Wawona Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Wawona Hotel is a historic hotel
located within Yosemite National Park
. It was declared a National Historic Landmark
in 1987.
Wawona Hotel is one of the oldest mountain resort
hotels in California and a classic of Victorian era
resorts. The Victorian style
hotel was built in 1876 to serve tourists visiting the Mariposa Grove
. As tourism increased, so did the number of trails and hotels. The Wawona Hotel is still in use today and continues to be one of the few hotels located inside the boundaries of Yosemite National Park. The verdant meadows, rushing streams, and tranquility of its site make this a favorite of those who prefer a relaxed environment.
The hotel is located four miles from the park's south entrance and cradled between the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees and the Yosemite Valley
. Most of the hotel's 104 guestrooms open onto one of Wawona's signature verandas
and are reminiscent of European-style hotel rooms. Housed in six buildings constructed from 1876 to 1916, the rooms are furnished in period pieces and antiques, with steam heat in winter. No telephones or televisions are located in the hotel.
Across from the hotel is a nine-hole 3,035-yard, par 35 golf course, Yosemite's only course and one of the few in a national park. In operation since 1918, it is the oldest in the Sierra Nevada. The course is open daily from spring to fall, weather permitting.
painter Thomas Hill
used the hotel pavilion as his studio for painting toward the end of his life.
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
located within Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
. It was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1987.
Wawona Hotel is one of the oldest mountain resort
Mountain resort
A mountain resort is a place to holiday or vacation located in a mountainous area. The term includes ski resorts, where winter sports, including skiing, snowboarding, ice climbing and ice skating are practiced, as well as places where summer activities such as mountain biking, mountain boarding,...
hotels in California and a classic of Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
resorts. The Victorian style
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
hotel was built in 1876 to serve tourists visiting the Mariposa Grove
Mariposa Grove
Mariposa Grove is a sequoia grove located near Wawona, California, United States, in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park. It is the largest grove of Giant Sequoias in the park, with several hundred mature examples of the tree...
. As tourism increased, so did the number of trails and hotels. The Wawona Hotel is still in use today and continues to be one of the few hotels located inside the boundaries of Yosemite National Park. The verdant meadows, rushing streams, and tranquility of its site make this a favorite of those who prefer a relaxed environment.
The hotel is located four miles from the park's south entrance and cradled between the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees and the Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...
. Most of the hotel's 104 guestrooms open onto one of Wawona's signature verandas
Verandah
A veranda or verandah is a roofed opened gallery or porch. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure...
and are reminiscent of European-style hotel rooms. Housed in six buildings constructed from 1876 to 1916, the rooms are furnished in period pieces and antiques, with steam heat in winter. No telephones or televisions are located in the hotel.
Across from the hotel is a nine-hole 3,035-yard, par 35 golf course, Yosemite's only course and one of the few in a national park. In operation since 1918, it is the oldest in the Sierra Nevada. The course is open daily from spring to fall, weather permitting.
Thomas Hill
The Hudson River SchoolHudson River school
The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism...
painter Thomas Hill
Thomas Hill (painter)
Thomas Hill was an American artist of the 19th century. He produced many fine paintings of the California landscape, in particular of the Yosemite Valley, as well as the White Mountains of New Hampshire.-Biography:...
used the hotel pavilion as his studio for painting toward the end of his life.