Formerly: Clark's Station · Big Trees Station · Big Trees Lodge (2016–2019)
Yosemite National Park, California · Founded 1857 · Building: 1879
A Victorian Yosemite hotel complex whose roots reach to Galen Clark's 1850s traveler station, now closed for structural assessment.
The Wawona Hotel complex grew from Galen Clark's mid-1850s station for Yosemite-bound travelers. After the Washburn family acquired the property in 1875, a fire destroyed much of the early complex in 1878 and the current Main Building opened in 1879. The National Park Service now owns the property, which is closed indefinitely for a comprehensive condition assessment.
Galen Clark's Clark's Station becomes an established stopping place for Yosemite-bound travelers on the Wawona property.
Source: National Park Service, "Galen Clark and Washburn Orchards"; Pacific Coast Architecture Database, "Wawona Hotel"
The Washburn family acquires the Wawona property and begins developing the hotel complex.
Source: National Park Service, "Galen Clark and Washburn Orchards"
Long White, later called Clark Cottage, is built; it survives the 1878 fire that destroys much of the earlier complex.
Source: Travel Yosemite, Wawona Hotel history; Pacific Coast Architecture Database, "Wawona Hotel"
A kitchen fire destroys most of the early hotel complex, leaving Long White and the stable standing.
Source: Travel Yosemite, Wawona Hotel history; Pacific Coast Architecture Database, "Wawona Hotel"
The present Main Building of the Wawona Hotel opens.
Source: National Park Service, "Architecture in the Parks"; Travel Yosemite, Wawona Hotel history
President Theodore Roosevelt arrives at the Wawona Hotel before beginning his Yosemite trip with John Muir.
Source: National Park Service, "Roosevelt, Muir, and the Grace of Place"
The Wawona Hotel and Thomas Hill Studio are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Source: National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Wawona Hotel and Thomas Hill Studio
The Wawona Hotel complex receives National Historic Landmark designation.
Source: National Park Service designation information summarized in current Wawona Hotel historical references
The Wawona Hotel closes for a comprehensive condition assessment after roof work reveals structural concerns.
Source: National Park Service, Wawona Hotel closure notice
A Yosemite closure order extends to all buildings in the Wawona Hotel complex while assessment and rehabilitation continue.
Source: National Park Service, Yosemite closures page
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The National Park Service states that Roosevelt arrived at Wawona Hotel on May 15, 1903 before joining John Muir on a three-night Yosemite trip. The hotel was the starting point for that well-documented visit.
Clark's 1850s station provides the site's early lineage, but the Washburn family acquired the property in 1875. The extant Main Building opened in 1879 after an 1878 fire destroyed much of the earlier complex.
The National Register nomination describes Wawona as the largest existing Victorian hotel complex within the boundaries of a national park and notes its unusually high degree of integrity. This is an architectural-complex claim, not a claim that the hotel is California's oldest operating hotel.
The National Park Service presents several explanations for the name. One commonly repeated account treats Wawona as an imitation of an owl's hoot associated with the guardian spirit of giant sequoias; that does not establish a single, settled translation of "Big Tree."
The site's hospitality lineage reaches to Clark's Station, but the present Main Building dates to 1879, much of the early complex burned in 1878, and the property is currently closed indefinitely for assessment and rehabilitation. An uninterrupted operating claim is not supportable.
The main Wawona Hotel building was constructed by Galen Clark in 1857.
Galen Clark's station established the site's early traveler-service history, but the Washburn family acquired the property in 1875 and the current Main Building opened in 1879 after an 1878 fire.
Source: National Park Service, "Galen Clark and Washburn Orchards"; National Park Service, "Architecture in the Parks"
The Wawona Hotel is currently open to overnight guests.
The hotel and dining room have been closed since December 2, 2024 for a National Park Service comprehensive condition assessment, with no reopening date announced.
Source: National Park Service, Wawona Hotel closure notice; National Park Service, Yosemite closures page
Wawona endured as a destination because it stood on a major approach to Yosemite and evolved from a traveler station into a resort complex tied to the park's visitor economy. Its historic significance rests on a layered site history rather than a single uninterrupted building: the existing Main Building dates to 1879, while the complex includes several later Victorian-era structures. Its long-term future as lodging is presently subject to the National Park Service's structural assessment and rehabilitation process.
The Wawona Hotel developed from Galen Clark's 1850s traveler station in what is now Yosemite National Park, California. The Washburn family acquired the property in 1875, and the extant Main Building opened in 1879 after a fire destroyed much of the earlier complex. The hotel complex was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and later became a National Historic Landmark.
No verified record establishes Wawona Hotel as California's oldest hotel. Its site has a hospitality lineage reaching to Galen Clark's 1850s station, but the present Main Building opened in 1879 and the complex is currently closed indefinitely for structural assessment. It is more accurately described as a historically important Victorian hotel complex in Yosemite.
No. The Wawona Hotel is closed for a National Park Service comprehensive condition assessment after structural concerns were identified during roof work. The closure includes the hotel complex buildings, and the National Park Service and concessioner have not announced a reopening date.
8308 Wawona Rd, Yosemite National Park, CA 95389
(888) 540-5794
Do not plan an overnight stay: the entire Wawona Hotel complex is currently closed, and no reopening date has been announced.