Best Trails in Yosemite National Park

Day hiked the whole loop Nov 2018 training for unsupported FKT attempt on the Arizona trail April 2019

Woah! Great hike, straight up at some points but worth it. Some ice on the steps toward the top. Amazing views, wonderful waterfall and less than 10 people!

My girlfriend and I did this hike last Tuesday (12/4) and thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by some of the oldest and rarest trees in the world!

The only reason I gave this hike four stars instead of five is because of the road closure to the upper parking lot that added an additional mile to our hike on a paved road. I understand the need to close certain roads when they became dangerous or undriveable, but there were multiple national parks vehicles driving back and forth on the road, and the lot would have been easily accessible for even a front-wheel drive vehicle.

Having said that, this was a magnificent hike and it was quite impressive to be in the presence of these towering giants. My personal favorite was either Grizzly Giant or Fallen Monarch. At 209 feet tall, Grizzly Giant reaches for the sky with its gigantic branches like some magical tree out of Harry Potter. The Fallen Monarch almost looks like an octopus with its massive tentacles reaching out to touch you.

We didn't complete the entire loop (because of time constraints) and instead turned left at the road roughly 0.7 miles in. We then turned left again after encountering The Faithful Couple, making our round-trip on the trail about 2.5 miles (not including the mile on the road).

I would love to return in the summertime to complete the entire loop, but I felt as though we made the most of our time!

We did the four mile trail however had to turn around because the snow became pretty deep. We hiked 3 miles in until you don’t see the trail anymore. Hike is tough especially through the snow be sure to bring the right gear. We still had amazing views of el captain and half dome. Just keep in mind it’s dangerous hike with all that powder so be careful

My girlfriend and I did this hike on Sunday (12/2) after having camped in the Upper Pines Campground the night before.

After watching sunrise at Tunnel View and exploring the Yosemite Valley Village, we made the short drive over to the small parking lot closest to the trail. We began our trek around 11:30 am and arrived back at our car around 4 pm.

From the very beginning of our hike it was incredibly icy. We saw a multitude of "tourists" attempting to climb the steep walkway leading to the Vernal Footbridge in nothing more than sneakers and other forms of unseasonable footwear. However, after this point we saw only three or four other groups of hikers on our way up Nevada Falls, all adequately prepared to take on the elements.

The initial staircase to the top of Vernal Falls wasn't too frozen over, until the very end, and that's when it became very slick. Luckily, my girlfriend and I were wearing our Yaktrax and that allowed us to maneuver our way up the stairs without issue.

Although neither one of the falls were gushing (as they do in the spring and summer) enough to give us the spray that The Mist Trail gets its namesake, it was probably for the best, as the vast majority of the trail was in the shade and I don't think it got above freezing. However, that didn't deter us from thoroughly enjoying this majestic hike with the stark contrast of sunshine reflecting off granite rocks against the fresh coat of snow on the shaded riverbank; which made for some magnificent photography opportunities!

This hike definitely lived up to the hype!

My girlfriend and I did this hike on Monday (12/3), and it totally kicked our butts!

We had originally planned on just going up to Columbia Rock and back. But after making it up in just 45 minutes, and with it being such a nice day, we decided to push forward and see how far we could make it up to the top.

This ended up being an incredible idea, as we encountered only three or four other hikers on our way up, and the views from the overlook were truly unforgettable!
However, in the deep snow (over a foot in places), the zig-zagging back and forth through the switchbacks made me question our decision at times …

But this is a truly incredible hike with breathtaking views of Half Dome and the Upper Falls leading up to the summit.

CAUTION: Make sure you are cognizant of your surroundings (i.e. falling ice), as there were some massive chunks that came cascading down the mountain side and landed within an arm's reach of us.

The climb to the top is absolutely worth it though, just be prepared to feel that 3,100 feet-plus of elevation gain on your way up.

We thoroughly enjoyed this hike for its solitude, challenge and beauty. Would love to come back in the summertime when the falls are gushing!

Awesome views. Great way to take in Yosemite Valley.

Scariest hike ever. I'm talking about the cable portion, it is steep as hell and even steeper than photos when you see it in person. But it is do-able you just have to focus on moving to the next wooden board. The wooden boards I believe are spaced out 10 feet from each other from the bottom of the dome to the top. It took us about an hour just to get to the top because there was traffic lots of people going up and down simultaneously. We had to take turns for those coming down and those going up. To get to the top without traffic should only take maybe 10-15 mins to give perspective on what traffic does. Also the traffic IMO makes it more scary because you have to hold onto the cables even longer.

I'd recommend using gloves with a latex coating to help with the cables as it gives your hands much more grip and you'll avoid blistering your hands like many other people.

I'd recommend doing it if you want to face your fears. Just take it one wooden board at a time until you reach the top and you'll be fine. Lots of people did it and have done it.

Would I do it again? Probably not lol just because it was scary as shit. BUT DO IT ONCE AT LEAST :D

Awesome hike! I completed it yesterday 12/6/18. The last third of the trail gets quite slippery with hard packed snow. I put my microspikes on at the lookout at the top, but should have put them on sooner. The final path down to the lookout is very exposed and covered in loose sheets of snow and ice, though the metal railing made it passable. I was grateful for gloves, as well as sunglasses and sunscreen - the snow glare was bright. I continued another .8 miles past the falls to Yosemite Point - it was a great view but a lot of trouble (deep snow) to get there. If you aren't up for it, you can still take the short walk out that way to the wooden bridge. It's picturesque :)

Cool lake, sick view of mount Dana in the background

This hike is sooo worth it. It offers a great view of the high Sierra for not being that strenuous.

