Permineter Trail

The Perimeter Trail is the long way around Mariposa Grove — a 6.3-mile loop that circles the giant sequoias instead of cutting straight through them, trading the crowded boardwalk near the entrance for quiet forest and a real chance of solitude. It's also the only trail in the grove open to horses, which tells you how wide and gently graded most of it stays.

What you'll see

Rather than retracing the busy Grizzly Giant Loop, the Perimeter Trail swings past sequoias many day-trippers never reach: the fallen Wawona Tunnel Tree and the Galen Clark Tree, named for the grove's first official guardian. It also links up with the Guardians Loop Trail in the upper grove — that's the route to the fire-hollowed Telescope Tree, so plan extra distance if that's your goal, since the Perimeter Trail itself doesn't pass it. Figure on about 1,050 feet of elevation gain over the full 6.3 miles — moderate effort, no technical sections, but real climbing above 5,000 feet elevation, and often called the longest day hike within the grove.

Getting there

Access starts at the Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza near Yosemite's South Entrance, close to Fish Camp. Roughly early May through late November, a free shuttle runs between the Welcome Plaza and the grove; outside that window the access road is closed to vehicles and you walk in, adding a few miles each way. Private vehicles don't need a separate reservation for Mariposa Grove itself, but the Welcome Plaza's parking fills by mid-morning in summer.