Closest Airport to Yosemite National Park

First question: closest to which part of Yosemite?

Yosemite is about the size of Rhode Island and has five entrances. The airport closest to one can be four hours from another. So before you search for flights, decide where you are going to sleep.

For most visitors that means Yosemite Valley, or a town just outside the south or west gates. For them the answer is Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT). It is about 65 miles and an hour and a half from the South Entrance, and roughly two and a half hours from the Valley floor.

Merced has a tiny airport that is a little closer on the map, and I will come to it. But Fresno is the closest airport with a real choice of airlines, and it is the one I would start with.

One piece of good news for 2026: you do not need a reservation to drive into the park this year. You pay the entrance fee, $35 per car, by card. The gates do not take cash.

Match the airport to your entrance

Where you are staying	Entrance	Best airport	Drive to the entrance
Oakhurst, Fish Camp, Wawona	South (Highway 41)	Fresno (FAT)	1 hr 30 min
Mariposa, El Portal, Yosemite Valley	Arch Rock (Highway 140)	Fresno (FAT) or Merced (MCE)	2 hr from Fresno
Groveland, Hetch Hetchy	Big Oak Flat (Highway 120)	Oakland, San Jose or Sacramento	3 hr
Lee Vining, Tuolumne Meadows	Tioga Pass (summer only)	Reno (RNO)	3 hr

Drive times are my estimates in normal traffic. Summer weekends add to all of them.

Yosemite entrances and their airports, not to scale.

Fresno (FAT): the default

Fresno is a mid-size airport with flights on the main US airlines to their western hubs, so you can reach it with one stop from almost anywhere. It is quick to get through and the rental cars are a short walk away.

The drive north on Highway 41 is the gentlest road into the park. It passes Oakhurst, where most of the affordable hotels are, and enters by the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias. Then you come out of the Wawona Tunnel to the famous first view of the Valley. As arrivals go, it is the best one.

Merced (MCE): closest on paper

Merced Regional Airport is about 80 miles from Yosemite Valley along Highway 140, the lowest and least snowy road in. Its weakness is flights. One small airline serves it with a handful of departures, so it only helps if you happen to be starting from a city it flies to. Check before you count on it.

Merced matters more as a bus and train hub, which I cover below.

San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose: when fares or flights decide

If you are flying in from abroad, or from a city with no easy route to Fresno, you will probably land in the Bay Area. Expect three and a half to four hours to Yosemite Valley.

Of the three, Oakland and San Jose are on the right side of the bay and save you the bridge traffic. San Francisco has the most international flights. A common plan is two nights in the city, then the drive to Yosemite, and it works well.

Sacramento (SMF) is about the same distance and far calmer. People forget it. Check it if you are flying domestic.

Reno (RNO): for the high country in summer

If your trip is about Tuolumne Meadows, Tioga Pass or the eastern Sierra, Reno is the closest big airport. Drive south on Highway 395 to Lee Vining and enter from the east.

This only works when Tioga Road is open. In 2026 it opened on May 15, earlier than usual, and it normally shuts with the first big snow around early November. Outside that window, the east entrance is closed and Reno is no use for Yosemite.

You can do Yosemite without a car

This is the part most airport guides leave out. A public bus called YARTS runs into Yosemite Valley, and it stops at two airports.

• From Fresno airport (summer only). In 2026 the Highway 41 bus ran from May 22 to September 25. It left the airport at 6:55 am and 9:45 am and reached Yosemite Village about four hours later. Return buses left the Valley at 4 pm and 7 pm.
• From Merced (all year). The Highway 140 bus runs every day of the year except a few holidays. It stops at Merced airport and the Amtrak station, then Mariposa and El Portal, before the Valley.

Once you are in the Valley, a free shuttle links the lodges, campgrounds and trailheads. So a car-free trip is realistic if you stay in the Valley or along Highway 140. It is not realistic for Glacier Point, Hetch Hetchy or anywhere off the bus routes.

If you land in the Bay Area without a car, take Amtrak to Merced and change to the bus there. It is slow but it works, and you can book it as one ticket.

If you are going in winter

From November to May, plan around two facts. Tioga Road and Glacier Point Road are closed. And any road into the park can require snow chains, even on a rental car.

That makes Fresno or Merced the sensible airports in winter. Highway 140 from Merced and Mariposa stays lowest and is the least likely to need chains. Ask the rental desk about chains before you leave the airport, because many companies do not allow them.

My pick

Fly into Fresno, rent a car, stay a night in Oakhurst and drive in early the next morning. If Fresno fares are high from your city, compare Sacramento and Oakland before San Francisco. And if you would rather not drive mountain roads at all, come in summer and take the bus from Fresno airport. Planning a second park on the same trip? The Zion airport guide works the same way.

Sources

• YARTS Highway 41 summer 2026 schedule (Fresno airport bus times and dates)
• YARTS (year-round Highway 140 service from Merced)
• Public transportation, National Park Service (Amtrak, Valley shuttle)
• Yosemite reservations in 2026, More Than Just Parks (no entry reservation, Tioga Road opened May 15)
• Yosemite travel tips, Visit Yosemite Madera County (entrance fee, cashless gates, Tioga closing)