Best Trails in Yosemite National Park

Trail is easy to follow and not all that difficult. If you go in spring the waterfall hits the bridge pretty good. Can be intimidating, bumped into one couple that turned around due to being to afraid to cross. Guess that depends on the rain that year. Most of the trail runs along the lake but is pretty high up so plan your water accordingly.

We were able to complete this the day before the snow storms came rolling in (Nov 25) . Amazing hike and we were glad we had our harness and prussicks!

One of the few lakes I have caught multiple fish at within 30 minutes. Watch where you are going once you get to the granite as I got lost with a buddy of mine and ended up pulling the map out to figure out where we went wrong. Good open views during the hike and it was pretty quite once at the lake. It was pretty easy to find seclusion from the other campers.

One of the best hikes I've accomplished thus far. Great incline and the views are incredible.

Broke first fresh tracks of the season the entire way up today...only soul on the trail...my kind of day! Strapped on the shoes for the switches. Mid-calf deep on the walk in and first ~100m, knee(-) deep starting around 1500m, knee(+) deep from 1700m on up to the bridge. 4h40m to the bridge from Mirror Lake Bus Stop, had a snack in a brief spot of sun on the bridge before turning around and then 2h20m on the way out. Only a few sun-fucted patches, otherwise super stable snow. Had a break in the clouds for a few decent pics around 1500m on both ascent and descent...was rather socked in for the higher parts. Pretty sure I lost a part of the trail on the flat at the top en route to the bridge, if you follow my tracks watch out for a bit of a well after crossing a noticeable deadfall...I had a nice face plant. One of the most strenuous hikes I've ever done, yet still top 10 in my favs for sure...even if I spend the next day+ in cramp city.

We did this hike today (Nov 26) and the conditions were great. There was a snow storm warning for 3pm and onwards so we decided to go early to avoid it. Started around 8am from a parking lot by camp 4. There are camp toilets if you need them too. No other toilets on this hike do good to take advantage before setting off. There were a few wonderful views of half dome along the way. But mostly the way to the top was just a big strenuous hike up switchbacks. It was tiring. We made it to the top in 2 hours, at around 10am. Some great opportunities for panoramic photos. The downward hike was quite brutal on our knees and legs but we got down to the parking lot in another two hours time. Apple Watch recorded the route as being: 7.78 Miles. Elevation gain 3061ft. I had thought this might have been harder based on some reviews here but really it wasn’t too bad. We’re not super hikers or anything, just went up and down pretty quickly without much stopping. We did this hike and some of the other falls hikes in Yosemite and preferred this one. It would have been nice to see the water tho. The falls were dry today.

Great hike! Not steep at all. Muddy at places. Lots of horses and horse droppings. Beautiful meadow views with mountains in the background. Difficult to find the trail at the end but you can just follow the road.

I had been talking about hiking Half Dome for years, so I was pretty excited to finally check this trek off my list! We camped at Housekeeping Camp and left our site around 4:30am. We went up the Mist Trail in the dark. Saw a bunch of glowing eyes that was just a raccoon mama and her babies, I also saw a really creepy looking spider crawling up the steps. In my opinion, I think the hardest part of this hike was not the cables, it’s the Subdome. It’s steep, uneven, and exposed. It gets a little technical, but just keep going. Once you make it over subdome then the real adventure begins!! I’d recommend wearing gloves because the cables can be hard on your hands. We made it to the cables around 10:30 and it was already a little crowded. If it’s crowded then be very patient. I rested at the planks while I waited for the next section to open up. I thought the cables were fun, and I almost didn’t want to get off of them! On the way down the cables, someone coming up was freaking out and refused to move. This held up the line and we were stuck, clinging onto the cables for about 30 minutes until we talked this girl back down. This hike isn’t for everyone I guess. Once off the cables we took the JMT back down because well, knees... Made it Pizza Patio by 7 . (I got engaged on top of half dome and we had cell service, so we spend a couple of hours at the top calling friends and family and soaking it all in).

Great trail - we made it before the roads were going to be closed for the winter (25/11/19). Not hard at all, no need for hiking poles, the odd incline and decline, completed within 2 hours.

Fantastic but wayyyy harder than anticipated. We’ve hiked other intense locations like Observation Point in Zion, but this was definitely tougher due to the elevation increase. Be ready for switchbacks on switchbacks because that’s pretty much the entirety of the hike. The view at the top is amazing, even without the waterfall (which I’m sure is fantastic). My Apple Watch said the hike was done in 6 hours, including breaks, for a total distance of 9 miles. The total elevation gain there and back was 3,173 ft. Max elevation was 6,728 ft and starting elevation was 3,943 ft. Make sure to take plenty of water and a flashlight (if you’re starting the hike later during the fall/winter). We started the hike at around 12 pm and it was pitch black by the time we got to the last set of switchbacks near the trail head. Luckily we had flashlights so we were ok, but it’s impossible to see without them starting at about 5:30 pm in November. We would recommend starting the hike earlier than noon so that you have more time to enjoy the wonderful view once you get to the top. Enjoy, hope this review helps!

