Viewing Half Dome
The best place to get a good look at Half Dome is from Glacier Point, but there are plenty of other places to see and photograph it. They include Tunnel View (on Wawona Road), Sentinel Bridge near Yosemite Village, Cook's Meadow ( and Mirror Lake, which is a short hike from shuttle stop #17. You can also see Half Dome from a different direction from Olmstead Point on Tioga Road (CA Hwy 120).Climbing Half Dome
The 17-mile round trip hike to Half Dome from the Yosemite Valley takes 10 to 12 hours, and its 4,800-foot elevation gain is only for the fittest of hikers, who climb the final 400 feet over the top of Half Dome on a staircase with cable supports that act as handrails.As many as a thousand hikers once packed onto the trail to climb Half Dome's back side on summer weekend days, creating unpleasant crowding and dangerous conditions. In 2010, park rangers started requiring all hikers to get a permit in advance, limiting the Half Dome Trail to 300 day hikers and 100 backpackers per day. Permits are required any day of the week and no same-day permits are issued. You can get them three months in advance, at the beginning of each month. That means you need to get a permit on April 1 if you're going in July. Find out how to sign up for one.
If you can go to Half Dome on a weekday, the trail will be less crowded. Wear proper hiking shoes and take the hike seriously. On this big, slippery piece of granite, even a simple mistake could be your last. Don't take our word for it. Read an exhausted hiker's trip report to get a good idea of what the hike is like.
Most hikers start their Half Dome trek from the Happy Isles shuttle stop, which is about a half mile from the trail head. You can also park at Curry Village, which is about 3/4 mile away. If you're planning on camping nearby before or after your Half Dome hike, Upper, Lower, and North Pines Campgrounds are closest, but all are popular and you need to plan ahead.
The park service takes down the cables and closes the Half Dome Trail in the off-season, usually by the second week in October. The cables go up again - weather permitting - around the last weekend of May. Visit their website for lots of good information - and a list of things you need to take with you.
