Parsons Memorial Lodge and Soda Springs

Parsons Memorial Lodge and Soda Springs are a paired stop in Tuolumne Meadows: a small historic Sierra Club lodge and a nearby spring that bubbles inside a low log enclosure. It’s a good choice if you want a short walk with both a curious natural feature and a piece of park history.

Start from Lembert Dome parking or the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center. The path is unpaved and uneven, with a short hill and stone steps at the lodge; neither the lodge nor the spring trails are wheelchair accessible. The lodge has limited summer public hours. When it’s open, you can see the reading room and interpretive exhibits, and ranger programs may be offered.

The Sierra Club commissioned the lodge in 1915 as a meeting place and starting point for high-country excursions. Architect Bernard Maybeck designed it in the First Bay Tradition style, using pink feldspar and gray granite gathered on site. The peeled-log roof rafters came in by mule. The building commemorates early Sierra Club director Edward Taylor Parsons.

Cold, carbonated water bubbles at Soda Springs, while seepage spreads through the meadow and leaves rusty color in the mud. John Baptiste Lembert built the log enclosure in the 1880s. For a photo, put the low logs and reddish pools together; a wider view brings the meadow and granite peaks into the frame.

The area is tied to Yosemite’s founding story: John Muir and Robert Underwood Johnson conceived the idea of establishing the national park here. The lodge itself became a National Historic Landmark in 1987.