El Portal Inn was built shortly after the Del Portal burned to the ground. The YVRR built and operated this facility. Originally the El Portal Inn was on a small bluff above the Yosemite Valley Railroad tracks. This hotel did not have any of the frills that the Del Portal had, it was a functional hotel, i.e. a place to rest and obtain meals. In fact, during it's planning and construction stages the local newspapers used a lot of ink writing about its nice lunch counter.

After California State sign route 140 opened in 1926 the railroad had the hotel moved to front the new highway. Hence getting some business from the auto traffic as well as some from rail passengers.

According to William G. White, whose father was the general manager and vice president of the YVRR, the hotel was a "pain in the neck" for the railroad. The YVRR had a difficult time finding good management to operate the hotel. As a result the facility was not kept up to the standards of the Yosemite Valley Railroad Company.

The El Portal Inn burned in 1932. The railroad took its insurance payment and never rebuilt.

© Clayton J. Guest, July 14, 2002