Groveland is a census-designated place in Tuolumne County, California, set in the western Sierra Nevada foothills along the Highway 120 corridor that leads to Yosemite National Park. The community is small, with a 2020 census population of about 540 within the CDP itself, but it anchors a larger foothill region: Groveland and the surrounding communities, including nearby Big Oak Flat and the Pine Mountain Lake development, together hold several thousand of Tuolumne County's residents. The area's history begins with the California Gold Rush, when mining brought the first large influx of settlers to what became the Groveland and Big Oak Flat settlements. The town has remained an important stop on the road to Yosemite ever since, serving travelers with lodging, food, fuel, and services on their way to the park's Big Oak Flat Entrance, roughly 25 miles to the east. That gateway role remains central to the local economy and to the community's rhythm, which swells with visitor traffic through the warmer months and quiets down in winter. The setting is classic western Sierra foothill country: oak woodland giving way to pine forest, granite outcrops, and rising terrain toward the national park. Housing ranges from in-town homes and cabins to larger, wooded parcels and a substantial number of vacation properties, especially around Pine Mountain Lake. Students attend the Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School District, with Tenaya Elementary serving the local area. For residents, Groveland offers the trade-off that defines many mountain towns: a remote, scenic, outdoor-oriented lifestyle with a seasonal visitor economy, set a manageable drive from the larger services of Sonora in the valley below and, beyond that, from the Central Valley and the Bay Area.