Oakhurst California

Originally known as Fresno Flats, Oakhurst California is an unincorporated community in Eastern Madera County just minutes from Yosemite and Bass Lake. Oakhurst is located 10 minutes north of Coarsegold and 10 minutes east of Ahwahnee. Oakhurst California was once a lumber mill town with a large mill that is now the Old Mill Shopping Center.

Downtown Oakhurst is directly on California Highway 41 and includes the intersection with the gold country’s famed Highway 49. Oakhurst is located at the southern termination of Highway 49. The intersection is shown in the photo below taken from the southwest looking north.

Oakhurst is located approximately 15 miles South of Yosemite National Park’s South entrance and about 45 miles North of Fresno California.

Oakhurst California 2010 at Dusk Looking North on Highway 41

Oakhurst California is situated along the Fresno River and currently (2010) has a population of around 3,300 according to City-Data.com. According to Wikipedia Fresno Flats first opened a post office in 1873, then Fresno Flats was moved, and changed the name Fresno Flats to Oakhurst in 1912.¹

Oakhurst’s Measure C ballot attempt to incorporate as a city failed in 2008. Madera County has only two incorporated cities, Madera and Chowchilla and looks to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Oakhurst Real Estate

Oakhurst real estate has fast become more and more desirable because of the fabulous quality of life available, at much lower cost than competing areas. Being located far enough away from urban centers like Fresno (45 miles roughly) yet still offering easy commuting with access to all kinds of shopping right in town, Oakhurst has become an attractive “suburban” mountain living area growing rapidly in the last decade.

Click Here for current Oakhurst Real Estate Listings

Oakhurst offers clean air, brisk winters and warm summers, and the advantage of being located so close to the world famous Yosemite National Park and Bass Lake California. Bass Lake is only 15 minutes from downtown, and Yosemite the same to the southern entrance, another hour to get to the valley floor.

Oakhurst Shopping

As mentioned, Oakhurst offers all of one’s shopping needs without going anywhere else. Oakhurst offers a great variety of shopping, including a particularly good selection of smaller local businesses catering to the mountain communities specific needs.

Oakhurst Lodging

Of course Oakhurst’s location just south of Yosemite on Highway 41 means you can easily stay in Oakhurst on your way to Yosemite.

There are a slew of hotels and other lodging available to you both in Oakhurst and nearby Bass Lake.

And lets not forget the Chukchansi resort and Casino 20 minutes south of oakhurst.

Oakhurst Businesses

Oakhurst sports all manner of businesses from small mom and pop shops to large supermarkets like Raley’s and Vons. Yellowbook.com has over 1600 businesses listed for Oakhurst. Click Here to View…

Oakhurst Weather

Oakhurst’s weather is generally mild, one of its main attractions. Oakhurst rarely sees snow, and when in does, it doesn’t last long. However, snow can be an issue at times, another reason Oakhurst is so unique, a little bit of everything.

Summers can be relatively hot, but on average the weather in Oakhurst is very attractive and pleasant.

Below are current Oakhurst Weather conditions brought to you by Weather.com.

Oakhurst California and the Computer Industry

Oakhurst California is well known for its history in the computer and computer gaming industry having once been the headquarters of Sierra Online, Tachyon and Pulsar Interactive.

Sierra Online was arguably one of the top groundbreaking computer game companies that did much not only for the gaming industry, but the computer industry as well, particularly with regards to championing hardware advancements.

Tachyon and Pulsar Interactive were companies owned by renowned computer programmer Chris Iden.

Here’s an interesting article about the closure of Sierra Online’s Oakhurst operation in February of 1999. Click Here RIP Sierra Online…

Oakhurst is currently home to many computer companies including Triton Interactive and an Episoft Inc office.

Oakhurst Ca Map

Oakhurst Business Categories

According to the Oakhurst Area Chamber roster there are many business categories in Oakhurst, see below. To search their roster click here…

1. Durham, David L. (1998) California’s Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State