Hike Merced Grove

Merced Grove Trail

To Merced Grove is 3 miles round trip with 400-foot elevation gain.

Tucked into a remote western pocket of the park, Merced Grove is by far less visited than Mariposa and Tuolumne, Yosemite’s other sequoia groves. By tree count (20 or so), it’s the smallest grove and it requires the longest walk in order to reach it.

Thus the hiker looking for solitude among the sequoias might just find it in Merced Grove or, at least be assured that the trail will be shared with only a few kindred spirits.

The path to the grove is a dirt road, one of the first carriage roads created during the early horse-and-buggy days of the national park. In later years grove visitors drove their autos down the road to Merced Grove.

Now the road is for hikers only. Park rangers haven’t posted any interpretive signs or built any facilities in the grove so the hiker comes away with the same feeling of wonder and discovery that the grove’s first visitors might have had.

Actually, the National Park Service did build one structure in the grove long ago—a log cabin. The Russell Cabin or Merced Grove Cabin, as its sometimes called, served as a ranger station and as an occasional retreat for the park superintendent. The cabin is in fine shape but it’s boarded-up and not currently used.

Directions to trailhead: From the junction or Highway 120 Tioga Road and Big Oak Flat Road (also Highway 120) proceed west on the latter road 3.7 miles (that’s 3.5 miles past Crane Flat Campground) to the signed turnout for Merced Grove on the left (south) side of the road. The signed trail departs from the small parking area.

The hike: The fairly level road travels through a mixed forest. At first, tree-lovers are apt to cringe a bit when they look to the west of the road and see so many fire-destroyed trees.

However, the tree vistas soon improve. At the half-mile mark, you’ll reach a signed junction, fork left, and begin a steep descent among an inspiring mixture of ponderosa pine, sugar pine, incense cedar and white fir.

After a mile’s descent from the junction, you’ll reach the first sequoias—a half-dozen fine specimens located to the right of the road. A tiny creek trickles between two of the giants.

Walk a few more minutes down the road to the old ranger cabin and more inspiring tall trees. Sketchy trails lead down to the creek and more sequoias, but most hikers will be content to linger by the cabin then retrace their steps back to the trailhead.