Half Dome
Yosemite National Park · near Yosemite Valley / El Portal · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- expert
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 16.4 miles
- Elevation gain
- 4,800 ft
- Time needed
- day · overnight
- Best season
- Late May–mid-October (cables installed when safe)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- Yes
- How the permit works
- Day-use cable permit — lottery runs March 1–31 on Recreation.gov (225 permits/day). 2-day advance lottery also available for last-minute planners. Bring photo ID + printed permit; shown at Sub-Dome. $10 application fee.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 4 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Cable assist section (gloves essential) · 360° Sierra Nevada views · Vernal + Nevada Falls en route · Sub-Dome scramble
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Yosemite Valley timed entry reservations are required May through September for anyone driving into the park between 6am and 4pm. Book these well ahead on Recreation.gov — they're separate from the Half Dome permit and equally competitive. The Valley Floor shuttle (#16) connects to the Happy Isles trailhead from Curry Village.
The guide
There are few hiking experiences in North America that match the moment you step off the Sub-Dome and onto the steel cable syst…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Half Dome — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.7459, -119.5332