Sight · Yosemite National Park
A long summit walk pays off with Half Dome face-on.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
“You're coming up on Porcupine Creek Trailhead, the start of the North Dome hike. Choose this for a face-on view of Half Dome across Tenaya Canyon, with five to seven hours for the ten point four miles round trip.”
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
North Dome from Porcupine Creek“You're coming up on Porcupine Creek Trailhead, the start of the North Dome hike. Choose this for a face-on view of Half Dome across Tenaya Canyon, with five to seven hours for the ten point four miles round trip.”
Plays as you drive up to North Dome in the Parkwolf Yosemite Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“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
North Dome is a rounded granite summit above Tenaya Canyon, known for its unusually close, face-on view of Half Dome. The Porcupine Creek route is a 10.4-mile round trip; allow five to seven hours. Save it for a full hiking day, not a quick roadside stop. The long approach is worth it if seeing Half Dome from across the canyon is your goal.
Most of the route winds through forest before reaching open granite. Near North Dome, the trail drops down steep rock steps to the base, then climbs the rounded summit. The listed return climb is only about 580 feet, but the trail rises and falls along the way, and you still have to climb back to the road. The summit is exposed, with steep drops toward Yosemite Valley and Tenaya Canyon; stay well back from the edges.
From the top, Half Dome fills the view across Tenaya Canyon, with Clouds Rest and Yosemite Valley in the wider panorama. For a photo, keep some of the canyon below Half Dome in the frame; it gives the view its depth and makes the gap between the two domes clear.
Yosemite's domes formed as erosion stripped away overlying rock. With the pressure eased, outer sheets of granite peeled away in a process called exfoliation, leaving the smooth, rounded slabs that shape North Dome.
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
EasyMirror Lake Loop5 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.2 mi awayHalf Dome reflections at high water; a meadow when it recedes
ChallengingSnow Creek Trail9.4 mi · 6.5 hr · 1.2 mi awayHalf Dome gets closer as you climb nearly 2,700 feet.EasyMirror Lake Paved Trail2 mi · 1 hr · 1.2 mi awayA short paved walk with Half Dome and seasonal lake reflections.
EasyCook's Meadow Loop1.3 mi · 45 min · 1.6 mi awayAn easy meadow loop with Yosemite Falls and Half Dome views.
ChallengingNevada Fall Loop via Mist and John Muir Trails6.4 mi · 6.5 hr · 1.7 mi awayTwo giant waterfalls, 600 granite steps, and a different way back.
ChallengingVernal Fall Trail2.9 mi · 3 hr · 1.7 mi awayClimb 600 granite steps beside Vernal Fall to its brink.
ModerateVernal Fall Footbridge Trail1.6 mi · 1.3 hr · 1.7 mi awayA short, steep climb to a footbridge below Vernal Fall.
ModerateLittle Yosemite Valley Trail9.6 mi · 7 hr · 1.7 mi awayA gentler JMT climb past two falls into a granite valley.
Sight · 0.8 mi awayMirror LakeSpring water turns Half Dome into a mirror.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayThe AhwahneeSee this landmark’s public rooms without booking a hotel room.
Campground · 1.2 mi awayNorth Pines CampgroundRiverfront camping with a chance of Half Dome through the trees.
Campground · 1.3 mi awayLower Pines CampgroundA riverside Yosemite Valley base with free shuttle access.
Sight · 1.3 mi awayStoneman MeadowHalf Dome glows above an easy boardwalk through meadow grass.
Picnic area · 1.3 mi awayChurch Bowl Picnic AreaPicnic tables with Half Dome and Glacier Point across the meadow.
Campground · 1.3 mi awayUpper Pines CampgroundFor Valley days, a handy camp with close sites and shuttle access.
1.4 mi awayYosemite Medical ClinicHelpful Valley care, with walk-in availability that can vary.Parkwolf’s Yosemite ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
