It was known to the local Native American Miwok in their language as Pallachun ("a good place to stay").

[11] Galen Clark, who helped gain preservation legislation for Mariposa Grove and what became Yosemite National Park, occupied this area in 1855.

[5] Clark sold the property to the Washburn brothers in 1874, who built a larger hotel in 1876, adding to it later.

Hotel keeper Jean Bruce Washburn named the resort property Wawona in 1883.

[13] Situated in the southwest part of Yosemite National Park, it lies along the South Fork of the Merced River at an elevation of about 4,000 feet (1,200 m).

Wawona is the closest town to Chilnualna Falls and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia.

[14] According to the United States Census Bureau, the Wawona CDP covers an area of 1.08 square miles (2.8 km2), all of it land.

There were 370 housing units at an average density of 58.3 per square mile (22.5/km2), of which 22 (31.0%) were owner-occupied, and 49 (69.0%) were occupied by renters.