Overview

Located within Yosemite National Park, the Yosemite Cemetery is a destination that gives the visitor a view of the history of the park in a unique way. Many different people are buried here, including Native Americans, park visitors and others who contributed in some way to Yosemite’s past. You can pick up a copy of a guide to the cemetery at the Valley Visitor Center.

Location & Information

The cemetery is located across the street from the Yosemite Museum in Yosemite Village.

Yosemite Cemetery is accessible all year.

Contact the National Park at 209-372-0200

Activities

When visiting Yosemite Cemetery, there are a number of other attractions nearby which you shouldn’t miss.

• Valley Visitor Center
  Here you’ll find an exhibit hall with displays of all kinds. The kids will particularly enjoy the displays of the park’s plant and animal life.
• Yosemite Museum
  Focusing on the Ahwaneechee people who lived in Yosemite Valley, this museum is a fascinating place to explore. You’ll see exhibits of baskets, clothing, photographs and much more.
• Indian Village of Ahwahnee
  Check out the reconstructed Indian Village behind the museum. This replica of a Miwok and Paiute village shows you how these people lived. Some of the staff, when the weather permits, put on demonstrations of beadwork and basket weaving.

Fun Facts

Yosemite Cemetery was begun in the 1870s. Over the years it was spruced up with the planting of trees, outlining the property, and a fence was built to enclose some of the graves.

The first person to be buried here was a Captain R. H. Bennett who drowned in 1870 while trying to cross the Merced River.

John C. Anderson was a stage driver who died in 1867. His locust wood switch was put in the ground to mark his grave and tradition has it that it sprouted and all the locust trees in Yosemite Valley are the descendants of this one branch.