Taft Point

Taft Point puts you on the edge of a sheer granite cliff with an open view across Yosemite Valley to El Capitan and Yosemite Falls — and it takes barely an hour of easy walking to get there. The trailhead sits on Glacier Point Road, and from the parking area it's an easy 2.2-mile round trip with only about 200 feet of elevation change, making it one of the more approachable big-view hikes in the park.

The Hike

The trail crosses a mix of open forest and granite slab before reaching Taft Point and, a short distance beyond, The Fissures — a set of narrow cracks in the cliff edge that drop straight down toward the valley floor. Most hikers finish the round trip in 1 to 2 hours. No permit or reservation is required for this hike.

Mind the Edge

This is the trail's biggest draw and its biggest hazard: Taft Point and the Fissures have no guardrails, and the drop-offs nearby run close to 2,000 feet. Keep a firm hold on kids and pets, and skip the exposed sections entirely if the granite is wet or icy.

Getting There

The trailhead is a small pullout on Glacier Point Road, which is open seasonally, roughly late spring through fall, and closed by snow the rest of the year. Many hikers pair Taft Point with the nearby Sentinel Dome trail, since both start from the same stretch of road.