hikespeak

Yosemite Valley looks great from the bottom up, the top down, and even the middle out. For this neither-up-nor-down view over Yosemite Valley, visit Columbia Rock, a viewpoint on Yosemite Falls Trail perched about thousand feet up the north wall of Yosemite Valley. The hike from Camp 4 up to Columbia Rock is 2.2 miles round trip with 985 feet of elevation change. ...Read more.

Yosemite Falls is incredibly beautiful and incredibly big. It is the tallest waterfall in North America, the 5th tallest waterfall in the world, and a star along the north wall of Yosemite Valley. Hiking to Yosemite Falls is one of the greatest things visitors can do in Yosemite National Park. Yosemite Falls drops a total of 2,425 feet, beginning with the cliff-leaping 1,430-foot Upper Fall. ...Read more.

Yosemite National Park receives four million visitors per year, filling the park's campgrounds and hotels. When all the campsites are reserved and the hotels have no vacancies (or list prices that are uncomfortably high), consider a middle option provided at Housekeeping Camp in the middle of Yosemite Valley. Housekeeping Camp offers 3-walled units with canvas roofs and flaps – imagine something that is not quite a room and not quite a tent. ...Read more.

Near the amazing hiking trails in Yosemite Valley is the designed-to-be-delightful Happy Isles Trail. The easy 3/4 of a mile walk at Happy Isles explores a pair of small islands in the Merced River at the east end of Yosemite Valley. While the trail doesn't feature a show-stopping attraction (like Lower Yosemite Fall Trail), the Happy Isles live up to their name – a pleasant and happy place to walk along the river. ...Read more.

Camp 4 is a historic campground in Yosemite National Park – and that's not even hyperbole; the campground is listed with the National Register of Historic Places "for its significant association with the history of modern rock climbing in America." Camp 4 has 35 shared walk-in tent campsites. While reservations need to be booked months in advance at other campgrounds in Yosemite Valley, Camp 4 is the exception, allowing reservations on a 7-day rolling basis, meaning that you can only book a site 7 days in advance. ...Read more.

Panorama Trail is a nearly 10-mile long point-to-point hike from the top to the bottom of Yosemite Valley. Starting at Glacier Point and ending at Happy Isles, the trail descends 3,200 feet and is filled with sensational views. You could not pick a more panoramic start for Panorama Trail than Glacier Point, a spectacular drive-up overlook atop the south wall of Yosemite Valley. ...Read more.

It might be half a dome, but it's a full day's hike - 16 miles round trip from Yosemite Valley with 4,800 feet of elevation gain. Is Yosemite's much heralded bucket-list hike worth all the hoopla? You bet it is. Half Dome is an iconic element of the Yosemite landscape and the trail to its summit is a one of a kind. The hike up Half Dome is a major challenge (and a major reward). ...Read more.

On the path to Half Dome, Yosemite's most imposing bucket list hike, are two impressive waterfalls coursing down the Merced River. The Mist Trail provides the steepest most intimate experience of Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall. John Muir Trail takes a more gradual route to the top of Nevada Fall and is the most practical route for those continuing to Half Dome. ...Read more.

Wedged between the granite walls of Half Dome and North Dome on the east end of Yosemite Valley, visit an enticing body of water that doubles the Yosemite splendor. Mirror Lake, which is not actually a lake but rather a shallow seasonal pool, is famous for its reflective beauty. Due to it's popularity and easy-to-reach-ness, a few trails lead to Mirror Lake. ...Read more.

A pair of paved paths lead to a viewing bridge below Lower Yosemite Fall, creating a 1.2-mile loop to the foot of the tallest waterfall in North America, and the fifth tallest in the world. The western side of the loop is laid out in a line with Yosemite Falls to provide absolutely eye-popping, jaw-dropping, imagination-defying, awe-inspiring views of the 2,425-foot waterfall. ...Read more.