Tenaya Lake is a pristine alpine lake formed by glaciers and located between Yosemite Valley and Tuolomne Meadows. The lake sits at an elevation of 8,150 feet and is regarded by many as the most beautiful lake in Yosemite National Forest. It is also the park's largest and most easily accessible lake, as it lies just off from Tioga Road. Tioga Road is usually open from June through October.
The Tenaya Lake Trail is a 3.5-mile, out-and-back trail running along the right side of the lake, but it can easily be made into a loop by following along the shoulder of Tioga Road to return to the trailhead. It can also be shortened to a point-to-point trail if you have transportation arranged at both trailheads on Tiogoa Road. This trail is heavily trafficked.
Views featured on this trail include snow-capped mountains seen well into July, forests of lodgepole pine, and late-blooming wildflowers in July and August. These flowers include blue and yellow lupine, Indian paintbrush, monkey flowers, shooting stars, and California poppies, among others. Tenaya Lake is host to a number of recreational activities and features a small sandy beach and several picnic tables along the trail. Nature lovers come to this pristine lake to sunbathe, swim, fish, kayak, birdwatch, and picnic.
The trail itself is ranked as easy. It has very little elevation gain (just under 200 feet), and is family-friendly. Dogs, however, are not allowed on the trail, and it is not wheelchair-accessible. The picnic area and beach, meanwhile, are wheelchair-accessible. There are vault toilets located at both trailheads on Tioga Road. Access to Tenaya Lake is limited to the summer and fall, as Tioga Pass is generally not opened until late May to early June. Check with the Park Service to determine if the road has been cleared of snow and reopened.
Tenaya Lake is a crystal-clear alpine lake located in the High Sierra off of Tioga Road. From the east entrance to Yosemite at Tioga Pass, drive 15.5 miles to reach the lake and trailhead. From Yosemite Valley, take Hwy. 120 ten miles to the Crane Flat turnoff onto Tioga Road. You'll drive 31 miles along Tioga going east and witness some of the most spectacular views you can imagine overlooking Yosemite Valley. Stop at Olmsted Point for a short, 0.25-mile trail for breathtaking views of Tenaya Canyon, Clouds Rest, Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, and your destination: the pristine Tenaya Lake.
Note that Tioga Pass closes during the winter months due to snow and does not reopen until May or June. You can look at this website for updates on the current schedule of opening: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tioga.htm
The trailhead for Tenaya Lake is about 2 miles past Olmsted Point going east, and the parking lot here is not typically full. If the lot does happen to be full, continue to the eastern end of the lake, where there is another parking lot.
From the western parking lot, you will follow the short and easy trail along the southern shore of the lake, which is shaded by lodgepole pine trees. As you reach the eastern bank of the lake, you'll find picnic tables and a sandy beach, as well as the other trailhead. Settle in for a picnic or a dip in the lake before heading back the way you came. If desired, you can make this hike into a loop by returning along the northern end of the lake along Tioga Road.
The pristine and spectacular Tenaya Lake was formed by the flow of the Tenaya Glacier as it moved down into the Yosemite Valley during the last ice age. Half Dome and the Tenaya Canyon were formed by this same glacier. The glacier, lake, and canyon were named after the last leader of the Ahwahnechee people in Yosemite Valley. Chief Tenaya was born among the Mono Lake Paiutes, his mother's people, as his father's tribe had largely died out from disease and then merged with this tribe in the eastern Sierra Nevada.
Tenaya was encouraged by an Ahwahneechee medicine man to return to the land of his people, and he formed a band of about 200 Ahwahneechee who joined him in resettling in Yosemite Valley. Disputes that arose between the Native Americans in this region and the incoming miners during the Gold Rush era led to the forced relocation of the Natives to reservations. Tenaya's people attempted to resist and return to the Yosemite Valley, but Tenaya's sons were captured and his youngest son was killed. This led to the legacy of Tenaya's curse.
It is believed that following his son's death, Chief Tenaya invoked a curse on the Tenaya Canyon and all white men who attempted to descend it. Whether superstition holds true or not, Tenaya Canyon is regarded as the "Bermuda Triangle of Yosemite" by park rangers due to the vast number of rescues that have taken place there over the years.
When John Muir explored the canyon in the 1870s, he wrote in a letter of a near-fatal fall in the gorge wherein he was unable to recall what had caused him to lose his footing or even where he had fallen from. In the years since, many hikers and rock climbers have been injured, disappeared, or died in the canyon, and rangers discourage hikers from descending into the dangerous gorge.
Chief Tenaya was stoned to death in 1853 following a dispute with the Mono Paiutes over stolen horses, and the remainder of his people absorbed into the population of this tribe at Mono Lake.
The Yosemite Grant, signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1864, established Yosemite as the first state park for public use. John Muir's exploration of the area and the articles and papers he wrote about its unique geology, flora, and fauna inspired scientific interest in the region. Concerned over the degradation of the land by human habitation and exploitation, Muir began promoting its protection by inviting influential writers and advocates to visit, including Ralph Waldo Emerson. Due in part to Muir's advocacy, the area outside of Yosemite Valley and the sequoia grove were established as a national park in 1890. Muir formed the Sierra Club two years later to lobby for the grove and valley to be incorporated into the park as well.
In May of 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt stayed with Muir near Glacier Point and was convinced to take Muir's goals to action, signing a bill in 1906 that incorporated Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley into Yosemite National Park. In 1916, administration of Yosemite was transferred to the National Park Service.
