Parking
Use the Cottonwood Creek wilderness trailhead near Mather Ranger Station. The public parking arrangement and capacity are unclear; confirm access with the park before going.
Overview
About Cottonwood Meadow Trail
Why go
- A named wet meadow gives the route a clear destination
- Forest, brush, and open ground on one backcountry route
Heads up
- A sustained uphill approach
- Wet, faint tread can make route-finding difficult
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yosemite map
Full mapElevation5,515–6,473 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
4 active Yosemite alerts
- ClosureDome Fire closes Glacier Point Road and trailsGlacier Point Road is temporarily closed because Dome Fire smoke reduces visibility and to allow firefighting operations; some trails south of the road are also closed.Official details
- CautionMist Trail access limited during October repairsThe Mist Trail between its John Muir Trail junction above the Vernal Fall footbridge and the top of Vernal Fall has limited access through October for repair work.Official details
“Hetch Hetchy’s water does another job before it reaches a tap: it generates electricity. Water from the reservoir supplies the Kirkwood and Moccasin powerhouses, using the drop from the Sierra to produce power.”
Yosemite Tour Guide
Yosemite, narrated.
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 area
Water That Works Twice0:00 / 0:33
“Hetch Hetchy’s water does another job before it reaches a tap: it generates electricity. Water from the reservoir supplies the Kirkwood and Moccasin powerhouses, using the drop from the Sierra to produce power.”
Plays on the road 1.2 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Yosemite Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Poopenaut Valley Trailhead
- The Naturalist Who Paid for the Survey
- The Wasp's Underground Nursery
- Smith Peak from Smith Meadows Trailhead
- 125 audio storiesacross Yosemite’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Peregrine Falcon, Mule Deer, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 141 trails, 99 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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.”
Trail guide
Hiking Cottonwood Meadow Trail
The route and its lengthCottonwood Meadow Trail is a 3.
Cottonwood Meadow Trail is a 3.9-mile, one-way point-to-point climb from the Cottonwood Creek trailhead near Mather Ranger Station to a wet meadow. It runs through forest and brush before opening into meadow ground, gaining about 1,100 feet on the mapped profile. Allow roughly 3½ hours to reach the meadow. If you return by the same path, the day becomes 7.8 miles, so this is a backcountry outing rather than a quick meadow stop.
Where the trail gets trickyThe approach climbs steeply and has exposed stretches.
The approach climbs steeply and has exposed stretches. At the meadow, the tread crosses wet ground with standing water and mud; one past trip report describes about a quarter mile where the path was hard to see, and says leaving it to skirt the water made route-finding worse. A 2024 report also described overgrowth that had erased sections of tread. Current passability is unconfirmed. Check conditions with Yosemite before setting out, and turn back rather than bushwhack if you lose the path.
Start and rulesStart at the Cottonwood Creek wilderness trailhead near Mather Ranger Station.
Start at the Cottonwood Creek wilderness trailhead near Mather Ranger Station. The public parking arrangement and capacity aren't clear, so confirm access before going. Day hikes don't require a wilderness permit; overnight stays in Yosemite Wilderness do. Pets aren't allowed on Yosemite trails or in wilderness. No route-side food, toilets, or drinking water were confirmed.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Yosemite
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.
