Sentinel Dome Is An Easy Hike The hike to Sentinel Dome is easy and the reward is the beautiful 360 degree view of Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Once here you will also see the fissures and the fallen famous Jeffrey Pine tree. Also here is Taft Point Yosemite...it is just another beautiful view of Yosemite as seen from the top.
Drive to Glacier Point. Once there, you will see a trail head that says Taft Point/ Sentinel Dome. Give yourself 1-2 hours to complete this hike. I have never seen crowds of people on this hike. Many less people go here than go to Glacier Point. The views are similar.
Shortly after starting your hike (and this is a great hike for kids!), you will come to a fork in the trail. Go to the right (which is east). You'll cross over a bridge that goes over a stream of water. Very soon afterwards, the dome will come into view. From there, you just start walking up the dome. It is a short but steep walk to the top. It's not hard, I promise!
A 2.2 mile round trip walk will take you to the top of the dome. My advice is to make sure that you are wearing hiking shoes or rubber soled shoes because the granite is slippery. I am always amazed at the people wearing flip flops while hiking! The top of the dome is 8,122 feet. Only Half Dome is higher at 8,836 feet. Once on top, you can see all of Yosemite valley. To the north you will see El Capitan and Yosemite Falls. To the east you will see Half Dome and Cloud Rest. Just past that Nevada Falls, Vernal Falls and Illilouette Falls will come into view. On a clear day you can even see the coastal range of Mt. Diablo. Anytime but the winter is a good time for this hike. When Glacier Point road is closed, there is to much snow to make this easy day hike. If your hiking outside of Yosemite here is a great site that provides access to all the hiking and
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Once you start this hike, there are signs to follow to keep you on course. At the top of Sentinel Dome is the famous Jeffrey Pine tree with the gnarly roots and tree stump. It fell in 2003 because of the hight winds, but the tree is still lying there. 
