Starting trailhead: Tuolumne Stables
Ending trailhead: White Wolf Campground
Elevation: 8700 ft
Distance: 32 miles
Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne is a fantastic point to point run that follows the Tuolumne River on its course to the Hetch Hetchy Dam. The route follows a well marked trail past Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp and Waterwheel falls before climbing out of the canyon back towards highway 120. It's gorgeous, remote, easier than it looks, and has some of the best swimming I've encountered in the High Sierra. I'm honestly shocked I hadn't done this run before.
We swam in this pool!
Well folks I'm coming up on my last year in Fresno and I'm trying to tick off as many items on my Western Sierra bucket list as I can before I leave. It had been more than 5 years since I'd run anything longer than a marathon. I had hip surgery in 2019 and didn't run anything significant for years afterwards, and by the time I was running consistently again I was in medical residency and instead of getting fit I was working overnights and eating junk food in the hospital. I finally started to turn things around this last year and by this summer I thought a 50k was theoretically possible. So I roped in two running partners, FDK and KD, and blessed by mild October weather and a reprieve from the California wildfires we travelled to Yosemite for a long weekend.
The most difficult part honestly was navigating the zoo that Yosemite National Park has become. Despite all three of us trying to snag reservations through the online system we came up short. Luckily we found an opening in the Curry Village tent cabins - honestly this was a welcome luxury as the nights had gotten cold and the tent cabin was heated. On the day of the run I managed to get lost in a parking lot in the dark - man those parking lots in the valley are huge. After pulling some dubious traffic maneuvers we made it onto Highway 120 where I was again momentarily thwarted by the park service who had removed all the road signs in preparation for the winter closure. We missed the turn off to White Wolf in the this manner and had to double back to the turn off where we left a car before proceeding to Tuolumne meadows.
Instead of starting at Lembert dome we drove about a mile further to the parking lot near the stables, which probably shortens the route somewhat. We started running in puffy jackets and pants on the path towards Glen Aulin.
A forested section of the canyon
I was reasonably sure this was a non-venomous gopher snake
The first 23 miles are a gradual downhill through the granite canyon. Waterfalls and clear pools were abundant, as were quiet sections through forest and meadow. Most of this first part is runnable, with a few rocky technical sections. All the significant river crossings have bridges. We stopped to eat lunch and to swim in a clear (and frigid) pool. We quickly made it to the low point of the canyon and decided to walk the 4000 ft climb (about 5 miles) back up towards White Wolf. After a few hours the eastern banks of Hetch Hetchy came into view below. A few miles of flat running after the climb led to the deserted White Wolf campground and the car.
The crew, with Hetch Hetchy in the background
The only downside to this run is that I did have some trouble digging up information on how to do it. I wasn't even sure how long it was, with some sources stating 29 miles and others suggesting 35 miles. Some of this is due to multiple options for the start trailhead and some of it is certainly due to the inaccuracies of GPS in the canyon. I've included links to other trip reports here and here and I'll try and describe our route and logistics as clearly as possible. You should do this run.
Logistics: The run starts near Lembert Dome in Tuolumne Meadows and ends at White Wolf, so to do this run as a point to point you need to set up a car shuttle or hitchhike between the two points. I think it would also be possible to use YARTS but it wasn't running when we did the trail in October. As of 2024 there is no campground open in Tuolumne meadows so we stayed in Yosemite Valley. This run is obviously contingent on Highway 120 being open. There is water along most of the trail. It took us about 10 hours at a leisurely pace.
Comments