Tahoe-Yosemite Trail

Hike Name: Tahoe-Yosemite Trail Location: central CA Length: 186 Submitted by: Dude Spellings Date Submitted: 0/0/00 Rating:	more California trail reviews California national parks California state parks
For more trail descriptions and topo maps, try a Free Trial Offer from Trails.com

Description
As the name suggests, this trail goes from Lake Tahoe to Yosemite National Forest (specifically, Tuolumne Meadows). Due to the length of the trail and the change in terrain/elevation, this trail offers a variety of experiences. Our trip was in August of 98 after a winter with over 200% normal snowfall, so the trail was covered by snow in many places. We experienced temperatures between 20 and 85 degrees with everyday being beautiful and sunny. The water supply was bountiful, as the melting snow created literally hundreds of streams all along the trail. The plentiful water also caused millions of mosquitoes, and for this reason I highly suggest carrying a mosquito net for the head and face while hiking. The trail is strenuous in places and goes over an area affectionately called "The Yosemite Washboard" because of the profile created by the terrain. You can count on climing at least one or two passes per day, depending on your pace. The trail elevation ranges from around 5000' to over 10,000'. The trail also goes through the largest roadless area in Ca. between hwy 108 and Tiaoga rd in Yosemite.
There are three places to arrange for food/supply drops along the trail: (1) Echo Lakes Resort on Hwy 50; (2) Lake Alpine Resort on Hwy 4; and (3) Kennedy Meadows Resort on Hwy 108, eight miles west of Sonora Pass. Of these three resorts, Kennedy Meadows has the best hamburgers because they raise their own cattle.
We were warned about bears by every concerned hiker and ranger that we passed, but we never saw one until the parking lot of Yosemite.
The first half of the trail is well populated and we saw someone almost everyday. From Kennedy Meadows to 20 or 30 miles into Yosemite, it is desolate. We did not see a soul in this area.

To sum it up, the TYT is an awesome experience through some of the most gorgeous land this country has to offer. It comes with a moderate price of being a little strenuous for novices (one person in our group quit after about 50 miles and another refused to go hiking ever again). I would do the trail again in a heartbeat.

There is a mediocre guide book by Thomas Winnet, entitled "The Tahoe-Yosemite Trail". It is extremely useful, but needs to be revised (the latest edition was published in 87).

Directions to Hike
To get to the northern trail head at Lake Tahoe, go to the southwest end of the lake via Hwy 89 to Meeks Bay. The trail head is on the west side of the road(opposite the Lake) across from Meeks Bay Resort and about 1/4 mile south of the Fire Station.

Get The guidebook for the best directions.

To get to the southern Trail head it is easiest to approach from Hwy 395 and take Taioga Rd to Tuolumne Meadows and ask a ranger how to get to Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp.

Contact Information
El Dorado National Forest
3070 Camino Heights Dr.
Camino, CA 95709
(530)644-6048

submit a new trail review

---

About Our Reviews

Many people ask us to recommend a place to go hiking. Instead of us deciding what places are best, we let the backpacking community help out. The reviews on budget-travels-tips.com have been submitted by our viewers. Some reviews are positive and some are negative. If you don't agree with a review, feel free to submit your own trail review.