Make Time for Mariposa, Gold Rush Gateway to Yosemite

By Melissa Curtin

Yosemite Mariposa

Yosemite National Park is the size of Rhode Island. Pre-pandemic, almost 5 million people flocked to this park annually, until measures were enacted for timed pre-booking. Yosemite first sparked the idea of national parks 150 years ago, when President Lincoln signed the Yosemite Land Grant, safeguarding the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove as protected wilderness areas.

While often visitors head directly to the heart of the park, the former gold mining town of Mariposa, just outside park borders, is well worth exploring, while also being quite close to the park’s main natural features. With a population 1,800, this gateway town feels like an old Western movie set due to its abundance of preserved pioneer history. Founded in 1849 and the southernmost in the Gold Rush chain of towns, you won’t find a stoplight here. About an hour drive from the entrance to Yosemite National Park, the cute town also has all the conveniences, plus affordable lodging. One gem is the newly-renovated 1930’s boutique hotel in town called Mariposa Tourist Homes (@tourist.homes on Instagram). Many rooms come with outdoor seating areas, full kitchens, washer and dryer, and huge bathrooms. Room 7 felt like a mini apartment and was our favorite due to its historical highlights shelf and upstairs balcony view of the town.

Historic Downtown Mariposa

Visitors can feel the Old West by strolling historic main street filled with shops, bakeries, tasting rooms, art galleries, and an old jailhouse, or by touring the 1854 courthouse, the oldest courthouse still in operation west of the Rockies. It was named Las Mariposas for the large number of beautiful butterflies in the area.

Stop in town at the Mariposa Museum and History Center filled with fascinating mining artifacts, a one-room miner’s cabin, and an operational stamp mill. Admire unique items like gold from 1934 mines, Victorian hair art, a coffee grinder from 1893, and maps of Mariposa from 1859, where lots sold from $200- $500 just ten years after the Gold Rush. Founded in 1957 and named one of the best small museums in America by the Smithsonian Institute, exhibits showcase Native American, Spanish Settlement, California Gold Rush, Yosemite and Mariposa County History.

The new Yosemite Climbing Museum, created by local climbing legends, materialized thanks to Ken Yager amassing a lifetime of climbing gear, including equipment used to install the cables at Half Dome. This 3-gallery space provides a forum of curated historical climbing artifacts as well as photography, publications, and memorabilia. Ken and Mike Corbett happily share death-defying tales of their climbs high up in Yosemite’s famous cliffs since the 1970s, as well as unbelievable stories of traversing 46 miles to a 1976 plane crash stuffed with weed or “Crash Bud” in Lower Merced Pass Lake, later known as Dope Lake.

Just outside of town is California’s official collection of gemstones and minerals, which dates from 1880. The impressive California State Mining and Mineral Museum showcases gold, silver, platinum, minerals that glow in the dark, outer space rocks, and the “Fricot Nugget,” a rare 13.8-pound piece of crystalline gold found in the American river in 1864. Fantasize about the Wild West through their original mining artifacts, historical documents, and displays helping visitors understand the history of panning for gold and the process of extracting it. Admire over 13,000 gems found in California and all over the world. The initial collection donated by the California State Geological Society was once housed in the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

Fuel up before hiking, grab sandwiches to-go at June Bug Café or breakfast at the Pony Expresso coffeehouse. For post-hike bliss, consider Little Shop of Ramen for a comfort bowl of toasted rye noodles freshly made served three ways in a triple stock soup broth. Pair with sake from Hollister, CA or local wine like Icons of Yosemite in the adjacent bar Local Grape, both in Mariposa’s oldest building. Surprisingly, Yosemite Mariposa has their own wines and vineyards nearby in the Sierra Foothills.

Other restaurants to consider in town are 1850 Restaurant & Brewery, Pizza Factory, Charles Street Dinner House, and Costa Livos for olive oil tasting.

Exploring Yosemite 

Our “welcome to Yosemite” happened just past the park’s entrance, when we rolled down the window of our car to watch two baby bears descend down a tree. Apparently, encountering bears while hiking is a likely occurrence, although they won’t harm you. We were told to outstretch our arms over our head if close and make noise so that they would run off. Grizzly bears once roamed California (at one time numbering roughly 10,000 within the state’s borders) but due to unregulated hunting and loss of habitat, the last known grizzly bear was shot outside Sequoia in the early 1920s.

Yosemite ‘s natural beauty can be found in things big and small, from towering granite cliffs and giant sequoias to tiny wildflowers. There are 4 diverse geographic areas, the High Sierra, Granite Cliffs, Sequoia Groves, and Valley floor. Pull over for stunning scenery at Valley View and Tunnel View, where Ansel Adams gained his inspiration.

Although there are countless hikes, consider Taft Point Loop and Sentinal Dome trails, which can be combined into a 6-mile loop for a 360-degree view of the park and for a close-up perspective on El Capitan and the valley. In September we saw deer, grouse, and chipmunks.
An 8-mile roundtrip hike to North Dome Trail from the Porcupine Creek Trailhead was one we will never forget and was made even more enlightening with guide Natasha Koomen from YExplore. She taught us about geology, history, and the local environment as we traversed through a mixed conifer forest and scaled up to a natural arch before coming face to face with Half Dome at 8,100-foot elevation.

At certain times of year the Valley Loop Trail is popular due to passing all the major attractions and the waterfalls but with no shuttles running at times, visitors need to park a car at one end. Some visitors like to rent bikes from Yosemite Valley Lodge’s bike stand and ride through the valley. Shuttle service to the Yosemite Valley is scheduled to return in 2022. To round out your day, rest your weary legs at the Ahwahnee Hotel with a post-hike sunset cocktail or beer. You may recognize the hotel from The Shining, as many of the sets that were created for the movie were based on the Ahwahnee.

Getting there

From Los Angeles., Mariposa is roughly a 5-hour drive. From San Francisco, the drive is around 4.5 hours. The nearest commercial airport is Fresno, which is 90 minutes away. Plan ahead, make sure your car is ready for a road trip, and that your tank is full and you have plenty of water. Services inside the park are limited. Check to see if pre-purchased passes are needed to enter.

No matter how much gear you bring, the space of an SUV is appreciated, like our Buick Encore. Having factory GPS helped us to navigate trailheads when our phones were out of range.

Melissa Curtin writes about travel and food for numerous publications both online and in print. Traveling around the world at age 20 on Semester at Sea fueled her desire to globetrot and learn about new cultures. Living in California has excited and delighted her with unlimited adventures. She splits her time between Malibu and Palm Springs. Find her stories on Lonely Planet, Zagat Stories, Roadtrippers, AAA World, SoCal Life Magazine, and more.

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