Drones are banned throughout the park, with penalties of up to 6 months in jail or a $5,000 fine.

Wi-Fi and Cell Signal

Cell service is mostly in the eastern valley on AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, and patchy elsewhere. Wi-Fi is available at Degnan's Kitchen and at the lodges for guests, so a valley room keeps you connected, while El Portal coverage is not stated. Plan around it: download maps before you arrive, agree meeting points in advance, and note that the free valley shuttle runs about 7 AM to 10 PM if you need to move between Curry Village, the lodge and the village without a car.