Hike Wawona Meadow

Meadow Trail

For years—20 or so anyway—I resisted walking Wawona Meadow. Wawona Hotel and its lovely setting appealed to me in an Adirondack Mountains resort sort of way: wide green lawns, white-painted Victorian buildings, wicker chairs on the verandas. The hotel and adjacent small golf course seemed a tad too much civilization to possibly have any interesting hiking nearby.

Then along came our baby Sophia and suddenly family-friendly Wawona Meadow and Yosemite’s flattest trail had new appeal for two hikers pushing a jogger stroller.

We’re glad we finally discovered Wawona Meadow, one of Yosemite’s few year-round trails. Wildflowers—lupine, larkspur and more—color the meadow in spring and early summer. In autumn, the meadow’s bordering deciduous trees don their fall colors. Deer frequently can be seen browsing the meadow.

Wawona originally was known as Clark’s Station, named for Yosemite pioneer Galen Clark, discoverer of nearby Mariposa Grove. In 1857, doctors gave him but a couple months to live and sent him to the mountains in hopes of miracle cure. In testament to nature’s healing powers, Clark lived to serve as guardian of Yosemite’s giant sequoias for 50 years and to author his first book, Indians of the Yosemite, at the age of 90.

Clark’s Station served as a stage stop and Yosemite gateway for many years. To learn more about the park’s Wild West-flavored history, check out the Pioneer Yosemite History Center located in Wawona on the east side of Highway 41.

Directions to trailhead: From Yosemite’s South Entrance, follow Highway 41 north 7 miles into the park to the Wawona Hotel, The signed path begins across the highway from the hotel parking lot.

The hike: The trail, an old dirt road, angles across the golf course and soon meanders south amidst the trees bordering Wawona Meadow. It’s a gentle ascent on the pine needle-strewn road in the company of oaks, pines and cedars. Bordering the meadow is an old fence that once served to confine sheep and cattle.

Enjoy an equally gentle descent along the east side of the meadow. Fewer trees here mean you’ll have good views of the meadow’s wildflowers in season, and of the abundant deer all year-around.

The looping pathway returns you to Highway 41 near Wawona Hotel.

Yosemite Hiking Trails >>  
Hetch Hetchy | Mariposa Grove | Wawona Meadow| Glacier Point 4 Mile Trail
Glacier Point to Yosemite Valley | Half Dome Trail | Yosemite Falls | Vernal & Nevada Falls
May Lake | Cathedral Lakes | Clouds Rest | Gaylor Lakes | Lembert Dome | Lukens Lake
Merced Grove | Mirror Lake | Mono Pass | Mount Dana | North Dome | Taft Point
Ten Lakes | Tenaya Lake | Tuolumne Falls | Tuolumne Grove | Tuolumne Meadow