Project overview: Restore nearly 3,000 feet of closed and informal trails at the former Cathedral Lakes trailhead — west of the Tuolumne Visitor Center — to improve wayfinding and visitor access, while protecting cultural resources and native plant communities from further degradation.

How your support helps: The original location of the Cathedral Lakes Trailhead required visitors to park along the shoulder of Tioga Road, often intruding on sensitive meadow habitats. For years, this informal parking situation posed hazards to both meadow-dwellers and human visitors. In response, the National Park Service relocated the trailhead in 2022 as part of the Tioga Road Rehabilitation Project. 

The trailhead was moved to the Tuolumne Visitor Center, allowing visitors to park in the existing parking area and access the Cathedral Lakes trail by a newly constructed, short connection trail. While this relocation aligns with the Tioga Road Rehabilitation project goals of visitor safety and habitat health, the change has caused great confusion for visitors trying to locate the trailhead — with many accidentally ending up on the roadside pre- or post- hike. 

The original parking and signs were moved in 2022, but closed trails and informal trails remained. And so, visitors approaching the old trailhead, especially coming back from Cathedral Lakes, encounter unclear paths that cause disorientation and inadvertently damage sensitive areas.  

To combat this confusion and improve the visitor experience, the Cathedral Lakes Trailhead Improvement Project plans to decommission and restore closed and unofficial trails to guide visitors on the right path and protect cultural and natural resources.  

This year: In 2026, National Park Service teams will uplift the visitor experience at the Cathedral Lakes Trailhead by restoring abandoned trails and improving the existing trails in the area. This includes reconstructing nearly 200 feet of the John Muir Trail and restoring approximately 3,000 feet of abandoned and informal trails in the area.

Project partner: Yosemite National Park