Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt Dana question

Is there a trailhead for Mt Dana at Tioga Pass outside YNP? I hiked it once before from the ranger hut inside the park when I was staying in the Valley but this time I will be coming up from Mammoth just for this hike and would prefer not to pay the $20 entrance fee. Can you park outside the park and walk in to the trailhead? I'll be starting out very early possibly in the dark so any advance info on parking and trailhead would be much appreciated. Thanks!

You can park your car just before you enter YNP. There is a large turnout where you can park. The trail is fairly easily recognizable when you cross highway 120 near the YNP entrance. It looks like the weather should be great. Have fun.

Just so people don't get the wrong impression...

There is NO trail up Mt. Dana. It is just a "use trail", created by many people following the same path from the road across the flat area to the base of the mountain. The use trail continues for a while, but disappears once above the trees and growing plants.

It starts off as a trail but disappears above the trees. The first time I did this was in the midddle of the night by myself and I had no problem finding the right way up. It helps that you can see the top so it is obvious which direction to head.

As this has become my annual birthday hike, it is one of the few peaks that I can confidently remark on.

The use trail is quite obvious up to the Dana Plateau, after that, the "route" to the peak is unmistakeably obvious, except that the more you walk, the further away the peak seems.

While the views from the ridgeline to the left (NNW I believe)of the peak offer great views, it is not the best route to go, as the scree boulders are much larger than the ones below the peak, itself.

Thanks for the parking information, ocn2mtz. Bee, do you suggest heading straight up the middle of the talus pile to the summit? I stayed to the left last time and have also 'heard' this is the best way to go - but i'm interested in alternative opinions...

Leslie, I have been both ways, and the answer is somewhat of a compromise. In the snow, the direct way is up the face (there may even bee little stairsteps cut out by a previous axeman) In the summer, you CAN go up the "spine" from left to right (NW to S) along the ridge, and you will will be rewarded with a most fantastic view when you reach the crest (I will refrain from posting the view, so to not spoil it) However, to keep in mind is that the scree is in larger chunks -- gotta work for that view -- with more ankle-biting space between them! Because I have been this way and seen the view, I leave the ankle biters to someone else. The alternate route is to follow the barely visible use trail aproach from the plateau into the scree, but begin a gradual veer towards the right below the crest. Once you have entered the area below the actual peak (it will all be so very obvious when you see all of this in person)create for yourself some gentle switchbacks, so that you do not find yourself slip-sliding amongst the small, loose scree (which is nothing like some of the sand traps that you find on the east side; it is a piece of cake in comparison)

I hope to be heading up there in the next couple of weeks, so I will just have to take some proper photos to match my pathetically murky descriptions.

The mountain is a very straight forward walk-up (even in the snow) so most folks do not worry too much about route-finding.I have never used a GPS nor was there a trail map to follow, and I had not problems finding my way (I have minimal hiking experience)