Parking
Start at Porcupine Creek Trailhead on Tioga Road. Parking is limited; a vault toilet and animal-safe food storage are available at the trailhead.
Overview
About Indian Rock Arch Trail
Why go
- The granite arch is a distinctive turnaround on the North Dome approach.
Heads up
- Official and mapped distances differ by nearly a mile one way.
- Parking at the trailhead is limited.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yosemite map
Full mapElevation7,841–8,281 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
“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
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 trailhead
North Dome from Porcupine Creek0:00 / 0:22
“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 this trailhead in the Parkwolf Yosemite Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Why Snow Turns Pink
- Trees Shaped by the Weather
- The Jay with Borrowed Voices
- Mount Watkins 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 Indian Rock Arch Trail
Turn around at the archThis is an out-and-back from Porcupine Creek Trailhead to Indian Rock, a natural granite arch…
This is an out-and-back from Porcupine Creek Trailhead to Indian Rock, a natural granite arch on the North Dome approach. The NPS trailheads map lists Indian Rock 3.9 miles from the trailhead, or about 7.8 miles round trip. A separate NPS trailhead page describes the arch spur as 0.3 mile each way, while the connected mapped path to the arch measures about 3.0 miles one way. Those distances do not reconcile; use the longer official map figure for planning and check the map before setting out. Turn around at the arch; North Dome is farther along the shared trail.
Forest, meadow and graniteThe route begins in mixed-conifer forest and crosses Porcupine Creek within the first mile.
The route begins in mixed-conifer forest and crosses Porcupine Creek within the first mile. It passes a small grassy meadow, then descends along a ridge before the short, steep spur climbs to the arch. Expect to climb back toward the trailhead on the return. Open granite along Indian Ridge brings views across the forested slopes, with Half Dome and Yosemite Valley appearing through clearings on the shared approach.
Access and trailhead facilitiesPorcupine Creek Trailhead is reached from Tioga Road, so vehicle access is seasonal and depends…
Porcupine Creek Trailhead is reached from Tioga Road, so vehicle access is seasonal and depends on the road being open. Parking is limited; arriving early can help. A vault toilet and animal-safe food storage are at the trailhead. Yosemite does not allow pets or bicycles on its hiking trails.
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.
