Parking
Use Yosemite Creek Campground trailhead for the southbound creek route. Tioga Road is the vehicle approach and closes seasonally. The separate Ten Lakes trailhead across the road starts the northbound route instead.
Overview
About Yosemite Creek Trail
Why go
- Pools and polished granite beside Yosemite Creek
- Boulders and open views toward granite domes
Heads up
- Long 12-mile return trip
- The way back climbs to the campground
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yosemite map
Full mapElevation6,719–7,290 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 nearing Yosemite Creek Campground, a simple forest base at seventy-seven hundred feet, with many sites close to the creek. Choose it for a remote-feeling night among the conifers, with few services.”
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 Campground0:00 / 0:33
“You’re nearing Yosemite Creek Campground, a simple forest base at seventy-seven hundred feet, with many sites close to the creek. Choose it for a remote-feeling night among the conifers, with few services.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Yosemite Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Lakes Before the Trout
- The Jay with Borrowed Voices
- Why Summer Clouds Build Up
- Mapping a Vertical Wall
- 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 Yosemite Creek Trail
The walkYosemite Creek Trail is a 12-mile out-and-back from Yosemite Creek Campground to the junction…
Yosemite Creek Trail is a 12-mile out-and-back from Yosemite Creek Campground to the junction with Upper Yosemite Fall Trail. It moves through open forest and meadow, then follows Yosemite Creek past small pools and polished granite. The payoff is the creek corridor and the view country along the way; this route does not climb the separate Upper Yosemite Falls Trail to the brink.
Route and turnaroundThe trail starts with a gentle descent through open forest. After about 1.
The trail starts with a gentle descent through open forest. After about 1.5 miles it climbs a ridge and leaves the creek for a while, passing large boulders and views toward granite domes. Short switchbacks descend to the Lukens Lake Trail junction, then the path drops back toward Yosemite Creek. Follow the creek past its pools and water-smoothed slabs, cross a gravel bar, and pass seasonal Eagle Peak Creek and the Eagle Peak Trail junction. Continue about three-quarters of a mile to the Upper Yosemite Fall Trail junction, then turn around and retrace the same route. The Eagle Peak climb and the Upper Yosemite Falls ascent are separate hikes.
Time and effortAllow roughly 5.5 to 6.5 hours.
Allow roughly 5.5 to 6.5 hours. The route loses elevation overall on the way out, so the return brings that climb back; the length makes this a hard day hike even without a technical summit section. The creek, gravel bar and ridge give the walk several different settings rather than one continuous creekside path.
Access and waterThe southbound walk begins at Yosemite Creek Campground.
The southbound walk begins at Yosemite Creek Campground. Tioga Road is the vehicle approach and closes seasonally, so the trailhead is not reachable by car when the road is closed. Some stream crossings are unbridged; early-season water can be cold and swift. Pets are not permitted on Yosemite's 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.
