Swedo - Best Easy Day Hikes Yosemite National Park

Suzanne Swedo, director of W.I.L.D. (www.wildswedo.com), has backpacked the mountains of every continent. She has led groups into the wilderness for more than thirty years and teaches wilderness survival and natural sciences for individuals, schools, universities, museums, and organizations such as the Yosemite Association and the Sierra Club. She is author of Wilderness Survival, Hiking Yosemite National Park, Hiking Californias Golden Trout Wilderness, and Hiking the Hawaiian Islands for FalconGuides. She lectures and consults about backpacking, botany, and survival on radio and television, as well as in print.

Every effort has been made by the author and editors to make this guide as accurate and useful as possible. However, many things can change after a guide is publishedtrails are rerouted, regulations change, facilities come under new management, and so forth.

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Thanks for your input, and happy trails!

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Copyright 2015 by Rowman & Littlefield

A previous edition of this book was published in 1999 by Falcon Publishing Inc.

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ISBN 978-0-7627-9686-1 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4930-1434-7 (e-book)

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For Mom

Thanks to the National Park Service, especially Ranger Mark Fincher, whose suggestions and advice were invaluable. Thanks also to the personnel and volunteers of the Yosemite Conservancy.

This book is for a great many of the nearly four million visitors to Yosemite National Park each year who have a limited amount of time to spend but want to sample some of the best features of the park on foot. Yosemites borders encompass almost 1,200 square miles in east-central California, though the majority of tourists congregate in Yosemite Valley and miss much of the spectacular wild country beyond. The hikes described here are scattered throughout the entire park. All are accessible by paved roads, and none is difficult to find.

The hikes vary in length, but none is longer than 5 miles. The shorter hikes are not necessarily the easier ones. Because this is rugged country with few level places, most hikes do involve a little elevation gain and loss. Use the list of hikes ranked in order of difficulty to make your choice. All are on clearly marked, easy-to-follow trails.

The trails that weave through Yosemite National Park are heavily used and take a real beating. Because of their proximity to pollution and dense population, weas trail users and advocatesmust be vigilant to make sure our passing leaves no lasting mark. If we all left our mark on the landscape, the parks and wildlands eventually would be destroyed.

These trails can accommodate plenty of human travel if everybody treats them with respect. Just a few thoughtless, badly mannered, or uninformed visitors can ruin them for everyone who follows. The book Leave No Trace (www.falcon.com) is a valuable resource for learning more about these principles.

The following list ranks the hikes in this book from easiest to most challenging.

Easiest

10. Glacier Point

5. Lower Yosemite Fall

6. Bridalveil Fall

4. Mirror Lake

1. East Valley Floor

8. Wawona Meadow

22. Soda Springs and Parsons Lodge

2. West Valley Floor

9. Chilnualna Fall

3. Happy Isles to Vernal Fall View

14. McGurk Meadow

17. Tenaya Lake

23. Lyell Fork

7. Mariposa Grove

21. Pothole Dome

18. Lukens Lake

15. Tuolumne Grove

13. Taft Point and The Fissures

20. Lembert Dome

12. Sentinel Dome

24. Wapama Falls

16. May Lake

19. Dog Lake

11. Illilouette Fall

Most Challenging

This flat hike, partly along the Merced River, passes through forests, meadows, and a swampy fen, with views of North Dome and Yosemite Falls. Along the way you can make an optional visit to the Happy Isles Nature Center and the site of a notorious rockslide.

Distance: 2.2-mile loop

Elevation change: Minimal

Approximate hiking time: 13 hours

Trail surface: Paved path, board-walk, and forest floor

Difficulty: Easy

Map: USGS Half Dome

Best time to go: Year-round

Facilities: Food, supplies, phones, water, and restrooms at Curry Village

Finding the trailhead: Board the Yosemite Valley shuttle bus from anyplace in the valley and get off at Stop 15, Upper Pines, and continue walking along the shuttle bus road in the same direction for 0.1 mile to the Hiker Parking Lot on the right. If you are driving, follow Southside Drive to the east end of the valley. Pass Curry Village and follow the signs to the Trailhead Parking sign. Turn right into the Hiker Parking Lot. The trailhead is at the far east end of the lot. There are plenty of boxes for you to store your food out of the reach of bears, but there are no restrooms and no water at the trailhead. Please do not leave trash in the bear boxes. GPS: N37 44.10' / W119 33.97'

The Hike

From the trailhead sign marking the John Muir and Mist Trails, follow the wide obvious path straight ahead into the shady ponderosa pine and incense cedar forest. You will notice another log-lined path cutting off from this one to the left heading back to the shuttle bus road, but the right-hand path is prettier and quieter.

Pass a little A-frame structure used for ranger/naturalist talks and soon find yourself clomping across a boardwalk through a swampy area known as The Fen. Its filled with a dense growth of water-loving horsetails, sedges, and fragrant mints and is a great place to spot birds. At the end of the boardwalk the trail meets a paved path where a sign points to the left (north) for the John Muir Trail and to the right (south) for the Happy Isles Nature Center (open in summer only). You might want to make a short detour to see the exhibits and books inside, then walk around to the back of the building for a view of the rubble and smashed trees left by the deadly 1996 rockfall. An interpretive sign notes that such events are fairly common in Yosemite.