Yosemite: Moderate Hikes

These moderately challenging hikes will take about half a day. Most are in the 5-10 mile range with a few hundred feet of elevation gain.

North Dome

This moderately trafficked trail is pleasant, mostly flat, and ends in spectacular views. You can see down the valley toward El Capitan and up Tenaya Canyon to Clouds Rest, and you have a strikingly up-close, eye-level view of Half Dome’s north face. Porcupine Creek (on Tioga Road) is the most direct trailhead and has pit toilets and bear boxes.

The trail involves some minor creek crossings that are trivial by fall, but in early summer you might have to do some wading. Not recommended in wet weather due to the exposure of the dome and the slickness of wet granite. I also do not recommend hiking to North Dome from the valley unless you are very confident in your navigation skills. The descent to the valley is tricky, and it’s extremely easy to get cliffed out and stuck if you take a wrong turn.

  • Parking: no parking lot nearby, use street parking near Porcupine Creek trailhead (always park all the way off the road)

  • Trailhead: Porcupine Creek is the most direct

  • Closest bear boxes: at Porcupine Creek trailhead

  • Closest bathrooms: pit toilets at Porcupine Creek trailhead

 

Cathedral Lakes

This area is a popular day hike (or brief overnight) for a reason. The trail up to the lakes is not flat but not terribly steep either. It’s about three miles from the trailhead to the lower lake, and another half mile or so to the upper lake. Use the Cathedral Lakes trailhead (which has pit toilets and bear boxes) just after you arrive in Tuolumne Meadows. Parking along the road can get very crowded, so if you’re camping in the Tuolumne Meadows campground, consider walking to the trailhead rather than driving. Walking from the campground adds about two miles round-trip, but it is easy terrain. Cathedral Peak is a popular rock climb, so you might hear climbers yelling things like “off belay!”

  • Trailhead: Cathedral Lakes

  • Parking: street parking near Cathedral Lakes trailhead (always park all the way off the road) or, if camping in Tuolumne Meadows campground, stay parked at the campground and walk from there (trail leaves from the southwest corner of the campground, at the edge of D loop, by the river)

  • Closest bear boxes: at Cathedral Lakes trailhead

  • Closest bathrooms: pit toilets at at Cathedral Lakes trailhead

 

Vernal Fall

This popular trail starts at the Happy Isles trailhead and ends, well, wherever you want it to end. The first real landmark or destination is the Vernal Fall footbridge, which provides an excellent view of the fall and, very conveniently, has water fountains and toilets. The trail up to this point is paved but steep in places. It’s also mostly shaded, which is particularly welcome on hot days.

If you choose to go to the top of Vernal Fall, there are two possible routes: the Mist Trail or the John Muir Trail, so you could do an out-and-back on one or do them as a loop. The John Muir Trail (JMT) is the longer of the two trails (five miles round-trip), more gradual, and deviates somewhat from the river. Most people who hike to the top of Vernal Fall take the Mist Trail, which is more direct but steeper and more strenuous. It’s about three miles round-trip starting from Happy Isles Bridge, but it can take a good three hours. True to its name, there can be a lot of mist and spray from the waterfall in spring and early summer, which makes the trail rather slick. Going up the Mist Trail and down the JMT is a good direction for a loop, especially if it's crowded. It’s a delightful trail, though, and the spray is very pleasant on a hot summer day. If do you take the Mist Trail, I recommend taking a lightweight rain jacket.

If you feel like pressing on a bit farther, going up to the top of Nevada Fall or even just to a vista point with views of the fall is worthwhile (and adds no more than three miles round-trip). You can take the more direct route via the footbridge upstream of Vernal Fall (heading east up the hill), but I actually think the views are better on the JMT: take the JMT south from the overlook at the top of Vernal Fall, then bear left when the trail forks after not quite 1/2 mile. Along that stretch of the trail are some spectacular views of not only Nevada Fall but also Liberty Cap (the tall granite feature that rises above Nevada Fall) and the southeastern flank of Half Dome. In early summer, wildflowers are abundant on this section of the trail: columbine, paintbrush, shooting star, sneezeweed, and more.

  • Trailhead: Happy Isles / John Muir Trail

  • Parking: the closest parking area is the dirt parking lot just off of Happy Isles Loop Road (past Curry Village, go straight instead of turning left to the campgrounds). Alternately, since that lot often fills early in the day, park at Curry Village and walk the extra 3/4 mile (flat, mostly paved).

  • Closest bear boxes: Happy Isles parking area and Curry Village

  • Closest bathrooms: flush toilets at Happy Isles (just before the trailhead, on the north side of the bridge over the Merced) and toilets just across the Vernal Fall footbridge

 

Columbia Rock

The Upper Yosemite Fall trail is one of the most strenuous hikes in the valley, but you don’t have to go all the way to the top — or even halfway up — to earn some good views. After about a mile and a half of switchbacking through oak woodland, the trail pops out from the tree cover and rounds a corner to reveal both the waterfall and Half Dome. This vista gives you a higher perspective on the valley without tackling the most exposed, stairmaster-like sections of the trail.

  • Trailhead: Yosemite Falls

  • Parking: Yosemite Village

  • Closest bear boxes: Yosemite Lodge parking area

  • Closest bathrooms: across the street from Yosemite Lodge