Hiking to Taft Point in Yosemite National Park
Glacier Point road is best known for it’s eponymous lookout. Here is a spectacular viewpoint that completes any visit to Yosemite. As soon as it warms up, and the road is cleared, literal busloads of visitors clamor to get a good look at this world class view.
Though Glacier Point is both beautiful and breathtaking, negotiating the tourist hordes gets real old. Fortunately, a nearby hike allows you a great view, with less crowds.
Taft Point is an equally impressive, though slightly less busy alternative to Glacier Point. A gentle trail leads hikers to a sheer cliff overlooking Yosemite Valley, allowing you a beautiful view into the world below. In early June, I hiked to Taft Point, and I lived to tell the tale. Here’s my recap. Hope you enjoy!
The Stats
Distance: About 2.5 miles round trip.
Difficulty: Easy
Hiking Time: 1 Hour. Allow extra time to pose for social media photos, and to sort out your acrophobia.
Best Time to Hike: Summer and Fall
Sheer Cliffs?: More than you can shake a stick at, as a matter of saying.
Dogs Allowed?: No
Restrooms?: Yep!
The Hike
The trailhead of both Taft Point, and Sentinel Dome lies several miles up glacier point road. After the turning off from Chinquapin, drive for about fifteen minutes. The parking area will be on your left. The parking spots here are limited, and it is common to have to wait for a spot to open up. You’ll also find pit toilets, and bear proof trash cans.
Begin by hiking downhill. The trail follows a well worn path, and it is hard to miss your mark. The trail passes by an odd, jagged quartz outcropping. I’m no geologist, but it seems out of place. Of all the times that I have hiked the trail to Taft Point, this quartz pile always served as a symbolic marker, reassuring me that I was on the right path.
I began my hike in the late afternoon. My work day was long, and I stopped to get meatloaf on the way up. The meatloaf run would be my first mistake, unraveling a spool of many that would lead to an inconvenient evening atop Taft Point
Anyways, after a short while the trail splits. To get to Taft Point, continue straight on. If you’d like to take the hike up Sentinel Dome, then follow the trail right. Both are the same hiking distance, and both trails are roughly the same difficulty. Sentinel Dome is visible to the east-its shape and size characteristic of so many glacier carved granite domes found throughout the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
I had originally planned to hike both Taft Point, and Sentinel Dome. As the afternoon was falling into evening, I was rapidly losing light. I would have to save my Sentinel Dome hike for another day. Had I not stopped for Meatloaf to go, I might have had enough daylight to hike both.
The Hazards of a Yosemite Spring: Snow and Fallen Trees
Even though Glacier Point road is open, and even though the weather in Yosemite Valley is warm, early June is probably not the ideal time to hike to Taft Point. The snowpocalypse of Winter 2019 has left this trail in a sorry state. Fallen trees, and deep snow piles obscure the way. Ankle licking mud is nearly unavoidable. I was delicately stepping over numerous snow piles-so much that I was prepared to self arrest with my camera tripod.
Near the beginning of the hike, the trail crosses a creek. In late summer, this creek presents no real obstacle. Most folks would have little trouble stepping through it. In June, 2019, this creek was roaring, and only a tenuous, collapsing snow bridge allowed safe passage. Part of this bridge fell through as one girl attempted to cross it, plunging her leg into the ice cold creek below. I know from my own experience of hiking the John Muir Trail that it is best to just cross snow bridges as fast as I can, and to try not to think about the consequences of a collapse.
The trail was hard to follow, and I went off the path more than once. If you find this to be the case, then just remember to keep hiking downhill. You’ll end up at a cliff eventually. As you hike down, you’ll also notice a big boulder pile on your right. I used this as a landmark. Keep this on your right side as you hike to Taft point, and on your left as you hike back. My recommendation is to simply save the Taft Point trail for later in the summer, after all the snow has melted away.
Fissures, Cliffs, and Wedding Pics
After picking your way through the debris pile formerly known as the Taft Point trail, you’ll hopefully end up at a wide, open granite expanse. This is Taft point, where a short downhill jaunt brings you to the very edge of Yosemite Valley.
A lone handrail marks the end of the Taft Point trail. It straddles the very edge of valley rim, and is the only thing keeping you, gravity, and the floor of Yosemite Valley from becoming fast friends. Individuals with a fear of heights, may want to stay a bit back from the edge, or otherwise push yourself outside your comfort zone. As death defying as it seems, the Taft Point overlook is fairly safe.
The view from up here is awesome. You are given a bird’s eye view of Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, and a view into some of Tuolumne’s backcountry peaks. Looking down to the valley floor, the Merced River is plainly visible, meandering it’s way down stream. If you dare, take a look directly over the edge of the cliff. There is nothing but thousands of feet of mountain air directly beneath your feet.
A cool feature at Taft Point are its fissures. There are great fissures cleaved into the cliff side. They’re about ten feet wide, and are a dead vertical thoroughfare to the abyss. You don’t really notice them until you’re right up on them. Watch your step.
When I visited, a young couple were having an engagement photoshoot. Very quaint, but Taft Point is a popular spot wedding pics, proposals, and social media fodder. From the handrail, look to your left. 200 feet away is a rock jutting out into the air. People love posing on this spot. Look up #yosemite on any social media platform, and you’ll see what I mean.
The topography of Taft Point makes it a popular highlining spot. Think tight rope walking, but with a crunchy, rock climber spin.
One famous highliner, climber, and BASE jumper-Dean Potter, perished tragically at Taft Point. On a clear May day, Potter and a friend set out to do a wingsuit jump off Taft Point. The goal was to land safely in the meadows below, but things did not go as planned. That was a sad day, both for myself, and the rock climbing community as a whole.
William Howard Taft-The Man, The Myth, The President
As a historical aside, it is worth noting that Taft Point is named for William Howard Taft -the 27th president of the United States. I’m not too hip to my U.S. history, but I do know that Taft succeeded Teddy Roosevelt. The same Teddy Roosevelt who got real chummy with John Muir.
Interestingly, there is another lookout known as Roosevelt Point located not far from Taft Point. I’ve never been there, but the map suggests that it is an easy hike. It may be ironic that Taft Point is the more popular destination, considering how instrumental Roosevelt was in establishing the National Park system.
I can’t really comment much on President Taft. His legacy was largely overshadowed by the actions of Roosevelt-the president before him, and Woodrow Wilson, the president after him. Despite being the only guy to ever hold both the office of President, and Chief Justice, Taft Point seems less than fitting of an accolade. If it wasn’t for this popular hike, I probably wouldn’t be able to pick him out of lineup of old timey- mustachioed American Presidents.
Conclusion-Why You should Check out Taft Point
Taft Point is an easy hike that is rewarded with an amazing payoff. Go here for the views, the lush, forested walk, and the social media worthy photo opportunities. Posing at the edge of these cliffs, thousands of feet off the deck will look good on your instagram page.
The hike to Taft Point is best combined with the short hike to the top of Sentinel Dome, and a stop at the famous Glacier Point. Taft is slightly less crowded than Glacier Point, but provides just as much splendor, and a few more thrills. Just watch out for the gaping fissures.
Need Gear?
Taft Point may be a short, simple hike with an incredible payoff, but you don’t want to get caught up on this trail without the right gear. Even an experienced day hiker like myself ended up having to hike back in the dark, finding my way back through a dilapidated trail. If I didn’t have a headlamp, warm layers, and plenty of water, the situation may have made a turn for the worse. Stack the odds in your favor-check out our list of Essential Day Hiking Gear.
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