The trail courses 186 miles (299 km) from Meeks Bay at Lake Tahoe to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park.

[1] The United States Forest Service had begun work on the Tahoe–Yosemite Trail by 1916 with the intent of providing a path from Meeks Bay at Lake Tahoe to the northern boundary of Yosemite National Park.

Early maps and descriptions of the PCT delineate these trail segments, which included the TYT and adjacent JMT.

[1][13] A permit is required to hike the TYT and can be obtained from the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit[14] for hikers beginning at the Meeks Bay Trailhead and from Yosemite National Park[15] for hikers beginning at Tuolumne Meadows.

Food must be stored in approved hard-sided bear canisters within the backcountry of Yosemite National Park.