Pacific Crest Trail (Yosemite Section)

The Yosemite section of the Pacific Crest Trail is a one-way, roughly 70-mile wilderness crossing from Donohue Pass on the south boundary to Dorothy Lake Pass on the north. It passes Lyell Canyon, Tuolumne Meadows and Glen Aulin, and shares much of its route with the John Muir Trail, a 211-mile route from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney. The PCT was designated a National Scenic Trail in 1968 and runs from the U.S.-Mexico border to Canada; this Yosemite section carries that route across the high Sierra. This is a multi-day backpacking itinerary, not a day hike or loop.

Neither pass is road-accessible. Tuolumne Meadows on Tioga Road is the main road crossing along the route, so plan how you will reach the southern approach and leave the northern end before setting out. A sensible walking-time estimate is about 40 hours, divided over several days to fit your pace and permit. The distance is approximate: a route trace measures about 66 miles, while the park's published figure is nearly 70.

Donohue Pass is the high point of Yosemite's PCT at 11,056 feet. Northbound, the route drops through Lyell Canyon toward Tuolumne Meadows, around 8,600 feet. The PCT and John Muir Trail share most of their Yosemite tread, so JMT maps and information can describe the same ground on this stretch.

At Tuolumne Meadows the trail crosses the Tioga Road corridor, then heads north through Glen Aulin alongside the Tuolumne River. This part of the route brings the river and its cascades into the trip; it is a passing section of the longer PCT, not the route's endpoint. At the Donohue shoulder, the rocky basin in the foreground gives scale to the view toward Mount Lyell.

Beyond Glen Aulin the PCT returns to remote high country before reaching the park's lowest point near Benson Lake, about 7,560 feet. From there the line rises toward Dorothy Lake Pass, where the route leaves Yosemite. The contrast between the high southern pass, the meadow country and the lower lake basin is part of what makes this a substantial Sierra section rather than a single destination walk.