Old Big Oak Flat Road is a 9.3 mile out and back trail located near Buena Vista, California that offers the chance to see wildlife and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round.
hiking
nature trips
trail running
walking
bird watching
wildlife
rocky
no dogs
Old Big Oak Flat road used to be the access road to the valley until it was deemed to be too unsafe and eventually destroyed by rockfall. Today it is an interesting hike (partially on the old pavement, partially scrambling and route finding over rock fall) with great views of the valley sights.
I loved this trial and expected it to be way harder. If you follow the recordings on here you can find it very easily. There is some climbing over and under trees and rocks, but it’s not that bad at all. Good amount of shade from all the trees while getting closer to the view spot. The view from this trial is amazing which made climbing and dealing with the bugs worth it! Just make sure to find the correct trial head which is past El Capitan because I started before El Cap (via valley loop trail) and had to find my way around ribbon creek, which was interesting lol. Otherwise I would recommend to anyone :)
With high water in May, some deep water crossings. Amazing views of Bridalveil Falls at its level and looking down. Well worth the scramble and traversing of downed trees and rock slides.
The Old Big Oak Flat Road Trail. One of the original wagon trail roads into Yosemite. There is a lot of history here! Used to be my favorite hike, but the 2017 Winter destroyed the trail. I can hike to within a football field of Rainbow View, but I can’t reach it. The trail is impassable. :<( cjh
This used to be my FAVORITE hike in Yosemite! I have hiked this old road many times. The views of El Capitan and Bridalveil Falls are breathtaking! The history of this road is hidden in plain sight and is thought provoking. The route finding is challenging and invigorating. It is also a relatively short hike at just over three hours round trip. Unfortunately, the Winter of 2017 has made this hike almost impassable and downright dangerous. It makes me sad...
Great view of the falls, half dome and El Capitan. Actually it’s probably the best view of bridalveil falls in the park. Which was about a mile or so into the hike. After that it’s nothing but rock hopping and tree hopping. I don’t recommend going any further. I came across a couple snakes and one rattler! Very easy to lose your way.
The trail is in pretty bad disrepair. There are multiple sections where the trail is completely covered by boulders. We got a mile in and had to turn back when some of the boulders/rocks were pretty loose under foot. However, it did have great views of bridalview falls, El Capitan and half dome. There’s no parking lot - but there’s a parking lane about 0.3 miles before.
Fantastic hike to a secluded area! We were fortunate to get a shot of a double rainbow off of the waterfall.
