The Greatness of Tunnel View
- Jonathan Lee
- Sep 12, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 30, 2019
Anticipation builds.
You pass through a dark tunnel for 2 minutes.
Finally you reach the end of the tunnel and hit an epic view.
This is Tunnel View.
The view is jaw-dropping from the first second you make eye contact. To the left, a 3,000 foot tall mountain named El Capitan makes you gasp. To the right, a hanging canyon that spills into a one of a kind pine valley. In the center, the most famous park icon, Half Dome.
One of the best viewpoints in Yosemite, Tunnel View is iconic for its view of El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Falls. The view become available to the public in 1933, when they completed the Wawona Tunnel. However, many accidents occurred due to the poor design, causing the pedestrians safety to be at risk. In 2008, the Yosemite Fund and National Park Service launched a $3 million project that aimed at improving the area. This investment paid immediate dividends, as the view has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 people visiting per day.
Tunnel View is very easy to access compared to Yosemite's other viewpoints. It is about an 15 minute drive from the camp base and accessible parking is available right along the viewpoint. During the busy parts of summer, this parking lot can become full and cause heavy traffic, but I never had a problem finding a parking spot. During the afternoon it can get very busy, so we avoided this by going around dinner time which allowed for a more peaceful time there.
When visiting, keep in mind that people like to take up a lot of space with their selfie sticks and their group photos, so enjoying the view and its peacefulness is very difficult to do with lots of foreigners. Often, people invade your bubble and selfie, so being stubborn and selfish is a must in this area or else people will take advantage of you.
Tunnel view has maintained its view for over 80 years, a reason why it has become a must view for many tourists. This view will change depending on the weather, and a wildfire caused it to become different.
During my first time visiting, a wildfire caused the view to become fainted. We were unable to see Half Dome (The center peak) due to the conditions. Take a second to look back at the first picture and compare the two views. Obviously, the first picture is much more clear, but I personally really like this smoky picture because it gives off a mood that shows a different side of mother nature.
This is the beauty of Tunnel View. Two different views can give off completely different moods which can give off many different stories. In the first picture, a more vibrant and happy mood is present while this second photo shows a more struggling mother nature that is fighting for survival.
Tunnel View is a spectacular view that has held up for many years. Tourists come from many different parts of the world to see this particular view. Tunnel View is my favorite viewpoint in Yosemite and I hope this blog gave a little more insight on why!
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Wow! That tunnel view really is amazing , must look even better in person. I like how you compared the smoky and clear pictures to the difference in the "mood" in terms of the different sides of mother nature. It is kind of saddening that tourists tend to disturb the peacefulness of this view at times where they should just be taking it in and relaxing.