Hotel Charlotte

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 Arriving 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. 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.