Parking
Start at the Mono Meadow Trailhead parking area on Glacier Point Road. Fill water before heading out; services in this part of the road are very limited.
Overview
About Mono Meadow Trail
Why go
- A wet meadow and granite overlook bring the Clark Range, Mount Starr King, and Half Dome into one short hike.
Heads up
- Muddy footing, creek crossings, and a steep climb back make the return harder than the mileage suggests.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yosemite map
Full mapElevation6,844–7,306 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
4 active Yosemite alerts
- ClosureDome Fire closes Glacier Point Road and trailsMentions Glacier Point Road, referenced in this guideGlacier 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
“Mono Meadow Trailhead is coming up, with a hike through a wet meadow to an open granite shelf.”
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
Mono Meadow Trailhead0:00 / 0:26
“Mono Meadow Trailhead is coming up, with a hike through a wet meadow to an open granite shelf.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Yosemite Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Ostrander Lake
- How Sunshine Moves Granite
- McGurk Meadow and Dewey Point
- Sentinel Dome and Taft Point
- 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 Mono Meadow Trail
A meadow walk with a Sierra viewMono Meadow is a 3-mile out-and-back from Glacier Point Road.
Mono Meadow is a 3-mile out-and-back from Glacier Point Road. The trail drops steeply to a wet meadow, then continues east to an unmarked granite shelf with views of the Clark Range, Mount Starr King, and Half Dome. Allow 2–3 hours for the full return. Turning around at the meadow makes a shorter outing of about 1.2 miles round trip, but skips the Sierra view.
The wet meadow sectionThe route descends sharply from the road, then levels out across the meadow.
The route descends sharply from the road, then levels out across the meadow. The ground stays wet through summer, so expect mud and log crossings over creeks. Stay on the tread and walk through puddles instead of stepping around them; that helps keep the meadow from being trampled wider. Beyond it, the path crosses a tributary and climbs gradually through remnants of a forest fire.
Where to stop for the viewContinue about half a mile east beyond the meadow to the unmarked clearing and granite shelf.
Continue about half a mile east beyond the meadow to the unmarked clearing and granite shelf. The view opens toward the Clark Range and Mount Starr King, with Half Dome on the skyline. This is the turn-around for this hike; if the trail starts switchbacking down toward Illilouette Creek, you have gone past it. For a photo, keep a little of the granite and meadow grass in the foreground so the high peaks have scale.
Make the return manageableThe walk back climbs out of the meadow to the road, and the initial descent feels steeper in…
The walk back climbs out of the meadow to the road, and the initial descent feels steeper in reverse. Carry enough water for the whole hike: services along this part of Glacier Point Road are very limited. The road is usually open from May to November, depending on conditions; trails can be wet or snowy in early spring.
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.
