Washburn Trail

Washburn Trail is a 4 mile walk out and back from Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza to the Mariposa Grove Arrival Area, about two miles each way. It climbs roughly 500 feet and takes about two hours round trip. This is an access trail, not one of the grove's interior loops. When the seasonal shuttle is running, take it if you would rather save your legs for those walks; when it is off, Washburn Trail is one of the two walking routes to the grove.

The path soon leaves Mariposa Grove Road, drops to a small drainage and crosses it on a wooden bridge, then climbs at a steady, moderate grade. Pines and firs shade the first half mile. The trail then opens onto sunny manzanita slopes with modest views south and west over forested hills. Later it passes below rock outcrops, with the grove road audible nearby, before a few ups and downs and a flatter stretch beside a drainage. A sign a little past a mile in points out that about 0.8 mile remains. Near the end, one sequoia stands beside the trail before it reaches the Arrival Area.

The trail follows part of the abandoned Washburn Road, a stage road linking Wawona and Mariposa Grove. Albert Henry Washburn's group completed the road in 1879. Today's rustic trail was built during the grove restoration that reopened in 2018, when roads and paths were reworked to protect sequoia roots and the grove's water flow.

Start at Welcome Plaza. It has about 300 parking spaces and can fill by late morning. Fill your bottle there; water at the Arrival Area is seasonal, and there is no food service in the grove. Arrival Area toilets are flush toilets in summer and vault toilets in winter; a vault toilet at the grove picnic area is about a mile from the parking lot. Pets are not allowed on any Mariposa Grove trail. Winter trails may be snowy or icy. The road beyond the plaza is closed to regular vehicles, so the shuttle or the walk is how most visitors reach the grove.