Closest airport to Yosemite, by entrance and season.

Which airport for Yosemite?

NPS names nine commercial airports for Yosemite and lists them by distance from Yosemite Valley, but it doesn't rank them. Pick by where you're headed first. Fresno reaches the South Entrance on Highway 41, the way to Wawona and the Mariposa Grove. Merced reaches the Arch Rock Entrance on Highway 140, and the Valley is just 11 road miles past that gate, the shortest of the three western entrances. Stockton, Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose and San Francisco all come in on Highway 120 to the Big Oak Flat Entrance. Mammoth Lakes and Reno reach the Tioga Pass Entrance on the east side, and only while Tioga Road is open. NPS doesn't recommend using GPS for directions in and around the park, so check your route on a map before you go.

Every airport-to-entrance drive.

Every airport-to-entrance drive we route, one for each airport. Seven end at entrances that are open 24 hours a day, all year, though NPS says tire chains are often required on park roads in winter. The two dashed lines, from Mammoth Lakes and Reno, end at the Tioga Pass Entrance. NPS says Tioga Road is closed from approximately November through May. In 2026 it opened on May 15.

The nearest airport to an entrance isn't always the shortest trip to Yosemite Valley. Fresno is 62 miles from the South Entrance, but the Valley is another 31 miles up Wawona Road (1 h). Merced is 71 miles from Arch Rock, and the Valley is 11 miles (23 min) past the gate. NPS's own driving times agree: 2 hours to the Valley from Merced, 2.5 from Fresno. So pick Fresno for Wawona and the Mariposa Grove, and Merced for the Valley. From the Big Oak Flat Entrance the Valley is 24 miles on, which adds about 52 min to every Bay Area and Sacramento drive.

Match the airport to the season.

When Tioga Road is open (typically late May or June until November): all nine airports work. Mammoth Lakes is 41 miles (52 min) from the Tioga Pass Entrance, and NPS puts it 1 hour from Tuolumne Meadows and 2.5 hours from Yosemite Valley. Reno is 150 miles (3 h 20 min), and NPS says 4.5 hours to the Valley. Plowing progress and the road itself are on our Tioga Road page.

When Tioga Road is closed (approximately November through May): the east-side airports lose their shortcut. NPS says to allow about seven hours from Mammoth Lakes to Yosemite Valley, and about 5.5 hours from Reno, with no access by car to Tuolumne Meadows. Fly to Fresno, Merced or a Bay Area airport instead. Carry chains: NPS says they're often required on park roads, and when they are, you must carry them whatever you drive.

Mammoth's flights are seasonal too. The Town of Mammoth Lakes listed Advanced Airlines' summer 2026 schedule from Hawthorne-LA and Carlsbad, June 25 to September 7, on Sundays, Thursdays and Saturdays. That season is over, and the town lists no flights after it.

Any month: NPS says Yosemite won't use a timed reservation system in 2026; our Yosemite reservations page has the details. Road seasons for the whole park are on Yosemite road closures. If you haven't picked dates yet, start with the best time to visit Yosemite page.

Winter: seven airports still work.

With Tioga Road closed, the dashed Mammoth Lakes and Reno lines drop off the map. Seven airports still reach an entrance that's open all year, 24 hours a day. The Hetch Hetchy Entrance is the exception on the west side: NPS keeps its road open only from sunrise to sunset, and closes it when it's snowing or snow is forecast overnight. No airport route here ends there. Our Yosemite in winter page covers what's open.

Short drive, more flights, or international?

We don't publish fares. What sets them is how many nonstop routes an airport has, and whether your trip needs a connection. Fresno lists 15 nonstop destinations, including Chicago, Denver, Seattle and three cities in Mexico, and it's the shortest year-round drive to an entrance. Merced is the other drive under two hours, but we couldn't confirm its airline.

San Francisco is the biggest choice by far. It lists nonstops to 80+ U.S. destinations, plus 17 in Europe and the Middle East, 16 in Asia, 16 in Canada, Mexico and the Americas, and 8 in the South Pacific and Oceania. It's also the longest drive, 167 miles (3 h 48 min) to Big Oak Flat. Sacramento lists 51 nonstop destinations. Reno lists 10 airlines and more than 130 daily flights, but it's a Tioga-season airport for Yosemite.

Flying from abroad? San Francisco has the most international nonstops. Oakland's airlines fly to Mexico and San Salvador, and to Europe in season. Fresno and Sacramento both have flights to Mexico. San Jose, at 154 miles (3 h 34 min), is a little closer than San Francisco.

