Marking the southern end of the Sierra's gold-bearing mother lode, Mariposa is the last big town before you enter Yosemite on Route 140 to the west of the park. In addition to a fine mining museum, Mariposa has numerous shops, restaurants, and service stations. En route from Mariposa to the park's Arch Rock Entrance, you can also stop in the small community of El Portal for gas and provisions.
Motels and restaurants dot both sides of Route 41 as it cuts through the town of Oakhurst, a boomtown during the gold rush that is now an important regional refueling station in every sense of the word, including organic foods and a full range of lodging options. Oakhurst has a population of about 3,000 and sits 15 miles south of the park.
Almost surrounded by the Sierra National Forest, Bass Lake is a warm-water reservoir whose waters can reach 80ºF in summer. Created by a dam on a tributary of the San Joaquin River, the lake is owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company and is used to generate electricity as well as for recreation.
As you climb in elevation along Highway 41 northbound, you see nothing but trees until you get to Fish Camp, where there's a post office and general store, but no gasoline. (For gas, head 7 miles north to Wawona, in Yosemite, or 14 miles south to Oakhurst.)
Near the park's eastern Tioga Pass Entrance, the tiny town of Lee Vining is home to the eerily beautiful, salty Mono Lake, where millions of migratory birds nest. Also in this region (about 40 miles southeast of the Tioga Pass) is Mammoth Lakes, which has excellent skiing and snowboarding in winter and fishing, mountain biking, hiking, and horseback riding in summer. Nine deep-blue lakes form the Mammoth Lakes Basin, and another hundred dot the surrounding countryside.
