Ostrander Lake
TRAIL USE
Day Hike, Backpack,
Horse, Run,
Child-Friendly
LENGTH
12.5 miles, 6–9 hours (over 1–2 days)
VERTICAL FEET
One-way: +1,710', –200'
Round-trip: ±1,910'
DIFFICULTY
TRAIL TYPE
Out-and-Back
FEATURES
Lake
Great Views
Camping
Geological Interest
FACILITIES
Bear Boxes
Campground
Toilets
Ostrander Lake, one of Yosemite’s most easily reached high-elevation lakes at which camping is permitted, is a popular destination for backpackers. It is a similarly popular day hike objective because it is achievable as a long day’s excursion for the many people staying in Yosemite Valley. It is also popular in winter and spring with cross-country skiers due to the ski hut at the lake.
Permits
Overnight visitors require a wilderness permit for the Ostrander Lake Trailhead, issued by Yosemite National Park. Pick up your wilderness permit at the Yosemite Valley Wilderness Center, Big Oak Flat Entrance Station, or Wawona Visitor Center.
Maps
This trail is covered by the Tom Harrison Yosemite High Country map (1:63,360 scale), the National Geographic Trails Illustrated #306 Yosemite SW map (1:40,000 scale), and the USGS 7.5-minute series Half Dome map (1:24,000 scale).
Best Time
All of the trail is usually snow-free by late June. It is not a trail particularly distinguished by its wildflower display, so it is best to wait until mid-July or August to avoid mosquitoes. By September, Ostrander Lake is too cool for pleasant swimming, but it is still a very desirable destination through early October. Major storms aren’t likely in this period, but if one hit, you could get out in 2 or 3 hours.
Ostrander Lake is at the headwaters of Bridalveil Creek, which produces Bridalveil Fall. In early days, the fall was known as Pohono, and its source, Pohono Lake.
Finding the Trail
Turn onto Glacier Point Road (from Wawona Road, CA 41) at a well-signed junction. There is a large pullout with water and toilets at this junction. Drive 8.9 miles up Glacier Point Road to a turnoff on your right. This parking area is 1.2 miles past the spur road to Bridalveil Creek Campground, the only campground along Glacier Point Road. The closest water faucet is at the Bridalveil Creek Campground.
Trail Description
From Glacier Point Road ▶1 you start along the route of a former jeep road and soon encounter the first of several thickets of lodgepole pines. This area was badly burned in the 1987 Lost Bear Fire, making these trees about 30 years old as of my writing. The first trees are now producing cones, and the stand will slowly thin in the coming decade—except where the Empire Fire, burning patches in this area in late 2017, has reset the clock. Along the east side of the trail, more of the young lodgepole cover survives, and in time, red fir will begin to emerge, replacing the lodgepole over a century. Passing through these thickets of trees, you cross a sluggish creek on a small bridge and then amble an easy mile, passing in and out of an assortment of meadows, to reach a ridge junction (1.45 miles). ▶2 From it a short lateral right drops to Bridalveil Creek—possibly a difficult June crossing—then climbs equally briefly to the Bridalveil Creek Trail. You turn left, continuing on the main trail.
Your route now contours southeast past unseen Lost Bear Meadow and after a mile makes a short ascent east along a trickling creek to its crossing. You are now back in burned territory, and if you’re wondering why the young trees are somewhat different heights from those you passed earlier, it is because you’ve just passed through landscape burned in a 1985 fire. The trail next crosses an area burned in 1999, and at the creek crossing it is in a patch burned in the 1988 Horizon Fire. And once again, the Empire Fire left an additional footprint in 2017, here burning more intensively on the east side of the trail. The areas burned by each fire sometimes interfinger and overlay each other, creating a remarkable mosaic of tree ages. Just beyond the ford your route curves west to a junction (2.75 miles) ▶3 with a second lateral that branches right to Bridalveil Creek and then to the Bridalveil Creek Trail; you stay left. Though you are now about halfway to Ostrander Lake, you’ve climbed very little, and from this junction you face 1,500 feet of vertical gain, continuing through a mixture of burned and mature forest.
The steepening trail climbs east in places through patches of intact forest, over open slabs with views of the Bridalveil Creek basin, and in long stretches through more severely burnt territory. The culverts diverting water beneath the trail are a giveaway that this trail wasn’t just constructed for foot traffic. You then curve southeast into a Jeffrey pine stand before climbing east through a white-fir forest, dotted with bright-red snow plants, should you be making a late-June excursion. As you climb to the top of a saddle that bisects Horizon Ridge, red firs largely supplant the white fir forests that dominate at lower elevations (4.55 miles). ▶4
Climbing southeast, your track ascends straight up the not-too-steep nose of Horizon Ridge on broken slabs. You now enjoy your first expansive views of the walk, staring north to Mount Hoffmann and northeast to Half Dome. Partway up, it quite surprisingly passes through patches of sagebrush and elsewhere through the more common pine-mat manzanita. About 400 feet above your first saddle is a second one, and the trail first switchbacks and then curves up to a third. From it the trail makes a momentary descent southeast before bending to start a short, final ascent south into unburned forest surrounding Ostrander Lake. Near this bend you get far-ranging views across the Illilouette Creek basin. You can see the tops of Royal Arches and Washington Column and, above and east of them, North, Basket, and Half Domes. Behind Half Dome stands the park’s geographic center, broad-topped Mount Hoffmann. Reigning over the Illilouette Creek basin is Mount Starr King and its entourage of lesser domes. To the east and northeast the jagged crest of the Clark Range cuts the sky. If you wanted to carry water up from the lake, sandy patches east of the trail would make stunning campsites—and likely be virtually mosquito free at all times.
Beyond is a short, final ascent south, and then you drop quickly to Ostrander Hut, on the north shore of Ostrander Lake (6.25 miles). ▶5 When it is snowbound, cross-country skiers can stay in it with prior reservations, by lottery. The hut is on a rocky moraine left by a glacier that retreated perhaps 16,000 years ago. Behind it, lying in a bedrock basin, is 25-acre, trout-populated Ostrander Lake. The jointed escarpment of Horse Ridge drops precipitously into the lake. Camping is good along the west shore or on a shelf a bit east of the lake. After a restful stay, return the same way to the Ostrander Lake Trailhead (12.5 miles). ▶6
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▶1 | 0.0 | Start at Ostrander Lake Trailhead |
▶2 | 1.45 | Left at northern Bridalveil Creek junction |
▶3 | 2.75 | Left at southern Bridalveil Creek junction |
▶4 | 4.55 | Reach saddle on Horizon Ridge |
▶5 | 6.25 | Ostrander Lake |
▶6 | 12.5 | Return to Ostrander Lake Trailhead |
MILESTONES