Reserve a room today at the Hotel Charlotte, on the way to Yosemite!
Book a Room

Hotel Charlotte
On the way to Yosemite National Park

Specials .

Tioga Pass is Closed
YNPark Info: 209.372.0200

 Maps, Directions & Distances: Yosemite

Weather

Groveland from Yosemite and points East, Iron Door Saloon.
From our porch to the
Iron Door Saloon, just across
the street. We are a convenient
stop for popular band fans!

Rooms & Rates
Café Charlotte
Photo Gallery
Guest Comments
Specials & Packages
Local Intrigue
  Yosemite
  Groveland
  River Rafting
  Tours & Services
  Pine Mountain Lake
  More about the Area
Regional Itineraries
  Within 1.5 hours drive
  Eastern Sierras
  San Francisco
  Lake Tahoe

 
Las Vegas
Map & Directions
Regional Calendar
New! Our Blog  
    Home


Rotary International of Groveland meets Tuesdays at Noon at the Hotel Charlotte in Groveland, CA
Rotary of Groveland holds its
weekly Tuesday meeting at
the Hotel Charlotte at Noon.

 

 

When you get to Yosemite and
 pay your entry fee, get the
 official park newspaper,
 Yosemite Today with Yosemite
maps and activities..

 

 

I Survived Priest Grade


This stylish
 I Survived Priest Grade
 
Tshirt is the perfect birthday,
holiday or just because gift.
Come for a visit and pick
a few up or call us to order.
$15 for 1 or $25 for 2

 


Priest Grade photo by Terri Metz.
 The Groveland motto is:
Above the Fog, Below the Snow

 

Priest Grade virtual tour,
360 degrees of fun!

 

 

The Hotel Charlotte is centrally located in downtown Groveland on California highway 120, just 24 miles west of Yosemite National Park. We are just 3 hours from San Francisco, 2 and 1/2 hours from Sacramento and 5.5 hours from Los Angeles.

From the North or West (San Francisco bay area): follow Interstate 580 east to 205, a short span of 5 and 99 to Manteca.  Then follow highway 120 to Groveland and Yosemite Park. There is signage the length of this route to Yosemite. Click the map for a large scale version.

If you are due north, in the Sierra foothills, you can take 49 south. This route meanders through some lovely historic towns such as Sutter Creek, Jackson at the intersection of 49 and 88 (our preferred route to Lake Tahoe), Angels Camp at Highways 49 & 4, the turnoff to a fun-filled day in Murphy's and Calaveras Big Trees State Park and finally Sonora and Jamestown, a bit before the turnoff to Groveland on Highway 120.

Mapquest has recently updated their Groveland area database and is now a fairly good resource for zoomable, printable maps. Coming from points west, their directions are followable. Beware that Google and Yahoo maps have not yet updated their information and they will route you onto old priest grade. See note below.

If you are flying: into the Groveland airport, give us a ring ahead of time so we can schedule our day to pick you up from the airport (shuttle). 209-962-6455

Groveland Map with Yosemite, San Francisco and Sacramento routes. Distances to major cities and Yosemite
This is a small map. Click for a larger and more legible copy

Arrivng from the South: From the south the online mapping companies continue to recommend exiting highway 99 at Fresno to 41 to 49—We do not think this is a good plan unless you are test driving a Porsche and want to experience the curves and cliff edges of the foothills for a thrilling ~60 miles. Instead, stay on 99 north to 120 east for a far less heart-wrenching route, or at Merced you can cut north on J59, but have a good map to follow, this shortcut is not well marked once you get off the highway. If it isn't high summer season, consider a drive through Yosemite on 41 via Fresno/Oakhurst. This route isn't much of an extension of time and you can spend your part of the day touring the park.
 

A note about old and new Priest Grade Roads

The final approach to Groveland involves a ride up Priest Grade. One has two route choices, left (Highway 120—New Priest) or right (Old Priest) up the canyon.

New Priest Grade: This is Highway 120 and is 6 miles and very curvy. In the East bound direction (uphill) the passenger will be sitting on the outside of the hill, overlooking the edge. Busses and trucks use this route. It tends to flow at somewhere between 20 and 30 miles per hour.

Old Priest Grade: This is a narrow country road, not a State Highway and is half the curves of New Priest Grade,  a third the distance, very steep at three times the pitch and flows at 20-25 miles per hour or less. Weight restrictions.

Many folks recommend up the old, down the new, keeping the passenger always on the inside of the hill. Very polite! 

We give you this information so that you are making an educated choice. Except for Mapquest, the online mapping services all send you up Old Priest Grade without a discussion on weight restrictions and pitch which can over heat an older vehicle. We are working with the mapping companies to give more information with their recommendations.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to contact us to clarify any of these directions.

Distances from Groveland to Popular Cities:
(add another 24 miles to Yosemite National Park Entrance, 48 miles for the Yosemite Valley floor distances.)
Information provided to us from www.MapQuest.com. Links below are to a corresponding itinerary or information we have on that location.

We are also within an hour of some fairly famous little gold rush towns and historic enclaves such as:  Coulterville, Snelling, La Grange, Jamestown, Sonora, Columbia, Murphys, Twain Hart, Strawberry and Tuolumne.

Tioga pass, the extension of Highway 120 through Yosemite's high country to Highway 395 is seasonal and generally closed November to June. Road and weather conditions can be heard on the Yosemite road hotline at 209-372-0200 or online at www.nps.gov/yose. While Groveland receives little snow, points east of Groveland and through Yosemite experience an abundance of snow annually. Always carry chains.

There are 4 highways that will get you into Yosemite. Highway 120 from the west services the Bay Area, Sacramento and Northern California regions and is often referred to as the most scenic entrance. Highway 120 from the East winds its way up Tioga Pass and is only open part of the year. Winter closures can run from October-June, do have a back up plan! Highway 41 brings visitors from LA and regions south through Fresno and Oakhurst and Highway 140 comes in from the Central Valley, Merced and Mariposa.


An Historic Groveland Hotel: The Hotel Charlotte, on the way to YosemiteHotel Charlotte
On the way to Yosemite National Park
Cozy Lodging, Good Food & Spirits 
Serving dinners Thursday-Sunday from 5:30
18736 Main Street (Highway 120) PO Box 787
 Groveland, California  95321
Reservations: (209) 962-6455,  Fax: (209) 962-6254
Email
:
HotelCharlotte@aol.com

Home   ||  Rooms & Rates   ||  Restaurant   ||  Site Map   ||  Newsletters   ||  Calendar   || Contact us

del.icio.us   digg   Fark   Furl   NewsVine   OkNotizie   Reddit   Simpy   Spurl   Segnalo   TailRank   Technorati   YahooMyWeb

Send a friend to the Hotel Charlotte. A gift certificate would make the perfect gift.



Newsletter recipients enjoy otherwise unpublished savings!

Online Reservations Hotel Charlotte, Near Yosemite  Book a Room

a

Read and Post reviews about  Hotel Charlotte and Café Charlotte
The Hotel Charlotte is rated #1 in Groveland on TripAdvisor
 

Translate this website using the Google Translation Tool

French German Italian Spanish Russian

Japanese

Chinese

Copyright © 1999-2008 all rights reserved.
Please contact us at HotelCharlotte@aol.com for permission to use any of our photos or content.