You don't have to fly in and out of the same airport. In Tioga Road season, Reno in and San Francisco out, or the reverse, crosses the park on Tioga Road with no backtracking. Check the one-way rental fee before you decide.

Adding Sequoia? Fresno's airport calls itself the closest commercial airport to Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, all under 100 miles.

YARTS, trains, and getting around.

No car? YARTS is the regional bus into Yosemite. Its Highway 140 route runs all year from Merced through Mariposa, Midpines and El Portal to Yosemite Valley, and its 2026 summer timetable lists stops at Merced Airport, Merced Transpo and Merced Amtrak. The summer schedule runs May 22 to September 30, 2026, and the winter schedule October 1, 2026 to May 28, 2027. Check the winter timetable for the airport stop before you count on it.

From Fresno, the YARTS Highway 41 bus stops at Fresno Yosemite International Airport and Fresno Amtrak, with stops in Wawona, from May 22 to September 25, 2026. In summer YARTS also runs from Sonora on Highway 120, daily from mid-May through September, and from Mammoth Lakes over Tioga Road, daily July through September, conditions permitting.

YARTS fares are location based, with discounts for children, seniors, veterans and ADA eligible passengers. Park entrance and nonresident fees aren't included in the fare, so you'll pay those too. From Stockton, Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose and San Francisco, NPS lists Amtrak or Greyhound all year, with YARTS carrying Amtrak riders on from Merced. NPS warns you may need extra transportation between the airport and the nearest Amtrak or Greyhound station. From Reno, summer riders take Eastern Sierra Transit to Lee Vining and YARTS from there.

We don't carry live flight status, schedules or fares. Those change daily. Check them on the airline's or the airport's own site before you book.

Common questions.

What major city is closest to Yosemite?

Fresno. YARTS calls it the largest city in the region, and its airport is 62 road miles (1 h 30 min) from the South Entrance. Merced's airport is a little quicker to Yosemite Valley itself: NPS puts it 2 hours away, against 2.5 hours from Fresno. We measure from the airports, not from city centers.

Which airport is the cheapest to fly into for Yosemite?

We don't publish fares, and they change daily. Nonstop breadth is the better guide. San Francisco lists nonstops to 80+ U.S. destinations and dozens abroad, and Sacramento lists 51, but both are more than three hours from an entrance. Fresno lists 15 nonstops and is 62 miles from the South Entrance. If your home airport flies nonstop to Fresno, you save the long drive. If it doesn't, a Bay Area nonstop can beat a connection.

Is Yosemite closer to San Francisco or San Jose?

San Jose, slightly. San José International is 154 road miles (3 h 34 min) from the Big Oak Flat Entrance, and San Francisco International is 167 miles (3 h 48 min). NPS gives both as four hours to Yosemite Valley. Oakland is closer than either, at 149 miles.

Can I fly into Mammoth Lakes or Reno for Yosemite in winter?

Not for a short drive. Both airports reach the park over Tioga Road, which NPS says is closed from approximately November through May. With it closed, NPS says to allow about seven hours from Mammoth to Yosemite Valley and about 5.5 hours from Reno. Mammoth's 2026 flights also ran only June 25 to September 7. In winter, fly to Fresno, Merced or a Bay Area airport.

Where these facts come from

The nine airports, NPS's driving times to Yosemite Valley, Wawona and Tuolumne Meadows, the Tioga-closed fallback times and the per-airport transit notes come from the NPS Yosemite airports page; the GPS warning from the NPS directions page; YARTS, Amtrak and Greyhound routes and seasons from the NPS public transportation page; 24-hour entrances from the NPS fees page; the 2026 Tioga Road opening from the NPS plowing and road opening update; road seasons from the NPS road restrictions page; tire chains from the NPS winter page; Hetch Hetchy Road hours from the NPS current conditions page; the 2026 reservation decision from the NPS reservations page. Airport-to-entrance distances and drive times, and the in-park drives from each western entrance to Yosemite Village, are computed by the OSRM routing engine on OpenStreetMap roads (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with airport coordinates from OurAirports and entrance coordinates from OpenStreetMap nodes; last computed 2026-09-11. They are road distances and no-stop times, not live traffic. NPS measures every airport to Yosemite Valley, so we use the routed figure to a named entrance and quote NPS's times separately. Airline and route notes come from the airports' own pages: Fresno's nonstop destinations and national parks pages, the Town of Mammoth Lakes airlines page, Oakland International, San Francisco International, Sacramento International and Reno-Tahoe International. Bus routes, stops, 2026 dates and the fare rules come from the YARTS home page, its Highway 140 and Highway 41 schedules and its tickets and fares page. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.