El Portal (Spanish for "The Gateway") is a census-designated place[4] in Mariposa County, California, United States.

[5] Work on a four-story Hotel Del Portal began in the fall of 1907[6] and was completed in 1908 by a subsidiary corporation of the Yosemite Valley Railroad.

[7] On October 27, 1917, a fire destroyed the hotel including the Desmond Company's records, which was started by a defective attic flue.

[8] El Portal lies along State Route 140 by the Merced River located on the western boundary of Yosemite National Park.

Town businesses include two hotels, a small general store, and a gas station.

There were 276 housing units at an average density of 168.3 per square mile (65.0/km2), of which 88 (38.3%) were owner-occupied, and 142 (61.7%) were occupied by renters.