Beautiful trail, completely worth the journey. Just did this trail in December, winter 2018, snow shoes and spikes will be beneficial. Just an epic route

Wonderful hiking trail! A bit challenging with the incline but worth every step. Spectacular view of the waterfall and Yosemite rock structure.

Not difficult. In view of reservoir and beautiful view much of the time.

Super difficult (as you’re approaching mt conness) but worth it for the views. Got soooo off track towards the end, the trail is hard to follow during the last 1000 ft ascent, lots of scrambling.

Son of a gun, this trail was tough. This was due to the rock stairs and almost constant steepness. It got my knees on the way down - I had to stop and stretch those knees out from time to time. I split off to check out Little Yosemite at the top intersection because it was only 1 mile away, but then I got about halfway and saw the trail headed down which meant I'd have to go up again to come back. By then, I reached a "nope" point so I turned around and just went to Nevada. The falls were beautiful and the views from the top of Nevada were breathtaking. I had my snack on a ledge overlooking the fall edge. It was the best. I headed back down on John Muir Trail. I felt like both routes were equally steep.

11/27/18 This hike wrapped the 7th and final hike over our Thanksgiving vacation. It certainly was the highlight of our trip! There were so many different types of terrain on this trail from flat rock, to fallen leaves, stone stairs and my favorite was navigating over all the rock. We started at 8:45 am and ended up doing 13 miles in 5.25 hours with a small sandwich break. We primarily had the trail to ourselves until we started to venture back then ran into about a dozen people. The weather was perfect! Mid 50’s with a slight breeze and very clear. You’ll see breathtaking views of Hetch Hetchery Reservoire all along the trail. I believe there was 4 waterfalls in view as well. I would definitely do this trail again!

A short; worthwhile hike to escape the crowds of tunnel view. Can find a few spots where the trees are not obstructing a full view of The Valley. Arrive early for parking.

Some of the most stunning views I’ve ever seen while hiking. Constant amazement at the unreal beauty of the surrounding waterfalls, cliffs, rivers. A magical experience. Highly recommend hiking past glacier point to sentinel dome. Was lucky enough to be the only person atop sentinel dome in late November (Glacier Point driving road closed.)

Not much of a hike but the view of the falls is stellar. Parking lot fills up quickly so plan a very early trip. Stop by tunnel view afterwards just up the road

Easy and fun hike and amazing 360 degrees view of Yosemite at the end. Loved it!

Hiked to the Backpacker’s camp. It was covered it snow. So beautiful. The hike is grueling but worth it.

if you hustle it can be done in 4.5 hours, about 9 miles round trip, the view at the end of the trail is worth it!! a lot of mountain lion warnings

Hard ascent( especially the ice and snow on the upper part of the trail). With the road closed, a good way to access the awesome views from Glacier Point.

Amazing hike did this back in September and forgot to put a review, but this hike is beautiful! We left early in the morning at 2am and it was perfect going up in the dark with headlamps and enjoying seeing things from a different perspective rather than going later like 7am so heading down you see everything that you didn’t going up so it makes the hike better since it’s pretty much a 10hr hike. Going up early at 2am and not knowing much farther you have to go was just great, but to just keep moving and the hike went by quick because by the time daylight started to show we were at the base of sub dome. Heading down was quick n easy, but by 10am traffic rolls in and makes it difficult.

Leave early for the hike to make the cables with little to no traffic. Make it before 8am cause up top people start to roll in and head down the cables with traffic is a pain to wait for people to pass n continue to descend.

The hike in general starts pretty easy for those that hike normally. The hike gets tough when you hit the foot high steps n they continue to get higher n higher, but that’s why you start early n you don’t see how much farther you have to go. Sub dome is just the same a bunch of foot high steps, but aren’t to bad if you go early and rest at the steps. Cables were surprisingly easy both up and down. Down is easiest, but going up isn’t bad if you have RUBBER GLOVES. Crazy beautiful site seeing going up cables and top. Used my GoPro and the videos are awesome.

Pack some good food and 4L of water. I managed to make it with 3L and have some left over,but it’s probably because we left early in morning.

Go prepared (food&water), go early, proper gear (boots&gloves, don’t forget permit, and enjoy the views going down.

What can I say, basically nothing beats this for a day hike.

We completed part of this trail on July 25, 2018 before our mandatory evacuation due to fires. We had to be out of the park by 9:00 so we knew we had to start early and hike fast. Due to the early evacuation, we were the only hikers on the trail. We moved as fast as we could in order to see as much as possible. The switchbacks definitely get the heart rate up and I went through quite a bit of water and the sun wasn’t even out. The steps were dusty and dry, but very slippery at times. Start early and bring plenty of water! Even though our hike was cut short due to the mandatory evacuation, this was my favorite hike!

We walked this trail back in July. It was a pretty quick walk so we decided to go off the regular trail. We went over the rocks and right up to the falls. It was still flowing in July.

Switchbacks all the way up and all the way down. Gorgeous views at the top, which were made even better by the recent snowfall. Bring water and real shoes — I saw too many people in tennis shoes struggling on the ice and snow.

Great hike! Did this in mid October, the waterfalls weren’t at full volume but the weather was great. Saw a momma bear and 2 cubs between Vernal and Nevada falls, and the views were incredible. Challenging but worth it. Came back the John Muir trail to change the scenery a bit. A must do