Hike to Taft Point

Taft Point Trail

From Glacier Point to Taft Point is 2.2 miles round trip with 200-foot elevation gain

A short trail designed for viewing what geologists calls fissures sounds like a real yawn. But this isn’t just any trail and these fissure are just any fissures.

Yosemite’s fissures are The Fissures, deep cracks in the cliff edge. And through The Fissures is the floor of the Yosemite Valley, a half-mile below.

Down there is really down there. Clamp your clammy palms over the simple handrail, lean over the precipice and see the valley an odd angle on Upper Yosemite Falls and go eyeball to eyeball with El Capitan.

The trail is kid-friendly, but the destination is not. Bring your children on the hike, but hold on to them at all times around Taft Point.

Directions to the trailhead: Taft Point shares a trailhead with the path to Sentinel Dome. The parking area is located on the north side of Glacier Point Road, some 15 miles form its intersection with Wawona Road and about 1.5 miles before road’s end.

The hike: From the parking lot, the trail leads 50 yards then angles west in the company of lodgepole and Jeffrey pine and soon crosses Sentinel Creek.
A half-mile out, the path passes a junction with Pohono Trail which traces the rim of Yosemite Valley to Glacier Point.

The path meanders past a seasonal profusion of corn lilies, then leaves the trees behind on a descent of rocky slopes. Just shy of a mile out, the trail reaches the first of The Fissures. Unlike the clefts at Taft Point, these are unprotected by guardrails, so watch your step. Continue another 0.1 mile to Taft Point.