Top 2 Best Family Hikes in Yosemite

Yosemite National Park is a great National Park for families as there are many beautiful sites to see that require little to no hiking as well as some amazingly beautiful longer hikes.  During our visit to Yosemite we chose to do the popular Mist Trail hike and the less popular, but still beautiful, Wapama Falls hike in the Hetch Hetchy area of Yosemite (in addition to many overlooks and short hikes).  Following is more info about our picks for the top 2 best family hikes in Yosemite National Park.

Our picks for the top 2 family hikes in Yosemite

Mist Trail

This hike, one we will long remember, has a few route options that allow you to scale the hike to your abilities.

It originates from the Happy Isles Shuttle Stop. We were able to park at the Trailhead Parking Lot across from the Upper Pines Campground and walk over to the shuttle stop because we arrived very early in the morning (remember our favorite tip to stay on your earlier time zone if you are not from a PST state so that you can get into the parks early).

Many hikers who were not up for the trip to the top of Vernal Fall still took the hike to the Vernal Fall footbridge which is a somewhat easy hike (0.8 miles each way), though you do climb about 400 ft. in elevation along the paved trail on the way there.

We saw a lot of people turn around here because it is after this that the hike becomes more serious and proper footwear, clothing, and water are needed.  We highly recommend hiking on if you are able as the hike gets better from here.

The next destination is the top of Vernal Fall, which is an additional 0.4 miles further and 600 ft. of elevation to gain.  This section is where you encounter the mist that the trail is named after and is, in my opinion, the best part of this hike with beautiful, up-close views of Vernal Fall.  Expect to get wet on the climb to the top (it is called mist trail after all!).

If you choose to turn around and go back after reaching the top, you will join many others.  However, there are so many people coming up on that trail that it makes it difficult to go back down the same way as the stairs and path are narrow in many spots and wet, which we felt was risky to navigate.  There is a great area at the top of the Fall to rest and recover, enjoy a snack or lunch, and people watch (watch out for the many critters who will get too close and try to steal your food).

We chose to continue on to see Nevada Fall, but just hiked to the base of the next climb and did not continue on to the top as we were all getting tired and it was getting very warm outside.

The top of Nevada Fall is an additional 1.5 miles further and 1000 ft. of elevation to gain.  In hindsight, it likely would have been about the same amount of difficulty and time if we had gone that way instead of the way we chose to go.  We ended up backtracking and going back to the Clark Point cutoff where you could cut over to the John Muir Trail and eventually head back down.  The connection to the John Muir trail also required another climb, which was not obvious to us in looking at the map and is why we should have done the hike to the top of Nevada Fall.  This route did grant us a different view of Vernal and Nevada Falls as well as a great view of Half Dome, including seeing the chains where people hike up it and watching them do so like little ants.

That viewpoint made this route worth the additional distance and investment of time.  The rest of the hike down is a series of switchbacks in and out of wooded areas on pretty good surfaces.  This hike is on our “must do” list for Yosemite and the beautiful views all along the trail is why it makes our list for one of the top 2 family hikes in Yosemite.

Tips for the trail:

• Pit toilets can be found along the trail near the Vernal Fall footbridge and at the top of Vernal Fall (open seasonally).
• Pack a lunch, lots of snacks and water.  This is a long hike, especially with kids.
• There are lots of nice places to sit and have a picnic lunch at the top of Vernal Fall before heading back down or continuing on to Nevada Fall.
• Don’t forget the sunscreen if you connect to the John Muir trail.  A large portion of that trail at the higher elevation is not shaded.
• You will get wet, make sure everyone has a raincoat or poncho for the mist portion of the trail as well as good traction on your shoes.
• Hiking poles come in handy for the wet, rocky portions of the trail.  We were very happy we had them.
• Depending on the season, bring bug spray, there were lots of mosquitoes when we started out on this trail.  We had others ask if they could use our bug spray since they didn’t have any with.
• If you have smaller children, we would not recommend going back down on the John Muir Trail even though it has fewer people, as it is longer than just turning around and going down the same way you came up. Just hold some hands on the slippery steps!

Wapama Falls

Hetch Hetchy is a very unique area, especially considering it is part of a National Park.  Originally a Valley that John Muir considered a “wonderfully exact counterpart of the great Yosemite,” Hetch Hetchy was flooded to build a reservoir to supply water to San Francisco despite already being part of Yosemite National Park.  Yes, you read that right!  Today, Hetch Hetchy stands as a mistake – one that inspired many to take action to protect our National Parks both at the time as well as to today where organizations are working to restore the Valley to its’ original state.  We even received a notification at the Ranger station when you enter the Valley that provided objective information about this issue.

As an aside, if you are interested in the history of the Valley and why it could have all been avoided, I recommend “The Battle over Hetch Hetchy,” by Robert W. Righter.   The Hetch Hetchy valley is just 15 miles to the North of Yosemite Valley, but is a world away in terms of number of visitors.  You will see very few people visiting this area, which was fantastic because otherwise Yosemite is so very busy!  The drive into the Valley is beautiful and you will pass a park office with picnic tables and a restroom before arriving at the main parking area further down the road at the O’Shaughnessy Dam site.  This hike has very little elevation gain across its 5.5 miles (about 500 feet) but is instead best viewed as a walk along the shore of the Reservoir.  You begin the hike by crossing the Dam before heading into a tunnel (it has some lighting) and then along a largely flat, well maintained trail.

Unfortunately, you will never get too close to the water, which is by design as there was concern over the ability to pollute the water.  The trail is generally well marked and easily identified, and depending on the amount of recent rainfall you may see many waterfalls along the mountain to your left or only one.

The star of the hike, however, is Wapama Falls.  You can first hear it thundering in the distance (all the way from the dam!), but as you approach you will feel, see, and hear the power of this waterfall!

As you approach the end of the trail, you come to a series of bridges and should cross all of them.  At the other side the trail will continue, but we took some time to relax and enjoy the views of the Valley before turning back.

I should note that there are seasons where it is literally unsafe to cross these bridges.  Very capable individuals who backpack regularly in these mountains have been swept away by the water rushing over the bridges and perished.  Use good judgement, be careful, and keep hold of your kids.  You can check the conditions of the trail at the NPS website.

Tips for the trail:

• Use the restroom that you will pass before you get to the dam parking area as there are no other restrooms along the trail.
• Most of the trail is in the sun, especially from about halfway through to the end of the trail, so bring sunscreen and a hat to protect yourself!
• Keep an eye out for rattlesnakes. We saw a couple stopped along the side of the trail and they pointed out a rattlesnake whose head was sticking out of a hole under the trail.  We then saw the same snake (in the same area) on the way back and estimate him to have at least 3 ft. long.
  

  Rattlesnake head just off the trail

  

  Rattlesnake along the trail

• Depending on the season, you will get wet if you choose to cross the bridges underneath Wapama Falls.  Bring raincoats or a poncho.
• Bring lots of water and some snacks, the trail can get really hot because much of it is in the sun.

That ends our suggestions for Top 2 Family Hikes in Yosemite.  There are many other options for longer family hikes in Yosemite. We are glad we chose the ones we did but if you have suggestions for other great family hikes in Yosemite, let us know.  If we ever make it back there we would love to see more areas of the park.  To see our picks for quick stops and short family hikes in Yosemite check out this post.