Every Trail Tells a Story
Wawona Meadow
Enjoy Yosemite’s most peaceful meadow.
Dog-friendly hiking, year around trail.
Spring wildflowers, summer gold, autumn light.
Not every Yosemite hike is about cliffs and waterfalls. Wawona Meadow is a gentler beauty – a broad mountain meadow framed by pines and oaks, with deer browsing and wildflowers waving in the breeze. It’s one of the few places in the park where you can imagine 19th-century stagecoaches rolling up and visitors spilling out in search of fresh air and quiet.
This is Yosemite’s softer side, where the drama is in the shifting light and the play of colors across the grass. In spring, the meadow is dotted with lupine and buttercups. By late summer, golden grasses shimmer under the Sierra sun. It’s also the rare Yosemite trail open year around and the only one open to leashed dogs, which may be enough reason for some hikers to lace up.
From Wawona Hotel (Big Trees Lodge), head to the golf course parking area. The signed trail begins near the first tee.
The wide dirt path makes a level loop around the meadow. You’ll share the way with equestrians, birders, and perhaps a family of deer. With minimal elevation gain, it’s more a stroll than a trek – the perfect warm-up for Yosemite’s bigger trails.