Yosemite Wilderness Permit — Lyell Canyon (Donohue Pass eligible)

Lyell Canyon (Donohue Pass eligible): what makes it different

Lyell Canyon (Donohue Pass eligible) is the big door for John Muir Trail hikers leaving Yosemite from Tuolumne Meadows. It is the permit that carries 30 of the park's 45 daily Donohue Pass exits, and it holds 18 people through the lottery plus 12 a week ahead. The walk to the pass is flat for miles and then climbs hard.^2,1,9

Getting to the start

Recreation.gov says the trail gives access to the extremely popular John Muir Trail and places south. Parking is at the Tuolumne Wilderness Center or the Dog Lake lot, and the trailhead starts near the Tuolumne Lodge lot. The Park Service table lists a flush toilet there and names the Tuolumne Wilderness Center as the issuing station.^8,1

Tioga Road is closed in winter and typically opens in late May. Recreation.gov says that if the road is shut when you arrive, the permit is not valid and there is no refund.⁸

Permit pickup can take time. Calipidder, July 2009, held a reservation and still waited about an hour at Tuolumne while a group of 14 without reservations tied up the rangers. A 1992 climbing report waited 1 hour 20 minutes for a pre-reserved permit.^9,10

The first leg

The Park Service lists the Lyell Canyon day trip at 11.4 miles round trip with only 300 feet of gain, and notes that the John Muir and Pacific Crest trails share its open meadows, with views of Kuna Crest and Mount Lyell. It is rated very high demand.⁵

Sierra Rec says the first mile alone crosses both the Dana Fork and the Lyell Fork, and that the Ireland Creek area is about 6 miles in. From there it counts roughly 6 more miles to the base of Donohue Pass.¹¹

A 1992 report found the first 7 miles nearly flat and reached a footbridge camp near 10,000 feet around 2 p.m. Calipidder calls the canyon about 8 flat miles with lunch near mile 5.^10,9

Terrain and difficulty

Calipidder breaks the climb from the canyon floor to Donohue Pass into three steps of roughly 800 feet, about 2,500 feet in all, and says it feels harder after the flat miles. A 2012 southbound hiker puts the pass at 11,056 feet and writes that it is the boundary out of Yosemite.^9,12

Sierra Rec says water runs strongest early in the season from snowmelt and that the Lyell Fork is fed by the Lyell Glacier.¹¹

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Lyell Canyon (Donohue Pass eligible), overnight wilderness, lottery share: 18 people a day. This is the lottery share, drawn 24 weeks ahead, from the Park Service trailhead table.¹
• 2026 daily quota at Lyell Canyon (Donohue Pass eligible), overnight wilderness, week-ahead share: 12 people a day. This share opens a week before the trip. The Park Service prints 30 as this trailhead's share of the 45 daily Donohue Pass exits. Recreation.gov availability for this permit would not load.^1,2

Rules specific to this entry point

Only permits issued by Yosemite are valid for leaving the park over Donohue Pass on the John Muir Trail, and the exit cap is 45 people a day, in place since 2015. Thirty belong to this trailhead and 15 to Happy Isles past Little Yosemite Valley.^3,2

Day hikers from Tuolumne Meadows may walk the canyon but cannot cross the pass, according to Sierra Rec, which names Parker Pass to the north as an alternative.¹¹

Fires are banned above 9,600 feet and the park requires a canister. The general rule is camping 4 trail miles from Tuolumne Meadows. Sierra Rec says the Ireland Creek area is the first place backpackers may camp, which would be about 6 miles in, so confirm the nearest legal camp at pickup.^4,11

Where it leads

Ireland Creek and Ireland Lake lie off a branch near mile 6, and the Rafferty Creek trail leaves the canyon early. Sierra Rec favors a loop that goes up Rafferty Creek and returns through Lyell Canyon.¹¹

Past the pass, the 2012 southbound hiker covered 13.4 miles from the Vogelsang junction to Thousand Island Lake in a day. A 1992 party used the canyon as the approach to Mount Lyell and its glacier.^12,10

What trip reports say

Calipidder, July 30, 2009: the group camped in a meadow below the Cathedral Range near a lake under Donohue Pass, with a waterfall close by. The writer notes that many hikers stop at the footbridge, but the higher meadows are prettier. Small brook trout took a fly in the Lyell Fork.⁹

Jim Ramaker's party, July 4, 1992, saw a doe with two fawns, camped at the footbridge, hung food from bear trees heavily scarred by claws and took hail and thunder around 5 p.m. Three members walked toward Donahue Pass as the storm built.¹⁰

Oregon Hikers, September 2012: day two ended at the Vogelsang junction in a typical Lyell Canyon campsite after a 15.4 mile day, and the next morning climbed the pass in a record low snow year with no bugs.¹²

When to go from here

The 2026 window for Tioga Road and Tuolumne trailheads is June 18 to October 14. The Park Service wilderness permits page, updated December 31, 2025, says late April through October, and its reservations page, updated June 22, 2026, says May through October. The trailhead table's dates are specific to this road.^1,6,7

Afternoon storms show up in the reports. The 1992 party was already in camp at the footbridge by about 2 p.m. when hail and thunder arrived around 5 p.m., and the leader reported clear weather for the rest of that trip.^10,9

Compare with nearby entry points

• Lyell Canyon (no Donohue Pass): Lyell Canyon (no Donohue Pass) holds 6 plus 4, cannot exit over the pass and is for people camping in the canyon or at Ireland Lake. This trailhead holds 18 plus 12 and can exit.¹
• Happy Isles to Past LYV (Donohue Pass eligible): Happy Isles to Past LYV (Donohue Pass eligible) holds 9 plus 6, takes 15 of the 45 exits, starts at the Valley end of the John Muir Trail and bars Little Yosemite Valley for the first night.^1,3

Sources

1. Trailhead Information, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
2. Wilderness Permits Frequently Asked Questions, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
3. John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Wilderness Regulations, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Tuolumne Meadows Backpacking Trails, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Wilderness Permits, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Wilderness Permit Reservations, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Yosemite National Park Wilderness Permits, Lyell Canyon (Donohue Pass Eligible) division, Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
9. Tuolumne to Agnew Meadows, Day 1: Lyell Canyon, Calipidder. Read 2026-10-15.
10. Strolling up Lyell, Climber.org. Read 2026-10-15.
11. Hiking Lyell Canyon and the JMT From Tuolumne Meadows, Sierra Rec Magazine. Read 2026-10-15.
12. The John Muir Trail, 9/11 to 9/25/12, Oregon Hikers. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Lyell Canyon (Donohue Pass eligible) permit