Parking
Use the unpaved Ten Lakes lot on the north side of Tioga Road. The paved Yosemite Creek lot and vault toilets are across the road; the two lots can fill.
Overview
About Ten Lakes Trail
Why go
- Ten Lakes Pass opens broad canyon and Sierra views
- A high-country lake basin rewards the steep descent
Heads up
- A full, high-elevation day with 2,200 feet of climbing
- Faint granite tread and unbridged crossings add real challenge
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yosemite map
Full mapElevation7,520–9,646 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
“Ten Lakes Trailhead is coming up, with Yosemite Creek Picnic Area nearby. For a short break, I'd choose the creekside tables under the pines. You're beside the stream that feeds Yosemite Falls farther downstream.”
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
Yosemite Creek Picnic Area and Ten Lakes0:00 / 0:30
“Ten Lakes Trailhead is coming up, with Yosemite Creek Picnic Area nearby. For a short break, I'd choose the creekside tables under the pines. You're beside the stream that feeds Yosemite Falls farther downstream.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Yosemite Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Mapping a Vertical Wall
- Lakes Before the Trout
- Why Summer Clouds Build Up
- Yosemite Creek Campground
- 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 Ten Lakes Trail
The commitmentTen Lakes Trail is a 12.
Ten Lakes Trail is a 12.6-mile out-and-back from the north-side Tioga Road lot into Ten Lakes Basin and back. It climbs through conifer forest and granite to Ten Lakes Pass, then drops about 693 feet to the lakes. Allow 7–9 hours for roughly 2,200 feet of climbing. You start around 7,500 feet and reach about 9,600, so this is a long, hard high-country day. If that sounds like too much, the pass makes a worthwhile earlier turnaround: the wide views open before the lake descent.
Follow the tread across graniteEarly on, the path crosses a broad granite slab where the trail can fade into the rock.
Early on, the path crosses a broad granite slab where the trail can fade into the rock. Cairns aren't always reliable and can lead onto social paths. A 2013 search in this area found hikers who had followed other lost hikers for hours, so look for the trail itself beyond the slab and bring a detailed topographic map and compass.
Forest, creek, and meadowThe first miles climb steadily through conifers and across granite, then cross an unbridged…
The first miles climb steadily through conifers and across granite, then cross an unbridged tributary of Yosemite Creek. The grade eases through the forest before the route skirts the west edge of Half Moon Meadow. A short, steep set of switchbacks climbs from the meadow to the open plateau at Ten Lakes Pass.
The pass is only halfway to the lakesAt the pass, look across the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne toward the Sierra Crest and the…
At the pass, look across the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne toward the Sierra Crest and the northern peaks. The plateau also overlooks the headwaters of Yosemite Creek. From here the trail drops about 693 feet into Ten Lakes Basin on a steep, rocky descent. That downhill is the price of getting to the lake shore, and you have to climb it again on the way out.
What the name promisesThis is an out-and-back into a lake basin, not a loop that visits every water body.
This is an out-and-back into a lake basin, not a loop that visits every water body. The name refers to the wider group of lakes; counts vary because some small basins are classified as ponds. The Grant Lakes are on a separate spur below the pass, about a mile each way, and aren't included in the 12.6-mile route. At the first lake, a little shoreline in the foreground helps show the granite slopes rising above the water.
Access and crossingsThe Ten Lakes lot is the unpaved one on the north side of Tioga Road.
The Ten Lakes lot is the unpaved one on the north side of Tioga Road. The paved Yosemite Creek lot and vault toilets are across the road; the two lots can fill. Vehicle access depends on Tioga Road, which normally opens in late May or early June and closes after snow, usually sometime in October or November. Stream crossings have no bridges and can be high, cold, and swift early in the season. Pets aren't allowed on Yosemite 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.
