May Lake & Mt. Hoffmann
Distance: 2.5 miles (4 km) round trip to May Lake; 6 miles (9.6 km) if you climb Mt. Hoffmann as well
Elevation at trailhead: 8,710 feet (2,655 meters)
May Lake Elevation: 9,270 feet (2,825 meters)
Mt. Hoffmann Elevation: 10,845 feet (3,305 meters)
Elevation Gain: 500 feet (150 meters) to May Lake; 2,000 feet (600 meters) to Mt. Hoffmann
Hiking Time: 1.5 - 4 hours
Why hike to May Lake? To see the only lake that, it can be said with some certainty, got a geologist some action. Charles Hoffmann, a member of the 1863-67 Whitney Geological Survey, named the lake after Lucy Mayotta Browne. In what was surely a related matter, Browne married Hoffmann in 1870. And is it just a coincidence that May Lake nestles in the lap of 10,845-foot Mt. Hoffmann? Not likely. Mr. Hoffmann appears to have been a man with a direct and pointed imagination.
Best Time to Visit: Whenever the Tioga Pass Road is open - typically June through October; see the Road Conditions page for the road's historical opening and closing dates
Difficulty: It's a short hike to May Lake, but it starts at a high elevation and climbs steadily, if not steeply, to the lake. It rates a 5 out of 10, excluding Mt. Hoffmann, which adds a couple notches to the difficulty rating.
Scenery Factor: Like so many of Yosemite's high lakes, May Lake rests at the base of striking granite cliffs (Mt. Hoffmann, in this case), giving it a memorably picturesque backdrop. Unlike other lakes, though, May Lake's low side gives way not to forest, but to a dropoff that looks over the Tioga Road area all the way to Clouds Rest and Tenaya Lake, a bonus that makes this one of Yosemite's most scenic lake hikes.
Still, though May Lake is pretty, it's Mount Hoffmann that makes this a four-star excursion. You don't get many chances to look down on both Clouds Rest and Half Dome without being a Horizon Air customer, and the views of the northern wilderness are nearly as compelling. The Mt. Hoffmann trail also includes some bonus views looking back to May Lake.
Crowd Factor: You won't be alone here, since it's a fairly short hike and the May Lake High Sierra camp sits along the eastern shore. But it's not nearly as crowded as it would be if it were, like Mirror Lake, right next to Yosemite Valley.
Parking: Lot at the trailhead
Nearest Bathrooms: Pit toilets at the trailhead. There's also a flush toilet at the lake, thanks to the High Sierra Camp's presence here. It closes when the camp does. It doesn't have a sink, but there's a water outlet nearby that apparently draws directly from the lake.
Nearest Snacks: At the far end of Tuolumne Meadows, 13 miles (21 km) east
Getting There: From Yosemite Valley, take highway 120 ten miles (16.8 km) to the Crane Flat turnoff onto Tioga Road, then take Tioga Road 28 miles (44.8 km) east to the May Lake turnoff. From Yosemite's east entrance at Tioga Pass, take the Tioga Road west 20 miles (32 km) to the turnoff. From the turnoff, it's 1.8 miles (2.9 km) to the trailhead parking lot.
Trail Notes & Hazards: The trail up Mt. Hoffman is steep and rocky, and some of the steepest parts are covered with decomposed granite, one of the most insidiously slippery substances nature has devised in its campaign to add slapstick to the world. Between this and oxygen's inexplicable fear of heights, plan on a slow pace going up.
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May Lake Photos
 Mt. Hoffmann |
 Facing Southwest |
 Half Dome from Mt. Hoffmann |
 Mt. Hoffmann from Glacier Point |
If you like May Lake, check out:
|
Tenaya Lake A gorgeous lake right around the corner |
Tioga Road Trails More hikes in the May Lake area |
Half Dome More far-ranging high-country views |