Best Trails in Yosemite National Park

Beautiful views of the valley. We used this loop in August as a leg-stretch the day after we did Half Dome. Flat and very easy, and you can do whatever parts of the loop you want to do and make it however short or long you want, really.

Must do at least once. I've done it 2.9 times (don't chicken if you are like me, because you'll be back again to finish what you started) and it is indescribable. This last time, in August 2018, I spent the rest of our time in the Valley pointing to the top and telling my husband, "Hey, we were up there on Tuesday morning!!".

First two times, we started at 4 AM and made it up to the cables after 10 AM. There was a lot of traffic, and for this acrophobe, it just made things worse. However, once you summit the sub dome, the cables look IMPOSSIBLE. Get right up to them and you'll see it isn't as straight up as you think. I think having carabiners to clip yourself in just to ease your mind a bit is a great idea, though I've done it without each time. A couple tricky spots, but if you keep things one plank at a time, you'll get there.

In August, my husband and I started at 12 AM. Once we got to the mist trail, I realized we left our gloves in the car (get decent work gloves from Home Depot or somewhere similar as they will work WONDERFULLY for the cables; you need the grip). Had to trek back so we finally started before 1 AM. Hiking in the dark was rough. Took the mist trail up as usual. We reached the pre-dome at sunrise and made it to the top at about 7:30. Absolutely gorgeous. Cables will likely exhaust you, so get ready for a long trip down. We got back to the parking lot (took the mist trail down, though I would recommend the Muir trail down if your knees are in agony; I just wanted my husband to see the falls) at about 1 PM, so it took 12 hours in all, which was the same as the previous trips. Slept for a looooong time after that.

East short walk in the snow.

Pleasant easy walk in the winter, when there are few visitors. beautiful forest.

Pretty trail in winter.

Amazing view, totally worth the trip!

We made the hike Christmas Day, just before a family dinner. Very nice family hike. It is a little steep but not too bad. The youngsters of our group had no problems, but some of the seventy year olds needed a very short break about three quarters of the way up. There was a lot of water, so the falls look great, and very much worth the hike. Once you get to he falls, you are very close to them. That is great for looking at them but not for picture taking. My 70mm lense could not focus on the falls because we were too close. Would do the hike again in a heart beat.

We did this hike January 11th and were astonished with how warm it was! We brought MANY layers ready for chilly weather but we ended up stripping down to a single layer of pants and t-shirt! If you start from 7-9AM you are going to be in direct sunlight for the entire trip up with little intervals of shade. With that said, we were so happy to feel the suns warmth (hot!!) because we were coming from freezing Boston weather. This hike had scenic views the entire way up and down which made it really special. The half dome is perfectly visible throughout the first 2 miles of the hike or so. Then the views switch to the falls! Gorgeous. Perfect introduction to Yosemite. Took us about 6 hours because we had breaks of taking off layers.

—WARNING—

The last 1.5 miles of the switchbacks are covered in snow and ice. We brought spikes for our shoes and we cruised along but we saw MANY fall hard. To enjoy the entirety of the hike, definitely buy shoe spikes!

It got harder towards the end and the last portion was completely covered in snow. Overall great hike with multiple waterfall views. We just did this today and loved it. You also get multiple AMAZING views of Wowona Dome throughout the whole hike. We only saw one couple on the hike the entire time. Would definitely recommend!

Did this today 1/12/2018. Beautiful trail, started at sunrise at 7:15am, made it to the snow creek footbridge (~5mi in) at around 10:45am. I wanted to go beyond it but the snow was pretty deep and I didn’t bring snow shoes... so I turned around.

The 5 miles or so to the bridge was on/off exposed so most of it was dirt with some small patches of ice. I wore boots but didn’t have poles, crampons or snowshoes.

Best views were of looking back at Tenaya Canyon as you ascend. Also great views of Mount Watkins. Mirror lake was good in the beginning as well and partially frozen.

Amazing hike! A must do!

Short hike from Yosemite falls. Was lots of ice when I did it at the end of December. I used spikes but saw plenty of people without them.

Gorgeous hike, it wasn’t difficult at all. Lots to see, the beauty is breathtaking!!

Short and sweet! Easy walk to the bottom of the falls.

This was my favorite hike of all time. The difficult hike up is totally worth it because of the amazing views. Did this hike in the middle of December, and there was only a little bit of ice towards the top.

We went up to Nevada falls via the Mist Trail and then looped back down the John Muir switchbacks. If you like to hike you must do this - it’s beautiful and rewarding. I love this hike. We went when the falls were just thundering and we were soaked so be prepared for that possibility depending on how Vernal falls is running. If you’re in Yosemite and have not done this hike just do it you will not regret it! Spectacular views.

Amazing, challenging hike with breathtaking views of the valley from Cloud's Rest. The climb at the beginning is a bit of a gut buster and I had a little trouble following the trail when I got to one of the boulder fields on the way up, but not on the way down. The reason to do this hike, though, is for the final half mile or so up the narrow spine of rock to Cloud's Rest, with a 2,000+ foot drop on either side of a trail just a few feet wide. Once at the peak, it is pretty incredible to look down upon Half Dome and Yosemite Valley.

A solid warm up hike through some pretty meadows and with a really nice payoff with awesome views of El Cap at Dewey Point. Very worthwhile trip, especially as a way to avoid some of the crowds at Glacier Point.

Really fast if you know what you are doing.

Was quick and easy... nice view!

Hard Core with excellent views hiking up and at the summit! Coming down...tough on the knees.

Loved this hike! We split this up into two days so we could camp in little Yosemite valley.

JM trail was closed so we couldn't do the loop in mid october. Ended up doing out and back on the mist, still a great hike. Definitely one of the more popular trails in the valley, so be prepared for lots of traffic on trail.

Did this in 2016. Was beautiful and well worth it.

We did this hike in mid-December. While cold on the valley floor, we quickly warmed up with both the elevation gain and increased exposure to the sun. Really busy at the base of the hike but thins out as different path options are made available. Beautiful views of the valley and two legendary waterfalls. Great places to stop for lunch or enjoy a beer. Easy to follow, although we weren't able to do the full loop due to trail closures from rockfall risk.

Skiing Warning: Despite this site and YNP trailmaps, this is not a x-country ski route! The meadow portion is great, but after that is marked as black diamond = most difficult. Very icy, narrow, steep, winding. Never had to hike so much in my ski boots.

Challenging hike but the views are worth it. I'd definitely like to check it out in the Spring. Trail got pretty busy on the way down so start early.

Did with my 60 year old parents at the end of November. Some snow on upper part (past lookout point). Amazing views. Using poles and frequent breaks it took us all day.

Great in winter to get to Glacier Point. Also amazing views throughout multiple valleys.

Such an awesome hike! Definitely recommend! Make sure that you bring gloves that can grip the cables if you plan on going to the summit!

Hiked to eagle peak today. Amazing view but lots of snow and ice on the trail it’s been packed down so it’s not hard to follow the trail. I would definitely recommend spikes as it was pretty slippery at some parts. Tried to make it to El Cap but unfortunately didn’t have enough time during the day and had to turn back about a mile before I got there.