17 July 2026 - Trip Report: Mount Hoffman, Yosemite National Park

This past week, we elected to return to Yosemite National Park to hike amongst the granite domes and abundant wildflowers. Our goal: to reach the summit of Mount Hoffman. Compared to its popular neighbors of Clouds Rest and Half Dome, Mount Hoffman is a lesser known peak that sits between the two major regions of Yosemite, Tuolumne Meadows and the Yosemite Valley. Its unique position central in the national park provides expansive views of peaks, ridges and lakes in all directions, and its relatively short, 6 mile round-trip makes it a more accessible hike we highly recommend. 

The Trailhead at May Lake

Trip Report: 

Current As Of: 17 July 2026*

Activity During Report: on- and off-trail hiking, some scrambling

We started our hike at the primary May Lake Trailhead, equipped with a large parking lot, bear boxes and pit toilets. There is a second May Lake Trailhead that adds ~2.6 miles round trip to the hike if you park on a small pullout on Tioga Road proper. We recommend taking the time to drive the extra (beautiful!) miles up May Lake Rd to the parking lot. The road is primarily single lane, so be mindful of your speed as you may need to pull over to allow a car to pass.

However, we found the crowds in this corner of Tuolumne Meadows to be substantially less than the Tioga Road corridor as an extra bonus. 

After storing our food and hand sanitizer in a bear box, we started our hike up to Mount Hoffman via May Lake. The trail starts with a gentle incline through wooded terrain, and gets a bit steeper before arriving at May Lake about 1 mile later. Nestled under the steep granite ridge between Mount Hoffman and The Bowmaiden, May Lake provided a serene stop before beginning the steeper portion of the hike. There is a High Sierra Back Country Camp here, including another pit toilet. 

May Lake

At May Lake, it is important to turn left and walk along the south side of the lake instead of continuing north on the main trail.

The next two miles of trail were well-trodden from here to the summit, with cairns marking the few rocky areas where the trail was less obvious. The hike from May Lake to the summit of Mount Hoffman is steeper and rockier than the first portion, and we were happy to have our trekking poles.

The Ascent to Mount Hoffman

As we climbed, the views around us started to open up, providing glimpses of beloved peaks: first, Mount Conness, then Clouds Rest, the Clark Range, and finally Half Dome. 

The final section of trail deposits you on a grassy plateau above the treeline before a short scramble to the actual summit. We saw many marmots and chipmunks running about the plateau, one seeming to join us for the final scramble. We took a long break on Mount Hoffman's summit, identifying as many landmarks as we could in all directions, before descending the same 3 miles of trail down back to our car.

Summit Views from Mount Hoffman

The National Park Service maintains a repeater up here for their emergency services

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