Warren Fork Trailhead

Warren Fork Trailhead sits along Tioga Pass Road (Highway 120) east of Yosemite, about a mile past the Ellery Lake outlet, where a rough pullout marks the start of a quiet climb into the Hoover Wilderness. The trail follows Warren Fork creek up a narrow canyon squeezed between Tioga Peak and Lee Vining Peak, gaining the kind of solitude that's hard to find closer to the park's main gates.

What to Expect on the Trail

This is a moderately challenging, roughly 2.9-mile out-and-back route that sticks close to the creek for about a mile and a half before opening into a high meadow. It's a short outing by Eastern Sierra standards, but the canyon walls and creekside terrain make it feel more remote than the mileage suggests.

Permits and Camping

• Day hikes require no permit.
• Overnight trips need a wilderness permit year-round; Warren Fork is a non-quota trailhead, so permits aren't capped by daily reservation numbers.
• A handful of walk-in, first-come-first-served tent sites sit within a few hundred yards of the trailhead, between the highway and the wilderness boundary.
• Store food and scented items in bear-proof containers or counter-balance them — this is active bear country.

Getting There

From Highway 395 at Lee Vining, turn onto Highway 120 (Tioga Pass Road) and drive toward Yosemite. The trailhead has limited roadside parking about a mile east of the Ellery Lake outlet — arrive early in summer, since the pullouts fill fast on weekends.