Yosemite Wilderness Permit — Lukens Lake

Lukens Lake: what makes it different

Lukens Lake is the Tioga Road trailhead where the permit rule is the story: you may not camp at the lake you walk past. The division sends you on to the Middle Fork of the Tuolumne River and makes you camp at least two and a half miles from the car. The quota is small, 6 lottery places and 4 week-ahead places a day.^7,1,3

Getting to the start

Recreation.gov puts the Lukens Lake parking lot on Tioga Road, west of Yosemite Creek. Yosemitehikes.com gives the same turnout a sign reading Lukens Lake, 30 miles from the Tioga Pass entrance and 17 miles from the west end of the road at Highway 120, with room for about a dozen cars and food lockers across the road.^7,8

NPS lists no toilet at this trailhead and issues the permit at Big Oak Flat Information Station. The nearest bathrooms named in the guide are at White Wolf Campground, which that guide places 1.9 miles west and 1.1 miles north of the turnout.^1,8

The first leg

NPS counts 0.8 mile from the trailhead to the lake. Yosemitehikes.com calls the short route 1.6 miles round trip with about 200 feet of gain, and rates it 3 out of 10. A 2013 blogger who walked it in late May still found patches of snow at 8,200 feet and a trail that runs through shady forest and across small streams before the meadow.^2,8,9

Past the lake the trail heads for the Middle Fork of the Tuolumne River. The NPS distance sheet lists White Wolf Campground at 3.9 miles from this trailhead, Harden Lake at 7.5, Ten Lakes at 9.8, Pate Valley at 12.2 and Mather Ranger Station at 19.3. Yosemitehikes.com says that from White Wolf the walk to the lake is 4.6 miles round trip, while NPS counts 3.1 miles one way from the White Wolf Campground trailhead, so take the NPS figure for planning.^2,8

Terrain and difficulty

The lake is small and ringed by forest, with a meadow at the east end. A 2022 hiker walked through country burned by the lightning-caused Lukens Fire of 2021, which she says covered 867 acres, and found shooting stars thriving between the blackened trunks. The lake itself sits at about 8,240 feet by her count.¹⁰

Wet ground is the common complaint. Yosemitehikes.com warns that the meadow trail can be squishy early in the season and that mosquitoes live in every wet spot in summer. The 2013 blogger found the old path across the meadow closed, because walking it was damaging drainage, and the trail rerouted through the forest, which was hard to follow under snow.^8,9

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Lukens Lake, overnight wilderness, lottery share: 6 people a day. NPS trailhead page, updated May 11, 2026, row Luken to Lukens Lake under Big Oak Flat Information Station. Recreation.gov names the same division Luken->Lukens Lake. Window June 18 to October 14, 2026.^1,7
• 2026 daily quota at Lukens Lake, overnight wilderness, week-ahead share: 4 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

Recreation.gov says camping is not permitted at Lukens Lake and that you must camp at least two and one-half miles from the trailhead, traveling up the Middle Tuolumne River for at least 0.3 mile. The NPS regulations page also lists Lukens Lake among the places where camping is prohibited.^7,3

Half Dome is not available with this trailhead, according to Recreation.gov. The same division text warns that Tioga Road is closed in winter, usually opens in late May, and that a reservation made while it is shut is not valid and not refunded.⁷

Where it leads

The trail leads to the Middle Fork of the Tuolumne River and on to White Wolf, Harden Lake, Ten Lakes and Pate Valley, the distances NPS prints. A 2022 hiker continued from the lake to White Wolf and found a well-signed trail with a couple of trees across it, small creeks drying up fast, and no other hikers until she met a backpacking group heading for Pate Valley.^2,10

Yosemitehikes.com says the long approach from White Wolf has two forks to watch for. Take the right fork both times to reach the lake; the first left goes to Harden Lake and the second to the Ten Lakes area.⁸

What trip reports say

On May 28, 2013 a hiker on the Hiking Yosemite and Beyond blog took the short Tioga Road trail in cold wind, with snow still on the ground. Her two companions fished from the shore and from a float tube, and one of them landed a rainbow trout. She noted the wind kept the mosquitoes away.⁹

On June 20, 2022 a Sierra News Online columnist hiked from Tioga Road to the lake and on to White Wolf, 7.57 miles in all. She wore long pants against mosquitoes, saw shooting stars all along the water, and stepped over a few fallen trees. She walked the burn and warned readers to watch what stands over the trail.¹⁰

When to go from here

Yosemitehikes.com puts the wildflower show from about mid June to mid July, which is when the Big Oak Flat reservation window also starts (June 18 in 2026). The 2013 trip shows how late snow can linger here: patches were still on the trail on May 28.^8,9,1

NPS pages disagree on when reservations begin. The Wilderness Permits page (December 31, 2025) says late April and the Wilderness Permit Reservations page (June 22, 2026) says May through October. Neither matters for this road, because NPS says Tioga Road lottery dates start the third Thursday in June.^5,6,4

Compare with nearby entry points

• Lukens Lake to Yosemite Creek: Lukens Lake to Yosemite Creek leaves from the same lot but heads south down the Yosemite Creek watershed. It has the same 6 lottery and 4 week-ahead quota. Recreation.gov says you must travel at least two miles south before camping and stay half a mile back from the Valley rim.^1,7
• White Wolf Campground: White Wolf Campground starts at the campground instead, 3.1 miles from the lake by NPS count, with the same 6 and 4 quota and a flush toilet when the campground is open.^1,2
• Ten Lakes: Ten Lakes is the bigger Tioga Road trip, with 24 lottery and 16 week-ahead places a day and a vault toilet, against 6 and 4 with no toilet here.¹

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 Regulations, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Wilderness Permit Frequently Asked Questions, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Wilderness Permits, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Wilderness Permit Reservations, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Yosemite National Park Wilderness Permits (Luken->Lukens Lake and Lukens Lake->Yosemite Creek divisions), Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Yosemite Hikes: The Lukens Lake Trail, Yosemitehikes.com (guide site). Read 2026-10-15.
9. Lukens Lake, Hiking Yosemite and Beyond (blog, hike of May 28, 2013). Read 2026-10-15.
10. Hiking From Tioga Road to Lukens Lake and White Wolf, Sierra News Online (hike of June 20, 2022). Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Lukens Lake permit