RATING |
|
 |
DISTANCE |
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2.2 miles round-trip |
HIKING TIME |
|
1.0 hour |
ELEVATION GAIN |
|
400 feet |
HIGH POINT |
|
8,122 feet |
EFFORT |
|
Easy Walk |
BEST SEASON |
|
June to October |
PERMITS/CONTACT |
|
Yosemite National Park fee required |
|
|
($20 per vehicle, valid for seven days), |
|
|
(209) 372-0200, www.nps.gov/yose |
MAPS |
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Yosemite National Park (download at www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/brochures.htm) |
NOTES |
|
Dogs and bikes prohibited |
This granite dome is climbed by hundreds of Yosemite hikers every summer day. For the best experience, visit early in the morning or just before sunset, when you have the best chance of claiming the summit for your own.
From Highway 41 in Yosemite National Park, turn east on Glacier Point Road and drive 13.2 miles to the Taft Point/Sentinel Dome trailhead on the left.
It’s hard to believe you can get so much for so little, but on the Sentinel Dome Trail, you can. The summit of this bald granite dome is perched about 1.0 mile west and 1,000 feet higher than Glacier Point—which means that world-class views are yours for the taking. Make sure you bring your camera on this trip, because few places in the park offer such panoramic views. In all of Yosemite Valley, only Half Dome is a higher summit, and reaching it is a heck of a lot more work.
A nearly level 1.0-mile walk leads you to the base of Sentinel Dome. From the Taft Point/Sentinel Dome trailhead, take the path leading right, which heads very gently uphill. The terrain is mostly exposed granite except for some Jeffrey pines and white firs. In summer, tiny purple and white mountain phlox add a splash of color to the sandy soil.
You’ll enter a grove of old-growth fir trees and then approach Sentinel Dome from the southeast side. Your trail meets up with an old, paved road, which leads around the east side of the dome to its northern flank. Stay left at two junctions and you’ll be deposited at the base of Sentinel Dome. There’s no trail on the exposed granite, but the route is obvious and the top is in sight. With only a few minutes of climbing, you’re on top.
The view can only be described as breathtaking. You can see both Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls and the Middle Cascades between them. Half Dome is easy to spot, and just to its left are two twin domes, Basket Dome and North Dome. Behind Half Dome is Quarter Dome, situated at the head of deep, forested Tenaya Canyon. In front of Half Dome is Liberty Cap and Nevada Falls, and farther to the right is Bunnell Cascade, which slides straight down to Bunnell Point.
There’s almost no soil structure on Sentinel Dome, but a few hardy plants manage to dig their roots into the granite and survive. Sentinel Dome was once famous for a very photogenic, wind-tortured Jeffrey pine perched at its summit, but the tree finally gave way to the forces of nature. Still, plenty other photo opportunities abound.
The twisted remains of wind-sculpted Jeffrey pines are found on top of Sentinel Dome.
You can easily combine this hike with the trail to Taft Point (hike #73 in this guide), which begins at the same trailhead but travels in the opposite direction. If you hike out and back on both trails, you’ll complete 4.4 miles.