Hiked this 11/23/19. Perfect weather high 40s. The trail is kinda boring through the trees but the big payout is at Dewy and Crocker PT. Amazing views. Very few people, just a couple of groups at the points, saw no one on the trail. One note the roadside sign to McGurk Meadows is missing making it a bit tricky to find the trail head. From the turn out look for the sign post with no sign. Well worth the effort.

This is my favorite trail in Yosemite Valley. The reward for the many stone steps and steep incline you’ll experience is such a good pay off. Amazing views and serene waterfall pools. Can be a little crowded up to Vernal Falls but last that it’s peaceful and quiet the higher and closer you get to Nevada. Be sure to time manage because it is easy to get caught in the dark on the way back. Also do not attempt the John Muir Loop (just use mist in-and-out) if there was recently snow or ice or rain. VERY STEEP CLIFF WITH HUGE ICICLES on John Muir by Nevada up top.

Not spectacular by most YNP standards but very enjoyable because there are no people around. Compared to the valley it's a sanctuary where you can hear yourself think. If you are on a dirt bike this leads into an immense, legal system of fire roads and trails that go all the way to Coulterville.

Go in November, fantastic hike. No whining allowed.

Most phenomenal trail in Yosemite in my opinion! We hiked it at peek season in late July and we only passed 4 other hikers along the way, it was extremely remote, empty and just beautiful. The trail begins through meadows with streams of which we recommend taking off your boots and socks or they’ll be soaked as there is no crossing for the streams - this part of the hike with wildflowers and a mountain overhead was like a fairy land. The views at the top were extremely vast with lakes and mountains all around - it was like a grassy moonscape, we felt so free. If you continue after the mono pass sign around a rocky hill there is the most incredible view of the Mono Lake and Eastern Sierra desert 3000 m below. Outstanding

Did the loop but only went to sentential dome not Taft point

Everything is dried up lol

Great, underrated hike. Very few people in November.

It's a beautiful, fairly well marked trail. We some how got of track a few times but it was easy to get back on course. The views of the valley, the river and mountains were amazing, even in mid Oct. stumningly still lush and green. Our 5 and 12 year old had no problems with this hike.

WARNING: DO NOT TAKE OLD BIG OAK FLAT ROAD The first two thirds of the El Capitan Loop is absolutely incredible! HOWEVER, do not finish the loop. Once you get to Old Big Oak Flat road, turn back and DO NOT finish the loop by taking this unmaintained trail. There are fallen trees everywhere, which is a lot of fun to traverse, but there are 3-4 areas along the trail which have been destroyed by a rock slide. It is DANGEROUS to say the least and I will never do this portion of the loop again. Those who went before left some stone markers to help guide others across, but they are difficult to find and there’s no clear route across. There’s a very real chance of hurting yourself severely. Other than the rock slide area, everything about the trail is gorgeous and I highly recommend taking it to El Cap and back, but I will never finish the loop again.

Didn’t realize my service would be gone when I started the trail, thought I was doing the Mariposa grove loop. So I didn’t go all 11 miles. But, there was absolutely no one on the trail but me. Came up on a buck and a doe... and it was absolutely beautiful. I started from Wawona Hotel, it’s mostly uphill for the first couple miles and the ground was pretty soft in some spots (like walking on sand). Now that I know where I’m going I will try and go further next time.

https://youtu.be/_I2bBg47UQI This video is of Gaylor Lakes and Tenya Lake. If you want to spend a day out and recommend doing both these hikes for an easy day of hiking! They are both off Tioga Pass and only seperated by a 15 minute drive. So pretty!

No water

I loved this trail. I began the trail around 12:30 and finished at 4. I hiked this on a Thursday and it was not crowded at all! Both waterfalls were amazing. The lake at the bottom of Vernal was so serene. There are many stone steps going up to Vernal. A hiker passed me and had counted 340+ steps. I would say the hike is strenuous up to Vernal, after that to Nevada the trail was fairly easy.

Very easy paved and pretty flat trail. We did this after doing the trail to Columbia Rock in the morning. Took a bit longer to do this trail since we stopped a couple of times to boulder.

Relatively easy for the downhill portion, but coming back I wanted to die because of how much an incline it was. Beautiful views, but I’d stop about halfway though the switchbacks with the view and just hangout there. Took about 2 hours round trip.

We hiked the trail in July, the path was flooded at some points. Due to the flooding there was...an enormous amount of mosquitos. We encountered three rattle snakes on the trail. The water was warm enough for bathing. Gorgeous part of the world, I would like to go back.