Cathedral Lake Trail, Yosemite National Park

In June 2022 the trailhead is permanently closed (road being repaved and no access). Instead you park at the Tuolumne Visitor Center and hike the new trail (just next to the road) or the old trail.. they intersect. Take the old one. Note this adds just under 2 miles roundtrip but the visitor station is cool and the rangers are friendly. We hiked this with two kids in upper elementary/middle school. It was fun and a fair amount of climbing. Also snow, nearby glaciers and otherworldly views. We underdressed and cut short the lake stay shorter than planned. Round trip was 4.5 hours for us, not including lake time. Enjoy!

I spent two lazy, blissful hours sitting by this lake all by myself on a sunny October day. It was the last day of my three day backpacking trip in the Tuolumne Meadows wilderness area. The shimmering blue lake surrounded by the granite peaks of the Sierra range makes for a gorgeous setting in which to enjoy a quiet, reflective afternoon.