Half Dome

Hikers use a famous system of bolted steel cable ladders installed on the steep eastern face of the granite monolith to reach the summit. These cables, typically erected by the National Park Service from late May through mid-October, allow day hikers to ascend the final 400 feet of slick granite safely.

Yes, because the cable route is highly dangerous and has limited capacity, Yosemite National Park strictly requires a special permit to hike to the summit of Half Dome. During the main summer hiking season, the park issues these permits through a highly competitive preseason lottery system due to overwhelming demand.

The legendary American photographer Ansel Adams captured some of the most iconic and breathtaking black-and-white images of Half Dome in Yosemite Valley. His 1927 photograph, "Monolith, the Face of Half Dome," helped cement the park's legacy and establish photography as a fine art.

The unique shape was primarily formed by a geological process called exfoliation jointing, where layers of rock peel away due to the release of pressure on the massive granite intrusion. While early theories suggested a glacier sliced off the other half, geologists now know that glaciers only polished the base, and the sheer face was created by natural splitting.