Every Trail Tells a Story
Cathedral Lakes: John Muir Trail
The Sierra’s perfect combination: granite spire, alpine lake, high-country hush.
A pilgrimage trail with John Muir’s spirit close at hand.
Beginning of the famed John Muir Trail.
Some hikes feel like prayers, and the walk to Cathedral Lakes is one of them. From Tuolumne Meadows, the John Muir Trail carries you into a realm where granite spires reflect in still water and alpine silence has a music of its own. The twin lakes – Lower and Upper Cathedral – are both worthy, but the lower with its mirrored view of Cathedral Peak is unforgettable.
Many of John Muir’s effusive descriptions of the High Sierra have a spiritual tone, and refer to landscapes as sanctuaries, temples, and cathedrals. “This I must say is the first time I’ve been to church in California,” wrote John Muir after visiting the Cathedral lakes and making the first recorded ascent of Cathedral Peak in 1869.
Muir called Cathedral Peak “the noblest of all the Sierra temples.” Its slender spire dominates the skyline, a granite hymn rising above forest and meadow. The lakes at its feet are perfect pews: glassy in the morning, rippled by afternoon breeze, glowing orange at sunset.
The hike is moderate by Yosemite standards, but the altitude makes you earn it. Lodgepole and whitebark pines frame the path; marmots whistle from granite boulders; wildflowers in summer splash color against gray stone. Around Cathedral Lake, geologic history is written in the rocks. Lakeside granite slabs offer flat spots for sunning and picnicking. Near the lake are curious erratics: ice-transported boulders that were left here when the glaciers melted.
By the time you reach Lower Cathedral, you understand why the John Muir Trail starts here – it’s a preview of the Sierra in full. This hike offers a sampling of the JMT, with the great naturalist at our heels whispering going to the mountains is going home.
From Tioga Road, park at the Cathedral Lakes trailhead near the west end of Tuolumne Meadows.
Walk through the forest to a four-way junction. Proceed straight on John Muir Trail. About a mile out, Cathedral Peak pops into view. Traverse meadowland often made soggy by Cathedral Creek and assorted creeklets. In the late spring and early summer curved from southwest to South and pass above a gurgling spring. Two-plus miles of ascent gains a forested saddle. And then the path descents cathedral peak appears on the skyline to your left, and three miles out, the trail divides.
JMT leads another half mile to upper Cathedral Lake and its shoreline campsites handsomely backed by craggy Cathedral Peak in the east and ten thousand footers Echo and Tresidder peaks rising above the south shore. Hike a few more minutes up the Muir Trail to Cathedral Pass and get a grand view of Cathedral Lakes Basin.
Head west (right) to Cathedral Lake. The path descends through the woods and crosses a meadow to reach the lake, a popular weekend backpacker destination. Make your way to the far end of the lake and gaze westward for a bird’s eye view of Tenaya lake, located just a mile away.
For those hikers looking for a longer return, I heartily recommend returning to the JMT, ascending to sunrise camp and looping over and down to Tenaya lake on Tioga Rd. Total distance is 13 miles for the day. In summer, the park’s shuttle bus service links the Cathedral Lakes trailhead and Tenaya Lake.