Lodging · Yosemite National Park
A meadow-side overnight with tent cabins and meals at 9,400 feet.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
“You're nearing Sunrise Lakes Trailhead, the start of the long hike to Clouds Rest. The reward is a full-circle summit view with Half Dome below you and Tenaya Canyon dropping away beneath the ridge.”
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
Clouds Rest from Sunrise Lakes Trailhead“You're nearing Sunrise Lakes Trailhead, the start of the long hike to Clouds Rest. The reward is a full-circle summit view with Half Dome below you and Tenaya Canyon dropping away beneath the ridge.”
Plays as you drive up to Sunrise High Sierra Camp 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
Sunrise High Sierra Camp is one of Yosemite’s five seasonal wilderness lodging camps, at about 9,400 feet beside an alpine meadow. Its nine canvas tent cabins accommodate up to 34 guests. There is no road access to the camp: arrive on foot or by saddle. The camp is part of Yosemite's roughly 50-mile High Sierra Camp Loop, whose camps are spaced about 6 to 10 miles apart. Plan for a multi-day route and high-country elevation, not a casual stop.
The tent cabins have dormitory-style steel-frame beds, mattresses, pillows and blankets. Bring a sleeping bag or liner and a towel. Unguided reservations include dinner and breakfast; guided trips include three meals. Sack lunches are available separately. Meals are served family-style in dining tents, so this is a supported overnight rather than a place to arrive for a public restaurant meal.
The camp sits by an alpine meadow and faces east toward Mt. Florence and Mt. Clark. Sunrise is the signature moment here: the name reflects the morning light reaching across the high country. Sunrise Lakes are nearby, but they are a separate destination from the lodging camp.
The concessioner lists purified water and restrooms at the camps. Sunrise has a seasonal composting toilet; showers and laundry wash basins are available when the water supply allows. Shared bear-proof food lockers are provided, but there is no electricity or guest refrigerator or freezer. Do not drink untreated water from streams or lakes.
Sunrise was the final High Sierra Camp added to the system. Mary Curry Tresidder backed its construction, completed in 1961, closing the roughly 50-mile camp loop. The east-facing setting and nearby meadow make the name unusually literal: the attraction is waking up in Yosemite's high country as the sun comes over the mountains.
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
EasyTenaya Lake Trail2.2 mi · 1.3 hr · 2.8 mi awayA level south-shore walk beneath Tenaya Peak
ChallengingClouds Rest Trail14 mi · 9 hr · 3 mi awayA higher vantage on Half Dome, earned over a long exposed day.ChallengingSunrise High Sierra Camp Trail10.4 mi · 5.5 hr · 3 mi awayHigh lakes, a mountain saddle, and a meadow camp.
ModerateSunrise Lakes Trail7 mi · 5.5 hr · 3 mi awayThree high-country lakes after a rocky switchback climb.ChallengingHigh Sierra Camp Loop48.2 mi · 1.7 days · 3 mi awayFive camps and high passes on a 48-mile Yosemite circuit.
EasyOlmsted Point Trail0.3 mi · 30 min · 3.1 mi awayA short granite walk to erratics, Tenaya Lake and Half Dome.
ModeratePolly Dome Lakes Trail6 mi · 3.5 hr · 3.2 mi awayUnmarked spur leads through granite and forest to lakes below Polly Dome.
ModerateMay Lake Trail2.4 mi · 1.5 hr · 4.1 mi awayA high granite climb to a lake under Mount Hoffmann.
Sight · 3.1 mi awayOlmsted PointHalf Dome from another angle, framed by glacially carried boulders.
Sight · 3.1 mi awayCathedral LakesTwo high lakes, bare granite shelves, and Cathedral Peak overhead.
Sight · 3.2 mi awayTenaya LakeClear water, granite peaks, and an easy lakeshore stop.
Sight · 3.6 mi awayClouds RestThe long hike pays off in a narrow ridge above Half Dome.
Lodging · 4.1 mi awayMerced Lake High Sierra CampRemote tent-cabin lodging beside Merced Lake, reached only on foot.
Lodging · 4.7 mi awayMay Lake High Sierra CampA backcountry bed and meal beneath Mount Hoffmann.
Sight · 4.7 mi awayMay LakeA lake beneath Mount Hoffmann, reached by a steady uphill walk.
Lodging · 4.8 mi awayVogelsang High Sierra CampA strenuous hike opens into alpine lakes and sunset alpenglow.Parkwolf’s Yosemite ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
