Also on the map ofSierra Nevada ‹ American Cordillera Yosemite Wilderness

Red Peak · 3,566 m · 15 km SE

Mountain · Sierra Nevada · California

Half Dome

2,693 m8,835 ft

Easiest route: 12.6 km+1,594 m · about 6 h · T3
Prominence: 396 m1,298 ft
Isolation: 3.4 km
Tonight: 38°FFair · Wind 5–20 mph E

Half Dome is a 2,693 m (8,835 ft) mountain in the Sierra Nevada, California, United States.

All facts

Elevation: 2,693 m · 8,835 ft
Nearest higher peak: Clouds Rest (3,025 m)
Range: Sierra Nevada
Region: California, United States
Protected area: Yosemite National Park
Coordinates: 37.7460° N, 119.5331° W

Open the 3D view

Route

How to get to the top of Half Dome

2 mapped walking routes from where a car can get you, with distance and climb from the terrain model.

Easiest route: from Mirror Lake Trailhead (trailhead)

Distance: 12.6 kmone way
Climb: +1,594 m−119 m (5,230 ft up)
Time up: about 6 h
Difficulty: T3Demanding: exposed spots, some easy scrambling

Half Dome elevation profile

Download GPX (free, ODbL)KML

Other routes 1

Glacier Point Trailhead (trailhead)16.7 km · +1,152 m · about 6 h
T3GPX KML

Routes © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the ODbL. Climb from the terrain model. Trails change and maps miss things: check conditions locally.

3D map

Half Dome 3D map

Drag to orbit · click, then scroll to zoom (or Ctrl/⌘ + scroll) · One finger scrolls the page · two fingers orbit and zoom · 6 × 6 km

Surface

Vertical scale

Topographic map

Half Dome terrain and contours

100 m contours from the USGS 3DEP 10 m terrain model. The route drawn is the easiest mapped one, from Mirror Lake Trailhead. Click two points on the map to draw your own cross-section.Tap two points on the map to draw your own cross-section.

Index contours every 500 mShowing west → east through the summit

West → east through the summit

Hover the profile to read elevation and distance.Tap or drag along the profile to read elevation and distance.

Weather

Half Dome weather

Today · Light rain · 38 / 49°F (3 / 9°C) · 13% chance of precipitation · Wind 5 mph WNW

Half Dome forecast for the summit, about 1,940 m. Summit vs base: the Base line is for about 1,220 m.

Today38°49°13%5 mph WNWBase 41 / 60°
Sat40°58°–0–10 mph ESEBase 44 / 69°
Sun42°59°–0–10 mph SSEBase 45 / 70°
Mon40°58°1%0–10 mph SBase 44 / 69°
Tue41°59°2%0–10 mph SSWBase 44 / 70°
Wed42°59°3%0–10 mph SSEBase 46 / 70°
Thu41°56°13%0–10 mph SBase 44 / 67°

Forecast data: NOAA National Weather Service, public domain, model run Oct 23, 22:56 UTC.

Camping & parking

Camping & parking near Half Dome

Campsites, parking, trailheads and mountain huts mapped in OpenStreetMap around Half Dome, nearest first, by straight-line distance. Check access, fees and permits locally.

Nearest trailhead
Snow Creek Trailhead
1.6 km NNW · +2 more within 2.6 km
Directions Map
Nearest campsite
Little Yosemite Valley Campground
2.2 km SE · +2 more within 3.0 km
Directions Map
Nearest parking
Valley Trailhead Parking
3.2 km WSW · +2 more within 3.6 km
Directions Map
Nearest hut
Lounge
3.5 km WSW
Directions Map

All mapped places 10

Place	Distance
Snow Creek TrailheadTrailhead	1.6 km NNW
Little Yosemite Valley CampgroundCampsite	2.2 km SE
Mirror Lake TrailheadTrailhead	2.5 km WSW
Happy Isles TrailheadTrailhead	2.6 km SW
Upper Pines CampgroundCampsite	2.9 km WSW
Yosemite Valley Backpackers CampgroundCampsite	3.0 km W
Valley Trailhead ParkingParking	3.2 km WSW
Parking	3.3 km WSW
LoungeHut	3.5 km WSW
Parking	3.6 km WSW

Slope

How steep is the route to Half Dome?

