Mount Hoffmann

Mount Hoffmann sits at the literal geographic center of Yosemite National Park, and once you're standing on its 10,845-foot summit, that centrality is the whole point — this is one of the few spots in the park where you can look out at nearly every major landmark at once. The hike starts at the May Lake Trailhead, a short spur off Tioga Road, so it's only accessible when that road is open for the season.

The Route

A short, well-defined trail climbs about 500 feet over 2.5 miles round trip to reach May Lake, a granite-rimmed alpine lake that makes a fine turnaround point on its own. Pushing on to the summit turns this into a 6-mile round trip with roughly 2,000 feet of elevation gain. Past the lake, the route is no longer a maintained trail — it's a use path over open granite slabs and talus, so expect cross-country navigation and some scrambling near the top rather than a graded switchback climb.

Why the View Is Different

Because Mount Hoffmann sits dead center in the park, the summit panorama strings together landmarks other Yosemite viewpoints show one or two at a time: Half Dome, Clouds Rest, Cathedral Peak and the Cathedral Range, and the high country toward Tuolumne Meadows are all visible in a single sweep.

When to Go

Tioga Road is seasonal and typically closed by snow from late fall through spring, reopening sometime between late May and June depending on that year's snowpack. Plan this hike for June through October, and check current Tioga Road status before you drive out.