Old Glacier Point Road

Old Glacier Point Road is the surviving stretch of Yosemite's original route to Glacier Point — a toll road built in 1882 with financial backing from the Washburn family, the concessioners who ran the park's early hotels and stage lines. When the modern, realigned Glacier Point Road opened in 1936, this section near Badger Pass was left in place. It's closed to cars today, but open to hikers, and once snow arrives, to cross-country skiers and snowshoers.

A Road With History

The Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company built the original road in 1882, turning an old saddle trail into a roughly 14-mile wagon route to the point's famous overlook. It ran as a toll road until 1917, when the federal government bought it out along with the old Wawona Road and abolished the tolls. The road stayed in service until the current, realigned Glacier Point Road opened in 1936, largely following the same grade. Pieces of the old alignment still turn up today as pullouts and short trail segments, including near the Mono Meadow trailhead.

Hiking and Skiing It Today

From the Badger Pass parking area, the old roadbed is a maintained summer trail: the Old Glacier Point Road and Badger Pass Loop covers about 3.4 miles round trip with roughly 616 feet of elevation gain, a moderate outing most hikers finish in 1.5 to 2 hours. Once winter closes Glacier Point Road beyond Badger Pass, the Park Service grooms this same grade as the starting point for its cross-country ski and snowshoe network — the standard approach toward Dewey Point and, for strong intermediate skiers, the full route onward to Glacier Point itself.

• Built: 1882 as a toll road; replaced by today's realigned Glacier Point Road in 1936
• Trailhead: Badger Pass parking area, Glacier Point Road
• Summer hike: Old Glacier Point Road and Badger Pass Loop — 3.4 miles round trip, ~616 ft gain, moderate
• Winter use: Groomed cross-country ski and snowshoe route toward Dewey Point and Glacier Point