North Dome
Yosemite National Park (Tioga Road) · near Tuolumne Meadows / Groveland · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 9 miles
- Elevation gain
- 1,500 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- June–October (Tioga Road open)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit; Tioga Road access (closed in winter). A quieter alternative to the Valley's crowded viewpoints, staring straight at Half Dome.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Face-to-face with Half Dome · Quiet high-country trail · Indian Rock arch side trip · Valley rim views
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Add the short side trip to Indian Rock, Yosemite's only natural arch — it's easy to miss but worth it. The trail actually loses elevation to reach North Dome, meaning you climb on the way back; save energy. Tioga Road is closed by snow roughly November through May, so this is a summer-fall hike only.
The guide
North Dome offers one of the most jaw-dropping views in Yosemite with a fraction of the crowds — from its granite crown, you st…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to North Dome — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.756, -119.539