Visit Tuolumne Meadows Attractions| Day Hikes in Tuolumne Meadows

Why visit Tuolumne Meadows? This is a magical destination for nature lovers and hikers. Tuolumne Meadows wilderness offers peace, tranquility, solitude and picturesque granite peaks and domes surrounding by stunning alpines vistas.

Tuolumne Meadows is a gentle, dome-studded, spectacular sub-alpine meadowy area along the Tuolumne River in the eastern high country of Yosemite National Park. It’s one of the largest high-elevation meadows in the Sierra Nevada, this is where wildlife often takes refuge in Yosemite high country like black bears. Encountering wildlife like black bears is an amazing privilege. There’s nothing better than watching a bear roll around in the Tuolumne meadows.

This high country is full of renowned day hikes that takes visitors to almost 13.000-foot peaks, deep into the stunning backcountry and up and over remote passes like Tioga Pass where you can soak your feet in beautiful alpine lakes. This remote wilderness is only accessible from June to October because Tioga Road and Pass are usually closed due to heavy snow falls in this part of the High Sierra Nevada Mountains.

These giant boulders were left when the last glacier came through.Tioga Road is open to vehicles in summer only, from June or July or October, but may vary based on weather conditions.

Lembert Dome may seem hard to scale when observing it from Tioga Road, but it is a relatively easy hike up to the summit with a 2.8-mile roundtrip hike that takes visitors to the top of this granite rock. From the top, the overlook offers unmatched panoramic views of Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadows. Lembert Dome is a must-see stop when visiting Tuolumne Meadows. It is also one of the less-crowded hikes in Yosemite wilderness.  For sightseers who want to snap great shots without hiking, the base of the dome still offer spectacular views of iconic sights and granite formations like Cathedral Peak.

Picture Mount Dana from one of the overlooks along Tioga Road. This peak is situated in the western boundary of the Ansel Adams Wilderness. At an elevation of 13,061 feet (3,981 m), it is the second highest mountain in Yosemite (after Mount Lyell). The mountain is named in honor of James Dwight Dana, who was a professor of natural history and geology at Yale. Mount Dana is composed of pre-batholithic rock that is mostly reddish metamorphic rock, which was composed by metavolcanics of surfacing magma from the Mesozoic Era.

The lake lies at an elevation of 9,489 feet on the Lee Vining Creek that drops into Lee Vining Canyon. There are three lakes (Ellery, Saddlebag and Rhinedollar Lakes) used to generate power by dropping over a total of 1,700 feet (520 m) into Lee Vining Canyon, this water is impounded by dams at Ellery Lake before it drops into Lee Vining Canyon where it’s used for hydropower generation at the Poole power plant. A portion of this creek is diverted into the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct near Lee Vining to provide water to metropolitan Southern California. The diversion of Lee Vining Creek and other streams such as Rush Creek and Mill Creek has led to a severe reduction in streamflow and a drop in lake level, damaging the fragile ecosystem of the lake.

Tioga Lake is a small glacial lake in the Inyo National Forest of Mono County, about two miles (3 km) north of the Tioga Pass entrance to Yosemite National Park. Tioga Pass lies at an elevation of 9,943 and is the only entrance to the Park from Eastern Sierra Nevada area, but this alpine road is closed every year from October /November to June/July, due to snow.

The lake bed is alongside State Route 120 in the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern California and offers spectacular views. It also has trout fishing, a picnic area, and a 13-site managed campground. Some of the wildlife in the area are brave enough to approach humans, especially birds and marmots. Occasionally a bobcat or bighorn sheep can be seen, although the latter are particularly shy.  Because of its inaccessibility, the region and Tioga Lake itself are popular with campers who want to avoid the crowds of Yosemite. Birds of prey are more common here, making Tioga Lake, and its surroundings, popular with bird watchers. Because of the altitude and its location at the crest of a major pass, the weather is extremely unpredictable, and the length of the seasons varies from year to year.

Tenaya Lake – Tenaya Lake is an alpine lake in Yosemite National Park, named after Chief Tenaya, who met the Mariposa Brigade near the shores of the lake. It is located between Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows. Lying at 8,150 feet, Tenaya Lake is a beautiful and popular lake with summer swimmers and outdoor enthusiasts and sits between Tuolumne Meadows and Yosemite Valley. The lake basin was formed by glacial action, which left a backdrop of light granite rocks, whose beauty was known to the Native Americans. Tenaya protested that the lake already had a name: Pie-we-ack, or “Lake of the Shining Rocks. This original name is now attached to Pywiack Dome, a granite dome to the east of the lake. Today, Tenaya Lake is easily accessible by State Route 120 and is a popular lake for water activities.  As part of the 1864 Yosemite grant, the area became the first park land to be federally protected for preservation and public use. Yosemite became a national park in 1916 with the advent of the National Park Service.

The hike to May Lake is from a parking area off Tioga Pass Road and is 1.2 miles (1.9 km). The lake is overlooked by Mount Hoffmann (named for the cartographer Charles F. Hoffmann, who was part of the California Geological Survey of the Sierra Nevada). May Lake was also named by Charles F. Hoffmann, for Lucy Mayotta (“May”) Browne, who became his wife in 1870.

The southwest end of Polly Dome consists of the Stately Pleasure Dome, 740 feet (230 m) lower than Polly Dome, but rising very steeply 900 feet (270 m) from the shore of the lake. Polly Dome’s summit has unobstructed views east to the Cathedral Range, north over Tuolumne Meadows to the Sierra crest, northwest over the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne and southwest to Half Dome.

Day Hikes in Tuolumne Meadows

Once Tioga road opens, hiking trails can remain wet and snowy for a few to several weeks but they breathtaking and each one of these trails has so much to offer. Bear in mind that The Tioga Road usually closes sometime in Late October or November due to heavy snow falls in this High Sierra.

Some of the top day and overnight hikes in Yosemite Tuolumne Meadows include:

Dog Lake and Lembert Dome: 4 miles (6.4 km) round-trip; 4 hours begin at the Dog Lake parking area (shuttle stop #2, just west of Tuolumne Meadows Lodge). The trail rises steeply for 0.75 mile to a signed junction. Turn left to reach the top of Lembert Dome for a spectacular view of Tuolumne Meadows and surrounding peaks. To reach Dog Lake, continue straight at the junction. Allow four hours for a leisurely four-mile (6.4 km) roundtrip visit to both Dog Lake and Lembert Dome.

Early in the season, the trail can be muddy in places (please remain on the trail even if it’s muddy). There are several creek crossings, including Rafferty Creek (bridged) and Ireland Creek (unbridged). Spectacular Kuna Creek cascades down the side of the east canyon wall near the eight-mile mark.

Near the top of the climb, it passes a spur trail to Lower Cathedral Lake (0.5 mile to lake). The return hike follows the same route. This is one of the busiest trails in the Tuolumne Meadows area. Since parking at the trailhead is limited, consider taking the shuttle bus.

From the trailhead, climb steadily to a ridge with views of the high Sierra including Mt. Dana and Dana Meadows with its scattered ponds. At the ridge crest, the trail drops 200 feet to Middle Gaylor Lake. Return via the same route.

At the Spillway Lake junction, the trail climbs steadily and more steeply to Mono Pass (elevation 10,600 feet). Don’t miss the spectacular view of Mono Lake and Bloody Canyon: from the pass, hike a bit farther toward Upper Sardine Lake.

Follow the signs to Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, another 160 feet higher in elevation. Hike beyond the camp to Vogelsang Lake (0.5 mile, 280-foot elevation gain) or to Vogelsang Pass (1.5 mile, 600-foot elevation gain).