Yosemite Village: The Historic 1927 Ahwahnee Hotel, Ansel Adams Gallery & Museum

Located on the northern side of Yosemite Valley between Shuttle Stops #1 and #5, Yosemite Village and The Ahwahnee form the year-round cultural, architectural and visitor-information hub of the park. Even if you are camping or staying outside the park, every building below is free to walk inside.

1. The Historic 1927 'Ahwahnee Hotel' (Shuttle Stop #3, Open to Non-Guests)

Built in 1926 to 1927 out of 5,000 tonnes of rough granite boulders, 1,000 tonnes of structural steel and giant concrete timbers stained to look like weathered redwood (so the building would be fireproof), The Ahwahnee is the crown jewel of National Park Service 'Parkitecture', having hosted Queen Elizabeth II, John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, Charlie Chaplin and Ansel Adams:

• What Anyone Can See Inside for Free: walk through the grand porte-cochère past the historic 1927 lift doors (which Stanley Kubrick copied for the Overlook Hotel in The Shining) into the 23-metre-long Great Lounge, featuring ten floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows framing Glacier Point, Persian carpets, Native American basketry designs by Dr. Phyllis Ackerman, and two walk-in sandstone fireplaces so huge you can stand upright inside them. Step into the sunny glass Solarium looking out at Yosemite Falls, grab a coffee at the Ahwahnee Sweet Shop, or enjoy a drink on the outdoor terrace.

2. Yosemite Village: The Ansel Adams Gallery, Museum, Indian Village & Cemetery

Walk 10 minutes west along the shaded forest path (or ride the shuttle to Stop #2) into Yosemite Village:

1. The Ansel Adams Gallery (Next to the Visitor Center, Free Entry): founded in 1902 by painter Harry Cassie Best (father of Ansel Adams's wife Virginia), this wooden gallery has been run by the Adams family for over a century. Step inside to see original darkroom prints by Ansel Adams, browse photography books, and join their free morning Camera Walks.
2. The Yosemite Museum, Indian Cultural Exhibit & Village of Ahwahnee (Free): right next door, see the world's finest collection of finely woven Miwok and Paiute baskets and walk behind the museum through the outdoor reconstructed cedar-bark houses (umachas) and roundhouse of the Indian Village of Ahwahnee.
3. The Yosemite Pioneer Cemetery (Across the Street): a quiet shaded resting place where early mountain guides, Galen Clark and Ahwahneechee elders are buried beneath views of Yosemite Falls.