Tuolumne Meadows is a two mile long subalpine meadow in Yosemite National Park that serves as the access point to the heart of much of Yosemite’s backcounty. The Tuolumne River flows through the meadow, and it is a popular area for wildlife watching. This area of the park has a visitor center, campground, wilderness center, Parsons Memorial Lodge and McCauley Cabin.
It is reached by Tioga Road, the only east-west roadway through Yosemite National Park, allowing park visitors to access Olmsted Point, Tuolumne Meadows, Tenaya Lake and a number of other area attractions in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Whether you have a day or a week, you can leave the crowds of Yosemite Valley behind on a day trip or backpacking adventure.
Tioga Road travels 46 miles across Yosemite National Park as part of Highway 120 from Big Oak Flat Road to the Tioga Pass Entrance. The road is typically closed at some point in November and opened in late May or early June. It takes the park service between one and two months to clear Tioga road of snow.
There are a a number of park attractions around Tuolumne Meadows including:
Olmsted Point
This observation point in Yosemite National Park is located off Tioga Pass Road and provides views of Tenaya Lake and Half Dome. It is about 29 miles east of the turnoff coming from Yosemite Valley. Omsted Point was named for Frederick Law Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., an American landscape architect, city planner and wildlife conservationist. The former served briefly as one of the first Commissioners appointed to manage the grant of the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove from Congress to the State of California as a park.
Tenaya Lake
This high country lake is found at an elevation of 8150 feet above sea level, along Tioga Pass Road. It was formed by glacial action and is surrounded in part by granite domes. Tenaya Creek flows into the lake from the northeast section and flows out through the Tenaya Canyon 10 miles down to Yosemite Valley. Although most of the lakes in Yosemite were originally fishless, Tenaya Lake is now known for its brook trout as well as rainbow trout and brown trout.
Pothole Dome
Pothole Dome is a granite dome that sits west of Tuolumne Meadows. The summit is reached by a 1 mile out and back trail from the parking area at mile marker 18 of Tioga Road. There is an elevation gain of 250 feet.
Lembert Dome
This granite dome rises 800 feet above Tuolumne Meadows. It is located about 7 miles west of the Tioga Pass Entrance to Yosemite National Park. The trail to the top is three miles round trip, departing from the Lembert Dome and Dog Lake parking area.
Tioga Pass
This mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada serves as the entry point to Yosemite National Park on the eastern side of Highway 120. At an elevation of 9943 feet, it is the highest highway pass in California and in the Sierra Nevada.
