Yosemite Wilderness Permit — Bridalveil Creek

Bridalveil Creek: what makes it different

Bridalveil Creek is the backpackers' door at the Bridalveil Creek Campground on Glacier Point Road. The trail runs south through the Empire Fire burn toward Deer Camp, Ostrander Lake and Wawona. The summer quota is 15 lottery places and 10 week-ahead places a day, and NPS lists a flush toilet whenever the campground is open.^1,5,2

Getting to the start

Recreation.gov says the trail begins alongside Bridalveil Creek on Glacier Point Road. Its rule for permit holders is blunt: no camping in Bridalveil Creek Campground. If the campground is shut, you park at the McGurk trailhead, walk the trail south of the road, turn east into the campground and follow the campground road to this trailhead.⁵

That walk is real. In July 2020 a Sierra News Online hiker found the campground closed and walked a little under a mile up the campground road from the McGurk lot before she reached the trailhead signs, a bear box and a Horse Camp Vehicles Only sign. When the campground is open she says you can drive to a small lot there.⁶

Glacier Point Road is closed in winter and usually opens in mid May. Recreation.gov warns that a reservation made while it is closed is not valid and not refunded. The Wawona Visitor Center issues the permit, and its 2026 reservation window runs May 16 to October 14.^5,1

The first leg

The NPS distance sheet lists four destinations from the campground trailhead: Ostrander Lake at 6.1 miles, Deer Camp at 6.3, Chilnualna Falls at 8.6 and Wawona at 13.2. There is no named lake at the end of a short walk here, so most parties arrive with a loop or a through route in mind.²

The 2020 hiker followed the creek for a while, crossed small creeks and wet spots on placed logs, and reached her first junction before turning right toward Deer Camp. She turned right toward Deer Camp at two more junctions and then entered the burn.⁶

Terrain and difficulty

This is a burn trail. A lightning strike started the Empire Fire on August 1, 2017, and Sierra News Online says it burned 8,094 acres and was contained on November 27. The 2020 visit found skeleton trees over lush undergrowth, with fireweed, larkspur and cow parsnip taller than the hiker.⁶

The same writer called the climb up the Alder Creek drainage her least favorite stretch: sunny, dusty and a bit steep on a west-facing slope. Both 2020 and 2021 visits crossed Alder Creek on a log, the 2020 visit noting the crossing had been washed out for a while, and the 2021 visit found downed trees across the trail that she went over or around.^6,7

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Bridalveil Creek, overnight wilderness, lottery share: 15 people a day. NPS trailhead page, updated May 11, 2026, summer row for Bridalveil Creek under Wawona and Glacier Point Road. Window May 16 to October 14, 2026.¹
• 2026 daily quota at Bridalveil Creek, overnight wilderness, week-ahead share: 10 people a day. The share released seven days ahead on a first come, first served basis. NPS prints it as a separate column.¹

Rules specific to this entry point

The NPS page also prints a second Bridalveil Creek row for winter. It reserves 0 places, sets aside 25 first come, first served places, lists a flush toilet when the ski area is open, and is marked winter travel only. Those 25 winter places are a different quota from the summer 15 and 10.¹

Recreation.gov says Half Dome is not available with this trailhead; a Half Dome day hike needs its own permit. In the NPS Wawona and Glacier Point Road table only Mono Meadow carries a Half Dome eligible note.^5,1

Where it leads

The trail heads south for Ostrander Lake and Wawona, and the junctions along the way point to Deer Camp, where the NPS distance sheet describes an old California Conservation Corps camp on a former fire road. The 2021 loop used those junctions to circle Empire Meadows and come back through Westfall Meadows.^5,2,7

What trip reports say

On July 23, 2020 a Sierra News Online columnist walked 13.28 miles from the McGurk lot, looped through the burn, Empire Meadows and Westfall Meadows, and came out on Glacier Point Road. She saw fresh bear sign on the road and trail and a sooty grouse with chicks, and she kept her feet dry on placed logs.⁶

On July 28, 2021 she did the same loop again and saw no one at all, which surprised her given the wildflowers and the road nearby. The 2021 account also describes fireweed through the burn and coneflowers taller than the hiker.⁷

An August 22, 2019 visit took the link trail between the Ostrander trailhead and the campground trailhead. The crossing of Bridalveil Creek was easy on rocks, bugs started at 10 am, and the only people on that side of the road were two rangers.⁸

When to go from here

The reports run from late July to late August, when flowers peak in the burn and the creek is low enough to cross on rocks. The 2019 hiker says the crossing might need water shoes earlier in the year, when more water is running.^6,7,8

Two NPS pages give different starts for the reservation season: the Wilderness Permits page (December 31, 2025) says late April, the Reservations page (June 22, 2026) says May. This road's own date is May 16, the first day of the Wawona window on the trailhead page.^3,4,1

Compare with nearby entry points

• Ostrander (Lost Bear Meadow): Ostrander has the same 15 and 10 quota and a vault toilet, and goes straight to the lake. NPS counts 6.2 miles to Ostrander Lake from there and 6.1 from the campground trailhead.^1,2
• McGurk Meadow: McGurk Meadow is across the road with a quota of 9 and 6, no toilet, and a first night that must be at least one air mile from Glacier Point Road.^1,5
• Chilnualna Falls: Chilnualna Falls is the Wawona side route that Bridalveil Creek can end at. It has a bigger quota of 24 and 16 and a vault toilet. NPS counts 14.0 miles from there to Bridalveil Creek Campground.^1,2

Sources

1. Trailhead Information, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
2. Trail Descriptions and Distances (One Way), Yosemite National Park, National Park Service (PDF, file modified October 2022). Read 2026-10-15.
3. Wilderness Permits, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Wilderness Permit Reservations, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Yosemite National Park Wilderness Permits (Bridalveil Creek and McGurk Meadow divisions), Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Hiking From Bridalveil Campground With Wildflowers and Bugs, Sierra News Online (hike of July 23, 2020). Read 2026-10-15.
7. Hiking From Bridalveil Campround Looped Along Empire Meadows, Sierra News Online (hike of July 28, 2021). Read 2026-10-15.
8. Hiking Bridalveil Creek and McGurk Meadow Trails in Search of August Wildflowers, Sierra News Online (hike of August 22, 2019). Read 2026-10-15.
9. Wilderness Regulations, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Bridalveil Creek permit