Tenaya Lake (Yosemite)
Yosemite high country (Tioga Road, Hwy 120) · near Lee Vining / Yosemite · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Kayaking & SUP
At a glance
- Best season
- Late June–September (Tioga Road opens with snowmelt) · Short high-country season
Permits and booking
- Permit
- Yosemite National Park entrance fee ($35/vehicle) + possible timed-entry reservation (check current requirements). No paddling permit. Tioga Road (Hwy 120) access only when plowed open — late June to October typically. Naturally fishless, glacier-carved.
What is here
- Wildlife
- No fish (naturally fishless) · Marmots & pikas on the granite · Clark's nutcrackers · Deer
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Kayaking & SUP detail
- Nickname
- Granite-Rimmed High Country
- Water types
- alpine-lake
- Exposure
- moderate
- Sup friendly
- Yes
- Wetsuit
- High elevation (8,150ft) means cold water even in midsummer. Short outings often fine without a wetsuit; carry warm layers and a dry bag — weather changes fast up high.
- Tidal note
- No tides; afternoon winds can build in the high country. Tenaya sits at 8,150ft surrounded by glacier-polished granite domes — an unmatched Sierra setting. ACCESS is limited to when Tioga Road (Hwy 120) is plowed open, typically late June through October. Yosemite entry reservations may apply.
- Intl tip
- Tenaya Lake is on Tioga Road between Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows — combine with the high country's hiking (hiking guide) and the granite of Tuolumne (climbing guide). The road is a spring backcountry-ski access point too (that guide). Check Yosemite's entry-reservation rules before you go, and confirm Tioga Road is open.
The guide
Tenaya Lake, sitting at 8,150 feet in Yosemite's high country directly beside Tioga Road, is one of the most beautiful alpine l…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Tenaya Lake (Yosemite) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.838, -119.468