Yosemite Valley is a census-designated place in Mariposa County, California, occupying the developed areas of the valley floor within Yosemite National Park. The designation encompasses Yosemite Village, the park's main administrative and visitor hub, along with nearby lodging and service areas. The valley's name derives from the Miwok word for "killer," and the place itself is the geographic and symbolic heart of one of the country's most visited national parks. The valley is framed by the granite walls of the Sierra Nevada: El Capitan and Half Dome rise from the valley floor, while Yosemite Falls and other cascades feed the Merced River that drains the valley. This landscape draws millions of visitors a year and has made Yosemite Valley a global benchmark for climbing, hiking, and scenic tourism since the nineteenth century, when John Muir and others championed its protection. Residentially, Yosemite Valley is unusual. With a census population in the low hundreds, most of its year-round residents live in employee housing tied to park operations and concessions, and private residential real estate is extremely limited inside the park. Most people who seek a home near Yosemite settle in the gateway communities of Mariposa, Oakhurst, El Portal, and Fish Camp, which lie along the valley's approach roads. The valley itself functions more as a working park village than a conventional town. Transportation into the valley runs through Mariposa County and the park's other entry corridors. The Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System, or YARTS, provides bus service year-round on Highway 140 from Merced and Mariposa and adds seasonal routes on Highways 41 and 120. The valley suits people drawn to the Sierra Nevada and park life, whether as seasonal workers, year-round staff, or frequent visitors who anchor their time in the surrounding gateway communities. It is a place defined less by its small permanent population than by the extraordinary landscape that surrounds it.