Half Dome
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Half Dome rises to 2,694 m in California. Gray Peak stands 3,526 m to the southeast, 8.0 miles off. The nearest named place is Subdome, a peak 0.2 miles away. Tioga Road/Big Oak Flat Road passes 4.2 miles off.
The story
Half Dome is a quartz monzonite batholith at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, California. It is a well-known rock formation in the park, named for its distinct shape. One side is a sheer face while the other three sides are smooth and round, making it appear like a dome cut in half. It stands at over 8,800 feet above sea level and is composed of quartz monzonite, an igneous rock that solidified several thousand feet within the Earth. At its core are the remains of a magma chamber that cooled slowly and crystallized beneath the Earth's surface. The solidified magma chamber was then exposed and cut in half by erosion, therefore leading to the geographic name Half Dome.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q925252, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 2,694 m
How to reach it
- 4.2 mi off the Tioga Road/Big Oak Flat Road, National
Overlooks nearby
- View on Tenaya Lake · 5 mi
- Lembert Dome · 14 mi
- Viewpoint for Giant Sequoias · 15 mi
- Disappearing Meadows · 17 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Subdome: 0.2 mi
- Ahwiyah Point: 0.4 mi
- Mount Broderick: 0.9 mi
- Liberty Cap: 1.2 mi
- Grizzly Peak: 1.5 mi
- Three Chute Falls: 0.9 mi
- Snow Creek Falls: 1.3 mi
- Silver Apron: 1.4 mi
- Vernal Fall: 1.4 mi
- Nevada Fall: 1.5 mi
- Nature Center at Happy Isles: 1.8 mi
- Yosemite Conservation Heritage Center: 2.6 mi
- Ansel Adams residence: 2.9 mi
- Yosemite Exploration Center: 3.0 mi
- Yosemite Museum & Library: 3.0 mi
- Diving Board: 0.5 mi
- Panorama Cliff: 2.3 mi
- Glacier Point: 2.4 mi
- Cascade Cliffs: 3.0 mi
- Castle Cliffs: 3.1 mi
- Indian Arch: 2.4 mi
- Valley View Yosemite (Sunset Spot): 7.7 mi
- Yosemite Valley Railroad Caboose Number 15: 14.7 mi
- Hetch Hetchy Railroad Number 6: 14.7 mi
- Tunnel Tree: 15.0 mi
- Swinging Bridge Picnic Area: 3.7 mi
- El Capitan Picnic Area: 4.9 mi
- Cathedral Beach Picnic Area: 5.3 mi
- Summit Meadow: 8.2 mi
- Red Bud Picnic Area: 16.6 mi
- Iron Spring: 1.1 mi
- Black Spring: 7.2 mi
- Moss Spring: 7.2 mi
- Fern Spring: 7.5 mi
- Soda Springs: 12.9 mi
- Women's Club Building: 2.1 mi
- Foster Curry Cabin: 2.2 mi
- World Heritage Site: 3.0 mi
- Soda Springs Cabin: 12.9 mi
- Chetwood Cabin: 18.1 mi
- Yosemite National Park: 6.5 mi
- Nelder Grove Historical Area: 22.1 mi
- El Portal Park: 14.7 mi
- Gull Lake Park: 24.8 mi
- Benson Lake Beach: 18.9 mi
- Bennettville: 19.9 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 8.4 miles of Half Dome. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gray Peak | SE 129° | 3,526 m | 8.0 mi |
| Mount Clark | ESE 121° | 3,512 m | 6.7 mi |
| Mount Hoffmann | N 10° | 3,308 m | 7.1 mi |
| The Bowmaiden | NNE 14° | 3,241 m | 8.4 mi |
| Obelisk Lake Peak | ESE 115° | 3,206 m | 7.2 mi |
| Quartzite Peak | ESE 109° | 3,182 m | 6.3 mi |
| Columbia Finger | NE 50° | 3,158 m | 7.9 mi |
| Tenaya Peak | NE 41° | 3,129 m | 7.5 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:02 | 18:36 | 19:10 |
| June solstice | 05:37 | 19:45 | 20:24 |
| September equinox | 06:47 | 18:22 | 18:57 |
| December solstice | 07:11 | 16:02 | 16:43 |
Local time (America/Los_Angeles).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 38 | 41 | 45 | 50 | 58 | 66 | 73 | 73 | 67 | 56 | 44 | 37 |
| Precip in | 7.0 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 4.0 | 5.6 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Yosemite Park HQ, 3 mi away.
Inside the official boundary of Yosemite National Park. Quietest months by visitation: Jan and Feb; busiest: Aug.
NPS visitation statistics, monthly averages 2021–2025 (2020 excluded).
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidata- USGS Geographic Names Information System feature 253497 — Half Dome, Mariposa County, California.
OpenStreetMap element node/4338669222
Day trips start here
- Yosemite National Park · 1 mi
- Sierra Nevada · 2 mi
Take the scenic way to Half Dome.
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