In Yosemite National park, one of most stunning and wide-ranging 360-degree panoramic views. The summit can be reached by a 7.5-mile trail hike from Tioga Pass Road. Clouds Rest is an arête, a thin, almost knife-like, ridge of rock formed when glaciers eroded away solid rock to form Tenaya Canyon and Little Yosemite Valley. The northwest face, mostly solid granite, rises 5,000 feet above Tenaya Creek.