Tenaya Lake lies right beside the Tioga Road at about 2,500 metres, a long, bright, glacier-carved basin ringed by polished granite domes, and it is one of the few places in Yosemite where you can park, walk thirty steps and be sitting on a beach with a mountain view. The water is startlingly clear and cold, and on a still morning the domes and pines are reflected in it so perfectly that it is hard to tell which way up the picture goes. A fine sandy beach sits at the eastern end and a smaller one at the west, and in summer people swim, if briefly.
The lake was named for Chief Tenaya, the leader of the Ahwahneechee people who lived in Yosemite Valley, whom the Mariposa Battalion pursued here in 1851. The story of the first non-native visit to Yosemite is a dark one, and the Ahwahneechee were driven out. Whatever the details, this was Ahwahneechee ground, and it is worth remembering when you arrive.
The ride is among the best in the Sierra. The Tioga Road runs along the north shore in gentle curves, past big domes and boulders, with the water flashing through the trees. The road is smooth and the views are great, and though the speed limit is low, the ride feels like a sort of floating. Weather can change fast, and afternoon thunderstorms are possible, so early starts are better. At this height the nights are cold even in August, and ice can form on the lake margins in September. In winter the road is closed, and the lake freezes and disappears under snow.
Parking at the lake can be crowded in summer, and the shoulder fills with cars. Tuolumne Meadows, about ten kilometres east, has a seasonal store, a grill and a fuel station, and Crane Flat to the west has another. Bring water, a hat and sunscreen, because the sun at 2,500 metres burns fast, and stay away from the slippery granite near the water.