Lembert Dome

This place was one of the best place among whole trail courses in Yosemite. Not really hard course but there are some slippery rock climbing parts in the end to get the top of the dome.

A stand alone dome next to Toulume Meadows which you can hike to the top for views of the surrounding meadows.

Stunning and excellent view. Takes 45 minutes to get up when coming from Dog Lake parking. Just a breath taking view, as you will be the highest point in the middle of the valley.

Our first hike at Yosemite and it was gorgeous. We entered the park from the east, saw the dome and decided we wanted to take in the view from the top. 40th birthday done right.

Hiking to Lembert Dome, Dog Lake, Soda Springs and Parsons Lodge is a full day of fabulous! I hiked up Lembert Dome alone the first time years ago and it was great to share this gorgeous hike of views, springs, and the Tuolumne River the 2nd time around with great friends and my better half. This area also provides a lot more views to wildlife. Bears, marmots, coyotes, foxes, squirrles, chickarees, and lots of deer.

We LOVED this hike. There happened to be a fire on the west side of Yosemite when we were here so the Valley was closed. We were camping on the east side near Lee Vining so decided to look on Google for a walk to do that was close to us. So glad we decided to give this walk a go. The walk through the trees is lovely. We set off around 7:30 in the morning and there were hardly any other people around. The walk starts by the toilets and wraps around the dome. The view when you get onto the rock part of the dome is amazing, and being there so early, there was only one other person up there with us. To top it off, we were lucky enough to encounter a docile bear on the way down. We were walking with a bear bell.

we went there off season and the campground and trails were closed, but we went as far as we could up the flat part of the dome and even the view from there was amazing!!

Are you afraid of heights? Then this place might scare your pants off. I saw some ppl climbing and one guy made it to the top and other guy got stuck for more than an hour. But you can walk up as far as you can

Before 2010, the only time I'd been to Tuolumne Meadows was a day trip from Crane Flat when I was a teenager. And I saw this large rock with a slightly slanted side, and thought "hey, I can go up there." It took about 29 years :-D, but I made it to the top of Lembert Dome in 2010. It's a pretty easy hike, and takes less than an hour to get to the top. There are two ways to go, and both start with a slightly steep uphill. Lembert Dome is at the end of a short spur. It's such an accessible hike that I saw a wide range of ages at the top, from pre-teens to those even older than me (I've been 29 for many years now). And why not? It's rock climbing without a lot of effort. The view is tops all around. And it's probably the only way to get a look of all of Tuolumne Meadows. Note also that the part that can easily be seen from the Meadows is *not* the highest point. If you're reading this, you already know that Yosemite National Park is not just the Valley. You could have a great vacation in this section alone. And if you do, then going to the top of Lembert Dome should be on your itinerary.

What an amazing hike to do, especially with loved ones/family. I did this hike with my wife and kids ( ages 7 and 3) on 8/19/2017. We started our hike at 9 am and reached the top at 10:30. I would rate this hike easy to moderate for small kids which means you may have to pick up little ones on the way up or down every now and again but they will enjoy the hike. We saw that there was a 60% chance of thunderstorms the day of our trip but since lighting strikes Lembert Dome every month during the year, and last month when I was here it rained along with a thunderstorm we didn't let that keep us from enjoying the beautiful day. We sat on the summit and had brunch which consisted of; Veggie corn dogs, Chick'n Sandwich (Gardein), Spirulina snacks and Organic coconut bars. We then hiked towards the "lip" (see photo) of Lembert Dome where you can overseen Tuolumne Meadow. We saw 3 rock climbers making there way to the top (see photo). It was so beautiful up there and my kids loved it. My daughter said as we reached the top "this is the best day of my life". As a dad it was so wonderful to hear that. Hopefully she will love and cherish the outdoors too. The weather changed very quickly while on the summit. It became very windy and we could see and hear two separate thunderstorms in the distance. While we were taking a video it began to rain in an instant and the wind blew so cold that the rain came down as very light snow that melted before it touched the ground. It was a bit scary at first because we had to run to find cover under some pine trees that are located right where you can find a small rock climbing path to get to the lip or hike back to the other part of the dome. Fortunately, it only rained for about 5 minutes, but it came on us so fast our hearts were racing. We were the only people on this side of the dome, but afterwards we had a lot to talk about. If I could post a video of this on Yelp I would and you would hear the thunderstorm broke up our video and began to rain on us. After our hike down we decided to hike to Tuolomne Meadows and then to nearby Soda Springs. My children caught several frogs on the way to the lodge and Soda Springs (Tuolumne River) and on the hike back to our car my wife spotted a snake in the grass and I was able to get a photo with it (see attached photos). This is my 2nd favorite hike off Highway 120 because it is easy, great with the family, the views are AMAZING, and there is a high chance of rain and thunderstorms regularly which add a bit of adrenaline to it. Check out my other Yelp reviews of Yosemite Hikes.

