Yosemite National Park guide · 2 min read
Yosemite Trails, from Bridalveil Fall to Mirror Lake
Yosemite Valley has several short, gentle walks. Bridalveil Fall Trail is a half-mile round trip with about 80 feet of climbing, and the Lower Yosemite Fall Trail is a one-mile loop with only 50 feet of gain.
Cook's Meadow Loop covers a flat mile. Mirror Lake is a two-mile round trip to the lake, or five miles if you finish the full loop.
The Valley Loop Trail is mostly flat but long, at 6.5 miles for half the loop or 13 for the whole thing. The Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall Trails start at 1.6 miles round trip and run as long as 8 miles, gaining between 400 and 2,000 feet. The Yosemite Falls Trail is a 2-mile round trip with 1,000 feet of climbing, or 7.2 miles with 2,700 feet if you go all the way.
Half Dome is the park's best-known strenuous hike, a round trip of 14 to 16.4 miles with about 4,800 feet of elevation gain. The route follows the Mist Trail, then a spur branches north from Little Yosemite Valley toward the dome, where hikers pull themselves up the final stretch on cables. Summiting requires a permit, awarded by lottery to 300 hikers a day. Day hikes elsewhere in the park need no permit.
Along Route 120 in the high country, many short trails lead to alpine lakes and granite domes. The sequoia groves offer short walks that can easily be stretched into longer outings.
More than 700 miles of trails cross the park. Every overnight trip into the backcountry requires a wilderness permit, and most also require approved bear-resistant food storage. Permits are tied to a starting trailhead, each with its own quota. The John Muir Trail climbs out of Yosemite Valley on its 210-mile route to Mount Whitney, and the High Sierra Camps link five camps along a loop of about 50 miles, with canvas tents and meals at each stop.
