Only a handful of towns in the US sit entirely inside a national park, and one of the most charming is Wawona — a Sierra Nevada hamlet of fewer than 120 year-round residents near Yosemite's south entrance, roughly 2.5 hours east of Modesto and three hours west of Mammoth Lakes.
Wawona's name may come from a Miwok word imitating the hoot of a great horned owl, believed to be the guardian spirit of the giant sequoias. By the 19th century it had become a busy stagecoach stop for Yosemite-bound sightseers, complete with stables, blacksmiths and hotels. Today it's a quieter base packed with history.
Start at the Wawona Visitor Center, housed in the former summer studio of British-born landscape painter Thomas Hill, where reproductions of his Yosemite paintings hang floor to ceiling in Victorian-gallery style. Next door stands the Wawona Hotel, one of California's oldest mountain lodges, built between 1876 and 1918 — though note it's closed as of October 2026 for a long-term condition assessment, with no reopening date announced.
The Yosemite History Center is the town's highlight: a living history museum with a covered bridge used from 1857 to 1931, pioneer cabins, a blacksmith shop, an Army superintendent's office, a powder house that doubled as a jail, and a historic Chinese laundry. In summer, expect horse-drawn wagon rides, square dances, costumed interpreters and working forges.
Wawona also puts you close to southern Yosemite's big draws. The Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias — the park's largest, with more than 500 trees — is a short drive south, with trails from the accessible 0.3-mile Big Trees Loop to the 7-mile Mariposa Grove Trail. Yosemite has scrapped its reservation system, so arrive early to snag parking. For a proper workout, the 8.2-mile round-trip hike to Chilnualna Falls starts near town and climbs 2,400 feet past five cascades — best in late spring or early summer when the water is roaring and wildflowers line the trail.
Wawona Campground, a mile north along the South Fork Merced River, takes tents, RVs and trailers year-round; reservations are needed from mid-April through fall, though Loop A runs first-come, first-served in winter. With the hotel shut, lodging is mainly cabins and vacation rentals, and dining is limited to the Wawona General Store and Pine Tree Market — so stock up and plan ahead.
For travellers who want Yosemite's sequoias and waterfalls without the crush of Yosemite Valley, Wawona is a quieter, history-rich entry point worth building a trip around.
Story via Explore.com.
