Yosemite Valley, CA Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Yosemite Valley, California, shaded from 3,950 ft on the southwest side to 5,580 ft at the foot of the Clark Range
Elevation
5,580 ft 1,700 m5,170 ft 1,575 m4,970 ft 1,515 m4,560 ft 1,390 m4,150 ft 1,265 m3,950 ft 1,205 m
Contours every 100 ft, bold every 500 ft
USGS 3DEP · U.S. Census Bureau
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How to use this mapviews, tools and data
Elevation
Ground colored by height from green (lowest) to white (highest), with contour lines every 40–500 ft (USGS data).
Satellite
A 2016 satellite photo at 33 ft (10 m) detail; contours off.
3D
Tilt and turn the terrain; hills are raised 1.5×, or set ×1 for true height.
Click or tap anywhere
The exact elevation of that spot in ft and m.
Measure
Pick two points for the climb, descent and grade along a straight line.
Area
Fades everything outside the official CDP boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Yosemite Valley sits at about 3,980 ft (1,215 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
3,980 ft 1,215 m
most residents: 3,970–4,030 ft
Lowest
3,950 ft 1,205 m
on the southwest side
Highest
5,580 ft 1,700 m
at the foot of the Clark Range
Average
4,050 ft 1,235 m
all land inside the CDP boundary

Yosemite Valley spans about 1,630 ft of height, so no single spot tells the whole story. The ruler shows where its people live, and where the other numbers you'll see come from.

FigureElevation
Typical
Where people live: half of residents higher, half lower
3,980 ft1,215 m
Highest point
Inside the CDP boundary, at the foot of the Clark Range
5,580 ft1,700 m
Lowest point
Inside the CDP boundary, on the southwest side
3,950 ft1,205 m
Average of all land4,050 ft1,235 m
Nearest peak
Mount Hoffmann, 7.5 mi northeast of the CDP boundary
10,820 ft3,295 m

Elevation profile, south to north

0.9 mi south to north through the middle of Yosemite Valley.

Altitude Effects

What 3,980 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
204.6 °F95.9 °C

vs 212 °F at sea level; USDA: food takes longer to cook.

Air pressure
86% of sea level

25.9 inHg (87.6 kPa): each breath holds 14% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
18.1% at sea level

Air is still 21% oxygen, just thinner. Normal at the coast: 20.9%.

Sunburn
+8% more UV

EPA: UV rises about 2% for every 1,000 ft.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Yosemite Valley, California, shaded from 3,950 ft on the southwest side to 5,580 ft at the foot of the Clark Range
CDP boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 200 ft (61 m).
Location
Unincorporated community (census-designated place) in Mariposa County, California, United States
Population
337 2020 Census
Land area
2.1 sq mi + 0.1 sq mi water
Density
164 per sq mi
Coordinates
37.7460° N, 119.5848° W
Time zone
Pacific UTC−8 / −7
Landform region
Cascade-sierra Mountains
Drains to
Merced River → San Joaquin River → Pacific Ocean
ZIP codes 1
95389
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WebP, 1200 × 900. Free to use: credit “ElevationOf.com” with a link to this page.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Nearby towns by typical elevation

  1. Yosemite West5,870 ft
  2. Fish Camp5,090 ft
  3. Foresta4,430 ft
  4. Wawona4,150 ft
  5. Yosemite Valley3,980 ft
  6. Buck Meadows3,010 ft
  7. Nipinnawasee3,000 ft
  8. Midpines2,780 ft
  9. Bootjack2,310 ft
  10. El Portal2,220 ft
  11. Ahwahnee2,200 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Mount Lyell13,070 ft
  • Triple Divide Peak11,590 ft
  • Mount Hoffmann10,820 ft
  • Cold Mountain10,280 ft
  • Iron Mountain9,170 ft
How we measure
  • Typical elevation: the population-weighted median: every 2020 Census block inside the CDP boundary, at its USGS 3DEP height, weighted by the people who live there. Half of residents live higher, half lower.
  • Lowest, highest, average: USGS 3DEP bare-earth heights on a 1 arc-second (≈100 ft, 30 m) grid, land only, inside the Census CDP boundary (TIGER, Jan 1 2026).
  • Nearby Places: nearby towns and rankings use each town's typical elevation, so every town is compared like for like. Rankings count every city, town, township and census-designated place, including places inside a town. Peaks and hills: the nearest summits with at least 980 ft (300 m) of prominence within 62 mi (100 km), then federal (GNIS) summits within 16 mi (25 km) when there are fewer than 5; each is the 3DEP top on a ~7 ft (2 m) window, or the NGS published height when a usable survey mark sits within 160 ft (50 m) of it (shown as published).
  • Altitude effects: standard-atmosphere formulas applied to the typical elevation; UV from EPA's rule of thumb (about 2% per 1,000 ft).
  • Rounding: computed heights are rounded to 10 ft (5 m), or to 1 ft (1 m) under 100 ft; 3DEP is good to about a meter, not a foot. Published figures (FAA airport elevation, NGS survey heights) are shown as their publisher gives them.
  • Datum: North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). NGS plans to replace NAVD 88 with a new datum (NAPGD2022); heights will then shift slightly.
  • Yosemite Valley is an unincorporated community; figures cover the census-designated place, a statistical area.
  • Sources: USGS 3DEP, GNIS, Watershed Boundary Dataset and physiographic provinces; U.S. Census Bureau (boundaries, 2020 blocks, Gazetteer areas, ZIP code areas); BTS time zones; NOAA NGS survey heights. All public domain.