The easiest mapped route, 12.6 km from 1,215 m to 2,693 m. Steepest stretch: 27°.

0 km · 1,215 m12.6 km · 2,693 m

0–15°11.6 km
15–30°0.9 km

Grades are averaged between profile points about 130 m apart, so short steeper steps don’t show.

Land cover

ESA WorldCover 10 m classification of the same area.

Trees 60.0%Grassland 26.1%Bare rock / sparse 13.3%

Snow & ice means glaciers and year-round snow (a yearly average), not today’s snow cover.

Nearby summits

Named peaks within 3 km, measured from the Half Dome summit.

Summit list 8

1Ahwiyah Point2,103 m 0.6 km NNW
2Mount Broderick2,049 m 1.4 km S
3Liberty Cap2,157 m 1.9 km S
4West Quarter Dome2,490 m 2.4 km NE
5Basket Dome2,315 m 2.5 km NW
6Watkins Pinnacles2,155 m 2.5 km NNE
7North Dome2,299 m 2.7 km WNW
8East Quarter Dome2,535 m 2.8 km NE

Wildlife

Wildlife seen nearby

Sightings of the most-seen species on iNaturalist (research grade) within 3 km; 762 species recorded in all.

Sightings per species 6

California Ground Squirrel731
Steller's Jay670
Mountain Pride282
Western Fence Lizard244
Canyon live oak210
Pacific Dogwood186

Where it sits

Where Half Dome sits

Ranked in 1

#2 Treks and hikes in United States

Nearby

Nearby places

More 1

Mount LyellPeak · 3,997 m23 km E

Half Dome downloads: topographic map, heightmap, STL 3D model and DEM

Free files made in your browser from this page's terrain data. No sign-up; credit the sources below.

Print & wall

JPGHalf Dome satellite image (JPEG)Sentinel-2 true-colour image of the same area, taken 2026-09-07.

3D printing & 3D apps

GIS & GPS

GPXHalf Dome GPX / KML route downloadIn the route section. Mapped route for GPS apps and Google Earth, under the ODbL.

</>Embed this mapPaste this into your site to show the interactive 3D terrain, with a credit link back here.

<iframe src="https://topolu.com/embed/half-dome" width="100%" height="480" style="border:0" loading="lazy" allowfullscreen title="3D terrain of Half Dome"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://topolu.com/half-dome" rel="nofollow">Topolu</a></p>

Free to use with credit: see the data sources

Accuracy

How accurate is this?

within 10 m This 3D map reads 2,693 m at the summit; the official height is 2,693 m.

A 10 m terrain model averages each cell, so a few metres either way is normal.

Source	Summit	Difference
Official height (Wikidata)	2,693 m	—
USGS 3DEP lidar	2,695 m	+2 m
USGS 3DEP 10 m (used on this page)	2,693 m	0 m
Copernicus GLO-30	2,670 m	-23 m
Copernicus GLO-90	2,664 m	-29 m

Data sources

Terrain: U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program (public domain)
Imagery: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026 (scene 2026-09-07)
Land cover: © ESA WorldCover project 2021 / Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021) processed by ESA WorldCover consortium
Facts: Wikidata (CC0)
Protected area: USGS Gap Analysis Project, PAD-US (public domain)
Wildlife: iNaturalist community observations, counts only
Accuracy comparison: Includes Copernicus WorldDEM-30 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. The European Union, ESA, DLR and Airbus incur no liability for any use of this data and do not endorse this service.
Accuracy comparison, Panorama: Includes Copernicus WorldDEM-90 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. The European Union, ESA, DLR and Airbus incur no liability for any use of this data and do not endorse this service.
Forecast: Weather forecast from NOAA National Weather Service (public domain)
Sources: Wikidata · OpenStreetMap · GeoNames · Wikipedia

Half Dome

Easiest route: from Mirror Lake Trailhead (trailhead)

West → east through the summit

Nearest trailhead

Nearest campsite

Nearest parking

Nearest hut

Data sources