Cathedral Lakes, Yosemite: The One Hike to Do in Tuolumne Meadows
The NPS calls Cathedral Lakes the most popular trail in Tuolumne Meadows. The route from the visitor center up the John Muir Trail to Upper Cathedral Lake and Cathedral Peak, how far it is, and when Tioga Road lets you get there.
The National Park Service calls Cathedral Lakes the most popular trail in the Tuolumne Meadows area, and it earns it. You start at the visitor center, climb through the forest on the John Muir Trail, and finish on the shore of Upper Cathedral Lake, almost 9,600 feet up, under the granite spire of Cathedral Peak.
The route, in order
The visitor center. The NPS starts this hike at the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center parking, on Tioga Road. A little over half a mile in, you're on the John Muir Trail, crossing Budd Creek on a footbridge.
The first climb. This is most of the work. On the lidar elevation model we used for the video, the trail climbs about 550 feet over the next three quarters of a mile, through lodgepole pine forest.
The flat stretch. After that it levels out for most of a mile of quiet forest.
One more climb. The trail climbs again, and near the top a spur trail heads off to Lower Cathedral Lake. The NPS puts that spur at 0.7 miles one way. For the upper lake, skip it and stay on the John Muir Trail.
The meadow and the lake. The last stretch crosses a meadow to Upper Cathedral Lake. Our lidar puts the lake surface at 9,594 feet. Turn around at the shore and Cathedral Peak is right above you, about 10,900 feet at its summit on the same lidar.
How far it is
The NPS lists Cathedral Lakes as a 7.6 mile round trip with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain, and says to plan on 6 to 7 hours. Our line for the video follows OpenStreetMap from the visitor center trailhead to the upper lake's shore and measures 4.3 miles one way. Adding up every climb on that line, including the small ones, gives about 1,300 feet. Use the NPS numbers for planning.
When you can go
You can only drive to this trailhead while Tioga Road is open. The NPS says that's typically from late May or early June until sometime in October or November, and the road closes after the first significant snowfall. This year the park posted a temporary closure for snow starting October 21. Overnight parking on the road, including at this trailhead, ends October 15. For most people, this is a summer hike.
The short version
- Start: Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center, on Tioga Road.
- Route: across Budd Creek, up the John Muir Trail, past the Lower Cathedral Lake spur, across the meadow to Upper Cathedral Lake.
- Distance: 7.6 miles round trip and about 1,000 feet of gain, according to the NPS. Our line measures 4.3 miles one way.
- The view: Cathedral Peak, right above the upper lake.
- Season: only while Tioga Road is open, usually late spring to fall.
Before you go
Looking for more? Browse Yosemite National Park on Outdoors.
More Yosemite hikes
Image credits
Lead image: Upper Cathedral Lake Sunset, by Brandon Levinger, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
