Liberty Cap is a granite dome in

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

, California, United States which lies at the extreme northwestern margin of Little Yosemite Valley. It lies adjacent, to the north of Nevada Fall, on the

John Muir Trail The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, Kings Canyon National Park, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, Se ...

. It rises feet from the base of Nevada Fall to a peak elevation of . A smaller, mesa-like dome called Mount Broderick stands immediately adjacent to Liberty Cap.

Origin of the name

California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, th ...

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician from Watervliet, New York. He served as the eighth governor of Calif ...

visited

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...

in 1865, and he and James Hutchings visited Nevada Fall. Stanford didn't like any proposed names, and, looking at half-dollar reputably produced by Hutchings, saw a resemblance between the Liberty Cap and the

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

's cap of liberty and decided the name better,.

Climbing

The easiest routes starts at Happy Isles in

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, United States. The valley is about long a ...

and follow either the

or the Mist Trail to the top of Nevada Falls. Cross the bridge over the

Merced River The Merced River (), in the central part of the U.S. state of California, is a -long tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. It is most well known for its swift and st ...

and climb the short ridge. From the granite slabs on the ridge ascend the Northeast Gully () to the summit. There are a number of technical routes on Liberty Cap ranging in difficulty from class 5.8 to 5.11. Climbing Liberty Cap requires a wilderness permit, obtainable at all Yosemite visitor centers.

References

Granite domes of Yosemite National Park Mountains of Mariposa County, California {{MariposaCountyCA-geo-stub