A Guide to Day Walks in Yosemite Valley

Yosemite is a place where people of all ages can explore and enjoy the outdoors. As the area is incredibly popular the trails from the valley are very well maintained and clearly marked.

That being said, Yosemite does have towering walls a thousand metres above the valley, so any hike to a viewpoint is going to have elevation, and lots of it. The walks to the view point are generally >8kms as well, so if you’re planning on walking up, you’ll need to have a bit of endurance behind you. That being said, I am a strong believer that if you take your time and take frequent rests, anything is possible (*this is not formal health advice. If you have any concerns whatsoever about walking/hiking in Yosemite, consult the appropriate health professional)!

Now, Evan and I were pretty fit when we went to Yosemite. In terms of our hiker profile, both of us have walked a number of walks <30kms, and we stuck to this range in Yosemite.

The hikes we completed were as follows:

Four Mile Trail ~16kms, 1000m elevation, 4-6 hours. This trail takes you to Glacier Point which has the world-famous views of the valley featuring stunning views of Half Dome, North Dome, Basket Dome, Tenaya Peak, Tenaya Canyon, Mount Watkins, Mirror Lake, Clouds Rest and Yosemite falls. In general, although the trail is on the longer side of the ones we went on, it has lots of switch-backs and is well maintained. In fact, it’s so well maintained some insanely fit athletes decide to run up it! Glacier Point is also accessible by road and many tour buses come up it so the lookout at the top can get pretty busy. It is also full of way-too-friendly and obviously fat squirrels, and although there are signs everywhere saying “Please do not feed the wildlife”, it’s very obvious that people have fed them. Due to it’s accessibility, one of the greatest things about Glacier point is that it has toilets and water accessible so you can fill up your drink bottle before heading down.

Mirror Lake via Valley Loop Trail ~7kms, 100m elevation, 1-3 hours. A relaxing trail along the valley floor, this one is perfect if you’re just wanting a chilled relaxing stroll along the valley floor. It really has minimal elevation and is perfect for those needing a flatter landscape. There are plenty of points where you can leave the trail onto a road as well.

Upper Yosemite Falls ~10kms, 1000m elevation, 5-6hours. This trail is incredibly steep and was the most challenging of our set. It is a very exposed hike with minimal shade and the incline on the switch backs is much steeper than that of Four Mile Trail. That being said, we did see people walking up in flip-flops as their choice of hiking shoe and they made it. So although I imagine that experience would have been very uncomfortable, it just means it’s possible. Our biggest piece of advice for this trail is to bring lots of water, particularly if you’re hiking in summer. Unfortunately there was a very, very thirsty family on their way up asking if there was water at the top (there’s not, unless you want to count a glacial lake as a water stop) who we gave some of ours to. The glacial lake at the top is well worth a dip into if you can stand the freezing cold water, and, if it’s a hot day you’ll dry off on the way down. Evan was the braver of the two of us and jumped in and when he resurfaced, his shocked expression was something I laughed at for several minutes.

Vernal and Nevada Falls via Mist Trail. ~10kms, 600m elevation, 4-6hours. This hike takes you very close to two falls (funny that), so expect part of the trail to be quite slippery. The stunning Liberty Cap besides the falls is a pure dome of granite and is incredible to look at, as well as making the perfect backdrop for your waterfall photos. Of the hikes we did, this one was moderately challenging. A moderate distance, and fair elevation gain.

Lower Yosemite Falls Trails. ~2kms, 20m elevation. A great viewpoint of the falls for those needing a chilled hike/stretch of the legs before a long car drive. The trail is short, with minimal elevation. It is popular with families and those with tour groups. Our advice is to see Lower Yosemite falls in the off season when there is a bit more water. Although any viewpoint in Yosemite is spectacular, during summer these falls tend to lose a lot of water and were not as powerful as we were expecting. That being said, it was still awesome to see them and a great hike for a more relaxing day.

Are there other hikes you would put on this list? Shoot us an email if you have any recommendations for other walks to do in Yosemite! We’re planning on returning there and are keen to see some other parts of the valley if you have any recommendations!