  We present V and I photometry of a 9.4 arcmin X 9.4 arcmin field centered on
the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Leo I. The I magnitude of the tip of the Red Giant
Branch is robustly estimated from two different datasets (I^{TRGB}=17.97
+0.05/-0.03). From this estimate, adopting [M/H]=-1.2 from the comparison of
RGB stars with Galactic templates, we obtain a distance modulus (m-M)_0=22.02
+/- 0.13, corresponding to a distance D=254 +16/-19 Kpc.
