• Home
• Hikes
• Lodging
• Site Map
• Feedback

Buck Meadows, California

Location:  13 miles (21 km) from Yosemite entrance; 30 miles (48 km) from Yosemite Valley; via Highway 120 (map)

Population 50; Elevation 3,000 feet (915 meters)

Location:  13 miles (21 km) from Yosemite entrance; 30 miles (48 km) from Yosemite Valley; via Highway 120 (map)

Population 50; Elevation 3,000 feet (915 meters)

Buck Meadows, like imaginary numbers and unicorns, is as much an idea as a tangible part of the universe, lacking a zip code, stoplights, or even a reduced speed limit. Downtown Buck Meadows has a shorter yellow pages listing than your neighborhood mini-mall. Still, it's there (see the above photo for proof), and it's a useful construct. As you pass through Buck Meadows on Highway 120, you'll only spot the America's Best Value Inn and the Yosemite Ridge Resort, but it turns out that several more inns and resorts lie scattered among the trees in the area, from intimate owner-run bed & breakfasts to gigantic RV parks with hundreds of sites. See the hotels section below for a full inventory.

Shopping & Gas:  There's a small convenience store and gas station (including diesel) at the Yosemite Ridge Resort. There's another at the turnoff to the Yosemite Lakes Resort, but it closes early. The Evergreen Lodge has a restaurant and convenience store.

ATM Machines:  At the Yosemite Ridge Resort convenience store and at the Evergreen Lodge.

Local Attractions:  The Rainbow Pool is a popular swimming hole. It's 3 miles (5 km) east of Buck Meadows; the signed turnoff is on Highway 120 just west of a bridge over the Tuolumne River.

The Strawberry Music Festival, a three-day bluegrass-and-beyond concert series that takes place over Memorial & Labor Day weekends, is held at nearby Camp Mather. It attracts some well known artists (recent headliners include Patty Griffin and Keb'Mo') and generally sells out, so getting tickets ahead of time is advisable. Your closest lodging options are the Evergreen Lodge (half a mile away) and the Dimond O Campground (1.5 miles away). The Evergreen recommends reservations three months ahead for the Strawberry Festival weekends.

After Hours Entertainment:  Plan on bringing a good book.

Cell Phone Reception:  You may have luck with Verizon, but otherwise, don't count on reception.

Pro:  Peace and quiet. There are more people in any given Yosemite campground than there are residents of Buck Meadows.

Con:  Contrary to its name, there are no meadows in sight here. This is clearly a failure of imagination. If you're going to name your city after something that's not there, why settle for a meadow, which lots of other places have plainly already got? Why not call it "Buck Rogers' Bloody Crash Landing Site" or "Buck Naked Mermaids From the Watery Deep?" These are the names of places I would make a point of visiting. This error is probably why Buck Meadows remains such a modest size after so many years.

Lodging Quick Summary

Closest to Yosemite:  The Evergreen Lodge is 1.5 miles (2.5 km) from the Hetch Hetchy entrance.

Best Reviews:  The Blackberry Inn and the Evergreen Lodge get consistently high marks on TripAdvisor (see the reviews links below).

Conventional Hotel Rooms:  At the America's Best Value Inn and the Yosemite Riverside Inn.

Cabins:  Available at the Evergreen Lodge and the Yosemite Ridge Resort. The Yosemite Riverside Inn deals primarily in conventional hotel rooms but also has two cabins. The Yosemite Lakes Resort has cabins, but they lack bathrooms.

RV Sites:  At the Yosemite Lakes Resort and the Yosemite Ridge Resort.

Buck Meadows Hotels & Lodging