Activity Type: Hiking Nearby City: Modesto Length: 2.8 totalmiles Elevation Gain: Minimal Trail Type: Out-and-back Local Contacts: Yosemite National Park One way to characterize the hike up 9,450-foot Lembert Dome is "a lot of view for relatively little effort," yet the dome looks absolutely impossible to scale when regarding it from the trailhead. For the time-short (but not stamina-short) traveler, able to do only one quick hike in the Tuolumne Meadows area, this is the one to do. You'll have Tuolumne Meadows at your feet, and a parade of peaks from Cathedral Peak all the way to Mt. Dana at Tioga Pass. Geologists say Lembert Dome, located at the east end of Tuolumne Meadows, is not a true dome (such as Sentinel Dome) but a roche moutonée; the French phrase "rock sheep" describes a glacier-carved formation recognized by its sheer front and sloping back. The roche moutonée was named for shepherd-naturalist Jean Baptiste Lembert who worked for a decade in Tuolumne Meadows, beginning in 1885. An unsolved mystery to this day is who shot him dead in his cabin--and why--in 1896. Another pleasant path beginning from the Lembert Dome trailhead is the one leading to Dog Lake. The shallow lake, one of Yosemite's warmest, attracts swimmers and picnickers.

Lembert Dome Hike: This is an awesome, easy hike that is easily done in an afternoon. We stayed at Tuolumne Campgrounds and actually hiked to the trail head which was super convenient but added an extra mile each way to the approximate 3 mi trek to the top of the Dome (made it 5 mi round trip). Getting to the top of the Dome looked quite intimidating when standing at the base but it turned out to be a relaxing trek up. This hike is easily done in regular hiking/running shoes and is mostly covered until you reach the Dome. The last part of the trip up the Dome can be relatively steep and involved a bit of scrambling on all fours to reach the top, which was totally worth it. There are some great views of the surrounding area from the top of Lembert so bring your camera for some great shots.

Another classic, and really easy hike. The summit gives great views, of course. We used to carve up a watermelon on the summit, on July 4 back in the day. For climbers, the face is a nice introduction to the Tuolumne domes. The broken area to the side gives interesting climbing: easy and fun.

For those who are not in shape to do the killer Half Dome hike, here is an easier alternative with still an awesome payoff of having top of the world views and the experience of hiking/climbing on "exposed" rock ("exposed" meaning if you fall you could tumble to your death, no guardrails like Glacier Point) with a 1/5 of the energy expenditure The Young Lakes Trails is 5 to 10 miles round trip depending on where you go. We went to Dog Lake first, then doubled back and took the fork to Lembert Dome. The hike took only 3.5 hours round trip. This is a moderately strenuous hike with a good amount of uphill; not really bad at sea level, but at 8600-9000 feet some can get winded early on. My legs and butt toned by 8hr days in front of a Mac were burning just 5 minutes into the climb, but it went away after a while. Most of hike is shaded by trees, which is a good thing. Dog Lake is a decent size alpine lake. Pretty to look at. Peaceful. Not crowded. Lembert Dome is the star. Rock climbers can scale the face from the parking lot just off the Tioga Road, but hikers can simply walk up the back side or take the challenging steeper trek up the face starting from just east of the parking lot. We went up the back of it. Once you see granite, you get awestruck. There is plenty of rock to hike around without going to the top. The part leading to the summit is pretty steep and you wish you had cables like on Half Dome, but if you are careful and fearless, it is quite doable. I saw 6 year old go up with her dad.

The trailhead starts at 8680 feet and you ascend to 9400 feet after 1.5 miles if you go to Lembert Dome. The thinner air at this elevation does get to you, as I noticed myself puffing harder. It's not an easy hike, but you are rewarded with fantastic views at the top of Lembert Dome. Just be careful going downhill, and make sure your shoes have good traction! (We didn't go to Young Lakes)