Lodging · Yosemite National Park
A backcountry bed and meal beneath Mount Hoffmann.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
“You're nearing May Lake Trailhead, a good choice for an alpine lake beneath Mount Hoffmann without a full-day hike.”
Yosemite Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yosemite National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Yosemite audio tourRecorded for this place
May Lake and Mount Hoffmann“You're nearing May Lake Trailhead, a good choice for an alpine lake beneath Mount Hoffmann without a full-day hike.”
Plays as you drive up to May Lake High Sierra Camp in the Parkwolf Yosemite Tour Guide.
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“We just drove through Yosemite and it made our trip listening to this app as we drove through. Like having a tour guide in the car with you.”
Guide
May Lake High Sierra Camp is seasonal backcountry lodging beside May Lake, with canvas tent cabins below Mount Hoffmann. It is one of Yosemite’s five High Sierra Camps. If you want a bed and meals between hiking days, this is the draw; it is not drive-in lodging. The camp is 1.2 miles uphill from the May Lake parking area, so you reach it on foot. Reserve ahead.
The trail to the camp and lake is 2.4 miles round trip with 485 feet of climbing. It goes through conifer forest and over granite slabs. The parking area is 1.75 miles north of Tioga Road, and the unpaved spur to it can be closed early in the season; if that happens, the road walk adds 1.75 miles each way. Access to this high country follows a snow-dependent season.
Eight tent cabins accommodate up to 36 guests. Overnight stays include family-style dinner and breakfast in the dining tent, and you can order a packed lunch the evening before. Restrooms are available at camp; showers depend on water availability. It is simple wilderness lodging, but the beds and meals mean you can carry a day pack instead of a full tent and kitchen setup.
May Lake sits below Mount Hoffmann, which the camp’s operator identifies as Yosemite’s geographic center. On calm water, Hoffmann reflects in the lake. A low ridge behind camp is a popular place to watch the sunset, and the approach opens views toward Half Dome and Clouds Rest.
The camp was built in 1938 to replace the earlier High Sierra Camp at Tenaya Lake; Mary Curry Tresidder chose its site. Guests once had boats brought up to the lake, but that practice ended at the National Park Service’s request. The tent cabins and communal meals still make this a distinctly backcountry kind of stay.
Wildlife
732 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,747 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
332 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
11 sightingsPeregrine FalconMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
276 sightingsPikaMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
677 sightingsYellow-bellied MarmotMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yosemite. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateMay Lake Trail2.4 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.9 mi awayA high granite climb to a lake under Mount Hoffmann.ChallengingMount Hoffmann Trail5.6 mi · 5.5 hr · 0.9 mi awayA high-country scramble above May Lake to Yosemite's geographic center.
ModeratePolly Dome Lakes Trail6 mi · 3.5 hr · 1.7 mi awayUnmarked spur leads through granite and forest to lakes below Polly Dome.
ModerateSunrise Lakes Trail7 mi · 5.5 hr · 1.7 mi awayThree high-country lakes after a rocky switchback climb.
ChallengingHigh Sierra Camp Loop48.2 mi · 1.7 days · 1.7 mi awayFive camps and high passes on a 48-mile Yosemite circuit.
ChallengingClouds Rest Trail14 mi · 9 hr · 1.8 mi awayA higher vantage on Half Dome, earned over a long exposed day.ChallengingSunrise High Sierra Camp Trail10.4 mi · 5.5 hr · 1.8 mi awayHigh lakes, a mountain saddle, and a meadow camp.
EasyTenaya Lake Trail2.2 mi · 1.3 hr · 1.9 mi awayA level south-shore walk beneath Tenaya Peak
Sight · At the trailheadMay LakeA lake beneath Mount Hoffmann, reached by a steady uphill walk.
Sight · 1.7 mi awayTenaya LakeClear water, granite peaks, and an easy lakeshore stop.
Sight · 2.4 mi awayOlmsted PointHalf Dome from another angle, framed by glacially carried boulders.
Sight · 4.2 mi awayCathedral LakesTwo high lakes, bare granite shelves, and Cathedral Peak overhead.
Picnic area · 4.5 mi awayYosemite Creek Picnic AreaA quiet, pine-shaded picnic beside Yosemite Creek.Lodging · 4.7 mi awaySunrise High Sierra CampA meadow-side overnight with tent cabins and meals at 9,400 feet.
Campground · 4.8 mi awayPorcupine Flat CampgroundAn 8,100-foot base for Tioga Road's high-country stops.Parkwolf’s Yosemite ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
