Tenaya Lake is a lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...

, located between Yosemite Valley

Yosemite Valley

Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...

 and Tuolumne Meadows

Tuolumne Meadows

Tuolumne Meadows is a gentle, dome-studded sub-alpine meadowy section of the Tuolumne River, in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park. Its approximate location is . Its approximate elevation is 8619 feet .-Natural History:...

.

Tenaya Lake was created by the Tenaya branch of the Tuolumne Glacier as it passed through Tenaya Canyon. The lake is supplied by a network of creeks and springs including Murphy Creek to the northwest and Tenaya Creek. Tenaya Creek is an outflow of Cathedral Lakes

Cathedral Lakes

The Cathedral Lakes are two lakes located In Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County, California. The lakes are situated 1.6 km southwest of Cathedral Peak and 3.2 km east-northeast of Tenaya Lake. The lower lake is located at elevation , while the upper lake is located at elevation...

 and serves as both the principle inlet and outlet of Tenaya Lake. Tenaya Creek also runs through Tenaya Canyon

Tenaya Canyon

Tenaya Canyon is a dramatic and dangerous canyon in Yosemite National Park, California, USA, that runs from the outlet of Tenaya Lake 10 miles down to Yosemite Valley, carrying water in Tenaya Creek through a series of spectacular cascades and pools and thence into a deep canyon below Cloud's Rest,...

 into Yosemite Valley. The surface of Tenaya Lake has an elevation of 8150 feet (2,484 m).

Tenaya Lake is named after Chief Tenaya

Chief Tenaya

Chief Tenaya was a Native American chief of the Yosemite Valley people in California.-Background:Tenaya's father was the chief of the Ahwahneechee , which means "people of the Ahwahnee" . The Ahwahneechee had become a tribe distinct from the other tribes in the area...

, who met the Mariposa Brigade near the shores of the lake. Tenaya protested that the lake already had a name: Pie-we-ack, or "Lake of the Shining Rocks." This original name is now attached to a granite dome

Granite dome

A granite dome is a dome of granite, formed by exfoliation.-Formation:Granite forms plutons of igneous rock several kilometers below the surface as magma slowly cools and crystallizes. The granite is under great overhead pressure....

 to the east of the lake.

According to the U.S. National Park Service, problems associated with visitor use have been persistent for decades. The Park Service has commissioned The Tenaya Lake Area Plan, a formal study and action plan to address solutions to these issues.

In 1992 a campground on the southwest shore of the lake was closed.