Clouds Rest is a mountain in

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

east northeast of Yosemite Village,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Although there are many peaks in the park having far greater elevation, the proximity of Clouds Rest to the valley gives it a very high degree of visual prominence.

Geography

The summit can be reached by a trail hike from

Tioga Pass Road State Route 120 (SR 120) is a state highway in the central part of California, connecting the San Joaquin Valley with the Sierra Nevada, Yosemite National Park, and the Mono Lake area. Its western terminus is at Interstate 5 in Lathrop, and its ...

or a trail hike from

Happy Isles Happy Isles is a group of small isles in the Merced River in Yosemite National Park, California, USA. They are located at the easternmost end of the Yosemite Valley floor. This scenic spot is the starting point for the Mist Trail, and is also the ...

by way of

Little Yosemite Valley Little Yosemite Valley is a smaller Glacial valley#Glacial valleys, glacial valley upstream in the Merced River drainage from the Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park. The Merced River meanders through the long flat valley, draining out ove ...

. There are also several technical routes available. Clouds Rest is an

arête An arête ( ) is a narrow ridge of rock which separates two valleys. It is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode headwards towards one another, although frequen ...

, a thin, almost knife-like, ridge of rock formed when glaciers eroded away solid rock to form

Tenaya Canyon Tenaya Canyon is a dramatic and dangerous canyon in Yosemite National Park, California, USA, that runs from the outlet of Tenaya Lake 10 miles down to Yosemite Valley, carrying water in Tenaya Creek through a series of spectacular cascades and ...

and Little Yosemite Valley. The northwest face, mostly solid granite, rises above

Tenaya Creek Tenaya (died 1853) was a leader of the Ahwahnechee people in Yosemite Valley, California. Background Tenaya's father was a leader of the Ahwahnechee people (or Awahnichi). The Ahwahneechee had become a tribe distinct from the other tribes in th ...

History

Lafayette H. Bunnell, a medical doctor with the

Mariposa Battalion Mariposa Battalion was a California State Militia unit formed in 1851 to defeat the Ahwahnechee and Chowchillas in the Mariposa War, a part of the California genocide. After a force under Mariposa County Sheriff James Burney was found unequal to ...

, notes that his party named the summit Clouds Rest because they returned to camp to avoid a snow storm after seeing "the clouds rapidly settling down to rest upon that mountain."

Recreation

View of Yosemite Valley from Summit of Clouds Rest

There are three main ways to access the summit of Clouds Rest; via the Sunrise Lakes Trailhead off of CA-120 (commonly known as the Northeast Ridge Route); via the Happy Isles Trailhead in Yosemite Valley (commonly known as the South Slope); or via the Northwest Face of the mountain. The Sunrise Lakes Trail is a round trip hike of that begins at an elevation of and gains over to reach the summit at . The summit has wide-ranging 360-degree panoramic views.

References

External links

* Mountains of Yosemite National Park Mountains of Mariposa County, California Articles containing video clips Mountains of Northern California {{MariposaCountyCA-geo-stub